FIFA World Cup 2010: Seven special moments of the World Cup so far
As the world cup reaches its climax in the shape of the quarterfinals, some drama on the field is sure to follow. However this world cup has been devoid of spectacular football so far, football that excited us to unimaginable ends in the 2006 and the 2002 FIFA World Cups respectfully. The moments are selected keeping in mind the foolishness, the drama and the sheer idiocy associated with them.
The first of these moments was Robin Van Persie’s complain about the vuvuzelas. A lot of debate took place before the competition and still goes on to-date, to decide whether vuvuzelas should be banned or be allowed to stay as a part of African culture. In the Netherlands vs. Denmark match, Robin Van Persie played on despite referee’s whistles to stop the play for an offside. In an ordinary match Robin Van Persie would’ve been booked for defying the referee’s whistle however this did not happen here, Van Persie used the “vuvuzela excuse” telling the referee that he was not able to hear the whistle because of the noise that these instruments created at the game. Referee bought the excuse and Van Persie escaped a booking.
The next moment was Asamoah Gyan’s winner for Ghana and Africa. African teams have been dire in the competition and just one of the teams has managed to reach the quarter finals. It is sad to see the host continent failing so miserably as this tournament was supposed to be a special occasion for the continent as a whole because this is the first time Africa is hosting the World Cup.
The third moment is Thomas Mueller’s goal against England. A player who was labeled as the ball boy by Maradona after Germany’s friendly match loss to Argentina back in march put in a spectacular performance against the English and scored two goals against them to finish the game off. A game that ended 4-1 eventually was humiliating for the English and gratifying for the Germans.
When Ronaldo spat at the camera after the round of sixteen match between Spain and Portugal, media created a huge storm in a tea cup out of the whole matter. Actually, Ronaldo’s performances have not been great at the world cup, Portugal are already out in the Round of sixteen and his was a sign of sheer frustration by the Portuguese captain. The media also gave it a bad spin but Ronaldo in reality didn’t spit “at the camera” he was actually spitting when the camera caught him in the act and it looked as if Ronaldo vented his frustration on the poor camera man and his equipment.
The next special moment has to be Robert Green’s blunder for England against America, in their group match. The match was hyped up by the media as Americans were taking on their late colonial masters but Robert Green took all the mid-game and post-game headlines by making meal of a simple shot that was fired towards the English goal by Clint Dempsey, Robert Green managed to make a mess of it and the despairing keeper tried to gather the ball back but his efforts ended in vain as the camera captured the ball rolling into the back of the English net.
French teams refusal to train has to be included in any special world cup moments list, it was perhaps the most impressive piece of self destruction ever witnessed at a global sporting event by a renowned national team with a history of success. French squad took this decision after the manager Domenech and striker Anelka had a row with each other after French loss to Mexico, media found out about the conflict and then speculation started as to who amongst the French had leaked the news. Evra, the French captain was then caught on camera having an argument with the French team’s fitness trainer. France were eventually beaten by the host nation South Africa and returned home in-shame.
The last but certainly not the least impressive moment of this world cup so far has been Sepp Blatter’s apology. Football fans hold no love for the present FIFA president and view his presidency as the sole reason for football’s continuing global demise as the top sport. After two successive incidents in two matches in the round of 16, out of which one was related to a wrongly given goal from an off-side position and the other was related to ball a clearly crossing the line but the goal not being given. Sepp Blatter apologized publically to the F.A of England and then to the Mexican football association as well, as these were the teams that were involved in both the above mentioned incidents. His apology came as fresh air for football, from a man who has been stubborn in his approach and his decisions related to the game.
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