10. It's a Team Game
World Cups have typically been defined by outstanding individual contributions which the dragged otherwise functional teams to the top - think Maradona in '86, Cruyff in '74, Romario and Baggio in '94 among others. The reasons for this are straightforward, national teams never really get the preparation time needed to drill strategies and formations in the team so that the players can do it even in their sleep, so the most effective teams have been those which maximised individual talent. This is why it is so unusual that this World Cup was dotted by teams who preferred a functional approach where all the players had to contribute instead of relying on a maverick talent to shine. Of the four teams which made the semifinals, only Uruguay could claim to have made it due to the exploits of their two strikers. And it was won by a team which has come to epitomise team football among other things. It's also striking that the teams which were depending simply on their best player to perform faltered badly - Argentina, Portugal and England. Perhaps it is a reflection on the modern game where the physical exertions are so strenuous that no one person can really drag a team on his own anymore. It also coincided with the obvious emphasis on defensive football which of course, needs the team to be working as a unit to be successful.
9. 4-2-3-1
Formations are always but mere tools and cannot be a sole indication of what the team's philosophy is, a defensive 4-3-3 is as much possible as an attacking 5-4-1. Nevertheless, it was instructive to see the majority of the teams adopting the 4-2-3-1 formation in this World Cup. The sudden upsurge in popularity is quite stark and it surely signals the death of the default formation for a couple of decades, the 4-4-2. The reasons behind this are many and, for different teams, varied. One clear reason is that the quality of defenders are not what they used to be, players like John Terry, Pique and Walter Samuel are held to be the standard bearers of centre-backs of this era but, with all due respect, they cannot hold a candle to the Beckenbauers and Maldinis of the past. This seems to have made managers realise the value of screening the defense with two midfielders, Holland made it to the final on the strength of the van Bommel and de Jong partnership in midfield. Another reason is, following the success of Barcelona and Spain, a renewed faith in possession football, for which the team must win the midfield, typically just by sheer numbers. Spain, of course, showed the effectiveness of this. A third reason, as predicted here by the brilliant Jonathan Wilson, is that this formation negates the opposition full backs. This is an evolutionary response to the fact that marauding full backs have become increasingly important in the last decade or so. The 4-2-3-1 seems to be a stable formation which can be moulded to suit both defensive and attacking tendencies and seems to be a good candidate to take over as the default formation in the years to come. If it does, this World Cup will be remembered to have popularised it.
8. Clockwork Oranje
The Netherlands is arguably the best nation never to have won the World Cup. The team of '74 laid down the standard of attacking football by which all future club and national teams have been measured with. They have frequently thrilled in the tournament, most notably '74 and '98, only to fall short due to their famed tendency to suddenly collapse. Holland has always been the quintessential momentum team, capable of beating any team when they are in the groove, but shine the headlights in their eyes and they stop and stare at it in puzzlement, before getting run over. It's this poignant brittleness which has endeared them to many a heart, and most people would begrudge them lifting the trophy at some point of time. But not in the 2010 edition. Holland's march to the final symbolised to many all that was wrong with this tournament. The coach, realising that the country had failed many times over because of a lack of steel set about fixing it by making the defensive midfield partnership of Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong the lynchpin of the team. But in doing so, much of the flair was sacrificed. Arjen Robben was the only player given true creative license and even Wesley Sneijder's role was somewhat restricted than what he is used to, something which a creditable return of five goals (albeit most of them fortuitous) could not compensate for spectator value. This new look Holland playing the role of the destroyer angered many, including Cruyff, who disassociated himself with the team. Nevertheless, they reached their third final and if they had won it, all would be forgiven. But that's the problem with teams which start playing contradictory to their philosophies, they must get results to justify it. Holland took their destroyer role against Spain in the final to another level, their hacking and mauling was quite shameful and disturbing to watch at times, but they couldn't stop the Spain juggernaut. Thus they remain international football's nearly men, but this time, few were complaining.
Total Football: Fatality!7. A Billion Angry Bees
A World Cup in an unusual venue is a chance to experience football in a new atmosphere, even for someone watching it from television. South Africa did a fine job of hosting the World Cup and the uniqueness of the African experience was there for all to see. Unfortunately, the one African experience which will be forever and most excruciatingly associated with this World Cup was the drone of the vuvuzelas. Purported to be a traditional African noise-making ritual when it's in just a plastic, monotonous horn invented by someone enterprising who probably back-dated it into the distant past to give his invention antiquity value, the headache inducing whine which reverberated around the stadiums was probably more disliked than Joey Barton. The only people who wanted to have anything to do with it were the ones who owned the damn thing, which was unfortunately pretty much everyone there (If you can't beat them, join them I suppose). For us watching on television, we could not comprehend how the sound of the billion bees would be found exhilarating by anyone. These instruments are usually a vehicle to show the mood of the fans, but the monotonous nature of the vuvuzelas pretty much makes it impossible to know why the hell exactly is he blowing it.
Much like the acting skills of Keanu Reeves6. El Guaje is All Grown Up
The title of best striker in the world is arguable to say the least, several contenders vie ferociously for the spot. However, one striker whose skills have, although long recognised. have never been given the top billing it That man is David Villa. He happens to be one of the few pure technically skilled sharpshooters around, whose currency is goals. His ten seasons in Spanish top flight football have yielded at least 15 goals a season in the league, a truly remarkable statistic which not even serial goalscorers like Raul and Inzaghi could boast of at similar stages of their careers. And yet he is much more than a simple poacher, his dribbling skills and passing ability have racked up a number of assists as well. And he has done all this in teams like Sporting Gijon, Real Zaragoza and post Benitez era Valencia, teams which could hardly be called the cream of Europe. He's just one goal away from Raul's Spain record despite having played about 40 times. All this and he has never been truly given his due. This World Cup has changed that perception, as such tournaments tend to do. Villa was the one marksman who provided the edge to Spain's (sometime over elaborate) passing. His five goals were all hugely important, several of them, like his first weaving goal against Honduras and the strike against Chile were absolute class. With Torres having a shocker of the tournament, the burden of finishing the moves fell on his shoulders and he responded. He's just one goal away from Raul's Spain record despite having played about 40 times. He is as deserving of the World Cup win and the plaudits as anyone has been.
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