Remembering last years Spanish triumph at the FIFA World Cup!

Exactly a year ago on July 11, 2010 at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa; Spain fulfilled their dreams of finally winning a FIFA World Cup trophy. It ended the month long tournament in which 32 nations battle it out for the trophy, but as written in the end Spain would lift the cup.

Here my match report from the game
Final: Spain are champions!


Here Videos from my work for Times Now ahead & after the WC final

Domenech: A bunch of brats

Former France coach Raymond Domenech is a man whom not many seem to understand. And in the latest episode of things not needed from him he has given an interview with French paper L'Express to give his side of the story surrounding the strike by the players during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

It seems that he once more wants to make the point, I actually wasn't really at fault but the players caused all the problems.

Domenech said, "At the time I couldn't see it. Each time I looked back towards the team bus, I saw nothing, no one. At that time I thought they had gone mad, that they had no idea what they were doing. Now I know that I was wrong - they knew exactly what they were doing. They shut the curtains at the same time to keep out the cameras. With hindsight, I see them all as a group of spoilt, thoughtless brats."

In the interview Domenech did concede that he had made mistakes in selection and judgement, which he had denied in the past. Domenech coached the L'Equipe Tricolore for six years but he's rated as being the most hated French national team coach ever. Many say he should have resigned after the 2006 FIFA World Cup where an ageing Zinedine Zidane took the team to the final, which lead to Domenech continuing against the general public opinion.

Now Domenech is suing the French FF for unfair dismissal after the 2010 FIFA World Cup and is being linked with the national teams of numerous countries.

Paul the Octopus no more

Paul the psychic octopus died overnight at the Sea Life in Oberhausen, western Germany. And as if the story would continue to haunt me even after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I actually got a call around lunch time from India telling me that Paul the psychic octopus had died. At that time I had no clue about Paul's death, but it wasn't to be the last call from India about the topic as people remembered me reporting live for Times Now from the aquarium ahead of Paul's final day pick for the third place playoff and final.

Paul had received global media attention after predicting all of Germany's seven matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup correctly plus also picking Spain as the new world champions. An precidented eight out eight, which made Paul an instant celebrity; but he also had enemies who wanted to kill and eat him. It sometimes became a bizarre media story.

"Management and staff at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre were devastated to discover that oracle octopus Paul, who achieved global renown during the recent World Cup, had passed away overnight," the aquarium said in a statement.

"He appears to have passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes," said Sea Life manager Stefan Porwoll.

Paul was born in English waters, but brought early in life to Oberhausen. He made predictions of the Germany matches at the 2008 European Championships, getting four out of five results right, but no one would really follow the story. His breakthrough came after the Ghana game after he had predicted three matches correctly and the media hype grew with each passing game, reaching a never before seen climax on the Friday before the final weekend. Over the last few weeks it had become quiet about Paul and he died last night aged three of natural causes.


Here two of my own blog posts on Paul the Octopus during and after the 2010 FIFA World Cup:

July 9: The craze around Octopus Paul

July 16: Octopus Paul still a craze in India

France: Harsh punishment for the players

The French Football Federation has handed out harsh punishments to its players for their revolt and misconduct at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Five players had been summoned to the FFF tribunal, but only three players turned up as Franck Ribery was not released by Bayern Munich and Nicolas Anelka didn't turn up but the reasons were not known. Both players were represented by their legal aides. The players present were captain Patrice Evra, Jeremy Toulalan and Eric Abidal.

To recap what had happened in South Africa. At half time of the France vs Mexico match Anelka abused coach Raymond Domenech in the dressing room in an inappropriate way which resulted in the striker being taken off at half time. Somehow this piece of news reached the French press and this forced Domenech to send Anelka home as such behaviour could not be accepted. After sending Anelka home the team then decided to protest against the move by boycotting a training session and asked the coach to read out a statement to the press. It brought national shame onto the Grande Nation.

The FFF held an enquiry into the incidences in South Africa and had now summoned the key players to Paris to ask them about their views on the happenings in South Africa. The results came swift and were harsh with all players except Adibal being banned to represent France for a number of matches.

Striker Nicolas Anelka, who plays for FC Chelsea, has been banned for a record 18 matches by the FFF. Which means that if Anelka does not call it a day to his international career, then he would return sometime in 2012 ahead of the European Championships.

Captain Patrice Evra, who plays for Manchester United, has been banned for five matches for his part in the revolt and unrest within the team. In footage from the day of the revolt he is seen to argue with one of the support staff.

Vice-captain Franck Ribery, who plays for Bayern Munich, has been suspended for three matches as he like Evra was seen by the FFF not to perform his duty as a leader of the team.
Meanwhile Jeremy Toulalan, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais, has been suspended for only one match as he is seen to be the man behind the text Domenech had to read out to the media.

And finally Eric Abidal of FC Barcelona wasn't given any suspension as his offence was his refusal to play in the final group match against South Africa, which France lost 2-1.

This brings to an end the saddest chapter in French football, but one will have to wait and see if the effects aren't going to last into the Euro2012 qualifiers which start next month. And the French Players' Union (UNFP) stated that the punishment handed out against the players had been disproportionate, suggesting they had paid the price for coach Domenech's failings.

"Because they are disproportionate, the sanctions have no value. Instead, they will impede the progress of Laurent Blanc," a UNFP statement said.

France suspends World Cup squad

In a drastic, but somewhat understandable step the French Football Federation has upon the request from new coach Laurant Blanc suspended all 23 players from the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad for their next international friendly. In that match France will take on Norway in Oslo and Blanc will have to put together an altogether new squad of 18 to 20 players.

