One of the worst wcs ever?

[chopra_hill]

Seemed so ****. I cant think of many games that genuienly excited me.

I enjoyed England v Germany, Chile v Switzerland and Germany v Argentina and that was probably about it. Didnt watch loads compared to previous years due to work, holidays, other commitments but I just couldnt get into it at all. Don't know what it was. Even the final tonight was utterly boring and I fell asleep for about 15 minutes at one point.

Was it just me or ...

[Candre168]

I have to be honest, this WC bored the living hell out of me.

[JonnyGabriel]

.

[brett.spurs]

Thought it was fairly good tbh, started off slowly(to say the least) but picked up nicely.

[jmr]

Final summed it up perfectly.

[Martin Allen]

good in parts but on the whole frustrating, most the matches which had real excitment invovled Germnany (their games against England, Argentina and Urguay all good matches) , Uruguay played their part aswell with the controversy against Ghana in another of the decent games.

Sums the world cup up entertainment wise when the team thats won it has won each of their knock out games 1-0, too many teams trying to play tactical football and keeping it tight than playing entertaining stuff.

Role on domestic football and the start of pre season this week, only a month until real football starts again

[Philip Rolfe]

Would give it a 7/10, was pretty good, lacked something to take it up a level.

[Powlay]

After Germany this one seemed so detached for some reason.

[copyprotection]

Honestly, from all the WC i've seen this one sucked... From the boring games (my national team included) to the freaking annoying vuvuzelas to the overall lack of real talented players that clearly charmed the crouds (big stars choked big time). It lacked emotion for me. Oh, and did i mention the freakin constant annoying buzzing vuvuzelas?!

[PMLF]

This wasn't a brilliant WC but I think it was more entertaining than 2006, and there were lots of surprising results too, which is nice too.

Unlike most, I like pragmatic/counter-attacking football, so from this point of view the WC was good too.

[jmr]

It was definitely better than 2006 but that's not something it can say proudly. This WC peaked at the QF stage (which was excellent), before and after was pretty poor stuff.

[Cenotaph]

I thought they where quite good, but I felt i lacked a "Zidane" in there, the one player who outshone everyone. Though Maradona was there, so I shouldn't complain. That was the highlight for me watching him coming out on the pitch for the first game.

[Ruud van Nistelrooy]

Worst one I've seen for sure. Lacked a real story, didn't have many great moments, had too few memorable matches. Champions have been largely uninspiring and have got through the entire tournament with absolutely no drama at all - just been a steady plod to the finish line. Too many poor teams as well, especially the bigger teams.

[Tele Santana]

Definitely better than 2006.

It was an average World Cup, with a handful of good matches and some decent matches as well.

I was fairly disappointed at how the final went, but that actually is kind of expected. The last reasonable final I saw was BraxGer in 2002, and before that, nothing to notice since 1986. Either boring games or the one-sided match of France against Brazil in 1998.

Cheers,

Tele

[cms186]

wasnt brilliant, but i enjoyed it and the team i wanted to win won

[joe__the__man]

Thought it was brilliant, just like every other World Cup. But then again I like football so I would say that.

[Trildor]

It wasn't outstanding, but still memorable. If only for the fact that there were so many flops.

[Romanista.]

i blame africa.

[Mark Snellink]

Quite frankly, it was not that entertaining for me. It seemed like a defensively minded cup all around, and IMO Ghana are the unluckiest bunch and should have been in the semi's.

[Icelander83]

One thing I've been wondering about is a lot of people going on about this having been a really African World Cup. Apart from the damned Vuvuzelas I didn't really get that vibe, so to speak. I really got it from the USA 94 tournament and the 2002 Japan/S Korea tournaments, not this one.

[Tele Santana]

Icelander,

I don´t know the kind of coverage you have, but from the Brazilian press point of view, it was pretty African atmosphere there.

And actually the South African team entering for their first match (both warm-up and then pre-game cerimony) was a memorable moment for me.

