Charles Klein
I know I have not written very much, if anything on this year's World Cup. But that does not mean that nothing's been happening. I've just been very busy.
The Good:
Team USA. It's pretty much impossible to say how much fun it was to watch our boys play. They were frustrating, brilliant and probably brought on heart-attack like symptoms for everyone watching. Clint Dempsey's shot that caromed beautifully out of the bumbling hands of Robert Green and into the net was a thing of beauty. Imagining the stunned faces of Britons everywhere, we all laughed as Robert 'Catastrophe' Green held his head in his hands. The two goal comeback versus Slovenia showed the perseverance of a nation and the frustration at the unbelievably bad call at the end of that match was inspiring. For a few weeks anyway, America gave a good impression of a nation that actually gave two shits about soccer. And that is encouraging.
Durban Stadium. It is so beautiful and well crafted I could not forget to mention it in this article. I really want to go there.
The Underdog. Group play was actually interesting this time around. What fun it was to watch New Zealand shock Slovakia and Italy and gain their first points at a world cup? How cool was it to watch Siphiwe Tshabala celebrate with his buddies after they scored the first goal of the world cup? And how great was it to see Ghana carry the banner of Africa into the quarterfinals? The surprises may have hurt a few people and fan bases, but they have also contributed to a more open World Cup where more often than not the established powers prevail.
David Villa. Isn't this guy fun to watch? He has one of the best shots at this World Cup. He is my favorite for the Golden Boot. Not to mention the fact that Villa is one of the most respectable footballers in the world. This World Cup is a great way to show just how much better Barcelona will be next year.
Javier Hernandez: The boy they call Chicharito in Mexico made a name for himself at this tournament. Luckily for Manchester United, they decided to buy him before the tournament.
Mesut Ozil: The Werder Bremen star has yet again proven that Germany's best players don't come from Germany (Ozil is Turkish). Rumours abound that Barcelona are ready to floor his German club with a 40 million euro offer. After watching him at this World Cup, I can understand why.
Special One TV: If you have not watched this yet and consider yourself a fan of the beautiful game, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Here's the latest clip:
The Bad
The team that was so fortunate to even be at this World Cup did absolutely nothing to take the chance luck had offered them. France were abysmal in all three matches they played. While Argentine manager Diego Maradona received far too much criticism pre-tournament, no one spared much time or thought to how Raymond Domenech was going to handle this 23-man group from France. Already a lame duck coach, Domenech did very little to help himself in his future endeavors by his failings with the French squad. Leaving out Karim Benzema and handing Thierry Henry, only to leave Henry on the bench in all three matches, a spot in the squad made little to no sense. Domenech did a terrible job in his team selection and built no chemistry within the side. Poor Patrice Evra had no chance to lead that bunch to any sort of success.
Italy were another disappointment. As much as fans of the Azzurri prefer to think otherwise, this Italian team has been getting by on barely enough type of performances for the past four or five years. It's been rare to watch an inspired looking Italian XI. They were lackluster at Euro 2008 (even though they did advance out of the group because of France's failings), not much better at the Confederations Cup and stunk it up in the group stages of this tournament. Italy need to develop their youth or their fans will need to alter their expectations. Four World Cups and they didn't even make it to the next round. History isn't everything my friends.
Another misconception at this World Cup is that literally everything that Spain and Brazil do is the most amazing thing you'll ever see on a football pitch. If Xavi Hernandez were to take a piss on the field, it would be the most beautiful public urination in the history of the world. The commentators are so in bed with the Spanish and Brazilians that we do not even get to hear why that other team on the field might be fun to watch. And if we are trying to be real about what we've seen so far from both teams, neither has dazzled or done anything extraordinary. I almost fell asleep watching the Portugal Spain match. That may be due to the fact that Portugal were playing stifling defensive tactics, but all of the 'beautiful' passing of Spain did little to make me want to continue to watch. Kaka has not been the player he was in 2007 when he played at AC Milan and their has not been much brilliance with Spain aside from David Villa.
The God Awful
One of the more frustrating elements of the World Cup for anyone who has followed soccer for a while (longer than a month ago) is how much the coverage and criticism of the games, players and officials is catered toward the new fan and not to the fan who already understands the fundamentals of the game. The punditry this year has been absolutely awful, leaving me wondering what Tommy Smyth ever said to piss an ESPN producer off so much that they had to put guys like John Harkes and Alexi Lalas in commentary positions. Steve McManaman has been bad as well. And I do not really understand Roberto Martinez or Ruud Gullit. Whatever happened to sensible casting for these shows? Or good punditry. I even miss Andy Gray. It's been that bad.
Speaking of bad, the officiating at this World Cup has been unequivocally asinine. Too many referees are giving away yellow cards the way hockey teams give their fans rally towels during the playoffs. The Paraguay Japan round of 16 match encapsulated this phenomena to a ridiculous extent. We should have expected officiating to be a major issue considering what an important role it played in certain teams qualifying. FIFA has a lot of explaining to do with their selection of World Cup match officials, specifically regarding hiring the official who allowed Thierry Henry's Hand of Gaul goal which put France into the tournament and left the Irish at home.
There's been a lot to love, hate and contemplate at this year's world cup. Certain things just never change, like how England is the best train wreck of a soap opera every four years or how much the commentators love Brazil. What remains to be seen is whether or not another team is capable of winning it this year that is not named Brazil or Spain. Here's to hoping there are a few more surprises before this tournament is permanently in our collective rear view.
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