Oh, what a wonderful World Cup

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/06/2010 (5951 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What a week. After just eight days of World Cup competition we’ve seen contenders humbled, pretenders elevated, heroes made and all stars disgraced. Since Wednesday, Spain, Germany and France have been dealt devastating losses, and England hasn’t done much better.

As a young woman from Johannesburg told me on Thursday, this is an African World Cup, and it was always going to be different because of it. No kidding.

While the Jabulani ball and vuvuzela horns garnered the early headlines — most of them ridiculous — the toppling of soccer superpowers is now the only story in town. Who saw Spain being defeated by Switzerland? Or Germany beaten by Serbia? Or France all but eliminated from the competition? Who saw England failing to get a win out of their first two matches?

There’s something strange in the air in South Africa; change, you might say, is in the wind. Where once the hierarchy of international soccer was elitist and predictable, it’s now anything but.

No one knows this more than Spain. Pre-tournament favourites and reigning European champions, the Red Fury looked to have a clear route to the knockout round when they were drawn into Group H with Switzerland, Chile and Honduras. Then came game-day, and a wake-up call in Durban.

Switzerland played the Spanish perfectly, defending deep and breaking out on the occasional counter. While Spain passed the ball around the attacking third to little effect, they made the most of their chances. Gelson Fernandes scored the only goal of the match, and Eren Derdiyok came close to doubling the lead.

Switzerland, don’t forget, didn’t concede a single goal at the 2006 World Cup, and their defence in their opening match looked equally air-tight.

Germany, meanwhile, came gangbusters out of the gate and hammered Australia in their first game before falling 1-0 to Serbia on Friday. Their ball control and magic touch around the 18-yard box abandoned them, and the plucky Serbs kept Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil — so instrumental in the Australia win — completely under wraps.

Installed as a legitimate contender on Sunday, the Germans are now a major question-mark — their win over a weak Australian side chalked up as meaningless.

No team, however, has failed to impress as much as France. Finalists four years ago and winners in 1998, the French had expected a quarterfinal berth at the very least. But after taking just a point from their first two matches — and failing to score a goal — progression from their group would be seen as a success. But they’ll need a lot of help.

Mexico and Uruguay have four points apiece and are joint leaders of Group A, which also includes France and South Africa. For France to advance to the Round of 16, they’ll need a big win against South Africa on Tuesday, and hope that one of Mexico and Uruguay beats up on the other.

It won’t happen. And given their lacklustre, emotionless performances thus far, the French won’t be given any sympathy.

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A different World Cup? Indeed. And while Africa might be to blame, it seems the playing field is merely leveling. That can only be good for the sport.

Spot kicks

Despite training with his teammates on Friday, Dutch winger Arjen Robben will likely begin today’s match against Japan on the bench. The 26-year-old injured his hamstring in a pre-tournament match against Denmark, and Holland coach Bert van Marwijk is expected to begin the game with Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart operating in the midfield.

Not that they need him, but Argentina will have a healthy Juan Sebastien Veron in the squad for Tuesday’s final Group B match against Greece. The 35-year-old Estudiantes midfielder pulled a calf muscle against Nigeria and was replaced by Maxi Rodriguez on Thursday — a change that helped lift Argentina to a 4-1 win over South Korea.

jerradpeters@gmail.com