I will remember this World Cup for more reasons than one. Its been one of those rare tournaments where i have had the chance of watching more than 90% of the matches, even after they were broadcast at such ridiculous times for us to watch here in India.
There have been a lot of ups and downs as the tournament progressed, but it certainly was entertaining. Arent sports meant to be entertaining, anyway ? ;)
The number of goals scored in the tournament itself shows how exciting the matches were. Out of the 147 goals that were scored, 120 of them came in the 48 group matches. An average of more than 2 goals per game. Who wouldnt enjoy that ? And to accompany you as the match progressed, we had a great team of commentators. John Helm, was one whom i admired the most. His comments were realistic and on the fly. Just listening to him speak added more fun to the game, with his very nice small snippets spewed out at moments when the players took some rest doing some dull passes. One lovely comment i rememeber from him was in the match between England and Portugal when the cameras showed Scolari and Ericksson in 2 consecutive frames. He brought in the contrast in their faces by saying that, one looked like a expectant grandpa running up and down the hospital corridor, and the other looked so calm and focussed like he is solving a very sophisticated puzzle. We all had a great laugh listening to those comments. Fortunately, for all the matches aired at 12:30 in the night, we had John to listen to, and it made sure that we didnt doze off.
The referees had to bear the brunt of all the fury in this tournament. Not sure if the rules had been made strict on purpose to avoid any mishaps, but the way the freekicks were given, and the ease with which the referees brought out their Yellow and Red cards was astonishing. It was even more bad, when the referee would make a crucial error in judgement and stop a fast paced attack, or give a wrong foul, and change the course of the match. So much of the game rests on the alertness and the ability of the referee to take proper decisions. And to make matters worse, we have players faking the fouls and fooling the already tensed referees. Its really tough to have the players playing with so much of adrenaline rushing up, and still expect a fair game.
Argentina was my favourite team, and they really played great. The team was full of young blood and what i liked most about this team was that they played as a single unit. They had class, and they took the passes with so much ease and accuracy, that made it even more great to watch them play. It was really sad to see them lose in the Quarters, and i almost lost all interest in this tournament. But then, i saw the French rising well from the dumps. They had a pathetic World Cup the previous time, and were being haunted by the old memories this time around too. But a rejuvenated team, which started scoring goals and beliving in themselves lifted up their game. Henry was playing so good, like the way he plays for Arsenal. And Zidane, the recipient of the Golden Ball, this year, was at his best. I even heard my friends, who were watching Zidane for the first time, [ and some didnt even know how his name was spelt :p ] speak great about him.
Ronaldhino, the World Football Player of the Year, was the biggest flop off this World Cup. Along with him were Rooney, who had so much of hype surrounding his inclusion into the English team after recovering from that ankle fracture and Ronaldo, the big fat guy from Brazil. He really seemed to be out his class. There were only flashes of the great Ronaldo we are so used to see, and it really disappointed all. One man whom the whole world would be pitying the most has to be Frank Lampard. Boy, what a tournament he had !!! He had close to 35 shots on goal, the highest for any player, including one from the penalty kick, and he still failed to score a single goal !!! Luck was never on his side, and i felt very bad for this man, who was coming to the World Cup finals on a great high from Chelsea, after missing the previous World Cup. I was thinking of him as the black horse of England who would score those crucial goals for England. But it wasnt to be so.
Instead it was Gerard who made the difference to England. He scored very important goals, usually the deciding goals, and hit them with great strength. Another fighter i saw in this World Cup was Ronaldo, from Portugal. He moved with electifying speed and made a lot of valiant attempts at scoring great goals for Portugal. Lahm of Germany was another find of this tournament. His early opening goal set the stage for all high scoring matches. He is a pure left flank player, playing left footed, and was nice to see a left footed player after a long time. Schevchenko, from Ukraine, was another promising player. He was the most awaited player of this tourney to show his talent, after being picked up by Chelsea even before the start of the World Cup. He definately lived up to the expectations, but couldnt pull his team beyond the Quarters.
This has been a long pending post of mine, and i was burried with so many meetings and stuff at work that I atlast had to be poked to complete this and write the other promised and more interesting posts. Hope i become regular and have posts being published at a more regular interval.
