From empty stadiums, lack of goals, disappearing star players to a dull finale, this World Cup has failed to excite. Has football gone to sleep?
If the exaltation and praises of every football fan surrounding the World Cup has been riveted on a certain seafood and fowl (the latter in Singapore at least), the FIFA 2010 World Cup held in the African continent for the very first time has, for the lack of a kinder word, failed to inspire and capture the imagination of millions tuned into this phenomenal global event.
On the cold winter night of July 11th, there was a lining in the gloomy clouds and the colour was scarlet red instead of the usual silver – albeit briefly.
The La Furia Roja (Red Fury in Spanish) deservedly won the World Cup in Soccer City stadium after defeating the Oranje 1-0 in extra time in a final that many would like to forget or have already forgotten. The final between Spain and Netherlands was riddled with robust tackles, aggressive body checks and petulant tempers including a flying kick in the chest, ending goalless in full time with the threat of a lottery penalty looming before Andres Iniesta settled the score.
In truth, it was a poor match with the Spanish players shackled by the Dutch enforcers and denied the opportunity to play the exquisite and patient game of tiki-taka (passing football). Imagine Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh, painters and artisans of the craft, denied of their brushes.
It was a dull final without the vivid colours and beautiful strokes, an ill-fitted but appropriate denouncement to the tournament.
In a competition where most of the high-flier teams dropped like flies from the French to the English, there may be a lesson or two to be learnt from the impressive Spanish and Germans. The first eleven of the Spanish team in the finale all played in their very own La Liga with half of the team hailing from the eminent FC Barcelona. Players such as Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets all trained in the famous La Masia and shared the same football DNA.
Ditto for the Die Mannschaft (nickname for the Germans) with most of their players based in Germany playing for clubs like Hamburg, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich. The English and a certain Italian should quit whining over scones and tea and start taking notes from these teams.
With one of the highest ratio of foreign players plying their trade in the English Premier League, English players have a lesser chance of breaking into the clubs at senior levels. This is a grassroots problem the English Football Association, which prides as the oldest (sadly, none the wisest) in the world, has to address quickly. But we know the entire league is plagued by greed where fat cheques are promised to attract foreign players to sell more merchandise, more sponsorship rights and more seats.
Greed, a sin that engulfs the world from collapsed economies to corrupted bankers, has seeped into the sport and inevitably, the World Cup. It makes logical sense to make business with sponsors but if it were done at the expense of the commoner, the man on the street, the football fan, then the soul of football is lost. How else can FIFA explain the empty seats in the stadiums? How could the average African without a substantial salary and plastic card (VISA to be exact) afford and have access to one of the most significant sporting events happening in his very own country and lifetime?
To pander to the European football calendar, the tournament is held barely a month after the leagues ended their seasons with most of the players arriving tired, weary and half-fit (read: Fernando Torres and Kaka). Lest we forget the UEFA Champions League knock-out stages are played in the final weeks of April and May, a tournament deemed more demanding, more challenging and more attractive than the World Cup itself. How can the players find the motivation to play then? Look at the disgraced French, who are more concerned about a mutiny than playing football.
No wonder most of the coaches chose to err on the side of caution employing the defensive 4-2-3-1 tactics consisting two holding midfielders to stop all attacking flair from the opposition and one centre forward to put in the goals. The two teams in the finale are guilty parties, including Dunga’s Brazil that stifled their own samba.
This is the story of the World Cup 2010 edition – severely lacking in goals (a ratio of 2.27 compared to highest 2.97 in 1970) and excitement with a thin plot centred on loose characters that have nothing to do with football from the deaf-inducing vuvuzela to prophesying sea creatures. Headlines need to be shouting about the wonders of the next Pele and Maradona (for a moment, we put our faith in Lionel Messi) and not lament on plastic trumpets causing ear injuries.
Four years from now, the World Cup shifts to a new continent, to the home of the samba, to the ground where Pele walks. If England is where football is an invention, then Brazil is where football is a religion, a way of life and a waking dream for every child kicking a ball in the fields and the favelas. And we pray football wakes up from its slumber.
Ronald Wan is a columnist and a freelance writer.
Read our past match reports on our micro site at https://theurbanwire.sg/worldcup
Articles on FIFA 2010 World Cup:
World Cup Final Preview: A Tale of Two Nations – Ronald Wan
2010 World Cup Referees: Simply Horrendous or Mere Scapegoats? – Nigel Low
Beginning of an End – Ronald Wan
Contenders Stake Their Claim – Nigel Low
World Cup Survivor Kit – Amiril Muhaimin