The 17th FIFA World Cup, Part 2 by George Tsitsonis |
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All in all, Brazil rarely dazzled but showed glimpses of their "jogo bonito". With a little more luck and Ballack in the line-up (remember also how many players Germany missed at this cup, the likes of Deisler, Nowotny, and Scholl) perhaps its Germany who wins the championship. In the end though its Brazil with their record 5th title. Brazil won all their games (amidst some controversy-see 1st match against Turkey and the Round of 16 match against Belgium), gave us some great goals, played some decent football and in my mind were the deserved winners.
The referees of this World Cup will unfortunately be remembered at best for their inconsistency and at worst for changing the outcome of games with some questionable calls. Surely, if you are an Italian, a Spaniard, or a Belgian you won't be left with a good taste in your mouth after this World Cup. If you are South Korean, perhaps those calls didn't bother you as much.
It gave us a nice comeback story with Ronaldo returning, winning the golden boot, and leading his country to their record 5th title. We saw the awesome sea of red and blue and the wonderful atmospheres of the South Korean and Japanese games. We saw France, Argentina, and Portugal out in the 1st round. We saw the surprises such as Senegal, USA, Turkey, and South Korea. Beckham killed his Argentina nightmare of 1998. We may have also seen the last World Cup for a handful of stars including Paolo Maldini, Cafu, Rivaldo, 5 cup veteran Mong Hyung Bo of South Korea, many of Portugal's golden generation. We saw the emergence of new stars though including Senegal's Diouf and Pape Bouba Diop, Turkey's Hasan Sas and Rustu Recber, Russia's Dmitriy Sychev, the USA's Demarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan, and many others.
My favorite moments of the entire Cup were celebrations. In the runner-up position is South Africa head coach Jomo Sono. His back and forth arm thrust after his team's goals were well, they were addicting. I mean was it possible to not watch the man and get up and try it yourself? I kept hoping for more South African goals. The best moment of the Cup for me didn't take long to occur. Just 30 minutes into the 1st match Senegal scored and took the lead against France. The Senegalese celebration that followed lives in my memory. The complete and utter happiness that the players showed was so great. That is what football is . About happiness. Its scoring in your local park and dancing around like a fool with your friends. It scoring in a World Cup and doing the very same thing (not that the Senegalese looked like fools, their dance was well planned). To close I would just like to state how important the World Cup really is. Once every four years the World is truly united. People from every corner of the planet are brought together for the love of a game. The World Cup allows us to forget whatever is going on in our lives and at least for 90 minutes lets us come together over football and really be happy. When we look around the world we see hopelessness, violence, poverty, and economic disproportion. Football allows us a taste of happiness, of hope. Billions watch the World Cup, and out of those many children. These children are the ones that go to the village square after each game and try to copy the moves of their idols. Despite the economic circumstances of these children, football gives them hope and happiness. Two things that many children around the world live without. All of these kids will not become footballers of course, but they will all have the memories of the game they once played, and the players they once dreamed like being. Thank you football. Football is more than a game. The World Cup shows us that football is a unifying event that gives us hope, happiness, and some great celebrations. Thank You Jomo Sono, Thank You Senegal.
VIVE LE FUTBOL!