Blanc wants a fresh start and also wants the players to think about what they had done in South Africa. France had finished bottom of their group with one draw and two losses. And if this wasn't bad enough then there was the case of striker Nicolas Anelka abusing coach Raymond Domenech at half time of the match against Mexico, which resulted in the Chelsea player being send home. And tension grew further in the French team as captain Patrice Evra in a press conference told the media that the Anelka incidence was unfortunate, but the real problem is that team internals were being given to the media and the traitor needed to be found. So far no one has been named to have been the traitor, but this tension led to the players going on strike. And in am embarrassing situation with coach Domenech forced to read out the teams statement to the present media.

Blanc, who had been named as Domenech's successor, must have watched the matches and these off the field occurrences with horror. Maybe he was even thinking why I am leaving Girondins de Bordeaux for this bunch. But the 1998 World Cup winning captain has proved at his club that he is an able coach, but getting France in line and getting a team together will be a tough ask.

The suspended players will only get a chance to redeem themselves on September 3, but then again in a competitive match in a 2012 European Championship qualifier against Belarus. And who knows if some of the players left out or the young player might take their chance and prove their worth to coach Blanc against Norway and some established players career for Les Bleues is at least for the moment over.

But the worries for French football don't end here. As part of investigations against a prostitution ring offering minors to high profile clients French footballers Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema have been implicated by the French authorities. And other players are said to have also availed of the services and could be named soon. Some French politicians say such behaviour isn't suitable for stars to represent the French L'Equipe Tricolore and have asked these players not to be nominated by the FFF and the coach.

Difficult times for French football...

My 2010 World Cup

I had another great working month during a World Cup. But unlike in 2006 when I travelled across Germany to watch matches live, this time around I rather preferred to stay back in Germany and wanted to work from here. And the envisaged plan worked out perfectly fine for me.

I had my usual work at the Deutsche Welle radio's Bengali programme as our in house football expert. Before the tournament we produced some specials and during the tournament I previewed and analysed matches. Also before the tournament I made a special feature for our English programme's Asia Compact show on Asia at the 2010 World Cup. Luckily South Korea and Japan didn't let me down as I had raised some expectations about them in my feature.

And then there were the additions assignments during the tournament which meant lots of fun and interaction with people, something which I love. I was correspondent for English language news channel Times Now, Germany expert for ESPN India and for the Indicast's "The Sports Bench" podcast a general expert. Plus I have been blogging on the tournament on my own blog and at sportskeeda.com, writing about special experiences and things with I liked or rather didn't. To sum it up, loads of work, but work which is fun.

Surely covering the German perspective from my home town of Remscheid gave me new insights into a city were I have lived most of my life. I have to thank Remscheid and its people, who have helped me during the tournament making my job easier though it sometimes was tough to find people capable and willing to speak English on camera. But we always managed, got some nice pieces done and I hope we got it across to India.

The other tasks were mainly following the matches, the tournament in general and Germany in particular. You not only watch the matches, the analysis, the talk before and after; but to stay informed also read a lot of things on the net plus speak to contacts and insiders. One has to stay as up-to-date as possible so that when you have to give an expert opinion, you have the right facts available.

But I also had a tough task to master. And that was to cover the Octopus Paul story and then talk about it live on Indian television. Might sound easy, but to talk about such a creature for over 20 minutes with him not really doing anything is tough, but I got through this task and am a little wiser when the next time such a situation arises. And I can tell you, doing live commentary of a football match or being an expert/pundit is much much easier...

My final piece of work on the 2010 FIFA World Cup was writing a guest column about my views on the tournament for the Daily Pioneer's World Cup special which was published today, July 18. A rather longish piece on how I saw the tournament and its impact.

I have uploaded some of my audiovisual work onto my YouTube channel and also some pictures onto my Facebook fanpage. I hope you like them...


The 2010 FIFA World Cup is over, but work continues and besides the regular media work I look forward to two events which I will be attending in the coming weeks. First I will be a speaker at the India Business Forum in London on July 22 to be held at Christie's and then on July 31/August 1 I will be in Zurich, Switzerland to moderate at the International Goalkeeper Congress.


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Follow my exploits on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Arunfoot

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WC Column: Goodbye waka waka

This column by me was published today in the Daily Pioneer's World Cup special: Goodbye waka waka .


From Ronaldo to Rooney, it has been a World Cup of disaster for superstars. Even the ‘super’ teams like Brazil and Italy failed to fire. Arunava Chaudhuri looks back at the sporting extravaganza to get the answers

The “Cup of Life”, which visited the rainbow nation for a month, is over. And we have a new champion in Spain. The golden generation of Spanish football added the World Cup title to their collection after having won the European Championships in 2008.

Though it wasn’t tiki-taka football at its best, the best side on paper proved their class in the end. Spain are also the first ever side to win the World Cup after losing their opening game 0-1 against Switzerland.

Spain dominated most of the games, but they often overdid their combining football, trying to combine into the goal and without a sharp David Villa the Spanish team would have had their problems. Also interesting to note is that Spain scored only eight goals in the tournament — they are now the World Cup champions with the least number of goals to their name.

The new Germany

It was, however, Germany that impressed us the most. The world was surprised to see a multi-ethic German team in the World Cup. It seems many people still have a wrong notion about Germany due to its Nazi past.

