So after the biggest month in the football calendar we can finally say that Spain are champions of the world, and quite deservedly too, but in the grand scheme of things they aren’t the only winners as among so many matches there have been so many heroes.
So lets start with the obvious winners, the Spaniards. Despite one heck of a blip in the first round of games, losing 1-0 to the Swiss. They looked a class apart right through the tournament. And the whole way through the team they had players capable of controlling and changing games and played their part in some way during the campaign, Iker Casillas’ penalty save against Paraguay, Carlos Puyol was rock solid throughout and scored that all important header past Manuel Neuer in the German goal. Xavi had total control over games, completing a record 669 passes in just 7 games even though he was taken off with 24 minutes to go against Honduras. Iniesta proved to the little master, linking play between attack and defence and of course scoring that goal. And David Villa, Spains top scorer and jointly the leading front man in the tournament, every player, Fernando Torres aside was a hero to the crowds watching at home in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
But where there are winners there are inevitably losers and, oh boy, did we have two biggies here. Where do we start? Well, as an Englishman, I think I’ll start with the French., this is one train wreck we could have seen coming. Ever since his appointment after a disappointing Euro 2004 for the French Domenech has been questioned on so many fronts, his squad selections often being baffling for various reasons, for example picking players based on their star sign, resultant in Robert Pires missing out on many matches, and the fact that he left Ludovic Giuly out of the world cup squad left an air of distrust among fans, but more importantly, among the players and boy did it show. More questionable team selections behind the scenes arguments and a bizarre boycott of a days worth of training due to Nicolas Anelka’s banishment from the camp lead to poor displays and ultimately a humiliating 2-1 loss to hosts South Africa.
So lets talk about the aforementioned South Africans now, in fact not just the team but the nation as a whole. The entirety of South Africa can hold their heads up high for delivering a fantastic World Cup. Pre-tournament fears of crime never amounted to anything that caught the media’s eye in a massive way, only a group of unhappy stewards caused some trouble, games were generally well attended and the whole atmosphere seemed to bring the country together as whole, something which isn’t easily done on the African continent. And the legacy that it will leave behind in terms of stadiums, infrastructure and a massive economic boost will certainly leave a mark on the nation. But on the pitch as well as off there were heroes as, despite fears that the team would struggle, they showed there worth with an engrossing 1-1 draw with Mexico. Though a disappointing 3-0 defeat by Uruguay followed they caused a shock against the French in Bloemfontein, very nearly making it into the next round.
The other two sides in Group A had good world cups too, the Mexicans had a tidy win over the French and were unlucky to be drawn up against Argentina in the round of 16 for the second World Cup in a row, new Manchester United signing Javier Hernandez particularly shone.
The Uruguayans meanwhile had a fabulous tournament, fighting their way to the Semis, thought they did take the easy route, not beating one of the supposed ‘big’ teams on the way. But nevertheless it was still a major success back in Montevideo. Diego Forlan, arguably the best player in the tournament, was the real talisman, scoring five goals and creating a couple more, while strike partner Luis Suarez was perhaps the biggest villain of the World Cup. His controversial handball on the line in the quarter final against Ghana meant that the Africans were unrightfully denied a place in the semi finals, but overall for Uruguay this was a great return to some of the early world cup tournaments.
On to group B then and we’ll start with Nigeria. The African side had a particularly poor tournament, gaining just a single point thanks to a draw with South Korea, no players really shone for the Nigerians who nearly got suspended by FIFA after Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan banned the national team from competing because they were so bad, he eventually changed his mind. The Greeks fared much better than their first attempt at a world cup, finally scoring their first ever finals goal thanks to Dimitris Salpingidis’ strike to equalise against Nigeria., the win in that game however proved to be the only positive note for a side whose only tactic seemed to be get a goal and defend, defend, defend, something that doesn’t work when you concede first.
The other two sides in the group were much better, South Korea scored in every game they played and showed spirited performances, even in their 4-1 loss to Argentina. It was those Argentineans who were easily the best team in the group though, Diego Maradona changing much of their tactics from a near disastrous qualifying campaign and it worked as his side ran out comfortable winners in all three group games and their last 16 tie. It all ended rather abruptly at the quarter finals however, as they went down 4-0 to a German side who scored goals for fun in this world cup. The most notable player from the Argentinean team was Gonzalo Higuain who finished with four goals to his name, including a notable hat-trick against South Korea.
I would go on to group C, but as an Englishman, I think I’ll leave that for now. Germany came into the tournament as nothing really more than dark horses. We know thy can do it and they very often do but this time, without Ballack, no world class ‘keeper, surely they couldn’t do it again? But they did, starting with a 4-0 thrashing of Australia and it continued on from there, despite the minor blip against a bang average Serbian side. They finished up as surprise top scorers for the tournament and their team contained Thomas Muller, the golden boot winner. Time and again they kept rolling on and ended up scoring four goals on three separate occasions as well as scoring three in the 3rd place play off.
Elsewhere in group D we find Australia who went from a down to gradual up. After getting thumped by Germany they held their nerve for a draw with Ghana and a win over a Serbia side that underperformed throughout. They can also feel hard done by with the two red cards that Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell received. But what of Ghana, well, they deservedly reached the quarter finals and were only the thickness of Luis Suarez’s arm away from being in the semis. It was nice to see the rest of Africa and, indeed, the whole of the world take them to their hearts, but oh what could have been. As they stand they performed solidly during the tournament and thoroughly deserved to get as far as they did.
Small successes are what the world cup is about for some teams and one who conquered in this sense were Japan. Only once had they previously made it to the last sixteen and that was in their own country in 2002 but after top quality performances against Cameroon and then Denmark they found themselves through to the last sixteen where they became the only team to fall foul of the cruelty of the penalty shootout. But nevertheless they got the job done and Takeshi Okada, the rather eccentric coach, can be proud of what they have done. Small successes should too have been the order of the day for Denmark and Cameroon but at the end of the day neither were good enough. In fact the only reason the Danes gained a three points is because they had to play each other. Cameroon were desperately disappointing though and much of this can be blamed on coach Paul Le Guen. The former Rangers boss made questionable decision about putting Samuel Eto’o on the right and picked very young teams, a fact that rubbed off on the players who complained to him that fact, not good for team harmony.
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