Goodbye World Cup 2010

The World Cup is finally over!

I have that slightly sad feeling, like the one you have after having a great holiday and you know it's time to return home back to normal life.

You sort of want to come home, but you know it's going to take a while before you get back into the old routine. At the moment I can't even get excited about the prospect of a new Premier League season. It all seems so dull and mundane.

I've really enjoyed this World Cup, the first one in Africa has I'm really proud that they put on such a great tournament.

It's time for me to look back and pick out my highlights, low points and all round general thoughts.

How does this World Cup compare to previous ones?

This has been one of my favourite World Cups, certainly the best since France 98. I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

I know others have disagreed and said it wasn't a classic, but what are they comparing it to? Is it a poor because it's not as good as Mexico 1970? I'm sorry but no World Cup is ever going to compare to that one.

The World Cups from 1970 to 1982 all seem iconic in there own individual ways from the clips I've seen, but I never saw those live.

Mexico 86 is personally my favourite World Cup. Probably because it was the first one I watched, but there were some great games and performances, and nobody can forget the individual brilliance of Diego Maradona.

Admittedly this World Cup got off to a very slow start with not many goals scored, but things certainly improved as we moved out of the group stages and into the knockout phases.

When you've got 32 teams starting the competition off I think the standard is going to suffer as a result, and we saw this with some pretty poor games to begin with. I suppose it's the price you pay for having so many competing nations, but that's what makes the World Cup so great.

What I've really enjoyed and appreciated has been the tactical side of the matches. Football is becoming increasingly sophisticated in terms of the team formations (4-2-3-1 appears the way forward) tactics, and coaching.

You can argue that many games haven't been end to end goal fests, but I found many matches really intriguing and absorbing to watch.

The stand out games were probably Germany's victories over England and Argentina. It's unusual to see one major footballing nation completely outplay another at World Cup finals.

Although it's becoming debatable whether England can still be considered to be a major footballing force.

Team of the tournament

It obviously has to be Spain, the best team in the world won the tournament I don't think there will be too many complaints from anyone.

Some great players, working together to produce a superb footballing side. There were some great emotional scenes from last night's final. The scene of Iker Casillas breaking down in tears of joy at the final whistle will stay with me for years.

Player of the tournament

Diego Forlan

Man Utd fans still occasionally sing:

'Diego ooohhh!, Diego ooohhh!...He came from Uruguay....he made the Scousers cry'

This in recognition of his goal scoring record against Liverpool during his time at Utd and more recently with Athletico Madrid.

Well he didn't make any Scousers cry, but he's been excellent in this World Cup. I'm glad to see his efforts were recognised with him winning the player of the tournament award.

He's been at the heart of everything good that Uruguay have done. Almost single handedly taking an unfashionable team to the World Cup Semi Final.

Best team performance

Germany's 4 - 0 destruction of Argentina in the Quarter final. A brutal defeat for Maradona and Argentina to take.

Germany have been great. A team of unknowns at the start of the tournament but they've introduced the world to some really exciting and talented young players.

Worst Team performance

France's entire World Cup campaign?

England against Algeria?

All pretty bad, but I'm actually going to go for Brazil losing to Holland in the Quarter finals. Who can explain the emotional breakdown the Brazilians suffered after Holland equalised.

Totally baffling!

The Team has been more important than the individual

This World Cup was all about collective efforts of the team above the star individual. None of the world's great footballing stars really imposed themselves on the tournament.

The most successful teams like Spain and Germany and to a lesser extent the likes of Uruguay and Ghana had no star players as such, no egos, or individuals who stood head and shoulders above everyone else.

The players worked together for the greater good of the team. It's seems unlikely we'll see the likes of a Maradona figure who can inspire an entire team to World Cup glory for sometime.

Biggest disappointments

What happened to all those footballing superstars that were going to light up the tournament?

Wayne Rooney was first and foremost the biggest disappointment but you can also include the likes of Ronaldo, Kaka, and Drogba.

Players like Torres was clearly unfit and to a lesser extent Lionel Messi only showed glimpses of the player we see for Barcelona.

World Cups used to turn unknown players into superstars but not anymore. Players make their names in the Champions League and their domestic leagues. The big stars come into tournaments with such a huge amount of hype and expectation that we never used to see.

This only makes the disappointment greater when we realise these players are either tired, unfit or that playing for their national sides doesn't allow them the opportunity to shine in the way the do for their clubs.

Best/Favourite goal

This is a tough one, I'll list my three favourites:

Carlos Tevez second goal for Argentina against Mexico

A Brilliant strike!

Siphiwe Tshabalala for South Africa against Mexico

The first goal of the World Cup, a great finish and an even better celebration. A beautiful moment!

Fabio Quagliarella for Italy against Slovakia

With 20 minutes to go and heading out of the World Cup, Italy finally decided to start playing some football. This was a brilliant chip from outside the box which had a bitter sweet quality to it as it still couldn't stop Italy going out.