The vuvuzelas part, I am hopeful we won´t have those in Brazil in 4 years time.

Cheers,

Tele

[Tele Santana]

Icelander,

I don´t know the kind of coverage you have, but from the Brazilian press point of view, it was pretty African atmosphere there.

And actually the South African team entering for their first match (both warm-up and then pre-game cerimony) was a memorable moment for me.

The vuvuzelas part, I am hopeful we won´t have those in Brazil in 4 years time.

Cheers,

Tele

[charlo116]

Quite frankly, it was not that entertaining for me. It seemed like a defensively minded cup all around, and IMO Ghana are the unluckiest bunch and should have been in the semi's.

Personally i though Ghana were the luckiest team to make it out of the group stage.

[Mark Snellink]

Personally i though Ghana were the luckiest team to make it out of the group stage.

TBF I did not pay any attention to the group stage beyond Holland and peripherally USA and England.

USA could've actually gotten beaten Ghana if they had used more pressure, but Ghana had every chance in the world to make the semi's.

[Oypus]

Didn't really like this one at all. I watched almost every game, but only really enjoyed a few. It just seemed such a repeat of 2006, where the most boring team won in the end.

(And yes. Spain is boring. They haven't played with their free flowing "beautiful" football all tournament. It's been all about possession, and a single moment of quality or luck. That's boring.)

[jmr]

This World Cup will be remembered for Paul mostly, atleast for me. He was the true star of this tournament!

[PluckaDuck]

Certainly not the worst, I thoroughly enjoyed it, from first game to last. Not as good as Korea/Japan maybe, but certainly better than Germany. Paul was the Zidane of 2010.

[VamPook]

It had its drama, but it didn't have the footballing skills. All the stars flopped. Atmosphere on tv was horrible thanks to the vuvuzelas

[KDR]

Bit of a non-event in the end, IMHO. I did watch every game (or at least large chunks of every game) more in the hope of seeing it really take off than any expectation of the 'big names' putting on a show (because names is really all they are; how many times have they been mentioned as being key in 'big games' only for them to go missing? The one exception is, perhaps, Messi with Barca).

I like technical games. I like to see fluid, passing football. However, when 90% of the teams play the same way, it makes for a dull spectacle. World Cup used to be about contrasting styles and philosophies. Now it seems to be about possession at the back and with defensive mids and nicking games 1-0 despite the pundits saying how dominant a side is. Everyone tries to be Spain, and guess what? They aren't as good/used to it so Spain wins!

Take nothing from them - they can only do what they have to (though they were never 'brilliant', IMO, and didn't really have to be) - but this World Cup was dull and full of the darker side of football - diving, cheating, niggly little stamps and shows of petualnce...if that's the way the game is going, I'll leave it alone and stick with FM, tbh.

Oh, and I look forward to Messrs. Lineker, Hansen and Shearer wanting Arsenal to win the league next year because of the football they play, and Messrs. Pierce and Mowbray lauding Arsenal to the heavens instead of going on about 'wasteful Arsenal create but don't score' and how nice possession football looks amazing, but doesn't deliver all the goods. After all, Spain were more or less just international-level Arsenal in terms of style and approach. Should have battered teams and didn't, scraping 1-0, and losing to a side they should have had a bagful against (Switzerland).

[Jason the Yank]

Thought it was fairly good tbh, started off slowly(to say the least) but picked up nicely.

I thought just the opposite: started off exciting, ended with a whimper.

[Razzler]

1st round of group games weren't great, so tense + trumpets but after that it picked up for a bit but slowed down towards the end to make it not particularly memorable.

[skybluedave]

Thought it just lack a truely awesome and memorable game.

it was better then 06 but just could of done with a really special game IMO

[Astafjevs]

I think the general standard of international football is down. Too many established nations are a bit weak right now, and so everyone plays the same, and ultimately I think it has led to an apparently under-par World Cup.

