So, we are into our sixth day of football. Almost a quarter of the tournament has passed already, enough to get a flavour for this World Cup in South Africa. As we look back on the 16 games played so far what has stood out to make this World Cup different from the previous 18?
I will get one main element out of the way quickly. So many column inches have been wasted on this subject and I would not like to add more than is necessary. The vuvuzela cannot be ignored. Like most others I find the noise unbearable but, having watched the Confederations Cup in South Africa last year, I expected it. It is a symbol of national pride and tradition for the country. It is South Africa’s World Cup to do as they like. They have earned this right by their progress as a nation.
With the exception of Germany’s drubbing of Australia there have been many tight, nervous encounters. So far nine games have been 0-0 at half-time. This tension should relax as the players find their feet in South Africa.
Many of the slim score-lines in the tournament so far have come as a result of the winning team protecting their lead and being hesitant to press for another. Games such as Argentina’s 1-0 win over Nigeria and today’s victory for Chile over Honduras by the same margin were so much more one-sided than the score-line suggests.
Although the goals have been few and far between at least there has been some romance. New Zealand yesterday exposed the danger of hanging onto a narrow lead in what was a exhilarating, memorable moment for the Kiwis – who scored to draw with a vastly superior Slovakia side in second half injury-time to earn their first ever point at a World Cup – not to mention for the tournament itself. Switzerland have just beaten the European champions and World Cup favourites Spain. A great result (unless you’re Spanish, of course) but typically of the competition the score was 0-0 at half-time, 1-0 at the final whistle.
The reasons for so many tight, goal-shy games could of course be due to outside factors. The criticism of the Adidas Jabulani ball has been vindicated by the poor quality of shots from distance. Only shots against the woodwork from Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso, two of the finest strikers of a ball in the game, have come close to recreating some of the long-range thunderbolts seen in Germany four year ago. Rather than putting ‘keepers at a disadvantage it seems easier to get a hand to these balls than it does to hit them accurately and with power. The makers of the Jabulani blame the altitude, but then they would do, wouldn’t they?
Altitude does seem to be affecting players, as expected. Games have been tapering off more so than usual as they enter the final stages. Players are more content to let the ball do the work than to make attacking, lung-busting runs and risk being caught out of both position and breath. This could explain why Argentina, who lost 6-1 to Bolivia in the highlands of La Paz in qualifying, didn’t score more than one past Nigeria. Maybe the players should use vuvuzelas to strengthen their lungs.
One plus about the conditions in South Africa is that it is not as hot as in previous years. Especially in Japan and Korea but also in the heat of a German summer players struggled with the heat and humidity. A South African summer, at altitude, would have been unbearable. Whereas Brazil won in the humidity of 2002 and Italy won in Europe in 2006, the altitude of South Africa doesn’t really give an unfair advantage any of the favourite teams.
Not that these favourite teams are living up to that tag. Spain lost, Italy, France and England drew and even Brazil made hard work of minnows North Korea. If the altitude, the ball, the trying to communicate through the din of the vuvuzelas and so on level the playing field in South Africa, this can only be good for the tournament. But please, let’s have some more goals!
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