In the second instalment of our World Cup debates, the CollinsBeans co-founders once again go head-to-head on the issue of the now infamous vuvuzelas and Jabulani football.
“With constant criticism of both the ball and the vuvuzelas, people are getting too distracted by issues that don’t actually affect the football on the pitch”
James Platt: You’d think the vuvuzelas were Derrick Bird-branded rifles for all the offence they’ve generated. Ever since the tournament began, we’ve been hearing them non-stop. Not just during play, but when the games finish too, when it’s over to the pundits, news channels and pretty much everyone else on the planet to have their say. And when all the vuvzela din dies down, we move onto to the Jabulani ball – how it’s ruining the tournament, how goalkeepers hate it, how players hate it, how it’s possibly even less popular than those plastic horns.
Sticking to the vuvuzelas for now, the first point to make is that anyone who caught some of the Confederations Cup last year would have seen this coming. It was to be expected, and I really don’t see how banning them is any sort of fair or moderate action. This is what South African fans use to create atmosphere in the stadiums. Ok, it might sound like an overactive cattle field, or a swarm of angry bees, but that’s what it is. I’ve heard fans say that they prefer singing. Me too, but you can’t suddenly take all the vuvuzelas away and demand that South Africans, in their own country, adhere to standardised European chanting. It’s not fair and it’s not right.
I’ve also seen players, notably Patrice Evra of France, complaining that they can’t concentrate with all the racket. Get over yourself Evra – judging from last night’s showing, the least of your worries is a synthetic trumpet or two. Plus, it’s the same for all players. It’s not like the noise gets louder for certain teams – the din is constant. If offers no advantage or disadvantage to anyone in particular. It’s part of the South African football experience. We’ve all been told repeatedly that hosting a World Cup in Africa is important, that it will raise awareness of Africa’s struggles, that we should respect and admire the culture. So let’s do that, and not tell South Africans how or how not to make a noise, simply because some over privileged international footballers and a few armchair viewers back home don’t like it much. I say let's focus on the football.
And on the subject, quite literally, of the football, the Evra point is again relevant. Everyone is using the same ball. It’s not easier for any team in particular. I know some passes have been over hit, and the standard of crossing has been poor, but can a ball single-handedly be blamed for this? And for all the talk of the additional swerve and dip, how many shots have we actually seen do anything unusual? Supposedly the Jabulani complies with all the regulations, so surely it can’t be that different from any other ball? Having said that, I must admit that I have not kicked the ball myself. Maybe if I did, I’d realise how bad it was. In fact, I might buy one – it’s a ready-made excuse for that miss from 3 yards.
Matt Snelling: Well, on the one hand I think they are, given that the noise being created by the vuvuzelas is far less annoying of a drone than all the people going on about how annoying the vuvuzelas are (and yes this is just an excuse for me to use the word ‘vuvuzela’ as much as I can in the one sentence) but then I do think that people are right to raise a few cries of discontent.
I know it’s hardly that important an issue in the grand scheme of things, and I appreciate that this is part of local football culture and a way for fans to enjoy and express themselves, but my one main issue with them is that the noise is constant, it doesn’t change with the natural ebb and flow of a game - it’s impossible to get one of those truly great sporting atmospheres. Because the noise continues at the same level, seemingly unconnected to what’s going on down on the pitch, you don’t get the fantastic, organic crowd noises, as one group of fans cheers whilst the others suffers. There are no intakes in breath, no incredible pauses as a stadium nervously processes what’s going on in front of them. You can’t hear any cheering or booing and you can’t hear different fans from different countries expressing themselves in their own particular, unique cultural ways. Instead it’s a constant monotone sound, that for me anyway, takes you out of the action rather than immersing you in it.
In the same way, I also think a little too much (alright a lot too much) has been made of the performance, or lack thereof of the Jabulani ball. On the one hand I think too much is being made of the effect it is having on goalkeepers (and there have been some mighty uninspiring displays so far) but I’ve seen too many top, top players over hitting simple passes and lofted balls for it to be a complete coincidence. A lot of the problem is probably a lot more to do with the affects of altitude on the ball, but in such circumstances did FIFA really have to help manufacture a ball that seems particularly light? Perhaps something and nothing, but there haven’t been many great goals so far in this tournament have there?
I guess though, with both of these things, just like with all the hoopla around the World Cup, it’s inevitable people get wrapped up in all sort of side show issues. As the event progresses we’ll all concentrate a little more on what the players are doing, rather than on oddly tuneless plastic trumpet, but aren’t these distractions just all part of the fun?
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