FIFA WORLD CUP 2010: The Good The Bad And The Ugly
The round of sixteen has now come to a close, however there were a few things that stood out from the crowd.
Starting off with the ugly, it doesn’t get any worse than the refereeing decisions. Frank Lampard’s sublime goal and Carlos Tevez’s offside goal, were both match changing decisions, the referee’s were in positions to make the correct calls but failed to do so.
Wayne Rooney went into the tournament, with his best ever goal scoring record. He left without a single goal. At times it seemed liked he had forgotten how to take a shot all together. He now has to wait until 2014 at least to score a World Cup goal.
David James, was quite simply terrible, his positioning was terrible, his decision making was quite questionable at times. He could have done much better to prevent Podolski and Mueller’s goals, but failed to do so. All these errors eventually led to his team crashing out of the World Cup.
Moving on to the bad, the U.S midfield was putting on one of the worst displays of retaining possession. This bad possession play eventually led to Boateng scoring after winning the ball of the midfield. The U.S never recovered from this early attack and were soon sent packing home.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres, both were fan favorites before the tournament started. As the World Cup progressed they both seemed to lose the form they showed for their club. Ronaldo was constantly complaining, never really doing anything and didn’t look like someone who should be captain of a team. Fernando Torres has failed to score a single goal, this World Cup. That fact is simply unacceptable for someone who the country relies on for their goals.
But all hope was not lost, since there was some good to the round of sixteen after all. Luiz Suarez was on top form against Korea, he scored both the goals that saw Uruguay steer through to the quarter finals.
Ghana’s unity and team work was something all teams can learn from. They attacked together then they went back to defend together. Everyone was doing what they were assigned to do. Everyone was closing players down, chasing players down, making runs. In simple words everyone was doing everything.
Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt have both been phenomenal for the Dutch. Robben made the perfect return from injury by scoring the first goal against Slovakia, that one goal eventually led to his team going through to the quarters. Kuyt has been the hardest worker for the Dutch. He has unmatched stamina and he was constantly making things happen. The best example of his fine performance was when he kept his cool and laid off the ball for Sniejder to slot home Netherlands second goal, which saw them beat Slovakia.
Brazil have been the most complete team of the tournament so far. There is not a single area of their game that has been lacking. Their defense is rock solid and their attack is rivaled by none. Holland vs. Brazil will be one amazing game to watch.
Bastin Schweinsteiger has had every one forget the fact that Ballack isn’t even playing in the World Cup. His passing is flawless, he knows where all the players are going to be, and he does a really good job at winning back possession.
David Villa scored the only goal that Portugal conceded throughout the tournament, but that one goal saw his Spanish side knock out Portugal and go into the quarter finals. Villa has been in form since day one of the campaign and every one in Spain will be hoping for him to keep up this form so that Spain stand a chance at taking the trophy home this year.
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