World Cup 2010
by Baron Halpenny, LincsMag Editor-in-Chief.
Date: 15 July 2010
As the dust settles after yet another world cup frenzy, it’s time now to reflect on what has been … or not been as the case may be, especially for England fans.
England fans cannot even really take heart from the ridiculous antics of the French team, because the French team just didn’t play with many going on strike, a national sport in itself, whereas the over paid and over pampered prima donnas that were the England Team, couldn’t play.
The England team were beyond a doubt the most over hyped team.
Jinx?
I had someone send in an article to LincsMag, which basically pointed out that David Beckham was a jinx to the England Team, and went on to list that even when we had a formidable team in the past, we failed to win, down to the fateful day (and I don’t think the writer had forgiven him) when blessed with a good strong side, Beckham thought only of himself and gets a red card thus weakening the team at a crucial moment.
I looked upon the article with a smile as England had played poorly before David Beckham, but had to admit there was something about the article, indeed when looking at it, there seems to be strings pulled to ensure Beckham is always there in one form or another and his talents are promoted like the King’s new clothes. He is groomed more as a celebrity than a footballer and this overshadows and downplays new talent that should be focusing on good football.
I’m sure this is now a cunning plot by some foreign power to thwart England’s chances of glory, by not actively encouraging and looking for new real homegrown talent.
I didn’t run the “Beckham Jinx” article as I didn’t want to tempt fate or put a negative slant on the England Team’s chances, also LincsMag prefers as much as possible to talk about an event after so the article is still interesting to read years later, but as I watched the world cup, I did indeed see a possible ‘jinx’ taking effect.
This ‘jinx’ was not confided to the football field though, as Andy Murray was storming though Wimbledon giving Britain a chance of Tennis glory, David Beckham arrived with his eldest son. Holding his chin in his hand, Beckham's poses were eerily similar to those as he watched the England team in South Africa.
Result? Beckham’s visit to the All England Club saw Murray slip to defeat against Rafael Nadal on Centre Court. Jinx or just rotten luck? Possibly I would say more the latter, but unfortunately a bit too much of it.
England’s Poor Performance
But Beckham aside, the England team played disgracefully and not as one would expect from a top class team from the land that created the modern game of football.
Wayne Rooney's performances were truly awful and he showed no form of a first class player when it was needed most. His dig at the fans, was totally uncalled for as these fans, unlike Rooney, had paid a lot of hard earned money to be there and show their support for England.
Indeed on that particular match where Rooney berated the fans, they, the fans, had gone out of their way to make the match feel like a home game for the England side.
England was quickly knocked out and so returned home early, though Rooney jetted straight off for a holiday in the Caribbean, not a caravan to grow a beard.
England's poor performance surprised even FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who when asked his thoughts said:
"You will have to ask the Football Association. England is considered as being the motherland of football, as Brazil is the heartbeat of football, but there are no small national teams any more. There are small countries but their national teams are very strong as football has developed." World Cup Performance and World Rankings
However, take heart England fans, though FIFA assessed England's performances in the World Cup as poor and rated them only 13th, England have risen up from 8th to 7th in the latest FIFA world rankings. The reason?
Quite simply the other teams performances which have helped. Italy was surprisingly poor and had a hefty drop from 5th to 11th, not bad for England to leapfrog the Italians. È che non è vero, Capello? Sì, è successo.
Both Germany and Maradonna’s Argentina climbed two places to 4th and 5th respectively, while Uruguay's commendable performance has seen them jump 10 places up to 6th and so one ahead of England.
Humour
Some great send-ups of England’s performance were:
Osama bin Laden has just released a new TV message to prove he is still alive. He said that the England Team performance on Sunday was completely cr*p. British intelligence have dismissed the claim, stating that the message could have been recorded anytime in the last 44 years.
The England team went to visit an orphanage in South Africa this morning: "It’s so good to put a smile on the faces of people with no hope, constantly struggling, and facing the impossible," said Jamal Omboto, aged 6.
FIFA have released a statement saying the fan didn't break into the dressing room after all, but was let in by Rob Green.
Fabio Capello was wheeling his shopping trolley across the supermarket car park when he noticed an old lady struggling with her bags of shopping. He stopped and asked, "Can you manage dear?" To which the old lady replied, "No way. You got yourself into this bl**dy mess, don't ask me to sort it out..."
England at the World Cup final
Jokes aside however, England did indeed make it to the World cup final, but only in the form of English referee Howard Webb who managed a record-breaking card performance in the World Cup final.
This 2010 World Cup that was played at Soccer City in front of 85,000 and watched by over 700 million on televisions around the world was mainly a bit of a damp squid and was littered by 12 yellow cards and one red, John Heitinga receiving his marching orders for the Dutch late on in the game.
The Dutch play was extremely questionable on the night; in fact it wasn’t proper professional football with any finesse or style and the Dutch were lucky that more of their players were not sent off.
Finally Andres Iniesta gave Spain a 1-0 win over the Netherlands deep into extra-time and so World Cup glory for the first time in their history.
Spain's victory, which was their fourth successive 1-0 win of the tournament, was indeed well deserved.
And so ended the 2010 World Cup!
