Was the 2010 World Cup really all that bad?

"That's a superb ball forward for Ozil. Ozil holding play up, waiting for options...he plays it across for Muller!!! Thomas Muller!!! Thomas Muller scores his second of the game, and England are 4-1 down to Germany!!"

These were the words, spoken by a commentator on an obscure regional British radio station that made my summer. England were out of the FIFA World Cup.They suffered an absolute Mullering (pardon the pun) at the hands of those pesky Germans. Same old story. Expectation, hype...disappointment.

Muller grabs his second as England crash out once more

All in all, the "Three Pussycats" had a poor campaign, winning only once in a group described by one British tabloid as EASY (see below). So easy, that they squeezed through the back door, behind the USA, with a measly 5 points from the 9 they were 'expected' to take.

Oh, really?

But, I do concede that, as a Scot, my opinion may be a bit biased, but I'm sure most Englishmen would agree with the points I've made. But England's shock early elimination was just one of the many shocks and controversies in one of the best World Cups in recent memory, IMHO.

It had it all. Shock scorelines, dressing room revolutions, bizarre celebrations and one of the most vibrant, exciting, fun home crowds in a World Cup, equalled by none. South Korea and Japan's fans were pretty wild at times, but the first World Cup to be held in Africa evoked the true African spirit and culture very well. Vuvuzelas, while hated by most, added an extra element to the atmosphere, which was buzzing at every match, but none more so than the very first game.

The atmosphere at the World Cup was electric

On June 11th, 2010, in Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, the first match of the 2010 World Cup got underway. And, as the hosts began their campaign against Mexico, it was full house, with South Africa's loyal fans blowing their vuvuzelas (which I liked, oddly), singing their songs and sporting some very creative headwear, and generally backing 'Bafana Bafana'. As were most neutrals, including me, who adopted South Africa as their second nationality, swept up by the sheer passion that these fans exhumed. And when, in the second half, Bafana Bafana (The Boys The Boys in Zulu, the nickname for SA's national side) surged into Mexico's half with a counter-attack even 1982's Brazil would've been proud of, the World Cup came to life.

Tshabalala!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOOM! Tshabalala blasts in the first goal of the World Cup

How it didn't literally burst the net, I'll never know. The keeper had no chance, and the Mexican fans and players could only look on in disbelief as the 'no-hoper' hosts took the lead. And so began the strangest celebration I have ever seen. What an anti-climax.

WTF?

We all saw it and wondered: "Why are they doing a half-arsed Macarena?" I expected celebrating prowess as good as Tshabalala's attacking prowess. But I still sulked when Mexico equalised late on.

But, for 'World Cup no-hopers', 1-1 against a very good Mexico side is more than credible. But, as excitement reached fever pitch after an incredibly exciting first match, we were 'treated' to the France vs Uruguay match from this group later in the evening. A boring, dull, 0-0 draw.

The next day, as Argentina beat Nigeria following South Korea's win over Greece, all of Britain switched over to ITV HD to...watch a Kia advert?! Yes, a 7 year warranty is all very good but...Oh, he's scored.

Stick the ads back on, eh?

Yes, England's Captain Marvel had silenced the Big Macs, or the Kentucky Fried Chickens, or...whatever stereotypical crap Clive Tyldesley spouted out. I was sad. England couldn't lose a goal. They had a great spine, with Rooney, the world's most in-form striker, Gerrard, the goalscorer and sure to be an important playmaker during the summer, Terry, who, despite off the field problems, remains a rock for his nation, and Rob Green, a solid goalkeeper who has overcome his past gaffes and mistakes to emerge as a clear No. 1 for England.

Lawl.

Oh. Maybe not, then.  So, Super England drew with the USA, with the New York Post claiming that the "USA WIN 1-1" and that it was "The greatest tie against the Brits since Bunker Hill." Ha.

The drabness continued the next day as Slovenia and Algeria contested the other game from Group C, with another goalkeeping howler granting someone an extra point, or, in Slovenia's case, three, as the Europeans got lucky when Robert Koren scored after an error from the keeper. Group D produced another 'I'd-rather-masturbate-while-holding-sandpaper-than-watch-this' match, as Ghana beat Serbia 1-0, thanks to a Gyan Asamoah penalty. But Germany, who were given not much chance of winning before the tournament by the bookies, destroyed the highly-rated Aussies 4-1, which helped many English people get over the previous night's result.

A few day's passed, with the only results of note being Italy's 1-1 draw with Paraguay, New Zealand holding Slovakia to a draw and North Korea actually scoring against Brazil, and looking like a respectable outfit in the process of their 2-1 defeat. A shocking result, possibly the most shocking result of the tournament came when Switzerland beat Spain 1-0.

