2010 FIFA World Cup: Jabulani & Vuvuzela? Hakuna Matata!

Here comes the first roundup of World Cup 2010 here at BlueChampions.

Let’s talk about the biggest stories of this World Cup – England’s perceived 'disaster' with USA, the Jabulani ball effect, the Vuvuzelas horns, Germany’s ascent to the hot favourites in one match, the lack of goals in the 'boring' World Cup and the empty stadia in the most awaited spectacle in Africa.

You don’t know how relieved I am that there’s some footie to watch.

I must say, I’m enjoying this World Cup thoroughly. But there is a notion that this is becoming something of a boring World Cup.

I completely disagree with that thought.

This World Cup has provided some fantastic matches. The teams are more competitive. The days where top teams mauled the smaller ones by hockey scores look to be over.

You see some big European/Latin American managers coaching unfancied teams, which only means the theory, knowledge, and practice of football is being shared with the wider world. Therefore, the sport is now much more competitive.

Some people think high scoring matches are interesting and low scoring matches are boring.

I say to hell with them.

I would ask them to appreciate the sport rather than glaring at the scoreline. This World Cup is much more intense. The World Cup no longer belongs to the Brazils, Argentinas, Germanys, and Italys.

You see smaller teams coming in to the World Cup with bigger ambitions. There is so much at stake. The tournament has become more tactical.

In a tournament that could last just seven matches, even for the champions, you don’t have much time to experiment. You’re playing against unfamiliar opponents, some for the first time ever.

You’re not sure what will work and what won’t. You don’t have the time to work all this out.

Seven matches, that's if you get to the Finals.

So what do you want to do? Win 5-4?

No.

Play pragmatic football built on tactics than on flair and magic. That’s why we see tighter matches.

Hence, this has been a very good tournament so far.

I’m very annoyed to see thousands of empty seats in the stadiums. You see that all of Africa is celebrating this World Cup. You know that people would die to get the tickets.

FIFA told us all that the matches have been sold out completely. Yet there are thousands of empty seats.

In a World Cup, which happens once every four years, you just can’t allow this to happen.

Even worse, there are millions out there who might have been turned down for World Cup tickets.

Hopefully, this would be sorted out before the knockout stages of the competition. If I see a World Cup Final with about 3,000 empty seats, I’ll die of intolerance.

The stadiums may not be full, but you wouldn’t guess that if you have to go by the noise (music?) created by the vuvuzelas.

Personally, if I have a choice, I’d like to turn them off. It’s been quite a nuisance for me when watching the matches on the telly. To be there at the stadium or on the pitch, it must feel like hell if you’re not used to it.

Some teams have the advantage of having gotten used to it. South Africa holds the biggest advantage. They might even insist on using the vuvuzelas.

Teams like Brazil, Spain, USA have played to the vuvuzelas during the Confederations Cup. For the rest, it could be very tough indeed. So am I in favour of banning it?

Hell no!

Doesn’t it sound weird for you to go to a country and tell them to stop doing something that they have been doing for years? Why should South Africa stop doing it?

If that’s how they watch football, you better get used to it.

With today’s technology, it shouldn’t be too difficult to simulate the crowd noise during practice, at least from a sound point of view.

This is something teams could have prepared for, if it’s such a big thing. You knew there would be vuvuzelas in the World Cup in South Africa.

If you hadn’t prepared for it because it’s not a big thing, don’t complain about it. I’m surprised that this is even considered.

What’s next? Banning the chants when the World Cup is in England?

It appears that vuvuzelas are part of the football culture in South Africa. They even blew in their parliament in celebration ahead of the World Cup. We should all be talking about how we get used to or work around different cultures, instead of knocking them off because we find it difficult for ourselves.

Okay then, from one African lingo to another. Jabulani.

Please allow my naivety. When a new ball is introduced for a massive tournament like the World Cup, I would want to start using the ball before the tournament started.

In fact, I would want all May practice sessions only with the Jabulani.

Not all teams got to use the Jabulani. This being an Adidas ball, all the Adidas sponsored teams, such as Germany, have had the privilege of using the Jabulani in preparation for the World Cup.

Here is the list of Adidas teams in this World Cup that have this advantage – Germany, Argentina, Spain, France, South Africa, Japan, Nigeria, Paraguay, Greece, Denmark and Slovakia.

Draw your own conclusions.

I understand that because of sponsorship related legalities, non-Adidas teams like England couldn’t play with the Jabulani.

This is when I get really angry. While FA is watching what John Terry does in his spare time, I’d love to have them work on little things like preparing a football pitch at the Wembley, doing something about the talent drain in terms of players and managers in England, and doing things that would improve England’s chances in tournaments.

Blaming the ball is not something new. This happened in Euro 2008 and Germany 2006 too. Stevie Me's reference to the Jabulani when he was "showing support" to Rob Green was downright cheap.

Just get over it.

You can keep in touch with me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/bluechampion ) or if you have any questions, you can ask me.

Luckily for you, I won’t speak like a pundit and I won’t say, "it depends."