Including the tournament's best player, biggest flop and worst pundit...
So, Spain are the champions and the World Cup is over. It would probably be fair to say the tournament didn’t capture everyone’s imagination, but it was often enthralling nonetheless. And we wouldn’t be a self-respecting football blog if we didn’t dish out some post-tournament awards. CollinsBeans co-founders James Platt and Matt Snelling have therefore compiled the below list. As ever, let us know if you agree or perhaps more pertinently, disagree.
Best and worst teams of the tournament will be selected shortly.
Player of the Tournament
It’s often rare for FIFA to get things right when picking out ‘players of the tournament’ given their penchant for just handing the gong out to the biggest name, but this year, with their allocation of the 2010 Golden Ball they’ve got it spot on. This site has professed its admiration for Diego Forlan on several occasions and it was well deserved that he be recognised as the outstanding player of the tournament. While they were impressive, it’s hard to imagine just how far Uruguay would have got without their talismanic forward. The five goals he contributed doesn’t tell the full story, often playing in a deeper role behind the front two, he was a creator of chances as well as a taker of them, full of hard running and non-stop commitment. Forlan was a true MVP of the World Cup, with an outstanding individual contribution to a less heralded team, helping to take them all the way to the semi-finals. (MS)
Best Moment
Through some eyes, this has been a tournament bereft of good moments. No particularly amazing goals or player reactions, and more often than not the ‘best’ bits (or certainly most memorable) have involved errors or misfortunate – Robert Green’s ‘save’, Kader Keita’s dive against Brazil, Nigel De Jong’s kung-fu tackle, that goal Frank Lampard scored against Germany and Raymond Domenech and the French team in general.
For me though, the tournament peaked right at the start and the very best moment was Siphiwe Tshabalala’s opening goal against Mexico. Not only was it a fantastic finish, but it seemed to encapsulate the optimism and excitement surrounding the tournament. When that strike crashed into the top corner, everything seemed possible – South Africa could reach the knock-out round, stunning goals would flow and the tournament would be non-stop thrills and excitement. Alas, it didn’t quite work out like that, but when Tshabalala smashed the Jabulani home for the first goal I remember being very, very excited. Perhaps not as excited as Peter Drury though…
“Goal, Bafana Bafana! Goal for South Africa! Goal for all Africa! What a moment in the history of sport!!!”
Still not convinced it was quite that good. (JP)
Best Match
I think it’s fair to say that 2010 will not be remembered as a classic World Cup. One of the primary reasons was the lack of those epic match ups, those games that you can look back on and vividly recall the smallest of details for years to come. The potential pool to pick from this time round then was far from deep, but generally the best games seemed to involve the captivating young German side, who always seemed to bring excitement to the fore. The game that stands out most, much to my dismay obviously, was their 4-1 trouncing of a pathetic England side. Overall the game had it all, and even for the neutral supporter out there it had the most moments that made you leap out of your seat at some point. Watching a young German side run riot against a ‘golden generation’ of players with over inflated reputations wasn’t exactly fun viewing at times, but could, in the long run also be the point that English football recognised it needed to change... (MS)
Best Goal
As with games, there didn’t seem to be that many classics when it came to goals either. Tshabalala’s opener for South Africa was a great goal that sadly didn’t set the tone for the tournament to come, while Quagliarella’s chip for Italy against Slovakia was about the only moment of any worth from the exiting World Champions. However, I’m going to have to go for Germany’s fourth goal, scored by Miroslav Klose against Argentina. A lightening break that summed up the vibrant pace with which Germany brutally destroyed teams on the counter attack, featuring a build-up from all the attacking players in their lineup. The ball from Ozil, for Klose to finish was perfection personified and a real example of a fantastic team effort. (MS)
Biggest Flop
Where do you start with this one? So many candidates immediately come to mind. The entire French squad for a start. In fact, throw in the entire Italian squad too, with particular mention to Fabio Cannavaro. I really feel this title must be awarded to an Englishman though. It’s the right and honourable thing to do.
Again, there are several candidates. Despite baffling praise in some corners, Steven Gerrard was utterly useless from where I was sitting, and proved he can’t play in any sort of normal position on a football pitch. Gareth Barry was also a massive, massive disappointment considering the hype he was given pre-tournament. Barry’s lack of tactical and positional knowledge was disturbing, and his passes only seemed to find their target one in every five times. Considering holding midfielders generally excelled in this World Cup, Barry was shocking.
Yet it’s the obvious name who has to take this one. Wayne Rooney was simply abysmal. I have no idea why a player who had such a great domestic season could perform so badly on the biggest stage, but whatever the reason, Rooney was arguably the worst player in the entire World Cup. He literally couldn’t control the ball and his first touch rivalled Shaun Wright-Phillips’ ‘dog with a balloon’ technique. Rooney looked disinterested and had absolutely minimal impact during every minute he was on the pitch. Prior to 11th June, we were all told this would be Rooney’s tournament, that is was time for him to light up the world stage. To say that didn’t happen would be something of understatement. No goals, no assists, no influence, nothing. (JP)
Best Pundit
This one will be very much open to debate and personal opinion. Some of you might like Alan Shearer and Gareth Southgate. I don’t. We would, though, probably all agree Kevin Keegan and ‘Manu’ Adebayor didn’t really work, whilst the established names such as Hansen and Townsend pretty much performed as standard.
