When it’s finally over I want to look back on the 2010 FIFA World Cup and say that it was the best World Cup competition I’ve ever seen. At the very least I’d like to say it was a good and exciting tournament that had some wonderful moments.
Unfortunately, most of the action so far leads me to believe that there’s no chance of that happening.
Maybe it’s the new ball, maybe it’s the drone of the vuvuzelas or maybe the players aren’t firing on all cylinders yet, but whatever it is, the tournament hasn’t managed to inspire so far.
With every team having played at least one match at this stage, that’s 16 matches, it’s hard to pick out one game as being a classic. In fact many have been so boring that I’ve taken to doing ironing* during the games. I really don’t like ironing; but I hate watching boring football matches even more. Yes I don’t have to watch the games, but I do feel honour bound as it is the World Cup.
But Brazil and North Korea have given me hope.
For me, they’ve contested by far the best game of the World Cup so far. I’d no idea what to expect and I was surprised and delighted by a wonderful defensive performance by North Korea.
People often say that defensive play is boring. I don’t agree. Defensive play, when executed by a team that is both disciplined and intelligent, can be a thing of beauty. If the opposition happen to be attack oriented, and Brazil usually are, then you could end up with an interesting battle of wits.
I was reminded of flocks of starlings as I watched the North Korean defence group and regroup as they covered for each other and closed down space that the Brazilians were trying to exploit. Wave after wave of attacks were handled in an almost graceful way by fluid defence.
After the game the Brazilian coach Dunga said “If you look back at the footage, the way that North Korea moved to close the spaces was almost perfect.” Fabiano, the Brazilian striker said “It was difficult for the forwards because there was a sea of Korean players and the ball just didn’t reach the front.”
Brazil won 2-1 in the end. They required two excellent attacking moves to breakdown the North Korean defence. Both their goals were superb. A moment of magic by Maicon gave them the lead and that was followed 17 minutes later by an exquisite pass by Robinho that allowed Elano to score.
It turned out that both goals were required for victory as in the 89th minute Ji Yun-nam got the better of two defenders and scored for North Korea.
I hope when the tournament is over this isn’t my favourite game. I hope I iron less and see better football. I hope I look back on this game and think that it was just an indication of the shape of things to come – great attacking football, superb defensive play, only broken down by marvellous moments of skill that lead goal scoring opportunities and ultimately goals of great quality.
Now that would be a beautiful game.
*Tip: Endear yourself to your partner by ironing during World Cup matches.
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