World Cup 2010: Vuvuzelas, Villa, Van Bommel - what will we remember?

/ Feizal Rahman / 11 July 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Soundtrack to the 2010 World Cup

South Africa have been great World Cup hosts but the tournament has lacked individual moments of flair and star performances. Feizal Rahman wonders what will linger once the vuvuzelas and jabulani have been put away.

"The BBC would have us believe that Alan Shearer and Lee Dixon are best placed to educate us on the Soweto Uprising and the plight of Nelson Mandela."

All good things must come to an end. But in the case of this World Cup, one might question whether the good things ever started. As the pinnacle of the globe's most popular sport, one cannot help but feel a sense of dissatisfaction with what we have seen during the last month.

That the tournament was held for the very first time in Africa is undoubtedly a good thing and that it has been run without serious hiccup - in spite of numerous scare stories beforehand - can be of great credit to South Africa and its people. We can only hope that England - [1.96] to host 2018 World Cup - will put on a similarly good show if we get our chance in eight years time.

In contrast, there's been a constant stream of patronising output from the media, frequently stepping over the border into the land of cringe. Never to be outdone on this front, the BBC would have us believe that Alan Shearer and Lee Dixon are best placed to educate the nation on the Soweto Uprising and the plight of Nelson Mandela, showing just how far the national broadcaster has reached up it's own backside.

But as the media circus rolls on to hunt for its next major contrived story, South Africa will be left with empty stadiums to fill and the same poverty and suffering it had before the World Cup and one wonders how Sepp Blatter's expensive public relations exercise will really benefit the rainbow nation.

But in the less grave terms of football, what lasting memories will this competition have left us? The sound of vuvuzelas drowning out the passion of a proper football crowd, the Jabulani beach ball masquerading as a UFO and Paul the psychic octopus making suckers out of punters everywhere. But where's the one great footballing moment for us to cherish forever?

Events in South Africa have seen a distinct emphasis on teamwork over individuality but that is what the World Cup is all about - the most talented footballers on the planet exhibiting their brilliance. Instead, functionality has trumped flair and we mourn the failure of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney and hail the well-organised efforts of Mark van Bommel, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sergio Busquets.

There has been much study of formations and how these have been key to the progress of certain teams but discussions on this tend to view players as programmed robots rather than free-thinking human beings. Does the personnel of a team apply itself to a specific arrangement or does the structure of a side evolve as a result of the players within it?

Fabio Capello was criticized for his rigid adherence to a 4-4-2 when perhaps the players at his disposal would be better suited to another configuration. But in the case of Brazil, Germany, Netherlands and Spain - who all opted for a 4-2-3-1 system - was this not simply because they had the footballers that best suited that mould? That Spain had seven Barcelona players on the pitch in their quarter-final may answer this, the fluency of club football transferred to the international stage. Barcelona are [4.9] favourites to win the Champions League 2010/11.

But despite the exquisite 'tika-taka' football played by Spain, even they have not been immune from censure. Thrilling when it works but tedious when it doesn't, their inability to score more goals from such a wealth of possession has not endeared as many to the Spanish as to the great Brazilian sides of the past. Three 1-0 wins in the knockout stages have not satisfied insatiable appetites for goals and petrified of defeat in the group stages, most teams were reluctant to attack, resulting in an embarrassingly low goals tally.

But as has been acknowledged by several players at the tournament, winning an unattractive 1-0 is better than losing an alluring 4-3. Ultimately, that is the legacy left by this World Cup. The seductive charm of the 'beautiful game' - that which is the unique selling point of any World Cup - no longer exists.

Like much of what is sold to us outside of football, be it in the world of entertainment or politics, success is now the only thing that matters, with style and moral duty merely the attributes of losers.

Tags: Fabio Capello, Feizal Rahman, Holland, Spain, World Cup betting, world cup final betting