How was it for you, the FIFA World Cup 2006? Did football’s quadrennial showpiece live up to its reputation as the cradle of the world’s greatest sport? Or was it like so many things in our life, a sad victim of hype, unable to live up to the expectations of image-managers and marketeers? Was the football exciting or boring, better or worse than before? Did the stars thrill you to the bone or did they disappoint? And, as the business journalists say, what were the key “takeaways” for you?
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churumuri 
Most of the matches were boring and defensive. The `smaller’ or rather less-known teams played better than the giants __ Brazil, Argentina, England and Germany. Brazil was kind of an anti-climax for viewers. People expected so much that in Kolkata yagnas were organised in their support. There was world-wide expectation as far as Brazil was concerned. But Ronaldo was a tragedy as also his team. Ronaldo absolutely had no control over his play. Argentina was a disaster again for anyone who has seen Maradona play. To sum it up there was no class. Camaroon offered better challenge and anxiety than others. Just that they were strategically lacking. Poortugal and England too played well and offered some exiting moments for football lovers.
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The World Cup was a damp squib without a doubt, and the finals was proof. None of the much bandied stars like Rooney and Ronaldinho clicked, the big teams like Brazil were not there when it mattered, and it was left to old foxes like Ronaldo and Zidane to provide some sparks. I overheard an interesting comment this morning at the office. The cricket World Cup with far fewer competing countries and far fewer players provides more excitement than the football WC with so many countries and players. That should leave guessing about the state of football today.
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Except for the no. of goals scored, World Cup was total fun. Isn’t it great that a game could unite a divided country like Ukraine just because of its great performance?
Some great teams like Brazil and England faltered, while novices like Ukraine and Australia arrived in style on the big stage.
Takeaways — glitz, glamour, betting, sponsorships, new signings, organising committee
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Churumuri navrige ..yeNNe odyoke ondhu dhaari aythalla..adhee saaku.
Paapa december studdu missing in axannu.
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the best thing abt the world cup is I could watch it from office on the espn site…cricketgintha sawara paalu vasee. Of course all the stars could not shine …hype is one thing but actual achievement is something that even the most accomplished analysts cannot predict.
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Apart from the fact that a few individual stars failed (Ronaldinho, Rooney etc), this was a great world cup. Brazil with all its stars was the biggest let down and Holland with all its stars was a predictable let down.
But it has been proven once more, that great coaches make great teams not the players – Scolari, Lippi, and Hiddink are worth more than the Beckhams and Ronaldinhos of this world.
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boring, good or not – we’ve watched it aping the zillions around the world. When Cric world cup would be here next year, the rest of the world would shut the ***k up, but we would watch with the same zeal. Whats the deal in spending more time contemplating the time spent?
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what an end !….zidane’s not going to say anything about the incident except wait for his autobiography to hit the stands. “buy my book and find out what happened” is what the champ is going to say….great player though….and a fairly decent world cup on the whole….with so many big guns making it to the last 8…good stuff
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guru Dheerendra gOpal….nanna axionnu churumuri ganag jote iralilla aShTe…bEre ello ittamma !!!
Well, I wouldn’t call the World Cup a damp squib or even boring. It had it’s moments, like any other world Cup in the past.
Italy vs Germany semi-final was perhaps one fo the ebst matches and Cristiano Ronaldo was simple superb in the other semi-final.
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Houwda guru..welcome vapas. Churumuri bejaan Khara yitthu yee naduve
bandhu swalpa sihi hanchu
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I thought the world cup was excellent. Smaller teams played well, and larger teams assumed their dominant role on the pitch. I certainly think it had many memorable moments, such as: Argentina’s goal in overtime off a player’s chest and volleyed into the goal, Grosso’s goal in overtime to put Italy in the final, or Zadine’s moment of madness. The game was played as it always was and as any soccer (or football, outside of America) player can understand: it is sometimes played by clean players, sometimes played by dirty players. It is the game that is truly beautiful to watch, and as always, the World Cup brought the very best mix of new and old talent to the world stage.
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