Yes, Spain won. Yes, they were the favorites, but they didn't make it easy on themselves. They squeaked by in most of their games on the crunch-time heroics of David Villa, and losing the first game shocked the world, but that wasn't the only shock. The reining champion Azurri of Italy didn't make it to the elimination round, and even more bizarre, the French squad was such a disgrace, the country's president felt the need to intervene when they got home.
Nigeria's President banned the country from participating in international soccer for two years due to a "shameful" performance; they were one meter and a missed shot away from a chance at the elimination round.
There were beautiful goals all tournament: from Van Brockhurst of the Netherlands, Maicon of Brazil, and of course, Landon Donovan and "the goal." There were goals that weren't goals (*cough, Tevez*) and goals that were never called. I'm sorry Frank Lampard, but that's the way the cookie crumbles with FIFA.
As I said in my preview post, "This World Cup is chock full of great players and stories to be had." However, many of the biggest stars failed to shine. Just take a look at Nike's "Write the Future" advertisment and tell me how these guys did. (Hint: they didn't).
We all watched and were amazed as Germany scored goals seemingly at will with their furious counter-attack. We watched the heartbreak of Ghana as their World Cup hopes and dreams were taken away by a Suarez handball (oh, wait, actually it was a Gyan penalty kick...)
The Netherlands went deeper than many had thought, though I can't imagine why. Their squad was solid and Robben's return in the second round only served to solidify an already potent attacking squad. Argentina had all of the circus and fanfare that comes when you pick Diego Maradona to be your coach, but the show failed to do anything against the Germans when their glaring lack of defense was painfully obvious. PS - where was Messi?
My Brazilians had an earlier exit than expected, thanks to the gifted (read: sarcasm) abilities of Felipe Melo. I can't even talk about this yet. I just hope Melo has a nice place to live other than Brazil, because I guarantee he's not very welcome there right now.
And now, we have to wait four more years for this magical month of sports to grace our televisions again. The next edition: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There is nothing that could prevent me from going. Ah, World Cup, you will be missed.
What was your favorite World Cup memory?
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