World Cup Fallout

Well it is all over for another four long years.

What a game. Italy are champions of the world. Zidane scored (just) off a dubious penalty (karma?) then goes on to head-butt one of the opposition (wtf?), leaving the world stage, and football in disgrace. And the Italians win a final on penalties for only the second time in history (and who took the winning kick? Grosso, number 1 on Australian football's most wanted list!) So, at the end of the tournament, apart from crowning the Italians as champions for the fourth time, what has changed in world of football?

First off, there are a few tarnished reputations. The biggest has to be Cristiano Ronaldo's. Stepping into the finals looking a pretty good bet for the "Best Young Player" or even a chance at the "Golden Boot", Ronaldo has walked away with a PR nightmare. The 21 year old spent most of his time in tears, throwing tantrums and hissy-fits left right and centre. His most enduring legacy will be his 30 metre run to the referee to whine about Man U. team mate, Wayne Rooney's boot in Carvalho's groin. Cristiano got a push, Rooney got a red card and the Portuguese bench got a wink. Ronaldo is already bleeting about a transfer to Real Madrid; he needs to go somewhere, not even his ego is going to be able to withstand the backlash at Old Trafford.

France's Thierry Henry, a player often held up as the model of clean football, leaves the competition with the dubious honour of being the player who has committed the most fouls in the finals. The most damning of course being the audacious dive that saw Spain go down a goal in their meeting in the second stage. It is always heartbreaking when the pillars of the game show the same cracks as the rest of the players. The daughter of one of my work mates has sworn off Arsenal (Henry's club) because of his dive and I am sure she will not be the last.

And I have no idea what to say about Zidane. A sad, sad way to step away from the game. We will have to wait and see what the story is behind that. It really is upsetting.

Italy of course came through after over twenty years of upset. For them it came at a time when football at home is in a sorry sorry state. The woes continue though for Spain (who once again bowed out in the second round) and England. Beckham, despite stepping back into form somewhat has resigned as captain in a truly emotional press conference. On top of that, Owen damaged, Rooney frustrated and Walcott still untested. Sven is gone but have the English gone for a more inventive, progressive manager. No, they have gone with Sven's 2IC. Good moves all round.

The referees? FIFA made a concerted effort to crack down on foul play in these finals. Unfortunately, what resulted was a barrage of ineffectual red and yellow cards, which culminated in the bullish display of refereeing between Portugal and the Netherlands. FIFA came under attack before the finals for sourcing referees from the most far flung of nations instead of relying on the trusted bastion of the European whistle blowers. It is ironic then that the most criticised refs have been from major European countries. Poll was sent home in disgrace after he managed to give 3 yellow cards to the same player as was Ivanov for the Portugal/Netherlands match. In any event, this world cup holds the record for the most cautions ever handed out so surely there will be some discussion about what can be done.

Where do we go from here? South Africa? Maybe, maybe not. There are rumours afoot that the African nation won't be safe enough or readied enough for the event and that it could move to Australia instead. I wish nothing bad on the South Africans. It would be wonderful for the continent to hold it there. Then again, I would love to see it at home as well...

I suppose I will end with congratulations for the Socceroos. They did such an awesome job. The USA entered the tournament ranked number 5 in the world, Australia at 45. FIFA have admitted that their rankings are a little off at the moment. The new rankings come out this week with a new system. I am very interested to see where we pull up. Surely the only way is up now for soccer down under. From now on we are playing with the big boys of Asia. Fingers crossed that we manage to pull a decent manager for the team now that Hiddink is living it up in Red Square.

I will leave Neill to have the last word...



Tags: World Cup, soccer, football