Tell us your team of the World Cup below
AFTER five fantastic weeks in South Africa, here are my outstanding memories of Africa’s first World Cup.
TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT
URUGUAY. Because they have a decent World Cup pedigree it’s often forgotten that it’s only a small country of three-and-half million people. So it’s like the Republic of Ireland getting to the semi-finals. It was a great achievement.
Maybe we shouldn’t be too surprised because this is a team that takes on Brazil and Argentina in South America so has to play some of the very best in the world in their qualifying run.
They had a real go, were one of the most attacking teams and in Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez they had two of the most exciting players of the tournament. They were good to watch.
In the end though, the best team did win the World Cup. Spain never changed the way they played or set up, despite losing their first game to Switzerland.
There was no panic, they continued to be confident in their ability to play their football and the fact that they had the best midfield in the world really shone through.
The way they play is the way anyone would want to play – and watch – their football.
PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT
DAVID VILLA. There was a lot of praise for Andres Iniesta, who scored the winner against Holland in the final, but I would have to go for Villa.
He was a little bit quiet in the final, particularly when he was pushed up front on his own as this doesn’t suit his game.
He turned it on in the early games when the pressure was really on Spain and they faced a fight just to get out of the group.
He then pulled them through in the last 16 and quarter-final and the ability to produce those decisive moments in tight games is hat proves so vital in taking a side through to winning a tournament.
Also, Villa was touted as being one of the star men before the World Cup started, hence he is the only one to really live up to the hype. Rooney, Ronaldo, Messi, Kaka, even his team-mate Torres – they didn’t hit the heights. But Villa coped with the expectation placed on him so more power to him.
BIGGEST LET-DOWN
ENGLAND. Closely followed by France and Italy who didn’t even have the quality to get through the groups. But England got everything spectacularly wrong, and it can be traced back to the training camp – or prison camp.
You could wander through the hotels where the two finalists Holland and Spain were staying, but you would have thought Barrack Obama was staying at the England base.
It was the wrong environment to choose to get the best out of the players and from there, everything else went downhill with it.
EMERGING FORCE
GERMANY. Everything England weren’t. Vibrant, energetic, effective, organised – they showed the value of bringing through youngsters together and transferring them seamlessly to the biggest stage.
They played as though they had been together for years and proved that the system in that country is working a treat.
They had the right mix of experience and youth and their whole attitude made it easy to see why they played England off the park.
We seemed stuck in the dark ages by comparison.
BEST GAME
URUGUAY v GHANA. I’m not sure this World Cup gave us any absolute classics that will be remember for years to come.
There were plenty of great goals and memorable moments but in terms of an individual game I would go for this quarter-final.
The Brazil v Holland game I was at was good because both teams were outstanding for a half each but the sheer drama of the climax of the Uruguay v Ghana match means it stands out as the real thriller of the tournament.
LASTING MEMORY
NELSON MANDELA was so right with his idea that sport can unite a nation.
That was the feeling I got form travelling all around South Africa – everybody was so helpful and welcoming.
It’s a fantastic country and I hope they can build on what they’ve got.
Tell us your team of the World Cup below
