World Cup 2010 Musings
About halfway through the 2010 World Cup, and it’s been all right so far. The refereeing has been fairly bad, and as usual is one of the worst things about watching the games. The other awful thing is closely related to the refereeing, and can be sampled in this MetaFilter post about diving.
Naturally, I was happy to see the French go. Also the Italians, whose football style I’ve always hated. Odd that both of the 2006 finalists are out before the knockout stage.
I like Brazil, but they’re in a category distinct from other teams. Of the others left, I’m primarily supporting four:
- The USA. Kind of. I’m half-hearted about this, but it would be good to see them do well for the sport in this country.
- Germany. Again, kind of—partly because I lived there, and partly because of the Polish connection. I’ve tended to like their playing style, too.
- The Netherlands. Purely because of their style; they tend to favor attacking football, and they have a certain creativity many of the other European powers lack. Also, they should get one World Cup at some point, because they “should have” won in 1974 and/or 1978.
- Chile. Because.
Oh, and I was disappointed to see England emerge from the group stage and hope they’re sent home as soon as possible.
Unfortunately Chile face Brazil next, and would then play the Dutch or Slovakia, and thereafter the US, who have a shot to make it to the semifinal on that side of the draw, although I think Uruguay will be the semifinalist there. So three of my four teams, and the other-category Brazilians, are on one side, leaving only the Germans on the other side. I’d like to see Mexico and/or Japan, neither traditional soccer powers, do well.