Well, the world cup is over and it will be considered a failure in years to come. That is outside of Madrid and Auckland. I now provide you with how the 32 teams either succeeded or failed, the best 11 and worst eleven, and 3 highs and lows from South Africa.
How the Countries came out (in order):
Better:
Spain
New Zealand
Germany
The Netherlands
Ghana
Uruguay
Paraguay
Slovakia
USA
Japan
Same:
South Korea
South Africa
Mexico
Slovenia
Chile
Portugal
Argentina
Australia
Denmark
Switzerland
Greece
Serbia
Worse:
Algeria
England
Honduras
Ivory Coast
North Korea
Nigeria
Brasil
Cameroon
Italy
France
Best 11:
Manager: Joachim Loew (Germany)
GK: Iker Casillas (Spain)
DEF: RB: Sergio Ramos (Spain) CB: Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand) CB: Carles Puyol (Spain) LB: Philip Lahm (Germany)
MID: DM: Xavi (Spain), RM: Thomas Mueller (Germany), LM: Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), AM: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)
ATT: RF: Diego Forlan (Uruguay), LF: David Villa (Spain)
Honorable Mention: GK: Eduardo (Portugal), DEF: Maicon (Brasil), MID: Mesut Ozil (Germany), Andres Iniesta (Spain), ATT: Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
Worst 11:
Manager: Raymond Domenech (France)
GK: Rob Green (England)
DEF: RB: Ricardo Osorio (Mexico), CB: John Terry, CB: William Gallas (France), LB: Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Cameroon)
MID: RM: Jesus Navas (Spain), CM: Ricardo Clark (USA), CM: Felipe Melo (Brasil), LM: Michel Bastos (Brasil)
ATT: RF: Fernando Torres (Spain) LF: Nicholas Anelka (France)
Not so Honorable Mention: GK: Faouzi (Algeria), DEF: Patrice Evra (France), MID: Johan Gourcuff (France), Genaro Gettuso (Italy), ATT: Dong Gook (South Korea)
Now 3 of the most aggravating and disappointing things from South Africa coupled with the three best.
1. A final to remember (only in Madrid): When even Spain can't get five passes together, you know there's something wrong. And on July 11th there was. Spain surpassed their total of yellow cards for the entire rest of the cup, picking up 5, while the record 7 yellow cards brandished in the 1990 final were surpassed by one team (the Dutch) who found themselves being cautioned 9 times by referee Howard Webb. Oh, and Nigel De Jong finally won the gold medal in his fantasy profession of Kung-Fu (while winning the silver at his actual job).
2. Half-empty stadiums: While the people of South Africa provided a spectacle like none other, the country could not fill stadiums. It may have been in Port Elizabeth but still when is it that at a Brasil-Netherlands quarter-final you find yourself with 20 empty seats on either side of you before some screaming Oranje supporters in section 336. The next day I found myself dumbstruck once again when me and my dad only managed $350 for 2 Category one tickets to see Germany vs Argentina (perhaps Mr. Tickets, tickets, anyone got tickets hasn't heard of Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona).
3. The Jabulani: On July 10th I would have said "it's round, it bounces, and it flies" but now I know that's not true. After 10 minutes with the Jabulani I can verify it is not round, it does not bounce properly, and it does not curve in the manner of a proper ball (e.g. the T-90). So I can now say "it isn't round, it doesn't bounce, and it doesn't fly".
Now the good:
1. The beautiful game won: Despite the disgraceful final, which included 14 yellow cards, the most football-friendly team emerged victors. With approximately 824,792,341 passes per game no one can doubt Spain was the funnest (if not most aggravating) team to watch.
2. Ghana: The Black Stars brought an entire continent together. All those wars around Africa stopped--for 150 minutes. After Asamoah Gyan volleyed past Tim Howard and I sunk to the floor in dismay and the thousands around me began to party. As I sunk to the ground at the final whistle the streets of Cape Town were being paraded throughout the night. On the eve of Brasil's exit, I was however, a Black Star myself. I joined Serbians and Australians in supporting Ghana--it didn't matter they eliminated us.
3. The France debacle (and Mr. Goodluck Jonathan): It was the most hilarious and shocking thing I have ever seen. It caused jubilation in Hout Bay, though as Bafana Bafana grabbed three points from Les Disgrace. However, that wasn't what I enjoyed. What I enjoyed were the Cape Town papers the next day as Monsieur Raymond Domenech was labeled a bespeckled nincompoop. But comedy was still to be had as bad luck fell upon Goodluck after he banned the Nigerian national team from international competition for two years. Sepp Blatter then decided with his gap between the ears that the super-eagles were to be given a Chile-type treatment and be removed from FIFA unless Goodluck withdrew his ban.
So, now we can say maybe South Africa wasn't a failure after all.