Most dramatic ending to a match

Easy - Has to be Ghana v Uruaguay.

If it wasn't for those dastardly Uruguayans, ruining the script and spoiling Africa's party Ghana would have made it to the Semi finals!

That's what some parts of the media would have you believe. I never fell that to be honest. Ghana were unlucky, but Asamoah Gyan could still have sent them through had he scored his penalty.

Most Embarrassing moment

Frank Lampard's goal that never was. How long are FIFA going to act like Luddites and refuse to introduce video technology?

The Vuvuzela

I'm a fan! The Vuvuzela was the sound of the World Cup! I don't think I want to hear it in the Premier League, but it gave this World Cup a unique vibe.

Most annoying thing

The media's slightly patronising attitude towards Africa staging its first World Cup. Constantly going on about how wonderful it would be for an African side to do well. All great sentiments, but on occasions it just went a bit too far.

It reached its worst point during ITV's coverage of Ghana's Quarter final match against Uruguay. Embarrassingly biased towards Ghana!

World Cup villian

Mark Van Bommell - How did he not get sent off during this World Cup? He rampaged around the midfield kicking anything that moved, with or without the ball!

Best TV pundit

Loved Jurgen Klinnsman on the BBC, intelligent and insightful analysis.

The biggest underachievers

Now that Spain are both European and World Champions, England stand alone as the biggest underachievers in world football.

It's unlikely that we're going to win anything soon unless major changes are made to the structure of English football.

What needs to change?

A winter break must be introduced so that players are less tired.

A reduction of foreign players in the Premier League (Uefa want to introduce 6 plus 5 rule. 6 home grown players and 5 foreigners in each team.)This should make a difference.

Better youth coaching - We need to produce more intelligent technical players.

Finally better qualified coaching: here are the figures for the number of coaches with Uefa's top coaching qualification.

Germany 34,970, Italy 29,420, Spain 23,995, France 17,588 In England we have 2,769 (figures from the Sunday Times)

You do the math.

The World Cup Final 2010

Spain 1 Holland 0

The right team won, there's no doubt about that! The more the game went on the more I wanted Spain to win.

I've just had a look on the website of the Spanish newspaper MARCA. The first sentence of their main story reads:

'El sueño se ha hecho realidad. España ya es campeona del mundo de fútbol'

In English,

'The dream has become a reality. Spain are the football champions of the world.

It's such a fantastic moment for them.
It wasn't a great game and won't be remembered as being a classic, but to be fair World Cup finals rarely are great games to watch.

The only great final I can remember watching was Mexico 1986 with Argentina beating West Germany 3-2.

I'm so pleased that Spain managed to win, I think I've developed a real soft spot for the country. It probably began when I started learning Spanish around 10 years ago, before visiting the country on a number of occasions.

I read newspapers like MARCA and El Pais to help improve my Spanish, and I think over the years you do start to develop a certain connection through learning the language and visiting the country.

Even without having that connection I still wanted Spain to win purely from a footballing point of view. They've been the best team in the tournament and the best team in the World for the last couple of years.

They probably haven't scored as many goals as their overall football would suggest they should have, but I've still enjoyed watching all their games.

Spain are like an extension of Barcelona, which isn't surprising when you look at the number of Barca players in the Spanish starting line up.

Xavi and Iniesta must be the best midfield partnership in world football. Watching Xavi play tonight I just kept thinking, that's what you call a proper footballer.

If there was a downside to the game then it has to be directed at the Dutch. At times they played like total thugs.

Any football fan will have a certain level of respect and admiration for what Dutch football has represented and stood for over they years, starting with the great teams of the 70s. But their performance tonight was a betrayal of their footballing tradition and heritage.

The likes of Mark Van Bommel and Nigel De Jong were lucky to still be on the pitch at the end of normal time. Then in extra time after Iniesta's winning goal the way some of their players conducted themselves towards the referee didn't do the reputation of Dutch football any good at all.

I feel sad to say, that there's never been an occasion where I've disliked the Dutch more in international football. They can have no real complaints about tonight's result.

This shouldn't deflect anything from Spain's achievements. For so long the great underachievers of world football along with England, but they've finally started to get it right.

Spain's victory tonight is no coincidence. This victory has been developed over a number of years and the world is seeing the results.

They've invested in great coaching of young players, their big clubs have allowed young players to develop and come through the ranks, and they've stayed true to their principles of playing attractive, intelligent football with great style and technique.

In 2010 there couldn't be a more worthy World Cup winner.

Vamos Espana!

World Cup Octopus

Is Paul the Octopus the real star of this year's World Cup?

This story continues to amuse me - the psychic octopus who has picked the winner in each of Germany's World Cup games in South Africa. This even including the surprise defeat against Serbia in the group stage.

World Cup's have always made household names out of previous unknowns. This year appears to be no different.