The group stages passed with England stuttering, Italy out (winless), France out (winless), New Zealand out (undefeated), South Africa out (despite beating France), North Korea out (winless, and after losing 10 goals in their last 2 games. These games were the first ever to be shown on North Korean TV, after the performance against Brazil. Oops) and an 8-legged sea creature called Paul was causing a stir by correctly predicting all of Germany's results, even the defeat to Serbia.

As you saw at the start, Germany humped England, Spain beat Portugal (after which, Cristiano Ronaldo, ever the good loser, spat at a cameraman), Brazil horsed Chile and the Argies beat Mexico, amid much controversy over a Tevez goal.

Oh, dear. Another ruckus involving Argentina at a World Cup. Oddly, Diego Maradona acted as a peacemaker. I know. Cheek.

The quarter-finals came, and a few tasty matches came with it. Germany played Argentina, Brazil played Holland and Uruguay faced a test in Ghana, who equalled Cameroon's record as the African team who progressed furthest in a WC. Holland eliminated Brazil, who, after taking the lead, capitulated and finished with 10 men. Germany showed more attacking prowess, humping Argentina 4-0, proving the England result wasn't a fluke. Diego Maradona and the suit he wore, despite it being clearly not made for a man of his size, were soon sacked.

However, Uruguay caused controversy when their striker, Luis Suarez, handled the ball on the line with the scores level in their game with Ghana in extra time. He was sent off and exited down the tunnel in 'tears'. Asamoah Gyan, who coolly slotted two penalties in the group stages, missed. Luis Suarez was now jumping for joy, his clear act of cheating had not been punished in the way it deserved.

Ghana lost the following penalty shootout. But Asamoah Gyan bravely took another penalty, and scored. But, as Sebastien Abreu chipped his deciding penalty down the middle of the goal, Ghana, Africa and, indeed, the entire world, collectively cried a single tear. Justice had not been done, and once again a dirty, underhanded, cheating, conniving bunch of lowlife South Americans had cheated to win.

So that's what it feels like.

Cunt.

Spain beat Paraguay in their quarter final to set up a semi final clash with Germany. Germany's most famous cephalopod, Paul the Octopus, had predicted that Spain would win the match. Cue hysteria among German fans, believing their World Cup dreams to be over. Oh, grow up, it's effectively a fish. How much could it know?

Oh.

So Spain were there, but would justice be done? Could the dirty, cheating South American scum be beaten by Holland? Could Holland hack them before they got the chance to cheat? Yes, but by the narrow margin of a 3-2 victory. Uruguay then lost to Germany, who won third place for the second WC in a row, after winning 3-2. So, the final. I didn't see it. I was at Glasgow Airport, but I saw it dotted around screens there. From what I saw, nothing happened until the 115th minute, when Holland's Johnny Heitinga went one leg-breaking tackle too far, and was sent off. Spain took advantage of the extra man, and Andres Iniesta scored the goal which crowned Spain kings of Earth.

Spain: Kings of Europe/Earth/Pwning life

So, you think the World Cup was shit? Think again.

:)

The Downfall of Scottish Football

You only have to cast your minds back a few years to see how far Scottish football has fallen, and how quickly.
Celtic qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League two seasons in a row. Rangers reached the final of the UEFA Cup, only losing to Zenit St Petersburg. Both sides of the Old Firm had formidable home records. Fortresses, that intimidated even the biggest of European sides. Barcelona, AC Milan, Manchester United and Juventus were among those who had been defeated in Glasgow.
Aberdeen enjoyed an extended run in the UEFA Cup as well, demolishing FC Copenhagen in the group stages, as well as drawing with Lokomotiv Moscow, before giving German giants Bayern Munich a scare, holding them to a draw at Pittodrie, before succumbing to a better side away from home.
Scotland had beaten World Cup finalists France both home and away, and had pushed Italy to the brink in qualification for EURO 2008, only for the world champions to scrape a decisive 2-1 win at Hampden Park. Scotland were 13th in the FIFA world rankings (to date, our highest ever ranking), an incredible feat seeing as we were 88th (our lowest ever ranking) just over two years earlier.

