World Cup 2010 has taken center stage in the world. Whether you have been watching the games or not, interested in the games or not, chances are your facebook feed is full of spirited statuses, your twitter timeline is flooded, or you’ve been seeing team jerseys and flags on the street or in your favorite bar. If you still don’t know what I’m talking about—um tell me what rock you hide under so I can escape there too.
Quick explanation for those who don’t get how it works: As of today’s blog, we are already within the round of 16, also known as the knockout stage. If a team loses from now on, they’re out of the tournament. How did we get to the 16? Stay with me. There were 32 teams divided in 8 groups (4 teams per group). When the World Cup games began on Friday, June 11th, there were many games going on as each group played each other. Let’s look at Group C that was comprised of England, Slovenia, Algeria and the beloved United States. In the group stage, the USA played England, then the USA played Slovenia (controversy abounds), and finally the USA played Algeria. The top 2 teams advanced based on number of points. A win=3 pts, draw=1 pt, and a loss=0 pts. USA’s run consisted of 2 draws and a win or 5 points. Our cousins across the pond also had the same result making us the top 2 teams.
Here’s who advanced (go to espn.go.com to see all 32 teams):
Group A: Uruguay and Mexico
Group B: Argentina and South Korea
Group C: United States and England
Group D: Germany and Ghana
Group E: Netherlands and Japan
Group F: Paraguay and Slovakia
Group G: Brazil and Portugal
Group H: Spain and Chile
Knockout stage: As I mentioned before, if you lose you’re out. Winners are listed and the remaining schedule is posted for games not played yet. It goes like this, 1st place of Group A plays 2nd place of Group B and 1st place of Group B plays 2nd place of Group A. Think of it as A vs. B, C vs. D, etc following that format.
This gets us to our final 8 (think of March madness college hoops: Sweet 16 down to the Elite 8). Winners are italicized
Uruguay v. South Korea
Argentina v. Mexico
United States v. Ghana
Germany v. England
Netherlands v. Slovakia
Brazil v. Chile
Paraguay v. Japan
Spain v. Portugal
We already know some of the upcoming matchups: Uruguay v. Ghana and Argentina v. Germany (that’s going to be a major one—prepare for status updates, tweets, etc). Based on the play I’ve seen so far, Germany looks unstoppable, while Argentina is polished (hence it’s a great match-up). Brazil and the winner of Spain/Portugal will likely also be threats for the crown.
Controversy: There are many things discussion-worthy this World Cup including the rise of the underdogs, demise of Team France and the early exit of reigning champs Italy. However, the thing that has taken center stage beyond everything else is the calls (or often no-calls of the referees). Most egregious:
-Disallowed goal for the USA v. Slovenia during the Group Stage; result=ended in a draw with the USA on the brink of elimination had they not beaten Algeria (mind you there was a disallowed goal in the very next game against USA). The referee who has in essence been fired offered no explanation and appeared to only see an imaginary infraction against USA players while NOT seeing the multiple fouls being committed by Slovenia players against USA. Andy Roddick said it best…
-Disallowed goal for England v. Germany during the knockout stage: To the surprise of probably no one, Germany went up 2-0 early in the first half. However, England fought right back to tie—or not? Again after blatantly not seeing a goal, half-time came and the score was 2-1. Needless to say, the Brits never recovered and honestly while the lack of goal was egregious, seriously Germany would’ve had the same result. 4-1 was the final score, just saying…
-Allowing a goal while clearly being offsides (an illegal move in soccer) for Argentina v. Mexico during the knockout stage: Hmm, now this clearly changed the tempo of the game. While Argentina did win 3-1, had the score only been 1-0 at the half, Mexico probably would’ve felt optimistic. It can be demoralizing to go down 2-0 before halftime. It makes the hill that much higher. But then again, we wouldn’t get Germany v. Argentina if Mexico had won.
-2nd yellow card for Brazil’s Kaka after a fake injury: This actually happened a lot where players received yellow cards for over-exaggerated non-injuries. I’ve isolated Kaka’s incident because he ended up missing the next match (2 yellow cards=missing the next match) when it was so clear that Ivory Coast’s Abdel-Kader Keïta was pretending. You got elbowed in the chest dude yet you grab your face on the way down while making sure the refs see you. Hey, can’t blame a player for trying. Blame it on the refs!
Why were USA fans so hyped this year? Because we were in it! As I’m sure you’re aware, soccer isn’t the primary sport here—football, baseball, and basketball are! Team USA had a great chance to go far in the tournament. But as fate has it, we got knocked out during the group of 16 to Ghana. This was very sad because people were finally tuning in and showing love to the States. All isn’t lost though, there’s a newfound interest and revival in soccer that hopefully the MLS (Major League Soccer) will capitalize on. One of the Cup’s biggest heroes was Landon Donovan and he plays for the LA Galaxy (alongside David Beckham!) Almost every major city has a team, support yours!
Lastly, what is all this talk about a vuvuzela? It’s an instrument native to South Africa (where the World Cup is being hosted) used for celebrations. Clearly there is no bigger celebration than the World Cup being hosted for the first time in your continent, let alone in your country! It has somewhat of a low hum sound and when there are multiple, it sounds similar to a swarm of bees. Many fans around the world and players and coaches have complained BUT hey futbol nation is in their country, let the people celebrate. If you’re really paying attention to the games, you don’t even notice it (unless it’s boring but blame that on the teams!). Hope you’re a little bit clear on how this wonderful game is played! The World Cup only takes place every 4 years so don’t wait until it’s over to see why people get so amped!
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