Charles Klein
Now that we are almost a week removed from probably one of the worst finals in World Cup, we can best assess what we witnessed over a month's worth of top shelf international football. Having had a bit of cool-off time as a strong supporter of the Netherlands (and my pre-tournament pick to win it) I can evaluate everything a bit more objectively (although objectivity is never anything I've ever guaranteed here).
Let's start with the final. I had to miss the live telecast because I had to work a Mariners game and so the fact that the tension seemed to be out of it for me probably diminished the excitement of the event. As a footballing contest it was incredibly spare. Most of that is down to the tactics that Bert Van Marwijk decided to utilise for the Netherlands. Instead of trying to play their usual brand of football the Oranje elected to foul the living daylights out of the Spanish midfield, which aside from stacking up an inordinate amount of yellow cards stymied the Spanish pass masters for 116 minutes.
Over the course of regular time, more than a few players were fortunate to play a further part in the final's latter stages. The two guiltiest miscreants were unsuprisingly Nigel De Jong of the Netherlands and surprisingly Andres Iniesta of Spain.
As the video shows below, De Jong was more than fortunate to only receive a yellow card for this challenge:
Not long after this play Iniesta, frustrated by what he believed was persistent fouling by Mark Van Bommel, took the Oranje agitator to ground unseen by Howard Webb. This was a cynical take down with no attempt to play the ball (which was not even close to where Iniesta's foul was committed) and Iniesta was incredibly fortunate not to be booked at all for his challenge.
Aside from foul controversies, there was very little in terms of gilt-edged chances for either side to grab a hold of the proceedings. It was one of those matches where the commentators continually say things like "All this match needs is a goal" etc. Arjen Robben had the two best Dutch chances of the match, each time failing to put the ball into Iker Casillas' net.
The first and best chance Robben had came in the 62' when he was one on one with Casillas. Instead of either chipping Casillas or firing a more powerful shot, Robben's substandard effort careened off the outstretched leg of St. Iker and harmlessly out of bounds for a corner. Robben came close again not long after that, but was foiled by Carles Puyol, who by the FIFA rule book was guilty of at least one foul on Robben in the build-up.
The match continued on into extra time, where Dutch centre back Johnny Heitinga received his second yellow card on a questionable decision by referee Webb. Heitinga appeared to put his hands on Iniesta, who upon contact immediately went to ground. For me if it is not an obvious foul it is best not to call it, especially in that situation. Webb elected to send Heitinga packing and from that moment on it appeared almost inevitable that Spain would find some way of scoring. And in the 116' on a goal from Andres Iniesta Spain won its first World Cup.
Overall this World Cup will be remembered for its singular moments of ecstasy and disappointment that few sports are better at providing than soccer.
Best Goal of the Tournament: Giovanni van Bronckhorst vs. Uruguay
For me this was a difficult decision, but ultimately after much review and debate I decided to go with this goal over Siphiwe Tshbalala's firecracker which opened the tournament and Landon Donovan's winning goal versus Algeria. Van Bronkhorst has not scored a ton of goals for the Netherlands in his international career, but none proved more important than the one which opened the scoring of their semifinal with Uruguay.
After all, goals must be evaluated on style first and in the event of a tie, things like import come into play.
Speaking of Landon Donovan, his goal against Algeria was one of the biggest moments of the 2010 World Cup. If anyone needed proof that soccer (at least every four years anyway) could become popular in the United States, they would need only watch this video:
Please try and tell me those people don't look excited! Team USA's run in this World Cup, however brief (only four games), provided some of the best matches of the tournament. Whether it was Robert Green's Hand of Clod or the inexplicable foul committed in the box in the late stages of their thrilling comeback against the Green Dragons of Slovenia, the Americans never failed to entertain. It was truly disappointing to watch them lose to Ghana in the round of 16, especially after coming back once again to tie it at 1-1. Few moments like the one in which I heard commentator Ian Darke temporarily lose his cool yelling "GO GO USA" after Donovan's winner will ever eclipse that goal. I was sent sliding on the carpet of my bonus room floor, pumping my fist and yelling to the dismay of my sisters who didn't understand how important a moment it truly was.
Probably one of the funnier moments of the World Cup, especially if you are not a fan of Les Bleus. Their training ground protest was ever so French. I mean really, what typifies that country's history more than its protests and rebellions? It was only fitting that the most unpopular Frenchman since Louis XVI be sent off in a similar fashion. I'm not sure why Raymond Domenech was allowed to manage this team in the World Cup when his ouster was already signed up for Euro 2012 (Laurent Blanc), but it became abundantly clear that this team would not play for Domenech.
The greatest act of infamy at this world cup was not a head butt but rather a volleyball spike off the line. In the Ghana vs. Uruguay quarterfinal match, Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez used his hands to deny a certain winner by Ghana in the dying embers of extra time. He was properly punished with a red card for his actions and in his slow trot off the pitch witnessed Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan send his penalty kick smack into the crossbar. Suarez's professional foul allowed his team to have another bite at the apple, one they took with relish, advancing to the semifinals to lose to the Netherlands.
The quality of the video is a bit lacking, but it's all I could find.
Suarez was unjustly villainized for his actions. He was booed continually in the third place match versus Germany by the South African fans in attendance. I understand that people were pretty angry about Ghana going out in such fashion, but it was a case of passions overruling rational behavior. Any player in world football would have made the same play that Suarez made to give his team a chance to win such an important match. Furthermore, it was not as if Suarez went unpunished for his foul. He received a straight red card and a one game suspension, par for the course as far as precedence goes for that type of foul.
And now it is time for me to give out my World Cup Awards.
Golden Boot: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
Silver Boot: Diego Forlan (Uruguay)
Bronze Boot: David Villa (Espana)
2010 World Cup XI
GK: Iker Casillas (ESP)
DEF: Carles Puyol (ESP), Sergio Ramos (ESP), Philipp Lahm (GER), Maicon (BRA)
MF: Wesley Sneijder (NED), Xavi (ESP), Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER), Thomas Muller (GER)
ST: Diego Forlan (URU), David Villa (ESP)
Overall this World Cup was definitely one to remember. Whether you supported Team USA, who reached the knockout stages of this tournament for the second time in three attempts, Espana, who won its first ever World Cup or if you just watched this World Cup to see what all the fuss was about, its almost absolutely certain that there was a little something for everyone.
While soccer may not have quite taken off in the United States (not that it has to for the survival of the sport in a big picture sense), it certainly had plenty of Americans watching and paying attention to every kick of the ball. Most will be pleased to never have to hear another vuvuzela again (I know I am), even though I, like everyone else, just got used to the annoying noise meaning that a game was on. Getting up at absurd times, drinking alcohol at abnormal hours of the day and being brought together as a nation for a few weeks in support of a national team are things I will never forget about the 2010 World Cup. I can't believe we have to wait four more years for something like these feelings to come back, but it will assuredly be worth the wait.
And I almost forgot to mention Paul the prognosticating Octopus who picked every single match of the 2010 World Cup in which Germany participated (and the final) correctly. The German Octopus now has his own iPhone application dedicated to him. In a World Cup, anything is possible, even for cephalopods.
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