The World Cup is different from regulation Premier League or FA Cup football of course, so naturally both BBC and ITV brought in some new names. Some worked, others didn’t. Personally though, I really enjoyed the punditry of Clarence Seedorf. Here is a man with a astonishing CV as a player, and he transferred that admirably into what must be a difficult environment in terms of the BBC studio – essentially a time-honoured boys golf club of Englishmen and Scots (and Irish – sorry, Mark Lawrenson) with tricky regional accents and a debatable grasp of grammar. Seedorf demonstrated intelligence, knowledge, grace and wit. He often provided relevant and interesting tactical insight, and a strong knowledge of players from around the world. Even when discarded pitch-side to accompany Damian Johnson on final day, Seedorf continued to provide relevant comments. And he remained extremely dignified when praising Spain’s victory over his own country.
In an often dull tournament on the pitch, the punditry was often equally as drab. There was a lack of real characters (barring Mick McCarthy) and so the quiet intelligence of Seedorf was about the best thing on offer. (JP)
Worst Pundit
Where to start...this could be a long list. What I don’t understand, is the fact that we see the same old faces trotted out time, after time after time. Regardless of whether you’re watching a World Cup game between Italy and Brazil or an FA Cup first round replay between Dagenham and Redbridge and Southport you get the same pundits, despite the fact that they are likely to know very little about either. Too much punditry is lazy, cliché laden and full of stereotyping. This year we also had to put up with the general patronization of the African continent as well, congratulating them as if they were a 5 year old who had just learned to ride a bike without the stabilisers on. Worst offenders though; boring Martin Keown (although to be fair he was mostly relegated to Algeria vs. Slovenia on the red button), Mark Lawrenson, who I usually don’t mind, but in most games was just, well a tit, and Kevin Keegan for his absolute delusion around the fact that he thought England had ‘played well in the tournament’. Oh yeah, and generally anyone else who worked on ITV as well.
The worst though, and he’s not really a pundit, but he offended me massively on my television screen and is thus getting mentioned is of course our man James Corden. I know Corden bashing is not exactly original, but my God, his programme during the World Cup was its own particular form of extreme torture. For a far more witty criticism I will cede to the excellent Martin Kelner in the Guardian: (MS)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/jun/21/world-cup-2010-bbc-itv
BBC or ITV?
Early on in the tournament I suggested BBC were winning the broadcast battle, and I stick by that. Not to say the BBC were great, because I don’t think they were, but ITV’s overall performance was poor. I appreciate they were going for a different angle and a more casual approach with Adrian Chiles fronting up the coverage. Yet essentially this just involved Chiles regurgitating his ‘2 Good, 2 Bad’ act for MOTD 2, with the odd bizarre feature piece involving the kissing of Patrick Vieira’s head thrown in for good measure.
ITV’s pundits were also poor – tuning in for a crucial World Cup game, I did not want to be confronted by Andy Townsend, Gareth Southgate and Edgar Davids in a polo shirt. The commentary team didn’t improve matters either – Clive Tyldsley, Peter Drury and Jim Beglin just aren’t my cup of tea. To reiterate, I don’t want to suggest the BBC coverage was anything to write home about. It was often dull, and far too patronising towards South Africa. Yet it was mainly solid and dependable, and the pundits were largely of a higher standard. (JP)
Worst Refereeing Decision
Sorry to go with the obvious here, but it simply has to be referee Jorge Larrionda and his assistant Mauricio Espinosa failing to award Frank Lampard’s ‘goal’ against Germany. Yes, England were horrific in that game. Yes, England would have surely lost anyway. Yes, that goal had the potential to mask the shocking performance England produced during the tournament in general. But still, the ball was in. So far in. Miles in. It was a horrendous decision. In the aftermath, the debate naturally centred on goal line technology. Yet how did none of the officials spot it in real time anyway?? Frightening. (JP)
Most Disappointing Aspect of the Tournament
This could be the lack of goals, the lack of classic match ups or the fact that very few of the World’s ‘superstars’ decided to show up. They are all perhaps framed by the fact that for me, the most disappointing aspect was the lack of ‘joy’ in so many of the teams. Whether this was because of the pressures involved, the managers, the tactics, whatever, so few teams wanted to play the game in an expressive way, instead being constrained by negativity. One of the great things about Euro 2008 in my eyes was that it seemed to bring attacking and joyous football back to the fore, however it seems we have gone backwards. Negativity seems to be the watch word for everything in life at the moment, and it would be nice if just a little bit of joy could be brought back into the game – it’s the World Cup after all! (MS)
Legacy of the Tournament
On the pitch? Hard to say, potentially mores sides trying to emulate the Spanish way of ball retention and short passing? Sadly in general it could turn out to be the continuing trend towards negativity, containment and opportunism, with this becoming the dominant playing style. I think overall though, the fact that the World Cup was hosted by an African country means that the legacy of the tournament will be showing just how global a game football truly is, the one true global sport. Given the negativity before the tournament kicked off, the legacy of South Africa 2010 is that we should never lose sight of the best thing about football; the fact it’s something the world shares. (MS)
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