The Final Act
The curtains finally came down on the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Though Spain lifted the cup, there were many other winners
Like a grand opera that enthralls and leaves you breathless, the 2010 edition of the FIFA World Cup went through its scenes and acts to draw to a stupendous close. And, the grand finale of football’s greatest event had it all.
But the signs of an exciting and dramatic finish were there right from the start. If the group stage and the Round of 16 saw some big teams go out, the quarter finals served to be mid-course before a sumptuous final dish. If Uruguay striker Luis Suarez’s infamous act of handling the ball touched a low point in the game, then Asamoah Gyan, Ghana’s top scorer in the tournament, missing a decisive penalty provided a moment of shock and sadness. The Black Elephants might have lost to the South Americans but nobody can take away their pride and effort at making it to the last eight. Uruguyan goal keeper Fernando Muslera became a hero with two vital saves during the penalty shootout to see his team through.
When five-time champions Brazil met the men in orange, it was expected to be a tough game with Brazil edging out the Dutch eventually. Robinho’s strike in the 10th minute served to emphasise the same. Then Wesley Sneijder showed why he is so highly rated as he netted the ball twice in the space of 15 minutes to give The Netherlands the upper hand. The A Selecao seemed to lose their way after that and Felipe Melo’s send off after being red carded only sealed their fate. Brazil, to the shock of most of the people, was out for the second consecutive time in the quarters.
Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi were expected to stop the German juggernaut. People waited with bated breath to watch Messi break through the Teutonic defence and put an end to his goal scoring jinx. Germany was good, their victory over England was telling; but Messi and Argentina were too talented. Or so most of us thought. The bubble burst in the third minute of the game when Thomas Mueller’s header from a free kick put the Germans ahead. Thereafter, they handed a lesson to the Argentines that they would never forget. Not once, not twice but four times the Germans broke through to score goals. Argentina could only struggle to maintain meagre possession and watch as they were ripped apart. Final score: Germany 4, Argentina 0. The only consolation, if any: we were all spared the blushes of seeing Maradona run naked, which he had promised to do had Argentina won the World Cup.
Defending European Champions Spain had to stave off the Paraguyan challenge if they were to make it past the quarter finals. Spain tried to keep the opposition at bay with their passing game. Paraguay, to its credit, tried hard and almost pulled it off through a Nelson Valdez strike which was erroneously ruled offside. But it was Villa’s late minute goal that put the final nail in the coffin for Paraguay and saw the Spaniards through to their second ever semi-final at the World Cup.
The Netherlands, having won all their matches so far, seemed overmatched against Uruguay. Skipper Giovanni Van Bronckhorst’s stunning left-foot strike in the 18th minute was undoubtedly one of the best goals of the tournament. But the predatory Forlan was not to be denied as he levelled the score for Uruguay with a spectacular goal of his own. The match was a see-saw affair but two quick goals by the Dutch in the second half put the game almost out of reach of Uruguay. They still had some spark left in them and a goal from a set-piece in the 92nd minute by Maximiliano Pereira brought the score to 3-2 and that’s how it stayed till the final whistle was blown. The Uruguyans had left it too late.
In what was expected to be one of the best contests, the rampaging Germans, already having scored four goals on three separate occasions in the World Cup, locked horns with the sublime Spanish. And what an anti-climax it turned out to be. Spain, who had only scored six goals in the tournament till that moment and were expected to come under a barrage of shots, dominated the game right from the beginning. The Germans looked completely at sea at times and the striking duo of Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podulski failed to make a breach in the Spanish defence. Spain, too, was unable to get into the score sheet. The dreadlock was finally broken by veteran defender Carles Puyol, who delivered a flying header to see the ball go in and take Spain to their first ever World Cup final.
But, before Spain and The Netherlands decided who would be crowned the world champion, Germany and Uruguay had to resolve the issue of third-place finish. The Germans pulled off the encounter 3-2 but not before some superb football display by Uruguay who took the battle to them. Uruguay may have lost but world football had a new hero in Diego Forlan. Germany’s 20-year-old Thomas Mueller also caught the world’s attention for his knack of scoring goals.
Germany and Uruguay, both known for their hard tackles and sometimes rough style of play, incredibly played a very clean game. The same, however, could not be said about the final. We all expected fireworks but six yellow
cards in the first half of the game gave a clear indication that this game would be anything but dull and there were more incidents to come.
Both Arjen Robben and Cesc Fabregas missed sitters, Xavi Alonso met Heitinga’s booted foot with his chest (the pain must have been unbearable) and a few other unruly acts of behaviour. The Spanish stuck to their task of passing and maintaining possession but despite more than thirty free kicks in all, neither of the teams could create a breakthrough. Puyol escaped a second yellow card in the match but Heitinga was not so lucky; he got sent off during the extra time. The Dutch were now a man short but they still held on resolutely. A goalless draw seemed the prelude to a dramatic penalty shootout like the previous World Cup final between Italy and France. Then it happened: Andres Iniesta, the mercurial midfielder who had set up most of Spain’s goals, finds the ball and coolly strikes it in. Despite several attempts by the Dutch, Spain managed to hold on. When the final whistle was blown, Spain were the new champions.
Winning the World Cup seems to have given the whole of Spain a breather from months of economic gloom and political squabbling. Of late, the country had been plagued by a severe debt crisis, a 20 per cent unemployment rate and separatist politics, which have always threatened the unity of the country. But as the winning team made its way through Madrid, signs of solidarity were seen in such regions as Catalonia and the Basque region.
