Sepp Blatter could well afford the wry smile plastered across his face when handing Iker Casillas with the biggest prize in football.
The decision to award Africa with its first ever World Cup has been a resounding success, in a commercial sense anyhow, but the football on display seem to prove somewhat lacklustre.
Fatigue has been cited on a number of accounts, with suggestions that a number of the underperforming ‘world class’ individuals simply could not maintain the high standards, after a long hard slog in their domestic season - which is understandable.
Apart from helping to raise the awareness of South Africa as a whole, the World Cup is generally supposed to promote the game of football, and it is questionable as to whether this was really achieved. Out of the all the copious amounts of football played, how many could be considered entertaining games? Six, seven, possibly eight? Maybe this is quite a harsh judgement, but the way in which the World Cup was hyped up, both in a media frenzy, and by the players themselves, there is an overwhelming feeling of disappointment.
Try and rattle five off the top of your head that you really enjoyed. It’s quite difficult, and when the tournament is meant to be one of the greatest sporting spectacles on the planet, the actual result proved to be a slightly dour outcome.
Klose played a big part in Germany's progress
It says it all, when arguably the most positive and attacking of affairs came in the Third Place Play Off between Germany and Uruguay, two of the more enjoyable side to watch.
The pressure was off and both teams went at it hammer and tongue for victory, a feature which was glaringly absent in the majority of other ties. The argument that some of the world’s greatest livewire’s were simply stifled by negative sides has some real substance, but this happens on a domestic level week in week out, something which, Wayne Rooney for example, has no qualms in overcoming.
How many times will you experience this at an amateur level, be it your 5-a-side soccer or 6-a-side football league? Teams, deploy tactics where they sit back and defend, but if you are good enough, you find ways round it.
Ronaldo was one of a number of players to underperform in South Africa
Perhaps Argentina’s situation adds support to a cautious approach. Rather than bore their way to victory, Diego Maradona’s side attempted to play to their strengths in the Quarter Finals, and were ultimately punished. Germany caught the South Americans with four sucker punches, and by deploying a counter attacking system, ensured a semi-final spot, while one of the tournaments most watchable sides were sent packing.
However, disregarding Lionel Messi, who showed glimpses of quality, a number of the World’s ‘entertainers’, simply didn’t turn up.
Wayne Rooney, Nicholas Anelka, Fernando Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, all of these could put their hands up to having a below par tournament.
If, as Fifa and Uefa like to publicise, the World Cup is a showcase of the greatest football talent on earth, then maybe something should be done to ensure that the top players are in peak condition. Forget a winter break that Fabio Capello continuously harps on about, that would disrupt the proper football calendar.
How about giving the players some respite before the tournament begins, say commence in mid to late June, rather than at the very start of the month? Another two or three weeks recuperation could seriously allow the players who may well be suffering fatigue the chance to rest and come back stronger.
Just a thought, but after all of the hype and frenzy in the build up to the tournament, once the dust has settled following Spain’s triumph, their will be a tinge of disappointment in the air from football fans across the globe.
Alex Z