The FIFA World Cup, arguably the most globally-celebrated event on this planet, had begun in South Africa on June 11, 2010 and will end this coming July 11. It is an event worth 4-years of wait. Only this time, it is chocked-full of shocking outcomes.

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FIFA 2010 World Cup Poster

Since the very first game till last night’s semi-final (at time of writing), the event is marred by surprises and controversies. Big talents in football didn’t play half as good as they did in club level. Names such as Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messy, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Kaka are well known across the globe. But their appearance on the field is simply disappointing compared to their colourful club track record.

What Happened to the Superstars?

Christiano Ronaldo, the most valuable footballer on Earth – he’s worth €94 million euros – only scored one goal in 2010 World Cup. And it only happened during the Portuguese 7-nil rampage against Korea DPR. It’s almost like wearing the captain armband wasn’t motivation enough to play well for one’s own country. It was a totally different Ronaldo, a far-flung from the Real Madrid star with plenty of skills, trick and astoundingly fast acceleration. For the most expensive player in the world, South Africa didn’t see much from him.

Same goes to Lionel Messi, winner of the Best Player of The Year award. Nobody expected a footballer like him, with 34 goals for Barcelona under his belt, to not even score one goal for Argentina in this World Cup. As predicted, the opposing team’s defense marked Messi so tight that he couldn’t formulate a goal. But that’s a given – if you don’t keep Messi on a leash, he will demolish your team.

The Favourites’ Early Flight Home

Favourite teams such as England, France, Brazil, and Argentina, coming to South Africa expecting to be crowned as the World Cup Champion are just too weak. I can say that France is the worst team in 2010 World Cup. Contrary to the glorious era of Zidane, The French started with such poor performance. They only managed to get a 0-0 draw against Uruguay, then lost 0-2 to Mexico before ending their World Cup campaign by losing 1-2 to South Africa. They also sent home Nicholas Anelka just after tournament day 9 because of some spats between him and the head coach, Raymond Domenech. It gets worse after that. The remaining French squad protested by not attending their training. As the result of the protest, their skipper, Patrice Evra was ultimately dropped from the last game against South Africa and his armband was stripped.

Another favourite team everyone thought has the goods was England. Unfortunately, the star-studded English team was just lucky to survive in Group Stage. Poor performance by Capello’s lads nearly cost them an early exit, but with draw against USA and Algeria and a lucky goal by Jermain Defoe against Slovenia, they earned a sad place into the next round. Tragically, in the knockout stage, they were hammered 4-1 by Germany. It was painful to watch.

Germany once again displayed their real capabilities by showing the way out to Argentina in the most humiliating way, beating the Argentine 4-nil. Excellent performance by Thomas Müller and Mesut Ozil made it terribly difficult for Argentina defense system the entire match. Losing only once to Serbia during group stage,the Germans are now the favourite team to win this World Cup. Up to this moment, they have already scored 13 goals. That’s enough to show how deadly their attack form can get.

The Ghanaian

One team that caught my attention was Ghana. No one expected them to advance from group stage, let alone quarter-final. They nearly made it to semi-final, but Uruguay striker, Luis Suarez denied their chance with a game-saving handball few minutes before the game expired. Suarez was red-carded and penalty given to Ghana. It was an extremely bad luck for their penalty taker, Asamoah Gyan, who only managed to hit the crossbar despite scoring twice from the same spot. The game ended with 1-1 and extended to penalty shootout. Uruguay won 4-2.

Referees

Like any other football tournaments around the world, the World Cup is not free from judging controversies. The most famous controversy involving referees happened in England’s game against Germany. Referee Jorge Larrionda denied Frank Lampard’s 38-minute shot eventhough the video replay had clearly shown that the ball crossed the goal line for approximately 1 yard. Some people claimed that the disallowed goal changed the entire element of that game. If England were not denied of the goal, they probably would have fared better, in spirit and form, during the second half. This incident will ultimately ignite debates over goal-line technology since FIFA president Sepp Blatter has steadfastly refused to consider the possibility of goal-line technology.

Another refereeing controversy surrounded Luis Fabiano’s goal for Brazil against Ivory Coast. After the match, Luis Fabiano himself admitted that he handled the ball in the build-up to his second goal. Mexico also suffered a partial referee decision during their match against Argentina. Referee, Roberto Rosetti awarded Argentina a goal despite Carlos Tevez clearly being offside. Consequentially, both referees Jorge Larrionda and Roberto Rosetti were sent home.

The Final Two

Now, at this very moment, all eyes are set on Germany, Spain, Uruguay and the Netherlands. The Dutch already booked their ticket into the final match after they beat Uruguay 3-2. They will face either Spain or Germany this July 11th at Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg.

(photo by gitfo)