Opinion Paul’s unlikely choices

Just when one thought the tournament couldn’t possibly throw up any more surprises,the perennial underachievers did just that,by booking their place in the last match of the first edition on African shores. In a tournament where both the previous edition’s finalists,Italy and France,with five World Cup trophies between them,were knocked out in the first round without winning a single game,two teams to have never won the most-prized trophy have ensured that South Africa 2010

will be remembered for a long time to come.

Not too many people — critics and fans alike — gave Spain much of a chance after they lost their opening game to Switzerland. If Spain go on to win the tournament on Sunday,they will also become the first team to do so after suffering a defeat in the opening game. Following many firsts,the current European champions cemented their spot after successfully reaching (and winning) the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time.

The Dutch have twice reached the final before — in 1974 and 1978 — and lost twice. Despite being a Dutch fan,football critic Brian Phillips wants to see the Netherlands lose because they gave up their tradition. So committed were the erratic soccer artists to Total Football in the ’70s,writes Phillips,that the Netherlands preferred losing beautifully than pulling off a boring win. The current Oranje side gave up style for substance and remain the only unbeaten team of the tournament,other than minnows New Zealand (who pulled off three remarkable draws against Italy,Paraguay and Slovakia,but yet failed to make it to the round of 16).

It has been a World Cup of surprises,to say the least. Apart from losing the European powerhouses of football in the group stages,an Asian team beat an African team for the first time in the game’s history. As Japan’s Keisuke Honda celebrated the only goal of the match,Cameroon’s (three games,three losses) only consolation was an entry into the record books.

Much was expected from the six African nations participating on home soil,especially Ivory Coast,studded with players who ply their trade in major European clubs. After carefully considering the situation,Michel Platini,former France captain and current president of UEFA,had even gone on to predict an African winner. But just like Cameroon,all but one fell at the group stages itself. Ghana,one of the lower ranked African teams,kept the African dream alive by reaching the quarter-final and missing out on the semis by an inch after the Hand of Suarez. Uruguay striker Luis Suarez’s 122nd-minute intentional handball to save the Jabulani from going into the net caused a huge uproar,but saved his side from suffering the same fate as the other South American sides.

Four South American teams reached the quarter-finals,and just when the tournament was turning into a version of the Copa America,the lacklustre Europeans stood up to stake their claim. The Dutch knocked out the Brazilians (who too had given up their fluid Joga Bonito),an edgy Spain just about got past Paraguay and the Germans ended Diego Maradona and Argentina’s dream.

Right from the World Cup qualifications to their exit,coach Maradona was the face of the Argentina side. Despite outrageous comments to comical on-field behaviour,the Argentine legend looked well on his way to winning the trophy as both player and coach,but for the fact that his strikers were playing as defenders,midfielders and forwards.

Screaming louder than Maradona’s actions,and much to everyone’s annoyance,were the vuvuzelas. While the erring refs were sent home halfway through the Cup,the noise machines stayed on. The vuvuzela will always be symbolic with the South Africa edition,but in the years to come,the 2010 World Cup will be remembered for the surprises it threw up at every turn,far more than Paul the octopus can ever predict.

aditya.iyer@expressindia.com