[football_master_94]

TBF I did not pay any attention to the group stage beyond Holland and peripherally USA and England.

USA could've actually gotten beaten Ghana if they had used more pressure, but Ghana had every chance in the world to make the semi's.

Suárez saved us from the dreadful prospect of Ghana in the Semi's.

Best matches imo: Germany vs England, Uruguay vs Germany, Germany vs Argentina and Holland vs Brazil.

2006 WC >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2010 WC

[miketheheadlesschicken]

It was quite dull for the most part but I can't ever remember a fantastic World Cup (been watching since 1990). I much prefer the Euros and the Copa America.

[gaga_4_parma]

Worst WC in my lifetime...just like the Italy team!

[Svenc]

Some of the previous WCs get more slack than needed be. People fail to realize that international tournaments have long since stopped what they used to be: the pinnacle of football competitions. The Bosman ruling, the huge amounts of money involved in club football, the endless amount of premium games being delivered into peoples’ living rooms on home delivery have all lead to all kinds of misconceptions. National teams are not, and can never be as fluid and well-prepared as any club side mixing the best of footballers from all over the world. Clashes between national teams will rarely be (and rarely were) as intense as a CL final between Chelski and Barcelona. Being a far more globalized sports now than ever before, there aren't many surprises left, and tactics rule much of the game, yes. But go back to the group stages of any given World Cup, watch it in its entirety and you're likely to come out with the same conclusion: you’re likely spoilt beyond joy.

[pouncer]

I quite enjoyed it, but looking back now it's over I think I enjoyed the 2006 World Cup more, and I certainly preferred Euro 2008. There were good games this summer, but there was nothing to match the (albeit rare) excitement of games like Turkey-Croatia and Turkey-Czech Republic that we saw in the summer two years ago. I think we were all waiting too long for a 'classic' and that marred it a little when there wasn't really one.

We've also been more than ever inundated with 'build-up'. Media sources like the Internet allow us to get far more excited, to build ourselves up far more than necessary for what are ultimately not huge games at all from a neutral's point of view until the knockout stages. In the UK, we've got channels like BBC3 who were broadcasting wall-to-wall rubbish like 'World Cup's Most Controversial Moments' and so forth.

[tony_cfc]

The problem we have atm is that the international teams famed for being exciting just aren't anymore. Probably the worst example is Portugal, when would you ever see a Portuguese team playing some defensively? Brazil and Holland have drastically changed their style and France, Italy and England are rubbish. Argentina were exciting but look were that got them. Surprisingly the Germans provided us with the most entertainment.

Probably my biggest disappointment with these tournaments are when you get 2 smaller teams in the knock-out stages and both become so over-awed by the occasion that they tun into boring games when penalties are an inevitably.

[SeanNUFC]

Nah, i enjoyed alot of it. Definitely not one of the worst, despite englands performances!

[Micado]

Despite loosing the final it was a great WC for me, ofc because Holland got so far, but overall not the greates WC, but not the worst ever, about 7/10 for me.

[BigRoboCrouch]

Vuvuzelas covering fans chants,boring matches,cold weather,boring final,terrible referees and linesmen,stupid beach ball jabulani influencing a couple of important matches(Uruguay-Holland).

Definitely the worst WC i have ever watched.

But,at least South Africa organized the event pretty well,and in the end the best team won it.

[SGartz]

This World Cup never really caught my imagination. I really can't think of a specific reason why, maybe it was the fact England played so badly, I don't know. Having looked forward to it for a number of years, I think it could be just myself either growing up rather than it actually being the football matches.

Football in general doesn't seem to be what it was 5-10 years ago, it's lost it's soul a little bit and for the first time in my life I am considering not renewing my Sky T.V. Subscription!

The commentary for the world cup was awful too. BBC and ITV are just dreadful, I'm sure that didn't help my enjoyment.

