SPORT
Revenge of the Soccer Bridesmaids: The 10 Most Interesting Stories from The World Cup
/ Pete Hausler
07.12.10
A month ago we posted our World Cup preview, so we thought we’d wrap things up with some final thoughts on the tournament. A month ago, we didn’t know the difference between a Giovanni Van Bronckhorst and Paul the Octopus, and were unfamiliar with the sound of a vuvuzela; now, these are household words. Now, without further ado the ten most interesting stories to come out of this Cup.
1. Revenge of the Perpetual Bridesmaids
The two finalists this year, Netherlands and Spain, had never won a World Cup. Spain had never even been in a World Cup final; Netherlands has now lost three finals, including two consecutive, during their “Total Football” heyday of 1974 and 1978. These European powers are often described as the two best teams, historically, who have never won the Cup. So, yesterday, Spain finally shed the perpetual bridesmaid label.
Spain decided to challenge themselves by losing their first match of the group stage, to Switzerland 1-0, despite controlling the ball for much of the match. They just couldn’t find the net, and the Swiss scored an opportunistic goal. Spain is now the first team to win the World Cup after losing their first game. They dominated every game they played, and trusted in their ball possession to finally break through and score late goals for the win. Their posted four knockout round scorelines of 1-0, but they earned their title, dispatching a former winner, Germany, and defeating the number-two team from the Group of Death, and their arch-rivals from the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal.
In The Fanzine World Cup preview, we described Netherlands as a team you can feel good rooting for. Their stars—Mark van Bommel, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder—stepped up in a big way. Their supporting cast supported in invaluable ways. I’m talking to you Dirk Kuyt and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst. They won every match, until the final, and they also knocked out past Cup winners Brazil and Uruguay. It was baffling to me why everyone was shocked when Netherlands beat Brazil. It’s not like Netherlands are soccer nobodies. They are ranked 4th in the world (and perhaps will go higher after their fine run) but for some reason, were overlooked by everybody.
This game was a tough one to watch because I liked both teams. It was hard to root against Spain, but I did it for my ego: i.e., I picked un-fancied Netherlands from the get-go, and wanted to be right. The game was a bit dull, not too many clear-cut scoring chances for either team. There was a record number of yellow cards for a World Cup final—14, plus one sending-off. Netherlands got lucky that Nigel de Jong wasn’t sent off with a straight red for his full-on karate kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso. It’s a wonder he didn’t crack Alonso’s ribs or sternum. Congrats to Spain. Netherlands: don’t play scared and cynical next time. Play to win, not to not lose.
2. The Tournament Buzz in the U.S.
The buzz I speak of wasn’t just the soothing sound of the vuvuzelas. And it wasn’t just ESPNs 24-7, World Cup advertising blitz, and their sneaky-smart programming moves (like migrating their popular SportsCenter news program to ESPN2, and broadcasting most of the actual games on the mothership ESPN, hoping to snare viewers tuning in to SC). Being a New Yorker I can never tell for sure if what I’m seeing is a country-wide trend, since New York comparatively is a soccer kind of town; but it sure felt like the World Cup buzz was real this time around.
Every bar, cafe and bagel shop seemed to advertise the fact that they had TVs tuned to the Cup, no matter how early the games. Most bars in my Brooklyn neighborhood were open for all the matches, even the daily, early kickoff of the group stage, which aired on the east coast at 7:30 a.m. For the United State’s first match against England, a friend and I tried to find space at about a half dozen bars before we finally settled for the neighborhood’s biggest bar—a bowling alley/nightclub/live music venue called Brooklyn Bowl—because that was the only place that had enough elbow room to watch the game comfortably. And even The Bowl was packed to the gills.
It warmed my heart to walk my kids to school and hear that vuvuzela buzz emanating from the bars we’d walk by. One of my best spectator-moments of this summer’s extravaganza was dropping the kids off at school at 8 a.m. and then meeting a Dutch friend at his favorite hangout, Brooklyn’s Boulevard Tavern, and watching Netherlands's first game (a 2-nil win against Denmark).
1. Revenge of the Perpetual Bridesmaids
The two finalists this year, Netherlands and Spain, had never won a World Cup. Spain had never even been in a World Cup final; Netherlands has now lost three finals, including two consecutive, during their “Total Football” heyday of 1974 and 1978. These European powers are often described as the two best teams, historically, who have never won the Cup. So, yesterday, Spain finally shed the perpetual bridesmaid label.
Spain decided to challenge themselves by losing their first match of the group stage, to Switzerland 1-0, despite controlling the ball for much of the match. They just couldn’t find the net, and the Swiss scored an opportunistic goal. Spain is now the first team to win the World Cup after losing their first game. They dominated every game they played, and trusted in their ball possession to finally break through and score late goals for the win. Their posted four knockout round scorelines of 1-0, but they earned their title, dispatching a former winner, Germany, and defeating the number-two team from the Group of Death, and their arch-rivals from the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal.
In The Fanzine World Cup preview, we described Netherlands as a team you can feel good rooting for. Their stars—Mark van Bommel, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder—stepped up in a big way. Their supporting cast supported in invaluable ways. I’m talking to you Dirk Kuyt and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst. They won every match, until the final, and they also knocked out past Cup winners Brazil and Uruguay. It was baffling to me why everyone was shocked when Netherlands beat Brazil. It’s not like Netherlands are soccer nobodies. They are ranked 4th in the world (and perhaps will go higher after their fine run) but for some reason, were overlooked by everybody.
This game was a tough one to watch because I liked both teams. It was hard to root against Spain, but I did it for my ego: i.e., I picked un-fancied Netherlands from the get-go, and wanted to be right. The game was a bit dull, not too many clear-cut scoring chances for either team. There was a record number of yellow cards for a World Cup final—14, plus one sending-off. Netherlands got lucky that Nigel de Jong wasn’t sent off with a straight red for his full-on karate kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso. It’s a wonder he didn’t crack Alonso’s ribs or sternum. Congrats to Spain. Netherlands: don’t play scared and cynical next time. Play to win, not to not lose.
2. The Tournament Buzz in the U.S.
The buzz I speak of wasn’t just the soothing sound of the vuvuzelas. And it wasn’t just ESPNs 24-7, World Cup advertising blitz, and their sneaky-smart programming moves (like migrating their popular SportsCenter news program to ESPN2, and broadcasting most of the actual games on the mothership ESPN, hoping to snare viewers tuning in to SC). Being a New Yorker I can never tell for sure if what I’m seeing is a country-wide trend, since New York comparatively is a soccer kind of town; but it sure felt like the World Cup buzz was real this time around.
Every bar, cafe and bagel shop seemed to advertise the fact that they had TVs tuned to the Cup, no matter how early the games. Most bars in my Brooklyn neighborhood were open for all the matches, even the daily, early kickoff of the group stage, which aired on the east coast at 7:30 a.m. For the United State’s first match against England, a friend and I tried to find space at about a half dozen bars before we finally settled for the neighborhood’s biggest bar—a bowling alley/nightclub/live music venue called Brooklyn Bowl—because that was the only place that had enough elbow room to watch the game comfortably. And even The Bowl was packed to the gills.
It warmed my heart to walk my kids to school and hear that vuvuzela buzz emanating from the bars we’d walk by. One of my best spectator-moments of this summer’s extravaganza was dropping the kids off at school at 8 a.m. and then meeting a Dutch friend at his favorite hangout, Brooklyn’s Boulevard Tavern, and watching Netherlands's first game (a 2-nil win against Denmark).