<p>WC withdrawal? Not here! Inasmuch as I love the game of soccer, this one had to be one of the worst ever. At the end we have a champion that is simply the least “worse” of the bunch. Will anyone, except for the most partisan fan, ever watch a replay of the games of Spain in this WC? I doubt so! I still fail to understand why so many celebrate the brand of soccer displayed by Spain. This is the same kind of boring and insipid soccer I saw in the 2010 Classico in Madrid: 90 minutes of midfield passing with fewer than a handful of chances per game. This is akin to watching basketball without a shooting clock! </p>
<p>In the meantime, this WC can be remembered for poor officiating, pretty awful pitches, and the most annoying sound created by those morons who go to a game to blow in a stupid tube. Now, that being PC for Africa is no longer needed, I really hope that all national soccer federation quickly impose a complete ban on bringing those silly instruments. </p>
<p>I hope the next WC brings some of the joy and artistry back into the game. I am glad this one is over!</p>
<p>Well, I do agree with you on this. Watching some of the segments on the vuvuzelas on various channels, the South Africans commenting on them almost seemed to dare you to criticize them so that they could accuse you of cultural insensitivity, if not worse. </p>
<p>I found them to be completely annoying. Not to insult anyone’s culture, but I really hope this doesn’t start a trend…</p>
<p>MLS is growing. It will have doubled in size by 2012, up to 20 teams. Soccer specific stadiums are being built around the country. Clubs are starting to build their academies to train talent. DC United is going to make some quality money when Najar (17 years old) gets sold to a European team. Bill Hamid, the first player from the DC United academy signed to the first team, almost moved to Celtic, but work had work permit issues. He’s only 19. This money will get put back into development and the team will be able to use the money to pay higher salaries and develop more youngsters. </p>
<p>In all the other countries, the teams put up the money to develop players. In the US, the families are generally responsible for putting their kid into sports, and the higher the level they progress to, the more it costs. When the family has to put up the money, it means only certain economic classes can benefit from the training. In other countries, the academy pays the family to put their kid into the academy.</p>
<p>Almost as many people watched the WC final as the NBA Game 7. That is pretty impressive for a sport that no one cares about.</p>
<p>I can not agree more with Xiggi! Quite frankly, this has been a pretty appalling world cup. This was my first time watching Spain, along with many other teams, and i have to say they are not in any way that impressive. I’m not a fan of their style of soccer and although i’d hate to be one of those people who only watch soccer for goals, their matches are on the whole, extremely dull and failed to engage. Germany, Uraguay, Netherlands and Brazil have been the most interesting to watch for me. If i had to choose one i’d pick Brazil. After watching their first game, i remember thinking how graceful and fluid their game was. </p>
<p>At the end though, none of the teams will be at the forefront of my mind when i think of WC 2010, as that will have to go to the absolute incompetence of certain referees.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree. Not much of style was displayed at the final game. Netherlands did not play the game they played in 1974. I don’t know how to characterize the Spain team. I think North Korea, the worst team probably had some beautiful plays.</p>
<p>My final comment is that too many teams were playing not to lose and not playing to win. This type of mindset has really affected the game negatively. Remember how beautiful that game between Germany and Uruguay was when they were not playing for the title?</p>
<p>Another area I do not like is the number of miscalls by the referees, and the unusual number of mistakes by the goalkeepers. I can not help but think the ball they used may have something to do with it. If FIFA wants to increase the number of upsets, that surely is one way to do it.</p>
<p>I have to disagree as to the play of Spain. While the final game had no flow, this was due to the destructive strategy of Netherlands and the yellow card frenzy of the ref.
Take another look at the Spain/Germany semi and explain how the Spanish play was boring. It was a masterful display of ball control and teamwork.
Don’t forget that Spain played without contibution from Torres, a goal scorer who is certainly not recovered from surgery yet.
Only my opinion, but I enjoyed the patient, smart ball control game of Spain, and their ability to retain possesion in tight quarters surrounded by opposing players.</p>
<p>you got to be kidding! i cannot believe some country will do that type of public humilation to a soccer team. With that type of treatment, who will want to play in the national soccer team in norht korea?</p>
<p>That’s nothing. When Saddam Hussein was in power in Iraq, his son Uday (sp?) was in charge of the Olympic team, and athletes whose performances disappointed him were reportedly beaten, tortured, and even sometimes killed. Kinda gives new meaning to the phrase “run for your life.”</p>
<p>I remember watching a TV show several years ago where some of the Iraqi soccer players were saying that after losing big soccer matches, Uday would whip the bare bottoms of their feet. Apparently this is extremely painful. For some of the players, Uday would handcuff their hands behind their backs and then throw them off of two or more story buildings.</p>