[Svenc]

One thing I've been wondering about is a lot of people going on about this having been a really African World Cup. Apart from the damned Vuvuzelas I didn't really get that vibe, so to speak. I really got it from the USA 94 tournament and the 2002 Japan/S Korea tournaments, not this one.

Really? What was the difference in Japan/South Korea to any other recent FIFA tourmanent, except for the crowd that reacted to match events in totally unfamiliar ways to the rest of the World, not much unlike in South Africa at all? FIFA is a massive business corporation, the World Cup is a massive brand, think Star Bucks, Mc D, Coca Cola, they're painting products with the same brush wherever they go. No doubt they'll rise the same mammoth arenas come Brazil 2014, disallow any local sort of brewery and flair except what is happening on the stands. Everything else is up to the opening ceremony directors and thereabouts, and speaking about that, I'm still giggling at the "German" Lederhosens of 2006, not only because of the cliché, but also because it is representing Bavarian culture, and Bavaria is only a part of Germany, no more. Bit of the same with South Africa, as soon as the ceremonies were over, as soon as Western pop darlings like Shakira, R. Kelly and whoever were finished singing the official songs, as soon as the odd elephant and tiger had left the arena, it was FIFA World Cup time, same flavour wherever you go.

This might sound as if I wouldn't like the World Cup, far from it. Just arguing that this cannot be a critique directed towards WC 2010. It has been hardly any different for any WC ever since this thing got bigger than Ronald Bloody Mc Donald. I DID get a bit of African flair occasionally, or what I think was African flair, and I'm not talking Ever So Slightly Africanized Western Pop Songs or Elephants Walking Out The Stadium Doors. But, as this is a world event as much as it is a business as much as it is a mainstream event, most of it was superficial. Except for some stories broadcasted on television that ventured further than the FIFA WC arenas.

[Icelander83]

I really don't know what it is, there was just something about those competitions that got through while it didn't with this one

[georginho_juventusygr]

Enjoyable World Cup at least.

Vuvuzela.

France disaster.

Greece still played like 2004.

Goodluck, Jonathan. You need it.

New Zealand.

Italy humiliation.

Drogba played with a broken arm.

Jong Tae-Se cried.

That last goal from United States.

Rosetti realized that Tevez was offside. Blatter then banned showing replays in the stadium.

Of course, that phantom goal against Germany.

That handball. djvandyke then proposed to ban Suárez for life, and Matthew Le God proposed a rugby rule to be applied.

Melo gave a brilliant assist, then took part in the own goal, and was sent off finally. All in one match.

Otamendi wasn't a full back clearly.

Cardozo and Xabi missed penalties in five minutes.

Spain passed the ball well.

The final with the most cards in the history.

Paul the Octopus.

Oh:

His World Cup.

[Benjani'sBootCleaner]

Definitely enjoyed Euro 2008 more tbf, my first real tournament without England and the ******** just goes away. Endless posts just copied anything the Sun said without any real knowledge, and to tip it all off when England went out we brought up the Soldiers. Just ruined it somewhat for me.

First week was awful, very cagey nobody wanted to lose their first game, but after that brightened up by some excellent performances from all nations. North Korea vs Brazil was an amazing performance from the minnows and Germany's win against England was 'epic'. It tailed off at the end, might be due to the tiredness of the long tournament, but luckily the 3rd/4th playoff was great because the Final was horrific.

6/10 for me

[Leppard]

Didn't enjoy it that much apart from my team winning it. Certainly preferred Euro 2008 because the atmosphere in the stadiums was fantastic and there was a more 'prestigious tournament' feel to it. Felt it was way too defensive at times but some of the games were highly entertaining, especially the ones with Germany.

[iamjerome]

enjoyed it a fair amount tbh. feel its gotten a lot of unfair stick, wasn't that bad at all. enough drama / unpredictability to make it interesting. lacked a true genius, closest being forlan yeah but still, enjoyable.

[Jamos5000]

lacked a true genius, closest being forlan yeah but still, enjoyable.

Villa ?