Germany was the most entertaining team to watch in South Africa. The system changes within the national team and emphasis on youth development — which were brought in after the Euro 2000 debacle — are finally showing their results. In 2009, Germany was the first ever country in Europe to have won the Under-17, U-19 and U-21 European Championships in the same year. Now this talent is also moving into the senior national team with players like Manuel Neuer, Sami Khedira and Mesut Oezil to name a few.

Then there was the young sensation of Thomas Mueller. The 20-year-old not only won the “Young Player of the Tournament” award, but also finished as the Golden Boot winner having scored five goals (like David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forlan). Incidentally, only 18 months ago he had visited West Bengal as part of the FC Bayern Munich II team and played against East Bengal and a Siliguri XI.

Germany played and worked as a team. This was their biggest strength. The young side was led ably by Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger who themselves are in their mid-20s, but have years of experience on their side. For Schweinsteiger, in particular, it was the breakthrough tournament. And a lot more can be expected from this young German team. Their heart-warming football has won Germany many new fans across the world.

A great host

The first ever World Cup on African soil was overall a success. The feared problems in infrastructure, security, transport and public participation were quite efficiently handled by the locals. And they made up for other deficiencies through their passion and friendliness, but some visiting fans surely underestimated the cool winter climate. As for the games, some pitches were not up to the standard of a World Cup and others quickly fell apart as the tournament went on, which didn’t help the cause of the actual game.

And then there was the pain for the ears — the Vuvuzela. Before the tournament began, most people thought this would manifest the distinct African cultural identity, but this plastic horn turned out to be something that the world could do without. Over the first few days one could only hear the constant noise of the Vuvuzela, a monotonous sound. Such was the noise level in the stadium that one could hear no fan chanting; not even the national anthems could be heard. The local organisers did discuss whether to ban the Vuvuzelas or not, but FIFA didn’t come forward to take a decision in the interest of the fans in the stadium and those watching the game from across the world.

Disappointments

The biggest disappointments in South Africa were defending champions Italy and runners-up France. Italy came into the World Cup with no win in 2010 and also left with their negative record intact. Two draws and a loss in their final game against Slovakia meant Italy would finish at the bottom of Group F — behind an unbeaten New Zealand. Coach Marcello Lippi didn’t read the signs well before the tournament. He, therefore, decided to stick with the old guard and it backfired in a big way. But Italy’s woes don’t end here as no real talent is coming through their system. Qualifying for Euro 2012 might become an issue now.

As for France, it was a national catastrophy and shame in the way the “Equipe Tricolore” behaved and played in South Africa. France could just sneak into the World Cup through Thierry Henry’s controversial handball against Ireland last November. This ‘Les Blues’ squad had individual class, but was never a team which coach Raymond Domenech could control and guide.

It all culminated in Nicolas Anelka abusing his coach during half-time of the match against Mexico, and then the players refusing to participate in training sessions. Maybe France should have stayed home and not gone through such an embarrassment. In the end, even French President Nicolas Sarkozy had to get involved.

And then there was Africa. The host continent hoped to see a team go as far as possible, maybe even reach the final. Some pundits even said it would be the African World Cup. In the end, however, Africa must be happy and proud that Ghana, as the third African nation, reached the quarterfinals. Had Ghana been lucky, they could have reached the semifinals. It was the ominous 120th minute, the last minute of extra time against Uruguay, when Luis Suarez blocked the ball on the line with his hands and Asamoah Gyan missed the chance by whacking the ball onto the crossbar. Uruguay then went on to win the match in penalties.

Other African sides did shine in patches: The host South Africa did well, so did Ivory Coast and Algeria; but more was expected from them.

Positives

The phrase that there aren’t any small or big teams anymore in world football is becoming more and more standard. One cannot go into a match expecting the bigger side to win for sure. Often they do win in the end, but they have to play hard as the smaller sides from around the globe are catching up. This will make future World Cups even more interesting to watch. Hopefully, Asian and African sides will work hard to successfully challenge bigger nations in the near future!

An interesting piece of statistic is that New Zealand remained the only unbeaten team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup with their three draws. All other sides had at least lost one match over the duration of the tournament. And who would have thought that the minnows from New Zealand would be the unbeaten team.

Superstars?

None of the overhyped pre-tournament stars could shine, be it Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Wayne Rooney or Fernando Torres. None of these players, who had had good seasons for their respective club sides, could shine at the World Cup. The star in most cases was the team. After all, team-play was often more important than individual brilliance. In an ideal scenario the individual brilliance was an added bonus to the team.

But new stars emerged. Like Dutchman Wesley Sneijder, Germany’s Mesut Oezil or youngster Thomas Mueller and seasoned Uruguayan Diego Forlan, besides the Spanish geniuses of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

Indeed, there was a superstar at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but it wasn’t a footballer. It was Psychic Paul, an octopus at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen in far away Germany. Paul didn’t play at the World Cup, but rather predicted the results of all Germany matches and the final. And Paul scored an incredible eight out of eight correct. No mistakes in any of his predictions even though there were threats to his life. Towards the end of the World Cup, the frenzy around Paul had reached unbelievable proportions. More than 120 journalists covered Paul’s predictions for the third place playoff and the final live from Oberhausen.

Sadly for the legion of global Paul fans, the Sea Life in Oberhausen has said that Paul has now retired from football match predictions. But who knows if he could be tempted to come out of retirement!

Rise & fall of Latin America

After the group stages everyone was talking about a South American country winning the tournament, with Europe giving a weak and disjoined picture of itself. In the quarterfinals there were four South American nations, only three from Europe and in Ghana one from Africa. It looked likely that a South American nation could go all the way. Numerous experts and fans were already talking about a Brazil vs Argentina final, with the Netherlands and Germany not seen as serious opposition.

