Is this World Cup a showpiece or a farce?

Oh the vuvuzela, what has been quite amazing is how the foreign fans have taken to the instrument, you have them branded in team colours and every game seem to be teeming with the things. Regardless of the cost, the World Cup has taken infrastructure in South Africa to another level, a decade of neglect in respect of public transport, road infrastructure etc has been given a real kick up the backside in many cities so I will credit this event as "forcing" the SA government to set the example that Africa is not just a basket case of the world but able to contribute significantly to world events and to offer a unique experience to visitors. If you look at the stadia constructed, you could be anywhere in the world, this gives Africa the oppurtunity to go for the Olympics etc, nothing is impossible if people work together.

Dead right Ben J, these were the issues we thought might dominate the headlines from Day 1. Instead we are dealing with the usual human frailties as best exhibited by referees. However you might remember Mehmet Ozil was yellow carded for a dive against Australia and then later on would have gone down for a penalty in the box but refrained as he knew he would probably get his marching orders. It's not all bad, although most games have been pretty dull. As for those damn vuvuzelas - if that is a cultural icon....well you finish that sentence! As Luke W said above, Italia 90 was easily the worst World Cup in modern times, both cynical and boring. However there is no way an organisation as blatantly corrupt as FIFA is running, or ever has run, a clean World Cup. It's a real shame the world game is run by such a mob of recidivist crooks and their cronies (Blatter, Valcke, Warner et al), but maybe that's the price of being the no 1 global sport.

As a South African I am just happy that the debate at the moment is not about crime, transport issues, crap stadiums, no beer, power blackouts and the weather :) At the moment the WC is going well, as good as anyone could have hoped for, so take your shots at FIFA. Interesting that television match officials as far as I know originates in South Africa with cricket in 1992.

Apologies MC l thought each to be the pinnacle of their respective codes and thus the comparison. My mistake...could you please advise what is the pinnacle of the AFL's competition?

Who said anything about the NRL..?

The problem being is I have never read any praise from you for Australian Football (mine of course) .. Don't make me laugh. I have yet to read a positive article on Australian Football from an AFL purist on a Football Tab.. And there has been some real good Australian Football stories to write about at times. Tell me I am wrong...

It hasn't been the best of World Cups I agree, but still it is nice to have gams on so often...

Comic book guy obviously didn't see Italia '90...

Yeah riiiiggghhhtttt........ if Cahill wasn't red-carded, Australia would've won the World Cup. To mention the red carding of a player no one really knows about outside of Australian soccer, from one of the minnow nations (yes, Australia is a minnow nation in the world of football), as one of the "big scandals" of this world cup, is just downright silly.

what's AFL and NRL got to do with the FIFA WC??? If the Olympics were on we'd watch that too - - and as general sports fans would make observations and criticisms and give praise as warrants.

The questions the author poses are not relevant. Why? Because the World Cup is the World Cup. The author, sadly, does not realise that what happens on the pitch has no affect on its immense popularity. This World Cup has already broken ratings records around the world and I have provided ample evidence to support my claim. Next time do some research before making false assumptions. Exhibit A "World Cup kicks TV ratings worldwide" http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118021158.html?categoryid=4031&cs=1 Exhibit B "U.S. Ratings Climb 68% for 2010 World Cup" http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/usa-ratings-up-big-in-2010-world-cup/ Exhibit C USA-Ghana World Cup Match Draws Largest US Soccer Audience In History Of 19.4 Million http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/06/28/usa-ghana-world-cup-match-draws-largest-us-soccer-audience-in-history-of-19-4-million/55532 Exhibit D Overview of Fifa World Cup Ratings in the U.S http://tvbythenumbers.com/category/2010-fifa-world-cup-tv-ratings

MVDave - I've referred to this on a previous thread - - and am awaiting to see what the AFL will do about it or whether they too will stick their head in the sand and just hope that it doesn't happen too often. There is the issue of course that the FIFA WC is the biggest sporting event in the world, and for such a fundamental mistake as that 'non-goal' to occur that could so very, very easily be overcome (simply with a goal official whose job is to adjudicate the ball passing over the line or not!!!......'goal umpire' if you will). That goal though is hardly the only issue. And you well know that. The FIFA WC is watched by how many billions more than even the AFL GF. For you to attempt to deflect via citing the AFL GF as an example is a bit feeble. Btw - I never suggested the issues would turn off real soccer fans. Why do you suggest the AFL GF 'non-poster' would turn off myself??

The question of “Is this World Cup a showpiece or a farce?” Is another example of sheer ignorance and the AFL author has totally ignored the development of the 3rd world footballing nations success––in particular the Asian Confederation. The only thing that amuses me is the growing number of AFL followers who feel compelled to write articles on Football with an increased knowledge of the player’s names and officials who compete and run the sport in World Football and locally (well done on that). I think they have grown bored with AFL––the suburban centric code it is and what it has only to offer its supporters––imported players from the NRL a prime example to expand in areas where it has no real interest or appeal. For me on the other hand, a football purist, I am quite happy the way football has grown with all its warts. It continues to capture the imagination of the nation with what is truly a global sport with the FIFA Football World Cup. My once interest in AFL (admittedly at arms length an ex-Carlton supporter) has now tapered to zero interest and appeal because now our Australian National Football Team will compete at the very highest level in regular Football World Cups; also in Asia Football tournaments. Our domestic A-League continues to expand and grow with new clubs, along with more top Asian ACL Football tournaments. New overseas talent are being attracted to Australian Football, to aid and mentor the youngsters coming up through the ranks––due to the highest participant rate of all codes. Add to that the number of international corporates coming on board (“Qantas supports Australian Football”) to our game wanting to grow Australian Football, this all bodes well for Australian Football and the Hyundai A-League. _____ AF

Comic book guy would say "worst world cup ever."

If only...

OK then , i thought you were just saying In Australia, thats the way it read to me.

"converted" HMMM i see !!.

Not sure how you want me to rephrase the facts...perhaps other than to say 29 million in Germany, 7 million in the old dart, 7.4 milllion in USA and 1 million in Oz cant really be stuffed chasing up any more figures. Check the Neilsen, Guardian Media and Variety websites for confirmation.

MC, i think you are right in saying that one big legacy from ths WC will be the blundering by Sepp and FIFA with regards to referees, the ball, refusing to introduce technology. the calls for a video ref have been pretty universal and not just from an aggrieved Anglo press. other memories will be the collapse of the sulky french, over aged italians and over paid english - and for me also the plucky all whites and dramatic come back from the roos, maradonnas sunnies and the way the germans are playing. as ever, talking points and drama comspire to make the WC an interesting, frustrating, emotional and amazing spectacle (am sure there other descriptors but am greedy using 4). as for attacking anti soccer - pah. Will leave that comment to the hardliners and code waririors to fight out.

Absolutely correct AR...my mistake :)