A View From Afar

The tremor created during the duration of the World Cup 2006 has gradually died down. For a month the population of the world was speaking the commonest language understood by all. It is football with words like goal, corner, offside, foul, penalty etc .The world had gone wild with rapturous and well-fed applauses.

It is time that we draw our own conclusions and underline the salient point that we can retain to relate to future generations to come. There were glorious moments that we can cherish and some inevitable loopholes that we can rectify so that they may not recur again.

I would not present my humble findings in literature form but in a concise manner easily readable by one and all. Some E-posters may agree or disagree to them and may add some important points that I have missed. They are as follows:

1. This World Cup has whipped the national consciousness among fans supporting each country. They have forgotten their internal differences and supported their favoured country as one man.

2. There were still many countries which failed to qualify. Even though they might be divided in their opinion, they followed the competition with eagerness and rapt attention.

3. Following each victory the fans were on the road unfurling and displaying their flags with great pride to ventilate their inner feelings.

4. The country with the greatest followers was undoubtedly England. Those in touch with English football were in majority England's fans. They were mostly from Commonwealth countries. The second is France because of its overseas territories. The third should be Brazil because of the Samba football they practise. They have a myriad of great footballers and the people love them for the quality of football.

5. The quality of football played by African countries, Australia and Trinidad has tremendously improved. It is a feast to the eyes to see Ghana playing an open and entertaining football. Australia and Trinidad did not lag behind and with some iota of luck many of these countries in this group could have progressed further.

6. Unfortunately the Asian countries have not progressed to desired expectations. Their football is static. They have still a long way to go.

7. Europe had a lot of representatives. The fear to lose a match weighed heavily and adversely marred their performances. I cannot understand why they went so defensive. Italy and Germany are reputed for such tactics. On the other hand England had always played an attacking football. They have been trained as such and the system cannot be changed outright. Sven appears to be responsible for England's failure as they failed to play even one decent match to the reputation of the three-lioned flag.

8. Brazil and Argentina were the saving grace .The other American countries hardly put up a fight and went away unnoticed.

9. The spectacle as expected was as a matter of fact absent in most matches.

10. I can hardly retain the name of one player who has been spectacular as the case was in previous World Cup matches. Some drew our attention very faintly but soon disappeared as a cloud in a clear blue sky.

11. The performance of the referees in some cases was not to a desired level. I understand that after all they are human beings but one thing that they should not forget that they have huge responsibilities on their shoulders and as such cannot feign ignorance.

12. The questions arise are whether there should not be two referees for the same match or should we have recourse to video camera for decisive decisions.

13. Germany has to be congratulated for peace and order they maintained throughout. The hooligans were kept at bay all the time. The future organisation countries should emulate Germany.

14. The stadiums were of the required standard. The pitches were perfectly maintained and playable.

15. The headbutting of Zidane will be long remembered. This negative attitude cannot be tolerated. I cannot understand the leniency of FIFA banning him only for three matches. Committing such unprofessional fouls is criminal. Should the injury sustained by the Italian resulted to profuse bleeding, the stadium could have exposed by open fighting inside the premises of the stadium. Such is the way that passions on the pitch can spill into the stands.

16. Nevertheless FIFA has to be congratulated for its great organisation which is unique in the world of sports. When comes such another?