After the meteoric rise came the harsh crash, as reality once more set in. The stats of the last few World Cups prove it: Argentina hasn’t gone beyond the quarterfinals in the last 20 years, and Brazil has lost at the same stage over the last couple of World Cups. As talented as the Brazilian squad are, they failed the first real test and crumbled under pressure against the Netherlands, who fought back as Brazil also looked overconfident that the Dutch wouldn’t be able to score or endanger their one-goal lead. A big mistake and they had to pay a heavy price for it and fly home.

For Argentina it was all about their coach Diego Maradona and star player Lionel Messi. The tournament showed that Maradona has a long way to go to become a coach. At least, he needs assistants who are excellent at their work and Maradona would have to be willing to listen to them. As for Messi, he is as good as his teammates. At Barca he has Iniesta, Xavi, among others, who play for him; and, he was missing those guys in the Argentinean squad, which had a depth in top class strikers but overall wasn’t the team to worry stronger opponents.

Asia arrives, finally

It was a good sign to see Asia showing that they are closing in on the other continents in world football. South Korea and Japan, in particular, showed what they are capable of, but when it mattered most in the pre-quarterfinals they just couldn’t get past South American opponents.

The South Koreans were known to be physically fit, able to run for 90 minutes and more, but now with more and more South Koreans playing in Europe they have gained in international experience which is helping them as a team. Also, the side was ably led by their captain, Ji-Sung Park.

Japan’s coach Okada had said before the tournament that his side aims to be in the semifinals. Many laughed about it, but after their pre-quarterfinal penalty shootout loss against Paraguay, many said the sons from the Land of the Rising Sun could have achieved more. Also, Japan have a new star in the making in Keisuke Honda. As always, Japan was well organised, but if they had a more creative midfielder or a top striker, then they could have worried bigger opponents.

Australia’s tournament, meanwhile, ended before it had even started with the 4-0 trashing at the hands of Germany. They did draw Ghana one-all in a game which they could have won with 10 men and in their final game beat Serbia 2-1. They, however, lost out on the pre-quarterfinals due to goal difference.

North Korea were the surprise qualifiers and the lowest-ranked nation in the tournament. In their opening game, the players from the communist state held Brazil goalless for 55 minutes and then lost 2-1, which did raise many eyebrows. Many hoped for further surprises, but the North Koreans were trashed 7-0 by Portugal and then lost 0-3 against Ivory Coast.

-- The writer is an international football expert and consultant, who worked for Times Now and ESPN India during the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Octopus Paul still a craze in India

The real superstar of the 2010 FIFA World Cup wasn't a player on the pitch, but rather a two and a half year old Octopus at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany. And I am amazed that in India the craze around Psychic Paul is still on, while here in Germany Paul is still part of private conversations and gossip, but he has disappeared from the media limelight.

Here in Germany people now regard Paul as having been an episode in this years World Cup. A surely crazy one, getting eight out of eight predictions right is a big achievement, but now it is history. But I had to realise that in India Paul is still a big topic, even after the end of the World Cup.

I have received numerous mails with attachments showing different pictures of Paul. My favourite one is the one in which Paul is deciding on the winner of a match between Brazil and India. It is the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup and not surprisingly Paul the Octopus decides on India winning their first World Cup. I just love that picture, my only worry is that India needs to qualify for the 2026 edition. Thereafter the prediction can come true. Isn't it?

Another one which I have received shows Paul sitting in a birds cage besides an Indian fortune teller. Paul is deciding the future of the customers under the title "Aap ka future" (your future) by picking the cards, while the parrot who used to house in the cage is looking back at his old job and holds up a placard saying "urgently need a job".

Just to let you all know. The Sea Life in Oberhausen has officially announced on Monday that Paul is retiring from the business of football match predictions and will focus once more on being only an Octopus in an aquarium.

2010 World Cup: Indicast Podcast - the Final

On Monday I once more was part of the Indicast Podcast's Sportsbench special on the ongoing 2010 FIFA World Cup. And it was the last one after the final between Spain and the Netherlands. It was moderated by Vikram Nanivadekar with myself, Jan Roskott and Corey as guests discussing the grand finale.

It is titled "Football World Cup 2010 - Finale" and it surely will make interesting hearing for you all. A nice discussion about what we all have seen over the last few days in South Africa. The highs and lows from the final game of the tournament...


Listen Online (64 kbps) : ~ 34 mins





Here the direct link to the Indicast Podcast page: Sportsbench Podcast


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2010 World Cup: My Top Eleven

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is over. 64 matches were played and Spain has emerged as the first time winner of the World Cup trophy. I watched nearly all the matches except those running parallel and since the start I have been making notes on who could be in my personal eleven for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

But such a selection depends on the system one chooses and as most coaches played the 4-2-3-1 system, I have tried to pick my team accordingly to this system and I only took players from teams who reached at least the quarterfinals as this is the toughest stage in such a tournament, while others had already gone home.
And still I had to leave out numerous players who would have fitted in like Andres Iniesta, Diego Forlan, Luis Suarez, Sergio Ramos and Arne Friedrich to name a few.


GOALKEEPER - Iker Casillas (Spain, CF Real Madrid) - Captain of the successful Spanish side. Initially had a quite tournament, but then got into the act in the quarterfinals when he saved Cardozo's penalty and then twice denied Arjen Robben the chance to score the winner for the Netherlands. But Germany's Manuel Neuer and the Netherlands Martin Steckelenburg were close contenders.

