Many say was arguably the most boring World Cup in modern era. I too accept that claim a bit. I could never forget my disappointment, when I had to fight with my boss for permission, told him I would work that weekend, drenched, soaked my mobile phone, drove my bike like hell to my cousin’s home (since I could not make it in time to mine) to watch Portugal vs Brazil, and my sister, who knows nothing about football ( I call myself a soccer genius, since I played soccer in high school J), saw the game to give me company and told me – “ Is n’t the match too boring? “.
This was not the case not only for the BRA vs POR match, but for many more matches. And the heroes, wow!!! What am I to say?
David Blaine once set a world record for simply sitting in a glass box for many days. Rooney created one in South Africa for simply standing in the football ground for many hours. And Cesc Fabregas!!! One of my favorite players, is one of the most luckiest players who got the opportunity to play in the same position for club and country. – The Bench!!! J Players like Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba and company.. Did they play in World Cup? I really was not able to see them.
For superstars and heroes, this world cup was not something fruitful. This 1world cup also acted as a platform where the mantle was passed to the juniors. Miroslav Klose and Diege Forlan are very few heroes who lived up to their names. However, over the night, Mesut Ozil, Thomas Mueler and Gonzalo Higguain became house hold names across the world.
They say, a team is as strong as its weakest link. This was the reason many teams, which showed awesome grit, class and charisma could not make it in the longer run. Argentina, which clearly looked like the team with a mission, mauling down opponents, was exploited of its weakest link – Central Defense. When Germany counter attacked, Argentine players looked like school kids scampering and ignorant of what to do next. Such was the case with many other teams as well.
Spain, many say played well, but their scoring rate was very low. A team, which scored only 8 goals in 7 matches, is world champions. Many people find it difficult to digest. They feel Spain was lucky. But, in my view, Spain had a clear plan. Defend well, possess the ball in the mid-field, make the opponents play at your pace and when they are least expected, they give a striking blow. Who would have expected Andres Iniesta to strike that goal at the 116th minute?
The second all European final in 4 years, means that European football is on the rise. Does this mean the South Americans are going South? No!!! They are just being overtaken by Europeans. But, something says, the south Americans wont take this loss lightly and very soon they would strike back to prove their dominance over the game.
And the Africans – What do we have to say? Natural talent, Home ground advantage, natural ability and foreign coaches were not sufficient for the Africans to make an impact. Ghana was on a move. But, was ingloriously handed out a pink slip by Luis Suarez. Guess Luis can never set foot in Africa again. Definitely, holding the grudge of not only a country, but a whole continent is not an easy thing. J
Well, Was Spain worth it?
Did Dutch play as a team?
Should penalty goals be introduced?
What about line technology in football?
Diving - A shame.
What really happened in the French team?
What happened to Las Bonita?
Was not Maradona effective?
Why did the superstars flunk?
Did the Jabulani really swerve?
There are a lot of questions to answer. The world cup was not a very exciting one for sure. During the final of the world cup, I was so bored like a fat boy in a see saw. Paul, Shakira and Knaan are the superstars in the world cup. But, there is one thing which I would say a real success of the FIFA WC 2010.
Last weekend, I went to a puncture shop to inflate my football. It took me an hour to come out of that place. Reason – I ended up arguing with the puncture guy (a 40 yr old man in rags) that Messi is better than Villa.
This is what an event like this should do to the game. And by all means, FIFA WC 2010 was an immense success.
