Home > Sports & Recreation > Soccer > World Cup Soccer
Has the 2010 World Cup in South Africa been a disappointment?
Results so far:
| Yes | 46% | 59 votes | Total: 129 votes | |
| No | 54% | 70 votes |
Yes
by Craig Buck
Created on: July 08, 2010 Last Updated: July 12, 2010
The World Cup only happens every four years. For this reason, soccer fans around the globe look forward to this tournament as the stage where all of the greats come together to show off their skills. Unfortunately, in South Africa 2010 this never really materialised.
Being the first World Cup to be held on the African continent, there would be even more scrutiny on the organisation and flow of the tournament than ever before. This side of the tournament has been a massive success. Stadiums, with the exception of a couple of games have been mostly full. Crowd trouble and violence has been minimal and the much reported crimewave within South Africa has not even been mentioned since the tournament started. The only thing that has let the tournament down has been the quality of soccer played.
So why has the soccer been so poor? This is the first World Cup to have been held in Winter but this can not be used as an excuse. All of the major European nations play throughout the Winter (although some have a Winter break for the bleakest of months). Also, the top American, Asian and Oceanic players play their club football in Europe so they should be used to cooler conditions as well.
The biggest contributory factor to the poor standard of soccer has been the ball. The Adidas Jabulani ball has been heavily criticised throughout the tournament by players and coaches alike. The main gripe has been that the ball moves around too much. This has contributed to some real goalkeeping howlers, none more so than Robert Green's inexplicable mistake to gift the USA an equaliser in the first round of matches. The erratic nature of the ball would also explain why so many players have had problems controlling the ball when they have received it from distance. When we weigh up how many goals have been scored direct from free kicks and how poor the delivery has been from other dead ball situations, the ball has to take a large share of the blame as quality players have been made to look very ordinary.
Although the ball has behaved poorly, it cannot be blamed in isolation for a poor tournament, after all, both teams have to play with the same ball and there have been some teams that have entertained and lived up to their hype. The Germans are one of the few teams at this tournament who have entertained the crowd by playing exciting soccer. Even the finalists, Spain and The Netherlands have progressed with an attitude of defending first with scoring their second priority. Whilst this attitude has obviously worked for them, it does detract from the game as a spectacle.
After the semi-finals 139 goals have been scored in the tournament. Compare this with 147 scored in the 64 matches in World Cup 2006 and there is very little difference in the actual goals so it hasn't been a negative World Cup by any stretch of the imagination. Of these 139 goals, only a handful would be classed as 'memorable' whereas in previous tournaments, spectators have been spoilt for choice for the goal of the tournament due to the quality of strikes.
When the dust settles on this World Cup, it will not be one to live too long in the memories apart from of those whose team eventually triumphs in the final. For a lot of countries it has left more questions than answers. This applies to FIFA also after some alarming refereeing decisions have again opened the debate for goal line technology. Hopefully lessons will have been learnt from South Africa 2010 which will make Brazil 2014 the carnival of soccer everyone expects.
Learn more about this author, Craig Buck.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
by Antonio Martinez
Created on: July 01, 2011
On a scale of one to ten, Africa's first FIFA World Cup would be an absolute ten. Even though South Africa failed to advance out of group stage, it was still thrilling to watch. From the commentary and reputable guest and analysts that ESPN included to the actual games and teams that participated, South Africa was no disappointment. Although the teams that did advance did not resemble any surprises that happened in 2002, a definitive case can be made that this was balanced throughout regarding the level of talent.
The first conference to analyze is UEFA. On paper, it looked as if Europe was having its worst run collectively. Only six nations from the continent advanced into the Round of 16, but only a maximum of three would advance. The world witnessed the falls of two once-mighty nations in Italy and France, both finalists from the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with last place results, results that remind the world that no matter what nation, each game matters. The world witnessed two nations that have had respectable results in prior World Cups, like Switzerland, who stunned Spain early in the tournament, leave their heads held high, even though they exited too soon and establishing a record that will be difficult to break, not conceding a goal for almost 600 minutes. The world witness smaller nations, like Slovenia, Serbia and Slovakia taste success and bring joy to their countries, the last of which stunned Italy and made it to the Round of 16.
The second conference to analyze in CONMEBOL. On paper, this was the best conference by far. All five participants advanced to the knockout stages. While Argentina and Brazil were expected to win games, the tournament saw Paraguay rise to new levels, making amends after exiting early in the 2006 World Cup by advancing into the quarterfinals for the first time. The tournament saw Chile win its first games since they hosted the tournament back in 1962, with wins over Honduras and Switzerland. But Uruguay was the big story coming from South America. Uruguay have often struggled in qualifying for the World Cup, finishing 5th on three straight occasions. But with a favorable draw, Uruguay recaptured the glory years, between 1930 and 1970, and finished better than all four other South American participants.
The third conference to analyze is CONCACAF. This tournament was a litmus test for the United States. Never in five previous World Cups did the USA win a group stage finale, despite advancing twice into the knockout stages (1994 and 2002). But they provided the biggest drama with a last gasp goal over Algeria that sent the USA top of the group. Mexico advanced as well, and Honduras's participation was good to see, having gotten help from the USA to get to South Africa.
The fourth conference to analyze is CAF. For one, it was great to see the status quo back playing on the African continent with Cameroon and Nigeria. South Africa wanted to provide similar memories from last year's Confederations Cup, and the first goal of the tournament was no exception from Siphiwe Tshabalala. Ghana continued its upward trend, and almost carried the African torch to the semifinals. Algeria's shocking scoreless draw recaptured a little magic from the 1982 World Cup where the North African nation upset West Germany.
The fifth conference to analyze is AFC. in 2002, most fans in South Korea and Japan did not even dream that both nations would advance out of group stage in their own World Cup, let alone on foreign soil eight years later. But, they upset the odds and did enough to give their fans another chance to rekindle the magic of 2002. Australia almost did the same magic that got them into the Round of 16 in Germany, but they still left the tournament with the heads high.
Finally, the sixth conference to analyze is OFC.the most surprising team to leave with their heads high was the only team in the 2010 World Cup that did not lose a game. They did not win a game, either, but New Zealand had fans believing in the impossible. Players believed they could compete with a team like Italy, and their 1-1 draw did not just suffice. It made a statement that the OFC should be considered in getting an automatic entrant into the World Cup for next year.
What South Korea and Japan brought with memorable surprise teams, the same can be said for South Africa, and that is what mad this World Cup not disappointing at all. All that can be said is that the world hopes to see this magic again in Brazil.
Learn more about this author, Antonio Martinez.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Write and get published
Share with other writers
Polish your freelancing skills
Quality articles from proven freelancers
Exclusive rights, fast turnaround
Brand engagement, business blogging -- our writers do it all
INFORMATION
Copyright © 2002-2012 Helium, Inc. All rights reserved.
Helium.com: A Service of RR Donnelley