RIGHT BACK - Philipp Lahm (Germany, FC Bayern Munich) - had a lot of burden on his shoulders taking over the captaincy from Michael Ballack just before the tournament. One has known for years that Lahm is one of the best right backs in world football, he proved it once more and also showed his leadership skills amongst a young German team. This kept him ahead of Sergio Ramos (Spain) and Maicon (Brazil)

CENTRE BACK - Gerard Pique (Spain, FC Barcelona) - Maybe not as often seen or heard in commentary as his colleague Carlos Puyol, but Pique like at Barca has become a key element in the teams play in starting of moves, but he wasn't the man to move forward, rather stayed back and ensure nothing happened. He only moved up for corners due to his height.

CENTRE BACK - Lucio (Brazil, FC Internationale Milan) - Brazil's captain is a real fighter and he kept the Brazilian back line together as their overall defensive set-up looked good, but it crumbled once put under pressure by the Dutch. Still Lucio tried to do something for the team, which just couldn't fight back.

LEFT BACK - Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Netherlands, Feyenoord Rotterdam) - The most difficult decision as no one really impressed me in the left back position over the duration of the tournament. Van Bronckhorst in the end was the best of the lot with Joan Capdevila (Spain) and Jorge Fucile (Uruguay) coming close.

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER - Mark van Bommel (Netherlands, FC Bayern Munich) - Off the field the most likeable guy, but on it Mark is the most rough, sometimes even unfair player who can win matches for his side as he sometimes systematically destroys his opponents. Often with fair means, but sometimes it can get ugly, still a key element why the Dutch reached the finals. If not him, then Xabi Alonso would have been my pick though Sergio Busquets would be a close second as he is more of a van Bommel kind of player.

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER - Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, FC Bayern Munich) - it was the breakthrough tournament for the young, but experienced German who like at the club has grown in stature. He was the midfield engine of the young Germans. Finally it wasn't Schweini anymore, but Mr. Schweinsteiger who controlled the midfield as if he hadn't done anything else in his life. Initially he concentrated on his defensive duties, but against England and Argentina played brilliant passes for the third goal in both games.

RIGHT ATTACKING MIDFIELDER - Thomas Mueller (Germany, FC Bayern Munich) - the find of the tournament! The German youngster not only won the "Young Player of the tournament" award, but also won the "Golden Boot" as top scorer with five goals like David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forlan; but his three assists placed him above the rest. And what a tournament it has been for the boy from Pahl. After a great first season at Bayern Munich he continued his meteoric rise and was a key member of the young German side. He beat team mate Arjen Robben in this position, but at the club he will likely return to a more central position.

CENTRAL ATTACKING MIDFIELDER - Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands, FC Internationale Milan) - What a season he had at Inter Milan winning a rare treble after joining from Real Madrid and Sneijder continued at the World Cup where he left off at his club. The key Dutch player in offence, who also scored some crucial goals for his team.

LEFT ATTACKING MIDFIELDER - David Villa (Spain, CF Valencia) - Was more effective in this position on the left as he had the space to run in front of him. Is stronger if not the point man in the middle, chance to play on the wing and move up or take long range efforts. Played another strong tournament.

FORWARD - Miroslav Klose (Germany, FC Bayern Munich) - the comeback man in the German team. Has now 14 goals in World Cup history, only one less then Ronaldo and as many as the legendary Gerd Mueller. Most probably one of the most underrated strikers in football history. A team player, who does a lot of defensive work, sometimes overdoes it like against Serbia; but scored crucial goals for his team.


COACH - Joachim Loew (Germany) - My coach as he formed a team out of the young German in less then a month. And played them as per his philosophy which is attractive attacking football. Something new for Germany, but something which the world appreciated. And credit for that to Loew!


What do you think about my selection? Please do let me know...

The romantic moment of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

This situation happens again and again after most games around the world, especially the higher the level and standard. A player is interviewed after the match, but what happened yesterday night after Spain won the World Cup is a first for live television post match interview.

Spanish captain Iker Casillas is interviewed by Sara Carbonero for Spanish TV channel Telecinco (Channel 5) after the game. What makes this interview interesting is that Casillas and Sara are together, and after the loss against Switzerland there had been speculation that Casillas was being distracted by his girlfriend being around. Some even demanded her to be send back to Spain, so the captain could focus only on football.

But after winning the World Cup it was time to pay back. When Sara asked Casillas whom he had to thank for the title. He thanked his father & mother, his brother and then stopped for a few seconds; Sara said lets watch the pictures of the day but Casillas lifted his finger and then kissed Sara on the mouth and check with the journalists around clapping for this burst of emotion. Sara stood there shocked, but for me it was a great moment from this World Cup. It gave us a personal touch to this rough and tough game of football, which we love to call the beautiful game. Isn't it?


Watch the video here:

Final: Spain are champions!

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will allow a new nation to add its name to the list of football world champions as the Netherlands face Spain.

Netherlands 0-1 (0-0) [0-0] Spain (extra time)
Goals: 0-1 Andres Iniesta (116').

Spain are the new world champions in football. In the final at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg the Spanish defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time. It was an Andres Iniesta goal in the 116th minute which gave the Furia Roja their first world title and they follow-up their 2008 European Championship triumph with the global title to show their dominance on world football. But the performances in the World Cup tournament weren't of the level of Euro2008.

Sadly the match never rose to any heights and referee Howard Webb from England handed out 12 yellow cards and a yellow-card to Johnny Heitinga in a match which was not too hard, but even though Webb allowed a lot of freedom the players didn't utilise it and some where asking for red cards. Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong should have seen red cards for rough fouls, while the man who scored the winner for Spain Andres Iniesta should have seen the red card for a retaliation on van Bommel. And towards the end a lot of players from both sides were seem lamenting with the referee.

