The World Cup in South Africa would not have been the same without certain elements. Our in house expert has picked Footballindia.com's A to Z list of key factors that made the tournament a global success.
Source:Footballindia.com
Andres Iniesta: The diminutive midfielder created history as he scored the winner that gave Spain their maiden World Cup win. He finished with two goals in the campaign and a Man of the Match Award in the final.
Bafana Bafana: The Soccer City stadium was filled in a sea of yellow as the South African team opened the FIFA World Cup against Mexico. Although a respectable 4 points beating France en route wasn’t enough to progress.
Creme de la crème: How the elite of World football failed so miserably? The long list includes Rooney, Ronaldo, Ribery, Gerrard, Kaka, Torres, van Persie and Messi (to some extent).
De Jong: He stamped his authority on the final, ‘literally’, printing his stud marks on Xabi Alonso’s chest with a karate kick.
Europeans: The Europeans arrived very late in the tournament with last World Cup’s finalists - Italy and France exiting rather early followed by England. But they proved their class in the quarters dominated by four South American teams. An all European final (second in a row) settled that argument.
French Revolution: The French created a mutiny against their coaching staff refusing to train in a session open to fans, two days before their last match. The rebellion no.1 Anelka was sent home early and then the rest followed after two losses and a draw with only a goal scored in the group stage.
Ghana: The new African pride, the ‘Black Stars’ kept the flag waving high not only for their country but for the entire continent. They were the only African representation in the final 8. They went out somewhat cruelly.
Handshake: French coach Raymond Domenech refused to shake Alberto Parreira’s hand after their loss to South Africa in the last group match only because the latter has criticized France’s controversial entry into the finals.
Italy: The champions came, they saw and they left. Handed a relatively easy group with Slovakia, Paraguay and New Zealand, the Azzurri looked dull as their trademark defence was found sleeping on several occasions. They couldn’t get past the first round.
Jabulani: The official ball came under heavy criticism more than usual with outfield players joining goalkeepers in their disapproval of the ball. Some called it “a supermarket ball” while others branded it as “a beach ball.” The Jabulani was unpredictable in flight and difficult to control in the thin air of some of the high altitude cities of South Africa.
Kaka and Keita: How could the World Cup be complete without any moments of play acting and theatrics from players? Kader Keita of Ivory Coast made the most of Kaka’s supposed elbow getting him sent off.
Luis: The two Luises i.e. Fabiano and Suarez showed the world that South Americans have some class when it comes to cheating. While Fabiano double-handed on his way to scoring a goal against Ivory Coast his South American pal Suarez intentionally handled the ball on the line in the last minute of extra-time and denied Ghana a goal that would have won them the game. After a span of 24 years the ‘Hand of God’ was back and how.
Maradona: Diego attracted all the attention from the lens men as he limped in the technical area. He heavily showered his players with some ‘Love of God’ not to forget his gems thrown in the direction of Pele and Platini.
Netherlands: The Dutch reached the final of the World Cup for the third time in their history but even after 116 minutes of play they couldn't break the jinx of being runners-up.
Outrageous strikes: Diego Forlan, the player of the tournament had a couple along with van Bronckhorst, Tshabalala, Villa, Sniejder and Honda.
Paul: The Octopus oracle- Paul from Germany got all his seven predictions right pertaining Germany’s matches in addition to correctly predicting the winner Spain. In all he got all 8 predictions right, quite an irony.
Quotes: Some lovely quotes thanks to Diego Maradona e.g. "This was (like) a punch from Muhammad Ali. I have no strength for anything. The day I quit playing football could (have been) similar but this is much harder“, he said, on Argentina’s exit and Uruguay’s Osacar Tabarez, "Football is like a short blanket, it either covers your head or it covers your feet", he said, on South Korea's defence problems ahead of beating the Asians in the knockout stages.
Rooney and Ronaldo: Both had a moment together in 2006 but this time they reserved their fury for the cameras. Post England’s disastrous draw against Algeria, Rooney lashed at the England fans in front of the camera, he said, "Nice to see your own fans booing you, if that's what loyal support is.” Ronaldo also saved something for the cameras after Portugal’s exit, first spitting towards the camera and then lashing out, "How do I explain Portugal's elimination? Ask Carlos Queiroz."
Spain: The Champions for the first time and the eighth nation in the history of the tournament. Also the first European team to win outside the European continent and the first to win after losing the opening match.
Top Scorer: There were four joint top scorers with Müller, Sneijder, Forlan and Villa all tied on five goals in the tournament. But it was Thomas Müller who took the golden boot with five goals and three assists.
Unbeaten: The only team which went out without defeat was New Zealand.
Vuvuzela: The long blow horns were quite a nuisance nevertheless the fans revelled in the fun.
Wembley revisited: The ghost of 1966 was finally buried for Germany. Frank Lampard’s goal that crossed the line was wrongly disallowed by the referees just the opposite of what happened with Geoff Hurst’s goal in the final of 1966 against Germany.
Xabi and Xavi: The true masters of the Jabulani, these two Spaniards passed, passed and passed. Alonso’s switches to Ramos were accurate on every occasion while Xavi’s passing was more intricate.
Yellow cards: 14 in total were awarded in the final between Netherlands and Spain, a record.
Ze Germans: They were there yet again with a semi-final appearance. It has become a bare minimum for a nation that always seems to excel in big tournaments. Least expected to do well from the big nations, the youngest German team ever, livened up the World Cup especially the first round, scoring 16 goals in total.
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