It is now officially over. Yesterday evening, in the bloodbath that was last night’s game, Spain managed to score a goal against the Netherlands in the finals with only four minutes of added extra time to be played. Spain went on to win the brutal encounter. Why brutal? Well, fourteen yellow cards sort of explain it. The ever-flamboyant style of football played by the Spanish was, usually once some momentum was created, interrupted by an angry Dutchman.
Spain went on to emotionally hoist the trophy for the first time, and soon, most of the game’s flaws were forgotten.
It’s a shame that that game was the final, because there is always the possibility that that game will be the one the South African world up will be remembered for. Then again it is pretty hard to forget the opening goal of the tournament scored by our very own side.
Now that the world cup is over, we can all openly admit, that the football itself was less than spectacular. Yes, on the one hand it was fantastic to see the overpaid top teams to be flung out of the tournament in the group stages, something that Paul the octopus couldn’t even have predicted. On the other hand, the football that was played hereafter was pretty lousy to say the least.
It would be a lie to say that no one was skeptical about South Africa being able to host the World Cup. People weren’t sure if the stadiums would be built on time, or if the country would be able to cope with all the fans storming in.
Well, they did. And they didn’t just cope; they managed to host one of the most memorable world cups ever. Memorable for the vibes and passion, not so much for the football itself.
So what will follow for South Africa? Did they manage to host an international tournament and remain unscathed? Greece is still in debt from the time they hosted the Olympics. Germany is still paying off the costs of their World Cup.
We’ll have to wait and see, and in the meantime hope for the best.
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