Spain were the better side on display, but after a good start with a header from Sergio Ramos saved by Martin Steckelenburg in the 5th minute it was as often in the tournament, Spain had most of the possession while the opponent was relying on counter attacks. The Dutch had their best chance on the brink of half time from an Arjen Robben shot which Iker Casillas cleared for a corner.

After the break Spain continued to control the game, but their passing wasn't as good as it could be. And then Arjen Robben had the best chance of the game for the Dutch. Wesley Sneijder send through a ball for Robben who only has Casillas to beat, but his shot is deflected of the foot from his former Real Madrid foot for a corner. Spain's best chance was wasted by David Villa when Heitinga in the box hits over the ball and Villa can't put the ball in with Heitinga recovering to clear. But the match headed for a goalless draw as both sides only had half chances.

In extra time the match suddenly gained pace and Spain looked the better side. Substitute Cesc Fabregas was beautifully put through by Iniesta, but his shot is blocked by Steckelenburg's foot in the 95th minute. On the other side the Dutch could have gone ahead, but defender Joris Mathijsen headed a corner over. Then in the 109th minute the Dutch were reduced to 10 men when Heitinga received a second yellow card for stopping Iniesta from going through. And in the remaining minutes Spain were looking for the winner with the Dutch looking more and more tired after a running intensive game. And the golden goal which would decide the World Cup final came in the 116th minute when Fabregas found a free Iniesta and the Barca star placed the ball into the net, which resulted in big celebrations in the Spain camp. The Dutch had no answer and it ended 1-0 for Spain to bring curtains to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Amsterdam in a Tuk Tuk

Some might ask the question what is a Tuk Tuk? Well, it is the Thai version of our Indian auto rickshaw. And why am I talking about it while in Amsterdam? Well I found one yesterday evening while looking for a location to watch the Germany vs Uruguay match. And there she was, a beauty in Orange with flags, garlands, in Dutch colours. I directly had an idea. I need to do a "price to camera" once again using an auto rickshaw as a backdrop while being in Europe.

I quickly did but a heavy thunder shower with lightening and rains was on the way, so suddenly the owner of the Tuk Tuk turned up to put it back into the garage. And he was more then happy for us to shoot his vehicle. His friends also turned up and they told us about their club of friends which was situated behind the house where the Tuk Tuk stood. And there was this small club house in which these people meet-up on Friday's and enjoy their time. Normally over the autumn, winter and spring; but during the World Cup they have met for the matches of the Netherlands.

During our conversation we get the offer if we want to tour Amsterdam in the Tuk Tuk the next morning. And it is an offer too good to turn down, so at 8.45 am the next morning we are back at the club, have a cup of coffee and then we are off to visit the hotspots of Amsterdam to shoot with the Tuk Tuk and interview people ahead of tonight's game. It is an enjoyable ride as it isn't a typical Asian vehicle as the owner has tuned in up a little over the years and surely could have taken part in the MTV series "Pimp My Ride".

We first went to the Museum Plein, the main square for public viewing in Amsterdam where tonight over 70,000 people are expected to view the game. Construction was at the time still on in full swing and I got the chance to interview locals, tourists from Spain and the USA plus media colleagues. Thereafter we drove through the small lanes of Amsterdam along the water and our rickshaw was an attraction for all, who hadn't seen something like this before we ended our morning at a major square with further interviews and reactions before the game. One could feel the buzz in the city ahead of the game. And also the Tuk Tuk ride ended for us...

3rd Place Playoff: Germany retains position

The two losing semifinalists, two former world champions, face each other in a match which decides who finishes third.

Uruguay 2-3 (1-1) Germany
Goals: 0-1 Thomas Mueller (18'), 1-1 Edinson Cavani (28'), 2-1 Diego Forlan (51'), 2-2 Marcell Jansen (56'), 2-3 Sami Khedira (82').

After an entertaining game Germany defended their third position from the last World Cup by defeating Uruguay 3-2 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. Germany's young brigade ended their World Cup campaign on a high with this win, while Uruguay can return home with the knowledge of being the best side from South America.

Going into the game both sides made some changes, some enforced while others optional to give some player playing time at the World Cup. Germany started off as the better side with Thomas Mueller part of the action after his return. The Bayern Munich player did score an early goal, but he was ruled offside. Still Germany had more of the ball as the team seemed play without any pressure and their game looked like in earlier matches. And Germany took the deserving lead in the 18th minute as a long ranger from Bastian Schweinsteiger from over 30 metres out was blocked by Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera to the front, where Mueller was lurking and he pushed in the ball for his fifth goal to equal David Villa and Wesley Sneijder. Germany seemed to cruise to another victory in this World Cup, but a Schweinsteiger mistake in midfield gifted the ball to Uruguay and Edinson Cavani put the ball in past Hans Joerg Butt in the 28th minute. Germany thereafter tried to get back into the lead but the string Uruguayan defence denied them any real chance, while the South Americans themselves remained dangerous on the counter attacks.

After the break Germany continued to try and take the lead again, but the Uru's were more efficient in this phase. First Butt denied Uruguay the lead against Cavani and Suarez in a double chance, but then Diego Forlan scored another beautiful goal in the 51st minute. But the Uruguayan lead was short lived as another Muslera mistake in collecting a Jerome Boateng cross resulted in Marcell Jansen heading in the equaliser for Germany. Thereafter it was an open game with chances on both sides, but Germany eventually would score the winner in the 83rd minute. Following a corner Sami Khedira was there to head in Germany's winner, but Uruguay did have a last and final chance in injury time when a Forlan free kick hit the cross bar. The match was over thereafter and Germany finished third once more.

