Of Jabulanis and Vuvuzelas

So Far So Good……..

After a long wait, the 19th edition of the most eagerly anticipated Sporting event on the planet finally kicked off on the 11th of June with the Rainbow nation South Africa having the rare honour to host the Football World Cup for the first time in the continent of Africa. The World Cup once again began in style with some stellar performances by world renowned artists like Shakira and Khaled as the paparazzi from around the world showcased the spectacle to the some 500 million audience from across the globe.
The Football World Cup has always been synonymous with controversies both on and off the field and this time was no different. Some of the recent headlines that have been hogging the limelight in this World Cup are:

1) ‘Jabulani – a cheap 2$ street South African ball?’
As with the Adidas Fevernova and Adidas Teamgeist at the two previous tournaments, the ball has not been received too well for several reasons ranging from its obnoxious name to people complaining about the aerodynamic abilities of this ball. The ball has been hailed everything right from being called ‘supernatural’ to being a ‘minion of Anti-Christ’. Here are some secret behind the locker comments of some of our favourite players and coaches:
Thierry Henry: “Difficult to hand’le’”.
Roberto Baggio: “Should have been used for the 1994 World Cup Penalty Shoot-out”.
John Terry: “Keeps my concentration going”.
David Beckham: “I designed it for Adidas (explaining the trajectory)”.
Sir Alex Fergusson: “For sure whoever designed the ball never played football”.
Andrei Arshavin: “Perfect”.

2) ‘Altitudes or Attitudes’
Another debating point has been the altitude of the various venues where the matches are being played. Players have been complaining about the extraordinary bounce of the ‘Jabulani’ attributing it to the heights as also facing breathing problems at the high altitudes. Again here are some of the revered comments of our stars:
Aaron Makoena (South African Captain): The altitudes are a little disturbing (after 3-0 defeat to Uruguay).
Peter Crouch: “The bounce is finally perfect”.
Deigo Maradona: “I will not face problems dancing naked if we win”.
Marcelo Lippi: “My players are facing problems breathing” (on the issue of the ageing Italian team)
Robbie Keane: “Perfect”.

3) ‘Vuvuzelas – the sound of the satan’
An unusual controversy that has sprung out of nowhere is the high decibels being produced by the local South African blowhorns a.k.a. ‘Vuvuzelas’. Players cannot hear calls for passing, viewers cannot hear the commentary, referees cannot hear the swearing on the field and practically everyone cannot hear anything but the sound of satan as it is being called. Here is what the experts had to say in this regard:
Didier Drogba: “Its like playing football and waltzing to music at the same time”.
Dunga: “We are practising our celebration moves to this new music”.
John Dykes: “It is the only thing that keeps me awake during the World Cup matches”.
Sepp Blatter (FIFA President): “We should not try to Europeanise(read civilize) an African World Cup” (on banning the Vuvuzelas).
Andrei Arshavin and Robbie Keane: “Love the sound. Perfect” (while in the audience blowing Vuvuzelas themselves).

4) ‘”Waka Waka” or “Wavin Flag”’
This was the last thing that we would expect from a football world cup. However, newspapers, televion networks and social networking sites have all been flooded with opinion polls and contests as to which is the better anthem of the World Cup. So, lets make it clear once and for all; while “Waka Waka” by Shakira is the official FIFA World Cup song “Wavin Flag” by K’naan is the promotional song being used by Coca Cola, the official sponsors of the World Cup. Here are the favourites of some interesting persona:
Cristiano Ronaldo: “Wavin Flag because I have a full 4 seconds more footage in the video over Leo Messi”(before the opening ceremony).
Cristiano Ronaldo: “Waka Waka because it reminds me of Paris (the French capital?)” (after meeting Shakira at the opening ceremony).
Jose Mourinho: “Waka Waka because the Real Madrid president like it better”.
Manuel Pelligrini: “Wavin Flag for the same reason”.
Andrei Arshavin: “Waka Waka – the Vuvuzela version”
Robbie Keane: “Wavin Flag – the Vuvuzela version”

Apart from the above silly brewing controversies, there has also been on display some exceptional and scintillating football on the field after the 1st round of Group matches. However, in more aspects than many this has been the typical quintessential Football World Cup that one would expect. Here are some of the reasons why one would feel so:

1) The hosts (South Africa) once again did not lose the opening match (Germany in 2006, South Korea in 2002, France in 1998 and…..)
2) England, once again after all the hype failed to deliver (remember the 2006,2002, ………….. at least they had their WaG’s then)
3) Germany once again got off to a flyer(remember the 8-0 thrashing of U.A.E. in 2002)
4) World Champions Italy and European Champions Spain once again had a rather disappointing start to their campaigns (Brazil and Greece had a similar start the last time out and so did France in 2002 who were both World and European Champions)
5) Italy once again had a slow start (the 4 time champions have never won all their Group Matches)
6) Tournament favourites (Spain, Brazil, England, Argentina) have looked lacklustre and far from their peak
7) Goalkeepers have once again been in the news for the wrong reasons (ask Robert Green or the Algerian and North Korean Goalkeepers)
8) The abysmal World Cup hair styles have once hit an all time low (look at the Cote d'Ivoire team; preposterous!)
9) High profile injuries right before the World Cup (read Ballack, Robben, Drogba, ……..)
10) The Group of Death has once again emerged (in 2002 it was Argentina, England, Sweden in 2006 it was Argentina, Netherlands, Cote d'Ivoire, Serbia and now its Brazil, Portugal, Cote d'Ivoire, North Korea )

However, there have also been slight differences, one being the brilliance of Asian teams like Korea and Japan. While Asian teams had 2 out of 13 wins in the last edition of the Cup they already have 2 wins and a spirited North Korean display against Brazil under them this time round. Also, the best player coming into the tournament (Leo Messi) has looked good this time unlike the previous World Cups where the best has always been the biggest flop (Ronaldo in 1998, Zidane in 2002, Ronaldinho in 2006). All that can be said about the Football World Cup, 2010 right now is going by previous trends it looks good so far with one expecting Brazil, Argentina, Spain and England to peak at the right time, having better games and nail biting finishes to important games and seeing some beautiful display on field of the beautiful game.

To round off, here are some of the interesting captions after important matches from across the globe:

France 0 – 0 Uruguay : ‘The French are fried’
Argentina 1 – 0 Nigeria: ‘Argentina messy but win’
England 1 – 1 USA: ‘Robert shows green to the US’
Germany 4 – 0 Australia: ‘Germans ooze as Socceroos lose’
Italy 1- 1 Paraguay: ‘Italy start title defence(se)’
Brazil 2 – 1 North Korea: ‘Win foe Brazil despite Korean zeal’
Spain 0 – 1 Switzerland: ‘Spain in pain after Swiss kiss’