Italy's penalty shootout victory over France in a dramatic finish to the
World Cup in Germany ended a great tournament, marred only by the action on the
pitch.
The World Cup was almost flawlessly organised, attracted great crowds and
inspired a carnival atmosphere which turned Germany into one big party zone.
The Germans even got to grips with soccer's persistent problem with
hooliganism, handling the large visiting supporter groups, especially those from
England, with great aplomb and allowing everyone to enjoy themselves without
fear of violence.
For once, the fans actually behaved far better than the players.
On the pitch, there were too few goals, too few great matches, too few great
players, too few upsets and too little goalmouth action.
There were too many fouls and too much blatant cheating by players -- in
particular diving and feigning injury to earn unfair free kicks and penalties,
all unchecked and sometimes even encouraged by coaches.
For once, nobody could blame the match officials. The refereeing was of a
surprisingly high standard, even if there were the inevitable mistakes here and
there.
UNADVENTUROUS ATTITUDES
The lack of thrills in most matches was mainly caused by the unadventurous
attitudes of coaches, many of whom packed their midfields and played with a lone
striker up front.
On average the tournament produced fewer goals per game than any other of the
17 previous finals, except for 1990 in Italy, a tournament widely regarded as
one of the dullest ever.
As in Italy -- and also in England in 1966, another tournament with a
reputation for relatively insipid play -- one problem was the premature exit of
the Brazilians.
Brazil traditionally bring flair and flamboyance to the World Cup.
This time they did not. Their big name players all failed to sparkle and, as
a team, they completely failed to provide even half their usual quota of
entertainment.
Most disappointing of all was Ronaldinho, who came with the reputation of
being the world's best player but was almost anonymous in Brazil's five matches.
Equally anonymous was England midfielder Frank Lampard, a player who has
gained huge plaudits over the past two years and who did nothing to justify it
in Germany.
Few young players emerged to take their place at the summit of world
football.
In the final, Italy's youngest playing lining up at the start was Andrea
Pirlo, who is already 27. France had only one player under 26, midfielder Franck
Ribery, at 23 one of the few revelations of the tournament.
