South Africa 2010: A Bold Move Paid Dividends

Tuesday, 20th July 2010 at 08:47am

If the standard of football played during the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa wasn't of a similar standard to recent finals, the atmosphere and the enthusiasm for the tournament shown by the locals more than made up for it.

When the decision to award the 2010 tournament to South Africa was made, a number of voices within the game criticised the sport's governing body for being bold and taking a risk.

Too much crime, poor transport links and the standards of the stadia not being up to scratch were just three of the concerns but Danny Jordaan and his team can look back at the recent month long football fiesta with a huge amount of pride and satisfaction.

Yes, there were empty seats in the stadiums but the blame for that can be laid at the feet of Fifa for being out of touch with everyday life in South Africa when they devised the initial ticket purchasing methods.

Before the tickets went on sale, Fifa must have surely been aware that a large percentage of the South African populous didn't have access to a credit card and why they thought that the confusing ballot would be a better system than over the counter sales is beyond comprehension for all but those in the corridors of power in Zurich.

The World Cup deserves, nay demands, to be played in front of capacity crowds and hopefully, lessons will have been learned ahead of Brazil in 2014.

As much as it is easier to criticise Fifa, credit must be given to the game's administrators for being brave enough to award South Africa the finals in the first place.

The passion for football amongst the locals was evident and they brought an energy and noise to the World Cup, the likes of which has never been seen or heard before.

Every match was a kaleidoscope of colour and the vuvuzelas, love them or loathe them, were an important feature of this tournament as South Africa proved to the world once again that it is capable of staging major events.

It was pleasing to read that Fifa refused to ban the vuvuzelas from the grounds after complaints from players, officials and broadcasters. To have done so would have ripped the heart and soul out of the finals and deprived South Africans of the chance to enjoy football the way they have for the last two decades or so.

And so to the business of the football itself. The most glaring omission from the tournament was a game that took the breath away as there have been in previous finals; Argentina 6 Serbia & Montenegro 0 in 2006, Argentina 2 England 2 in 1998 and Nigeria 3 Spain 2 in 1994 for example.

But where there wasn't a game that left spectators murmuring in delight, there certainly was a team that did. Despite losing their first match to Switzerland, Spain were worthy winners in a tournament where individual brilliance seemed to give way to team cohesion.

Before the tournament much was written about the talents of world superstars Wayne Rooney, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and others but it was the more team focused players, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Diego Forlan, Bastien Schweinsteiger and Wesley Sneijder, who came to the fore.

Spain won all four of their knock out games by one goal to nil but controlled each match in a way that the divide between Spain and their opponents was far greater than the score line suggested.

In the final, a talented Netherlands side, albeit one leagues apart from the teams that finished as runners up in 1974 and 1978, felt the need to abandon its attacking and footballing principles, choosing instead a more physical approach such was the quality of Spain in possession of the football.

In Xavi and Iniesta, Spain have the world's foremost midfield players; two individuals who don't know the meaning of giving the ball away, who are able to make the game move at their own tempo and are quite simply a joy to watch.

It says everything about the strength of Spanish football that Cesc Fabregas can only make the bench when he would be arguably the best player in the England team and many others around the globe.

England were one of the major disappointments of the tournament, fairing only slightly better than France and defending champions Italy.

It is time that England fans realised that the English national team isn't as good as we think it is based on the success of the Premier League; some serious soul searching and decision making is needed if the Three Lions are to progress.

In fact, all three teams have serious amount of rebuilding to do if they are to challenge in the future and I imagine there are few coaches casting envious glances in Laurent Blanc's direction after the debacle that was the French campaign.

Another major disappointment was the performances of the African nations with the obvious exception of Ghana. On home soil, to have just one team progress beyond the group stage wasn't good enough and African football also needs to assess what must be done so its teams can start to make a bigger impression on the world stage.

I can imagine that there are few supporters outside of Uruguay who were happy to see the South Americans eliminate Ghana, especially in such dramatic circumstances.

It would have been a wonderful success story had Ghana become the first African team to reach the semi finals and but for Luis Suarez's handball and Asamoah Gyan's missed penalty it would have been so.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be, but with a young and talented squad, Ghana's time may yet come again.

Uruguay surprised many during the finals and Diego Forlan has once again proved what an outstanding footballer he is and was fully deserving of the Golden Ball given to the tournament's best player.

The 2010 World Cup also saw the birth of a new Germany, playing a brand of football vastly different from other German teams that have graced the finals in previous years. Young, quick and talented, the German national team looks as though it will be a major player in world football for some time to come.

Now the fun is over again for another four years as we turn our attention to Brazil 2014. Let's hope that the football reaches greater heights in the land where football became the beautiful game and that the passion and sheer joy of the occasion matches what we enjoyed in South Africa.

If that happens, we'll be in for a truly memorable month.

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