And in the end one scary bit of news. Paul the Octopus from the Sea Life in Oberhausen has been right with all his seven predictions for Germany.

2010 World Cup: Indicast Podcast - Germany's loss to Spain

Yesterday I was part of the Indicast Podcast's Sportsbench special on the ongoing 2010 FIFA World Cup analysing the Germany vs Spain semifinal. It was moderated by Vikram Nanivadekar with myself as the guest discussing the semifinal loss that Germany suffered at the hands of Spain.

It is titled "Football World Cup 2010 - Germany - Spain Review" and it surely will make interesting hearing for you all. A nice discussion about what we all have seen over the last few days in South Africa. The highs and lows...


Listen Online (64 kbps) : ~ 17 mins





Here the direct link to the Indicast Podcast page: Sportsbench Podcast


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Football Weekend in Amsterdam

I have been send for the final 2010 FIFA World Cup weekend to Amsterdam to cover how the Dutch celebrate their team ahead, during and after the final match against Spain in Johannesburg, South Africa. A football weekend in Amsterdam which I really look forward to...

I am really curious to see if the Dutch celebrate like what I have seen from the Germans over the last few weeks or if it is somehow different. The first impression of Amsterdam after my arrival is that there aren't too many flags hanging out of building and houses plus the Dutch don't really sport their blue-white-red flag or Oranje colours on their cars like the Germans do with the black-red-gold. But you see loads of people in Orange T-Shirts across town.

On going across to the main public viewing area, the Museum Plein, where over 70,000 people are expected to watch the game one wouldn't believe that so many people would be there to watch football tomorrow evening. The Museum Plein is normally a public park and it was looking like one today. People playing sports, people sun bathing, some reading books and others just sitting under the shade of the trees; while work on the public viewing area is going on in the background.

I had hopes that the weather wouldn't be as warm as it was in Remscheid and it is a couple of degrees cooler, but 32°/33°C is just too hot for central Europe. And you realise that it is too hot as the city is full of tourists with few locals around and all looking for options under the shade. Especially the Cafés along the water front are full of people enjoying the weather with an ice or cold drink.

The craze around Octopus Paul

The city of Oberhausen in the Ruhr valley has lived a quiet life for long. The city with a population of over 200,000 has not seen anything close to what happened earlier today when Psychic Octopus Paul at the Sea Life Aquarium was ready to pick the winners of for the third place playoff between Germany and Uruguay and the big final on Sunday between the Netherlands and Spain.

Over 120 journalists were present at Sea Life to cover Paul's predictions. Not only journalists from Germany, Spain or the Netherlands were present but from across Europe, from even Brazil, Japan, the USA and even from India.

And it would be a once in a lifetime experience as this is likely Paul's last predictions on a football World Cup as Paul is now two and a half years old and as an octopus has maximum another year to live. Incredible what I have learned about an octopus over the last few days which I hadn't learned many years back in biology.

And today was the climax of Paul's predictions as for the first time the octopus would have to predict two matches and the people at Sea Life where sceptical if Paul would be up to the task, but Paul luckily was as the world was watching. On the first occasion he took his time switching over the German and Uruguayan boxes before deciding that Germany would win and picking his mussel from the German box. About half an hour later Paul was back in action, this time he would have to predict who would win the World Cup. And for the first time he would give his predictions on a match not involving Germany. And this would be a quick one as he decided that Spain would be the new world champions.

For me Paul has meant a lot of work over the last couple of days. And today was the highlight as I had to do live commentary on Indian news channel Times Now on what Paul was choosing or not. First on the Germany vs Uruguay game, where it was like a normal football match as Paul seemed indecisive and switched sides and as I had to talk it felt like a never ending story. Then his quick decision on Spain, but for the onlookers close-by it wasn't that clear and TV replay was needed to say, "Paul has picked Spain to be the new world champions!"

It was a first for me and luckily I had read up some infos on Paul, his life and how he predicts, otherwise I would have been lost on the live telecast. I hope for those of you who where watching it wasn't too boring. Commentating on a football match is much much easier. Believe me...

2010 World Cup: Bringing out a new champion

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will end on Sunday, July 11 with a new nation adding its name to the list of football World Cup winners. The only question is will it be the Netherlands, who will play their third final or will it be first time finalists Spain. Both the Elftal and the Furia Roja are there in the final deservingly.

So after 12 years, when France were the last new World Cup winning nation in 1998, a another country will add its name to the illustrious club of nations who have won the most important trophy in world football. And this club is a small one with only Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina and France having won the title so far in its 76 year history. Will the Dutch finally live up to expectations or can the best team of our times Spain win the World Cup? We will have to wait until Sunday evening to know who will lift the cup at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

And we see two sides facing each other who both would be deserving champions, but only one team can win a football match. Will the Dutch retain their chokers tag and will Spain's golden generation continue their domination of world football by adding the World Cup to their European Championship trophy or will the Dutch finally win the World Cup in their third attempt.

Both sides have crucial players. For Spain David Villa has been the main target man with five goals, but crucial is how Xavi and Andres Iniesta combine in midfield; while on the other side a lot depends on the in-form Wesley Sneijder and his attacking partners in Arjen Robben, Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie. But the match could turn out to be a tactical battle with no real flair football.

