FIFA World Cup 2010: The Biggest Letdowns at the Tournament
The French had an unstable and unimpressive qualification to the World Cup. The poor squad selection by Coach Domenech didn’t help their cause in South Africa either. The French had a wide range of quality players who could have performed greatly had they gotten the right direction and guidance from the management. However that was not the case. A series of poor displays from the French, plus constant arguments and struggles within the team, saw the French end up at bottom of their group and exit the tournament with only a single goal.
Apart from Ghana, the other four African nations, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Algeria just managed to win one game amongst all the games they played. With players like, Eto, Drogba, Toure and Eboue and Song, most people expected the African teams to perform to their maximum but they left them all disappointed. The footballing world expected a lot more from the African teams but they failed to deliver.
Italy came into the tournament as reigning World Champions. The Italians had high hopes that they could repeat the same success they had in 2006. However the team failed to perform. They failed to advance from one of the easiest groups in the tournament. They were paired with, New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia. They managed to draw with both, Paraguay and New Zealand but suffered a shocking blow in their defeat to the Slovakians’. They finished on the bottom of their group and exited the tournament as the laughing stock of the World Cup.
Fabio Capello was appointed to take the reins of the English team. Most people thought this would be the year England would go all the way. This was not the case as England failed to establish themselves as a serious threat at the contest. They barely managed to escape the group stages and were then humiliated by the Germans in the round of sixteen. They performed poorly and even with such a star studded cast failed to deliver.
Another major disappointment at the World Cup were the poor performances from the top players, from across the globe. The international stage seemed like the moment for these players to leave a mark in history, but all of them failed to do so. The likes of Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney all failed to perform and were amongst some of the weakest performers at the tournament. This resulted in fans questioning whether or not these players were even half as good as they were known to be.
Refereeing can make or break the momentum of a good match. Poor refereeing can take away the excitement from a World Class game and turn it into a pointless onslaught. The World Cup in South Africa was lined with some of the poorest refereeing decisions ever seen. There were numerous bookings that seemed pointless goals were disallowed for no reason at all and off sides just weren’t given. The players however managed to somehow stay calm and get on with the game even though they knew of the injustice they were suffering at the hands of the terrible referees.
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