The greatest show on earth - the football world cup - has, for this time, left a lot to ask for. At least, it has totally disheartened me. And what really can I say about my favourite team - Brazil. Its performances were among the worst possible by such a team. The footballer of the year - Ronaldinho - didn't even get a proper shot on the ball that can make you clap, let alone getting a goal, in the whole tournament. The superstar Ronaldo himself looked like a football around his belly. (And they said that he was not overweight - he was just getting stronger!!) The more suitable role for him in this world cup would have been that of Maradona - donning a jersey of his team and cheering it among its fans, sitting with a bulky figure - quiet befitting that of a retired master of the game.
Of the four teams which I thought would be in the semi-finals, only Italy finally reached there. And that too, due to a totally nonsense penalty given by a - god knows in what state - referee, at the penultimate minute of the second half of gameplay. The striker, tripping and falling over a fallen defender, constituted the penalty!! Its not even a foul, for heaven's sake!! The defender, trying to tackle, fell down leaving the possession of the ball to the striker, and the striker then just fell over tripping on the fallen body of the defender who could not yet get up. Form what angle does this constitute a foul play? Enlighten me, someone - please!
The round of sixteen match between Portugal and Netherlands was a delight to watch, but for all the wrong reasons which can make a football match an exciting and stimulating affair!! The football ground was literally a battle field with 11 soldiers on each side - but minus the freedom of 'all is fair in love and war' - a philosophy which was definitely not to the liking of the referee. As such, there were 4 red cards and 16 yellow cards. The small round bouncy object better known as football which was supposed to be the center of all the action for the 90 minutes, more often than not looked like a secondary tool of the trade. Every five minutes, there was a fight - sometimes direct, sometimes indirect using the ball. There were simulations, abuses, hand-to-hand (even head-to-head) fights and likewise. It could have been a great match between these two evenly matched teams. In the end it did prove 'great' all right, but in a completely negative sense of the word.
At the point of my writing this, the teams of the final match have been decided. They are Italy and France. Zidane suddenly has regained some of his form. Hope the final would be a worthy match - worthy of being the final of the greatest show on earth. But by the way the world cup has been progressing, anything can happen. I'll just brace myself for the finals.