Whereas big names like Rooney, Ronaldo, Drogba and Messi have all failed to live up to pre tournament hype and expectations, Paul the Octopus has increased his reputation with each correct prediction!


Today he's come out and predicted a Spanish victory in this Sunday's World Cup final. A wise choice I think. Perhaps he's become a big fan of Spain's 'Tiki Taka' style of play.
With the World Cup almost over, it got me thinking about what the future may hold for him after Sunday's final.

Perhaps politicians will look to him to make predictions on election results. City bankers looking for financial advice on which way the world's markets and economies will turn. The possibilities for Paul seem endless.

It's as if he has the whole world at his feet...I mean tentacles!

Summer Sounds

A few summer tunes I've been listening to this week. The first two are on a little Latin, Bossa Nova tip.

I heard these tracks listening to former Soul II Soul front man Jazzy B on his Friday evening show on BBC Radio London.

If you like anything from Soul, Reggae, House, latin and Jazz you should check it out.

Nat King Cole feat. Bebel Gilberto - Brazilian Love Song


I love this little tune - a clever mash up between Nat King Cole and my favourite Brazilian artist Bebel Gilberto.

Eli Goulart e Banda do mato - Sunny


I'm quite into my Brazilian tunes, but I'd not come across this track before. An appropriate title for the weather outside.


Moving onto something completely different you can check this out:

Jay-Z ft Lil Wayne - Summer in Brooklyn (Quincy Jones Cookin Soul Remix)

I stumbled across this a few days ago on Kanye West's blog. I've been slowly getting into Lil Wayne, he seems to crop up as a featured artist on quite a few people's tracks these days. I need to start listening to more of his stuff.

World Cup thoughts - Day 26 & 27

Day 26

Holland 3 v Uruguay 2

Boring, functional, grinding out results!

Terms you might have associated with old Arsenal teams before Arsene Wenger arrived or previous Germany teams in World Cups.

But no, we're talking about Holland!

Holland make it to their first World Cup final since 1978. I still don't think Holland have played that well to be honest.

I know they beat Brazil, but nobody could have predicted the emotional collapse from the Brazilians in last week's quarter final.
So Despite going ahead through Giovanni Van Bronckhorst's fantastic goal you got the impression that the weight of expectation was too great for the Dutch, something we've seen before with England. There were periods during tonight's game where they really didn't look convincing at all.

It made me think that perhaps that's one of the great challenges of winning the World Cup these days. It's not just about beating the opposition and progressing through the rounds; it's about being able to deal with the huge level of pressure and expectation that many of the big footballing nations have to deal with.

That pressure seemed to weigh even more heavily following Diego Forlan's equaliser. Another great strike, although you have to question what the keeper Stekelenberg was doing.

A word on Forlan - he's been my player of the tournament. He's been superb! Things didn't seem to work out for him during his time at Manchester Utd but since moving to Spain and finishing top scorer in the Spanish league on two occasions, he's really proved his quality. Even more so during this World Cup.

Wesley Sneijder and Ajren Robben scored two goals in three minutes to seal the victory, although Uruguay made the last few minutes of injury time interesting when they pulled a goal back.

It's a bit hard to feel any affection for this Dutch team as they don't have the style and class of the great team of the 70s and other Dutch sides.

But may be its time for them to put substance over style and actually win something rather then being beautiful losers.


Day 27

Spain 1 Germany 0

Spain the great underachievers of world football are in their first World Cup final.

The winning goal came from an unlikely source in the form of Carlos Puyol. Great header though, and you could feel the emotion and relief as he and his teamates celebrated.

It was an intriguing game to watch. If you were to compare it to watching a typical Premier League match you could be harsh and describe it as boring, but that's missing the point.

Interntational football at this level tends to be more tactical and intriguing! Watching the Spanish play you sometimes might think, 'what's really happening' but at the same time lots of subtle little things are going on - it's quietly absorbing I think.

Spain were a little frustrating at times, reminding me a bit of Arsenal. It was all pass pass but with no end product. I had a feeling that Germany would make them pay for not making the most out of all their pressure and possession.

I'm glad Spain won and thought they were the better side. Even though Germany have been the team of the tournament so far, I just feel this is Spain's moment! For years they've always flattered to deceive and now it's all finally coming together.

How can a country with two of the world's greatest football clubs in Real Madrid and Barcelona continually fail to deliver on the international stage? This was their first ever appearance in a World Cup semi final.

I understand quite a bit of Spanish and regularly read the Spanish sports paper MARCA. I've been reading it online almost everyday over the last few weeks as it's interesting to see how another country reports on the World Cup and in particular on its own chances of success.

Reading some of the editorials, I got the feeling that the Spanish knew this was their time. They've never produced a squad of players of this quality before in their history and they couldn't afford to not take this opportunity.

Holland v Spain in the World Cup final. A 'nice' final as Clarence Seedorf said tonight on the BBC. A very Dutch way of seeing things, but it should be good. I'm looking forward to it.