The third place playoff on Saturday, July 10 will see Uruguay take on Germany in a match-up of to former World Cup winners, who before the tournament would have been happy to reach this match, but now will think about the lost opportunity.

SF: Spain create history, reach first ever finals

In a rematch of the 2008 European Championship finals the odds are in favour of Germany this time, but pre-tournament favourites Spain will hope to overcome the young Germans to reach their first ever World Cup final.

Germany 0-1 (0-0) Spain
Goals: 0-1 Carlos Puyol (73').

History does repeat itself. Reigning European champions Spain once more won 1-0 against then beaten finalists Germany, only this time in a World Cup semifinal at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. This means it would be the Netherlands vs. Spain in the final and a new country name will be added to the list of football World Cup winners.

In a rather tame match, Spain were the better of the two sides on display as Germany never were able to repeat the past performances of the tournament. Spain had more of the game and started off with their passing game as Germany were always one step behind and stood too deep in defence. In the 7th minute Spain could have gone ahead as Pedro played a through ball for David Villa, but German keeper Manuel Neuer was alert and able to clear. Spain continued to pressure, but couldn't find the right openings while Germany only had one good chance through Piotr Trochowski in the 32nd minute through a ground which tested Iker Casillas in the Spanish goal. If one thought that things would change from now, one would be disappointed as Germany clearly missed suspended Thomas Mueller. Germany then had a penalty appeal disallowed on the stroke of half time as Sergio Ramos clumsily brought down Mesut Oezil, but it was outside the box still the referee Viktor Kassai from Hungary waved play on as he often allowed the game continue even when small fouls where committed. Play continued and on the other side Pedro's shot was collected by Neuer.

After the break Germany seemed willing to do more for their attack, but it looked as they were unable to do so against the Spanish tonight, who initially tried their luck with long rangers through Xabi Alonso. Around the hour mark Spain looked threatening, but still couldn't take the lead and suddenly Miroslav Klose had a chance which the German striker couldn't convert. Around the 70th minute Germany seemed to finally open up and get into the game with the team wasting their best chance in the process as Lukas Podolski broke free on the left, played the ball into the middle where Toni Kroos' shot went straight to Casillas. And then Spain scored the winner in the 73rd minute to somehow end all German hopes. A Xavi corner from the left, Carlos Puyol comes charging into the box and heads the ball in past Neuer. Thereafter Spain fall back and allowed the Germans to really combine for the first time in the match, but didn't allow them space on the wings and blocked the middle. Spain could have doubled the lead through counter attacks, but Pedro and Fernando Torres couldn't finish off chances; while Germany couldn't utilise the lifeline that Spain gave them as Spain were to clever in their defending against the rather inexperienced Germans. It ended once more 1-0 for Spain like two years ago and like three times earlier in this tournament.

2010 World Cup: Has Asia arrived on the world stage?

Asian football has been making huge strides over the last decade and a half, but on the world stage our football still isn't taken seriously. Actually often we within Asia do not see our football on par with the game in the rest of the world with many Asians rather fans of European and especially South American football. But this could change after the good account that Asian teams gave of themselves at the ongoing 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The pick of the four Asian participants have to be Japan and South Korea, who impressed on their way into the pre-quarterfinals. And both sides had chances to make it into the last eight, but the lack of experience at this level plus some luck denied both East Asian sides a place in the quarterfinals. And for Asian football one quarterfinalist would have been good news. But the question remains, has Asia arrived on the world stage?

As a pleasant surprise came the performances of the Asian referee's. Uzbekistan's Ravshan Irmatov and Yuichi Nishimura from Japan were consistent performers amongst match officials from around the world who had numerous blunders to account for over the duration of the World Cup. But we will forget the name of the Saudi referee, who was heavily criticised for his performances.


Here an overview of the four teams performances.

South Korea

The best of the Asian sides on display. The Koreans were known to be physically fit, able to run for 90 minutes and more, but now with more and more South Koreans playing in Europe they have gained in international experience which is helping them as a team. Also the side was ably led by their captain and superstar Ji-Sung Park, but when it mattered against Argentina and Uruguay they couldn't get past the South American opposition. Still South Korea showed promise and hopefully will return stronger in 2014.


Japan

Coach Okada had said before the World Cup that his sides aim would be the semifinals. Many laughed about it, but after their pre-quarterfinal penalty shootout loss against Paraguay many said the Sons from the Land of the Rising Sun could have achieved more. Also Japan have a new star in Keisuke Honda and the CKSA Moscow player was a treat to watch. Normally an attacking midfielder for the national team he played as a striker and scored some crucial goals like the 1-0s against Cameroon and Denmark. As always Japan was well organised, but if they had someone more creative in midfield or a top striker, then they could have worried bigger opponents.


Australia

Their tournament was over before it had even started. Australia were the first victims of the young, talented Germans in a 4-0 defeat. An unlucky draw against Ghana followed where the Aussies played a long time with 10 men and they were the better side after the break, and in the end a 2-1 win against Serbia which wasn't enough to progress from the group. Some stars might retire now and the Socceroos will have to replace them with younger blood, but if the younger generation is ready will have to be seen.


North Korea

They were the surprise qualifiers from Asia and the lowest ranked nation in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. And the players from the communist state where the unknown quantity in the tournament. They held Brazil in their opening game goalless for 55 minutes and then only lost 2-1, which raised many eyebrows. Many hoped for further surprises but the North Koreans would be trashed 7-0 by Portugal and would then lose 0-3 against Ivory Coast. The World Cup was a great experience for the North Koreans, but it was a tournament too big for them.