There used to be individual superstars, who single-handedly led their teams to the final or helped take the World Cup to their countries. However, after the victory of Italy in World Cup 2006, the scenario has changed. Team effort is eventually paying its dividends.[break]
We saw individual talents in every World Cup until 2002. Though Diego Maradona didn’t score a single goal in 1990 World Cup, he was the superstar to lead Argentina to the final. Romario and Roberto Bazio were the two superstars in 1994 and Zinaden Zidane emerged in 1998. Ronaldo was the hero, who led the Brazilian victory in 2002.
However, there were several heroes in the victory of Italy in 2006 -- Zambrotta, Toti and Buffon, to name a few.
Netherlands and Spain, the two finalists of this edition, also seem to be banking on team game. Netherlands and Spain were considered ‘unlucky’ as they have not been able to lift the World Cup trophy despite good performance.
The Finalists
Netherlands and Spain seem all set to remove the ‘unlucky’ tag since Spain’s victory in the Euro 2008 final. Spain have lost only five in the last 53 matches and Netherlands remain undefeated in the last 25 matches.
Netherlands had introduced the concept of ‘total football’ in 1974. They have been playing as per the concept since then and they are achieving success now.
Spain and Netherlands both play beautiful game. Generally, European teams play speed game and long passes but these two finalists play short passes and switch the ball repeatedly for long passes.
Both the teams think attacking is best defense. They maintain superior ball possession and try to play on the opponent’s half.
However, Netherlands have good attacking option. They hold the ball in the midfield and immediately Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt and Van Persie move forward for attack.
On the other hand, Spain have very strong defense line-up, who have registered less defensive errors than Netherlands.
Spain proved that modern football is played by midfield and they exemplified it during the semifinal against Germany. Spain didn’t give Germany playing space and dominated ball possession throughout the match.
Germany have scored four goals against three opponents in this World Cup, which is a record feat since Brazil did it in 1970.
Unexpected and Surprising Results
Elimination of Italy and France from the group stage was unexpected while Uruguay’s semifinal run was a surprise.
Paraguay and New Zealand held Italy in draws. The 1-1 draw against New Zealand was the unexpected, which created pressure on Italy against Slovakia and they lost the last group stage match.
The main reason behind France’s exit was the internal dispute between players and the coach while their defeat against Mexico was the turning point in their fate.
Italy had aged players like Fabio Cannavaro in their squad and similar was the case with France and England. On the other hand, Germany were full of young talents like Mueller, Oezil, Schweinsteiger and Lucas Podolski. The first three suffered because of the inclusion of the aged players while Germany reached semifinal riding on the performance of the young blood.
Uruguay was the 32nd team to qualify for the World Cup. The South American team was last to qualify for South Africa and they came through a playoff match against Costa Rica. However, they demonstrated teamwork in South Africa to surprise football lovers as Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez gave stellar performances.
The US team was surprisingly good though they failed to reach the quarterfinals.
Continental glance
Talking about the performance of Asian teams, we can be proud of Japan and South Korea this time around. Both the teams qualified to the round of 16 for the first time in foreign soil. They didn’t look like underdogs during the matches.
FIFA had raised African quota in the World Cup following Cameroon’s good performance in 1990 and we Asian can expect the same after this World Cup.
Australia was also a good team but they were unlucky to receive two sent offs in two consecutive matches.
North Korea had surprised the world in the first match against Brazil but they finally disappointed us. This proved that without a good domestic league you can not excel in the international level. We all know that the isolated nation do not have good domestic league.
Africans were expected to rock World Cup in their soil but only Ghana managed to enter the round of 16. South Africa became the first host nation to get out from the group stage.
In previous tournaments, around 10 European teams used to get into the round of 16. However, only six teams managed to clinch success in South Africa. On the other hand, all the five South American teams qualified for the round of 16.
However, Europeans emerged superior in the higher level of the tournament.
After 1962, South Americans and Europeans were winning the World Cup alternatively. Italy were the winners in 2006. However, this record ends in South Africa, as it will be all-European final on Sunday. This would be first World Cup victory for Europeans in another continent.
Controversy
People will remember the winners and controversial Argentine coach Maradona in coming years while remembering this World Cup. But they will also remember controversial decision of referee who wrote off English player Frank Lampard’s goal against Germany.
Referees decision to write-off the US forward Clint Dempsey’s goal against Slovenia was another controversial decision.
Likewise, Argentine striker Carlos Tevez’s offside goal against Mexico, Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano’s goal after double handlings were few others to note.
Uruguay’s Luis Suarez handling of the ball in the dying moments of the quarterfinal match against Ghana also courted controversy in the World Cup.
All these controversies fuelled the debate in favor of using new technology in football. In my view, it’s time to think about using goal-line technology. Hawk-eye or any other technologies can be brought in for goal line but we should not totally write-off human aspect of the match. Referee should bring uniformity in decisions.
Stars and Superstars
The famous Dutch trio Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard were expected to win World Cup for Netherlands in 1990 but they failed. People started criticizing them and Gullit replied to the media “We are humans and we can’t give cent percent efficiency every time.”
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Wayne Rooney were superstars before the World Cup. Though Messi could not take his team to the semifinals, he was fitting the superstar bill during this World Cup. Argentine dependency on Messi created pressure on him and the team strategy didn’t fit for the little man.
Kaka was good in the role of a playmaker but the red card he received in the match against Ivory Coast and his injury let him down.
Diego Forlan gave stellar performance for Uruguay in their good run. Likewise, German midfielder Schwensteiger, Mueller, Oezil, Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Xavi Alonso, forward David Villa, Dutch players Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben have been retaining their star status with the performance.
There is still a final match to go but I would say there is no such star, who can single-handedly take the credits for any victory.
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