Reflections on the First Four Days

By
Mohamed Harb
 – June 15, 2010
It is still the first round of the World Cup and there are still many chances for any team to revive from the aftermath of the first appearance in Africa, but football is in great danger. Many might disagree, but on a personal level I haven’t enjoyed but the “Culture of Noise” which comes in the shape of the Vuvuzela. Teams have apparently come to Africa to win in the virgin Continent; and by virgin I mean never hosted the World Cup. However the obsession with the continent’s triumph resulted in many below par games where we only enjoyed South Korea’s disciplined performance, Germany’s powerful display, and to an extent Argentina’s promising show. Diego Maradona told the press, when asked about Algeria’s chances: “They are here in the World Cup, that’s an achievement by itself, so enjoy the games.” The result was a tense game with a red card involved. I am not asking teams to just dance to the Vuvuzela music. Players should forget that it is the World Cup and concentrate on the fact that billions of people are watching, talking and tweeting about them. It is each player’s “15 minutes of fame” and it might not come again in the next four years. In Group A, Mexico had the better chances early in their game against the hosts but they ended up blaming themselves for their mediocre finishing skills. In Group B, Greece lost confidence in their iron-like defense and allowed some crosses to make the fans wonder if it will be another repeat of their 1994 appearance. In Group C, the four opponents showed that it might be a tough group as we couldn’t identify the unconfident English from the nervous Algerians. In Group D, Germany dictated the pace for the next round, while Serbia is promising a consecutive failure, if they continue the way they played against Ghana. In Group E, the results for Netherlands and Japan were the best highlights, as the performances didn’t  live up to a World Cup reputation. In Group F, Cannavaro showed exactly why Juventus didn’t want to renew his contract while Paraguay managed a point out of the World Champions. By the end of day four of the first round, I still hold hopes that Brazil, Portugal and Spain will conclude day six with some entertaining matches.