Day 28: Where do we go from here?
Sixty-Two matches down, then, and a mere two remaining. It’s at about this stage of every World Cup that one begins to feel a mix of emotions. On the one hand you look forward to the dénouement, keen to see who will join the elite group of captains who’ve lofted the mighty trophy high. On the other, you begin to confront the sinking realisation that it’ll 4 long years before you can enjoy such a feast again…
It’s been an odd tournament in many ways: lauded as exciting and engrossing by some (myself included), derided for the (relative) paucity of goals by others. The media’s fixation with gamesmanship, ‘simulation’, and the high number of cards shown has led some to suggest that sporting behaviour has – in this year’s competition – been at an all-time low. Having watched nearly every game, however, I think the spirit in which the matches have been played has been (by and large) extremely positive and good-natured. There have been very few incidents of violent conduct, with most of the cards resulting from fairly ‘innocent’ transgressions. The atmosphere among opposing fans has (by all accounts) been very harmonious and I genuinely believe that if you dis-regard the current media hysteria, then the evidence actually points to fairly high levels of sportsmanship (with a few notable exceptions).
While there have been some fairly obvious (and comical) acts of ‘simulation’ in the competition, I think the exposure/condemnation such incidents have received is disproportionate to the severity of the ‘crimes’. I’ve seen no evidence, at all, of an increase in ‘simulation’ levels and think (if you ignore certain over-exposed moments involving Portugal) that the whole thing is rapidly becoming a case of media mountains and molehills. The demonisation of the Portuguese (and Ronaldo in particular) has been laughably OTT, with the BBC’s new "Jack the lad"-style punditry being particularly guilty. The mutterings of Messrs. Wright and Shearer (and, occasionally, Lineker) have been at best unprofessional, and at worst borderline xenophobic, so it’s gratifying to see so many English fans take them to task- over on their World Cup blog – for what has been fairly shameful (dumbed-down) coverage .
As for the semi-finals themselves, well we got one bona fide classic, and one fairly tepid and dull affair…so on balance that was more then you’d usually expect from semi-finals. France did enough to emerge fairly comfortable winners against a Portuguese side that fatally lacked a killer punch when they reached the edge of the French box. While it wasn’t – by any means – a pretty French performance, it’d be hard to begrudge them their place in the final as they were excellent in the previous two rounds. Besides, the rejuvenation of Zidane is proving to be one of the great stories of the tournament…and we haven’t seen the final chapter yet.
If one wanted to pick one match that summed up the appeal of World Cup 2006 then you’d look no further than Italy vs. Germany. No goals at all for 118 minutes, but some of the most pulsating, ferocious, high-tempo, and skilful action one could ever wish to see. It was every bit as enjoyable as the marvellous 3-2 slugfest between the Czech Republic and Holland in Euro 2004, and – if anything – was more remarkable for having taken place in a World Cup semi-final (with so much at stake). Certainly the best semi-final since France vs. Germany in 1982, and quite possibly one of the best ever.
If we get a final even half that good we’ll all be laughing (assuming we aren’t supporters of the losing team of course).
Italy 2 Germany 0 [0-0 at full time]
France 1 Portugal 0
July 8, 2006
2 responses to Day 28: Where do we go from here?
The Italy-Germany match was the most enjoyable football match I’ve ever watched, excluding perhaps my beloved Man City beat Gillingham in the Division 2 playoff final some years ago.
I watched it in a bar filled with rowdy, drunken Italians who cheered everytime an Italian was shown on screen, who went crazy when Del Piero started warming up and went crazier when that first goal (finally) went in. Golden moment, if not goal.
Hope for more of the same tonight. Italy for the win.
It’ll probably be a more cagey affair than the Italy v Germany match (finals usually are), but I hope the two teams show the form that got them here. With previous Italian teams you would have assumed that they’d fall back on the old catenaccio style for a match as important as this. Can’t see that happening under Lippi however. If they win (in style) much of the credit must go to him.