Followers of vital England and Chris himself on facebook will know that he agreed to if 20,000 people signed up to a petition.
Well on facebook, 22,000 people signed up within 7 days, ‘Cabanga’ is a Zulu word meaning believe, scientific sorts reckon that if England fans were to chant cabanga throughout the match it would increase the playing abilities of English footballers.
There are a few bits and pieces on youtube supposedly showing increased performances after chanting, well Chris Kamara went one better and to serve his country he is now to be known as ‘Chris Cabanga’ saviour of English football.
Chris officially made the change today, on his travels home he made a call to Vital towers to conduct an interview about all things England, below is a summary on his thoughts on our chances, most people know that the site journos are strictly amateur, if not in presentation but certainly status!
To emphasise this point, the photo below is an actual picture of my interview notes!
I’m sure the journalists at the broadsheets don’t prepare like this, but they are not fitting kitchens either!
I took the call from the newly christened Mr.Cabanga at twenty past eleven this morning, my first question was ‘Do you actually believe in Cabanga?’
CK ‘of course! Anything to help the cause, if it helps England I’m all for it!’
I then asked how long would the tag would stay in place, Chris explained that as long as England remained in South Africa, so would the surname, we then agreed that the quarter finals are not too far away!
Anyway the conversation inevitably went straight to England and their chances, I first asked on who he thought would be the number one ‘keeper at the tournanment
CK ‘For me it is a no-brainer, James has to be the man, you know what you get with james and there is no point going into the tournament blooding a new ‘keeper, I was led to believe that Capello was looking to make Joe Hart his number one, but it now looks like James will start against the Yanks, you have to go with experience in a World cup, and at almost 40 James certainly has that and has got better with age.
Robert Green has had a good season but behind a poor defence, so has James but the circumstances were different at Portsmouth, he has had a good season.’
Next up I asked if the injury to Rio Ferdinand was a hammer blow to our chance
CK ‘Not at all, Rio is obviously a class defender, he and Terry would of been first choice, but King has all the ability, for me though Capello never used the injury to his advantage, we had cover at centre-back with Terry, King, Upson and Carragher, he could of used the opportunity to bolster the attacking options, instead we draft in Dawso, who to be fair will probably not get a kick’
Leading on from this we discussed formations
CK ‘4-4-2 looks like the way we will go, Capello has played that way all his career, he trusts it and that’s the way it will go’ I mentioned the fromation switch against Japan when Cole came on, then the switch back, ‘Capello is Italian, defence if first and foremost, 4-4-2 is the starting formation, although we have the option of plan B’ (not the singer mind)
I wanted to know Chris’ thoughts on Peter Crouch, I know he is not everyone’s first choice, but his goals ratio cannot be questioned.
CK ‘ I think Capello will rotate Heskey and Crouch, Crouch carries the greater goal threat and a different option, but Heskey brings the best out of Rooney, I think Capello will start with one and switch to the other in the second half depending on the situation, Peter will definitely figure heavily and given the service could prove invaluable’
Jersey Joe Walcott was next on the discussion list, I explained that I reckon that Walcott played himself out of the squad in the two friendlies after originally being in the 23
CK ‘I think Capello has made a mistake with Walcott, he has that electric pace that frightens defenders, he could of made a difference but we will never know now, again, when Rio was injured it could of been a repreive for Walcott, but insted we got another defender’
Our converstion then switched to all things Pompey, Chris made his debut with Pompey way back in 1975 after a short career in the navy, I obviously asked him how he feels about the place.
CK ‘I loved my time at Fratton, it was great to be bought out of the navy and I owe a huge debt to both Ian St.john and Ray Crawford who was still there at the time. I hold great affection for the club as they gave me my big break, the fans were great on the whole, the club still holds a place in my heart.’
Following on we came round to relegation and Pompey’s situation
CK‘ It’s tragic what has happened down there, I love going to the ground still and I’m as baffled as anyone where the money all went, the sums don’t add up and it will be interesting to find out where all that money went, the fans will be missed in the top flight for certain, anyone who was at Wembley will know how those fans love their football.’
I reminded Chris of Thierry Henry getting applauded off the pitch a few years back when Arsenal had slaughtered us 5-1
CK‘Quality moment, some fans know their football, there is one example’
Chris moved on to Swindon after a couple of years as Pompey’s debts bit hard, he eventually found his way to Leeds, I asked him how this was.
CK ‘My only regret was that I never played for Howard Wilkinson earlier in my career, he was a fantastic manager, I really cannot praise him high enough’
but after some more honest chat I decided to ask if Chris missed management
CK ‘Not at all, I love my job as a roving pundit, I don’t miss the pressure of management one bit, the Sky team are brilliant and Jeff Spelling is the ideal man on Soccer Saturday’
I obviously asked then who was the most mental on Soccer Saturday!
CK ‘Merse without a doubt, he gets so excited and blurts out all sorts, Charlie obviously gets excited as well while Phil Thompson gets carried away when Liverpool play, Le Tissier is more in check but comes out with some great quips, while Jeff laps it up’
As our chat came to a close and the thought of going back to cutting cornice and pelmets returned, Chris told me that he was on the plane tomorrow at 9 O’Clock, or worlds crossed for barely 15 minutes, but Mr.Cabanga is definitely still a very grounded man, he was astonished that him missing Anthony Vanden Borre’s sending off on Sky had accumulated 2 million hits on YouTube, further more that 22,000 people would campaign for him to change his name, his enthusiasm for the game is obviously as strong as his desire to win as a player, God bless the Chris Kamara’s of this world.
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