Viva España!

And so it is that the spectacle of the World Cup has come to a close with pre-tournament favourites Spain being crowned the Champions. DD leapt and punched the air in joy when Iniesta managed to put the ball in the net — that moment crowning an otherwise unsatisfying World Cup for him as he watched his other usual favourites, Argentina and Brazil fall by the wayside.

It felt good to seeing the best team win in the end. I’d tipped Spain to lift the trophy but after seeing them fall 0-1 to Switzerland in the opening game, I thought that the perennial underachievers were back to their old ways. Fortunately this team showed much more fortitude than the teams of old and overcame that initial loss to win it all and overturn the (in my opinion rather meaningless statistics) of being the first team to win the World Cup after losing their opening game and being the first European team to win outside their continent. There is a first for everything after all.

As Zidane was once quoted as saying, “The day Spain begin winning, they won’t stop”. I think the Spanish team did not play the same beautiful football in South Africa that they did on-route to winning Euro 2008. I still remember watching those breathless displays, willing them to win the prize. This time round, while their short passing game was still a sight to behold, all that possession didn’t seem to materialise into much in front of goal. But still they plodded on inexorably to the inevitable conclusion and while they weren’t as good to watch, they delivered.

It has been an interesting month of intense TV watching in which I amazingly enough managed to watch more games than DD. I really am a tournament junkie. I wasn’t impressed at the start. The tedium of the group stages was only relieved by the unexpected swashbuckling football of Germany, the strides made by South Korea and Japan in making it to the round of 16, the train-wreck that was the French team (you just couldn’t keep your eyes off the disaster that it was) and the indescribable spectacle that is Diego Maradona.

Germany won over the neutrals of the world with their brand on not-so-German football, myself included. Spectators want to see goals, and as the top-scoring team of the tournament, goals were what Germany delivered. While their flair was unexpected, their efficiency in winning games was trademark Germany alright. Their 4-1 (ok, maybe 4-2) win over England and 4-0 rout of Argentina get my vote for the most entertaining of matches. For a moment I thought that this young team had a chance of writing the ultimate fairytale story of the World Cup by going to lift it, but they were duly shown the door by the current masters of the game. Personally I think they missed the suspended Thomas Mueller during that crucial semi-final. That is another of those what-ifs I suppose and I wait in anticipation for Euro 2012 to see if this exciting team would blossom into real challengers over the next 2 years. If only the German FA would please just give Joachim Low a new contract. Please.

(Okay, I really did not expect myself to ramble on for so long so I will try to keep it short.)

There was plenty of Asian pride to cheer with South Korea and Japan there mixing with the best and showing that Asia are not the charity cases of the tournament. Japan were said to have practiced a great deal with the ball and it showed when Honda-Beckham-Keisuke and gang showed the World how free-kicks are to be taken with the Jabulani ball. A new star has been born, no doubt. Just pity he isn’t quite as yummy as Nakata…

I don’t think there’s much more to add about the French except that I can’t believe up till now, they are still each, individually trying to justify their behaviour or distance themselves from it. I wish Laurent Blanc all the best with this group of jokers.

Just a final note on the man who gave me plenty of laughs as a read my way through reams of football news this month. Even while managing a team of stars headlined by the FIFA World Player of the Year, Maradona managed to hog all the limelight. He must have been a journalist’s dream with the utter gems he came up with. He was quite the character, but for the sake of Argentina, I hope that he has the sense to step down from a job he is way unqualified for, no matter how well-loved he is.

As you can tell, I’m going to miss this tournament and the sleepless nights. And I’m clearly in the mood to ramble since the only person who puts up with my quack football talk – ie. my dear husband – is peacefully asleep. Guess I best be going to bed as well!

2 years to Euro 2012!