James McFadden scored the wondergoal away in France, the highlight of Scotland's recent successes

Now, though, the outlook of Scottish football is bleak, and gets even more so with every passing week. Accusations of corruption, poor European form and an inconsistent national side has seen Scotland become the laughing stock of European football.
Where Parkhead and Ibrox were once fortresses, they are now perceived as being an 'easy ticket' to the next round, after embarrassing losses to the likes of Hapoel Tel Aviv, Rapid Vienna and Unirea Urziceni.
The national side has slipped to a FIFA ranking of 50, and, while many disregard the FIFA ranking system, it stills shows how far we have fallen in recent years. Embarrassing defeats to Norway (4-0), Macedonia (1-0) and Wales (3-0) made sure of this.
The likes of Aberdeen have also fallen in European and domestic terms. Using the former Champions of Scotland as an example, the same club who gave the mighty Bayern Munich a run for their money, the same club who showed such bravery, passion and heart in pushing the German champions to the edge, were humped just under two years later by Czech minnows Sigma Olomouc, who beat them 8-1 on aggregate, and 5-1 at Pittodrie, and this season, were smashed 9-0 by Celtic in the SPL's biggest ever defeat. This paved the way for Mark McGhee's resignation as Dons boss.

Even worse, the referees are revolting against criticism of their performances and integrity. Celtic have spearheaded the complaints, some fans accusing the SFA of conspiracy and corruption, believing that referees intentionally give decisions against Celtic but to Rangers. The most prominent controversy was the one that kicked the whole referees epsiode off.

The penalty incident involving Hoops' striker Hooper and Arabs' 'keeper Pernis

The picture above shows the moment when, with the scores at 1-1 in the game between Celtic and Dundee Utd at Tannadice on the 17th of October 2010, Celtic striker Gary Hooper was judged by referee Dougie McDonald to have been brought down by Dundee Utd goalkeeper Dusan Pernis. However, McDonald then proceeded to consult linesman Steven Craven and overturned his decision. Celtic officials were furious, however, justice was done when Hooper himself scored an injury-time winner. But it was only when the match had ended that the full story came out.

On October 25th 2010, Steven Craven, the linesman for that game, resigned, and gave an exclusive interview to a Scottish newspaper, where he confessed that both he and [Dougie] McDonald had lied to their supervisor and the Celtic manager Neil Lennon about the decision making process. Craven revealed McDonald said he had changed his mind after consulting Craven, when he had actually changd his mind before consulting Craven. Following this revalation, the SFA issued McDonald an official warning. Celtic continued their fight against the alleged bias in Scottish football, slating decisions made by Willie Collum (at the Old Firm match, when Kirk Broadfoot dived to win a penalty, an incident where Collum had his back turned and still gave the penalty) and Craig Thomson (at the Hearts match at Tynecastle).

The referees had had enough.

On November 21st, it was announced that Scotland's referees had voted to take strike action for the weekend's games, due to criticism of their ability and integrity. Foreign officials were drafted in from Luxembourg, Malta and Poland to take care of the games which had survived. Dougie McDonald, whose lies had began the entire row, resigned the next day.

If that wasn't enough, Celtic fans were given more reason to believe there was a bias against their club, and, as they believe, their genaral religion in the west of Scotland, when it was found that former referee Hugh Dallas, who also refereed at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, as well as the 1996 Olympics and the 1999 UEFA Cup Final, and was the fourth official in the 2002 WC final, had passed on an offensive message about the Pope during his September visit to Scotland.

This was the picture passed on through an e-mail by Dallas, refering to the child sex scandals in the Catholic church

Dallas was sacked by the SFA soon after this, and referees from Portugal who had been due to officiate the Hibs vs Motherwell math left Scotland almost as soon as they arrived, when the reason for the strke became clear. They claimed they were told it was a pay dispute.

The Scottish game is sliding. But, there have been some bright lights in the seemingly never-ending gloom. Rangers have enjoyed a decent run in Europe, holding Valencia at home and Manchester Unitede away, and have been drawn to face Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League last 32. Scotland pushed World Champions Spain all the way in a 3-2 defeat, after which Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso told his Twitter followers that the "hampden park atmosphere was fantastic!! And Flower of Scotland really emotional anthem [...] Good luck Scotland...". Scotland had maybe just proven they weren't the 'bunch of over-paid, over-rated haddies' that we all believed they were. And even better, new young players are coming through. The likes of Aston Villa's Barry Bannan and Derby County's Kris Commons are finally getting the international chances that were lacking under stubborn former boss George Burley. And Hearts are pushing the Old Firm for European places this year, just two points behind Celtic, who are second in the table. Maybe, just maybe, Scottish football could return to a few years ago. But the road ahead is long, and there are many more challenges facing the SFA and SPL, including a new league system. But, as recent performances show, Scottish football isn't dead just yet.

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