WORLD CUP 2010.
Thank God, at last World Cup Soccer Tournament 2010 was concluded successfully on 11th of this month. All credit goes to the host country South Africa which took rebirth just 20 years back under Nelson Mandela whose relentless efforts convinced FIFA to give the host country a chance to organize this edition. South Africa thus gained the unique distinction of being the first country in African continent to host the World Cup Soccer Tournament and that too very successfully. Though quality wise this edition of World Cup was poor but organising wise it was excellent of course unexpectedly contrary to the different opinions people had of South Africa’s weaknesses.
All credit to the Champions Spain for winning this edition gracefully and rightly too though inspite of coming to South Africa as European Champions, initially they goofed a lot. Their first round defeat in their first game against Switzerland made many in the World to think that Spain would evaporate from South Africa like ether. Earlier in 1974 in West Germany, the ultimate winners the host W. Germany in the first round itself lost to their communist brothers East Germany by 1-0 goal. Such upsets are common for the ultimate winners. Spain in the beginning inspite of having mighty players in its squad showed that they are come not to win the championship but just to play their part and depart. But gradually from knock-out stage they proved otherwise by displaying attractive and aggressive soccer and this attractive soccer reached to its crescendo during their semifinal encounter with the mighty Germans whom Spain defeated in a classic display of top geometrical soccer of which type earlier we saw only with Brazilians.
The soccer Spain displayed during the semifinal was totally unexpected, it looked that they have kept it hidden under their socks and with the instruction of their Coach removed it and implemented of course to the surprise of the losers and to the entire world as well. This was the Match of the whole Tournament, even much – much better than the final. Germans in this game were totally lost their control and balance to check the moves of their opponents. The short passes of slotting the ball in every available gap was the brilliance of Spanish players. In this regard I admire their accuracy, stamina and speed which come to the fore after long hours of daily practices.
Spain won the championship not on the strength of the individual stars but on the strength of their cohesive team work. All the known stars of this tournament collapsed like a pack of cards with the exception of few glimpses of their stardom. For example one star player Drogba of Ivory Coast showed only one stance of his world class when he beautifully headed in his country’s goal against Brazil while highest paid star Portugal’s Ronaldo only once showed his brilliance when his powerful right footer hit the bar above the keeper of Ivory Coast. Lionel Messi of Argentina officially the best player of the world did not live up to his billing and he too failed to show his genius with the exception of some solo efforts of dribbling past his opponents and missing a few tries. England’s danger man Rooney was a great failure. He and other known stars failed in this tournament because they did not get much opportunities and many games to display their skills while for their Clubs to display their genius they get lot of opportunities because they are engaged with their clubs for longer periods but for World Cup they are engaged only for few matches.
As a whole the whole tournament was below normal standard as far as the quality of soccer is concerned. The failure of giants like France, Argentina, Italy and England to reach into the last eight bracket was a disaster for the tournament. The failure of Brazil to enter into the last four was a tremendous blow to the dignity of this tournament. Brazil failed because of the arrogance of their Manager Dunga who earlier as the captain of Brazil winning team also showed his arrogance. His selection of the team was faulty, relying too much on new comers was the result of Brazil’s failure. This time Brazil lacked cohesiveness, team work, finishing from long distance. Too much short passing even near the goalmouth of their opponents was a great mistake. This time there was no Geometry in their system and game. They bored the spectators and viewers. The absence of Ronaldinho was felt very badly. Even ageing Ronaldo's inclusion would create a desired effect on the team.
The denial of a goal to England against Germany scored by Frank Lampard was the greatest injustice ever done to any team anytime in the history of World Cup. Supervising Referee and Linesman should be held totally responsible for this injustice against England whose players in a true British diplomatic tradition and decency remained silent without creating a furore or uproar. If it was any other team, it would even stop playing till referee’s decision is reversed as Kuwait did in 1982 World Cup in Spain. The German goalkeeper who brought the ball from inside his goal should be treated as a cheat. He knew it was a goal and yet he pretended otherwise. If this goal was allowed as rightly, the results of the match would be totally different.
The presence of Nelson Mandela in the Stadium was a source of pleasure for everyone and it gave lot of sympathy for the host country. Because of this sympathy people from all around the globe were praying for the total success of this World Cup. Two non-playing iconic figures that captured the attention of the spectators and viewers more were Diogo Maradona and Nelson Mandela. They were just adored by the people for their respective contributions in their respective fields. Argentina became darling of the people because of their darling ex super star Maradona who captured more attention than all the eleven Argentinean players.
The referring part of this tournament was faulty; in many cases referees committed many mistakes though display of Cards was much higher than in the previous editions. Kaka’s Red Card was unnecessary though he ungrudgingly accepted it. English Referee Howard Webb by not displaying Red Card in the final against Holland’s Nigel for his Karate Kick on the chest of Spanish Xabi Alonso maintained the beauty of the final though Red Card was deserving. However, sometimes, to maintain the smooth functioning of the play, referees had to close their eyes for certain ignorable faults and this was exactly British Referee Howard Webb did to keep the game going smoothly.
Among the South Americans, Uruguayans carried the flag of their continent far just as they did last time in 1970 when they also qualified for the semifinal. Inspite of using even their hands, they failed to qualify for the final and came to the 4th spot behind Germany. Their star player Diogo Folan was the greatest find of this tournament. The handling of the ball on their goal line from going inside their goal by their defender Suarez was not a crime but it happened instinctively or absent mindedly as it happened many times to many players, in fact it happened to me not once but twice at Campal Ground, during the Inter-Collegiate Soccer Finals between Dempes and Xaviers. For such faults there is punishment which was already awarded to them by giving Penalty but that Ghana failed to capitalize on it was Ghana’s fault. Suarez though wrong yet he was right in using his prerogative to stop the ball with his hand and thereby accept the Penalty and Red Card for him. He was the Hero of his country as per his countrymen.
This is the second time in the history of World Cup where two branches of the same country participated as North and South Koreas. Earlier in 1974 World Cup, devided Germany participated as East and West Germany. Twenty years back both the independent Germanys joined together after the fall of Berlin Wall and once again became one playing since then in the World Cup as One Germany. When both the Koreas will join together and play as one Korea? Is this time very far?? If they join together, then the power of single Korea will be very strong not only in the field of Soccer and other sports but also at world political level.
World Cup Soccer is the only single sport that captures the hearts and minds of the entire world because it is played all over the world and hence it has following all around the globe. Its popularity is such that it is known to every place in the world. It is like a universal language known to every human being. Where Esperanto failed, the language of soccer succeeded and when teams like Brazil and Argentina play the world comes to a standstill. Even the world leaders attending their world conferences stop doing their official work and instead go to watch the soccer matches of their favourite teams. In order to watch World Cup matches, World Conferences are even delayed or postponed. World Cup tournament brings the world closer to one another, it brings the people all around the world closer to one another, it makes the world a small place, it creates love and affection for the teams and players participating in this tournament. It creates positive energy with the exception of suicides committed by the weak hearted when their team loses the match. World Cup tournament shows us to accept the victory gracefully and defeat sportingly. Let us apply these two principles in our life – To Be Graceful in Victory and To Accept The Defeat Sportingly.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
