Features, Ian John, World Cup 2010 POSTS

World Cup 2010…final thoughts

Published by Ian John on July 12, 2010

In the end Spain won it and deservedly so, the Dutch in their cheerfully oblivious way, have chosen to blame referee Howard Webb, rather than blaming abandoning their soccer principles and surrendering meekly to a form of inescapably bullish tactics and aggressive play, for their defeat.

I had sympathy for them until I remember Ronald Koeman’s non-sending off against England in 1993. Yes I have a long memory. Did I not like that then.

So the Spanish won, but my god they made heavy weather of it. In a game fractured by fear and tempered only by the even-handedness of the officials, it was hardly a spectacle befitting the end of a major tournament.

That the best team won is in no doubt. As a game, it could and perhaps should have been over at the half time, with Holland reduced to nine men. Webb’s leniency kept Holland in the game and he showed remarkable alacrity to allow De Jong and Van Bommel to remain on the field. Robben’s feeble protestations for the penalty that never was (Puyol’s foul took place outside the box and if Holland are going to bleat on about Spain being reduced to 10 men, then Spain can easily counter that by saying at that point Holland should have been down to 9) and petulant complaints afterwards said less about Webb’s decision and more about the Bayern man’s poor finishing in the game.

That Iniesta won the game seemed fitting, that Torres would end it laying on the floor in agony having injured himself seems just about to sum up his World Cup and Liverpool’s fortune this season. Even in victory, it seems, Liverpool fans joy is tainted by the haunting spectre of injury.

So what are my overriding feelings about this summer’s festival of football? There were certainly a lot of positives.

1. THE HOSTS : South Africa came alive as never before during the tournament, the venues were (nearly) all perfect. The fans fantastic, colourful and unique. It was an event which will hopefully leave a lasting legacy in this young country, from which some of the inequality and desperate sense of injustice that must still permeate society, can hopefully be improved.

2. FOOTBALL WON : It was good to see teams playing attacking football, like Spain, Argentina, Germany and Uruguay do so well.

3. ASIA’S EMERGENCE : Africa’s world cup was notable not for Africa’s emergence, but for Asian teams improvement. Japan, South Korea and even North Korea showed moments of real class. They are not quite on a par with the top European and South American sides just yet, but that gap is closing with every passing day.

4. THE FAILURE OF THE BIG TEAMS : France, Italy, England, Denmark, Portugal, even Brazil and Argentina can’t be too impressed with how things went at this finals. Time for change in many of these countries I feel.

5. REFEREEING : One or two big cock ups apart (mentioning no games in particular), the refereeing at these finals was improved. It still has some way to go and FIFA’s seeming U-turn about the use of video replays for goal line incidents will help officials, but overall I think the refs did a decent job.

And the bad points?

1. THE BALL : I’ve seldom seen so many ‘good’ players struggle to control a ball, overhit cross after cross, pass after pass. Altitude? I don’t think so. The ball moved like a scolded bee and made keepers look faintly silly. Apart from the Rob Green incident, that was just him being a berk.

2. ATTENDANCES/TICKET ALLOCATION : Seeing so many games played in front of empty seats was heartbreaking, especially since you know there are millions of fans who simply could not afford the ticket prices, who would have given everything they had to go. This has to be better organised in future events.

3. TACTICS : Have you ever seen a more boring opening week of World Cup action? Never in the history of the competition have I watched a series of opening games so devoid of any entertainment. Things steadily improved, but once again, by the time we reached the final, the Dutch had abandoned their attacking principles and tried to kick Spain out of their rhythm. The football of fear is here to stay I am afraid and while Spain’s victory is a key one against that, until managers are brave enough to try and win games at the expense of losing them, rather than trying not to lose games at the expense of winning them, then we are always going to be subjected to the drab monotony that was on show for disappointingly long periods in these finals.

4. SUPERSTARS : Messi showed a few decent touches and moments of class, Sneijder and Iniesta were the best midfielders on show, Forlan one of the best strikers, Gyan put himself about well, but lets be honest, the rest of the so called world superstars were notable only by their lack of form. Rooney was abysmal, Ronaldo not much better than that, Kaka anonymous mostly, Robinho all show and no substance, Van Persie, Torres, Eto’o any French or Italian player you care to mention…anonymous…

So goodbye to the World Cup 2010, I am glad Spain won. I go there in three weeks and hopefully the party will still be going. It was a victory for football over fear and that is probably the most abiding memory I have of this World Cup and it seems it is a fitting epitaph to South Africa’s hosting of the world’s biggest Football event.

Image Courtesy of ***Mohammed Al Swad*** on Flickr.com

Readers Rating: