The colourful soccer tournament have produced many upsets and along the way an array of interesting faces of fans, players, officials and managers. These are moments that have been captured for memories.
Faces of despair
The agony of pain
sadness and frustration...
and the thrills of joy.
Well, that is the story of South Africa, the host nation of the 19th World Cup soccer tournament.
Every single player of the Bafana Bafana team played their hearts out. They ran the whole length of the field, distributed the ball efficiently and outfoxed the French megastars. It was sheer joy to watch the crispy and fluid brand of soccer orchestrated by Pienaar in midfield.
Mokoena as captain marshalled his defence solidly at the back, apart from that few seconds lull penalised by Malouda for the French only goal.
South Africa created lots and lots of scoring opportunities. Alas, only two of those opportunities were converted. Had the players been more composed and converted three more goals from the abundant opportunities created, South Africa would have been through to the second round instead of Mexico who lost by a single goal to Uruguay.
Still, all the South African players should be proud of their performances unlike those French players who presumably must have left their hearts and souls at home.
South Africa might have tumbled out of the World Cup but their gritty displays in this tournament have surely won them many friends round the world. The team has shown the world that with good teamwork, high spirit and cohesiveness, a former world champion like France can be put to shame.
There is much to rejoice and hope South African soccer. The future is indeed bright as a solid foundation has already been put in place during this tournament.
With more exposure and more experience playing at bigger and more competitive leagues, players like Mshabalala, Mphela, Sibaya, Khuboni and Josephs can further improve and become more resilient and focus.
Steven Pienaar would not be a polished and effective player as he is now if not for the experience accumulated playing in a tough league like the EPL with Everton FC.
South Africa would be a force to reckon with in the near future for soccer as the game of passion is a great tool of unity for diversity.
HAIL BAFANA BAFANA...
The crowd seemed to enjoy themselves though at times the noise was a bit displeasing and too loud.
Steven Pienaar was marvellous in the centre of the park spreading the ball to the front players and falling back to assist the defense when required. If only he was fully fit, the darting runs would have created more positive impact on the result of the game.
Tshabalala goal was fabulous. I'm pretty sure many soccer scout would have got his name in their lists.
Khune manning the goal, pulling save after save, was just fantastic. Love to see him fitting into a good EPL team next season.
As captain, Aaron Mokoena has to shake off his nervousness at the back.
Mphela and Modise need to really take their chances well the next time. With a little more composure and more experience, South Africa could have registered their first win in the World Cup tournament. One point nonetheless is a good beginning.
A little pep talk by Carlos Alberto Pereira the Coach, a fitter Steven Pienaar, more shooting practice and more composure before the next game with Uruguay and France will do wonders for the South African players.
I still think that among the African teams competing in the World Cup, South Africa, Ghana along with Ivory Coast have the best chances of moving into the next round.
A small note though is the choice of Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh as the fourth official of the game between South Africa and Mexico. For a small soccer nation like Malaysia, his appearance in the 19th World Cup as an official has done us proud.
It was a long four years of waiting for the soccer fans all over the world and a long four years of competitions for the soccer nations to produce the 32 nations for the World Cup competition in South Africa.
History was created on this day when the World Cup competitions finally arrived on the shores of South Africa. FIFA could not have chosen a better host than South Africa judging by majestic stadiums constructed, the pains taken to spruce up the soccer cities and the beefing up of securities.
Oh, what a night it was. The Gala display on the night of official opening in such a magnificent modern stadium was pure exhilaration and breathtaking. There were cheerful dances and colourful dresses amid the rhymic beats and songs performed by local and international artists highlighted by the jets zooming above the stadium.
South Africa, the President, Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa has indeed put their hearts and souls, trust and hope to prepare for this grand and joyous occasion.
Let us pray that the South African soccer team orchestrates by Steven Pineear performs on the field as marvellous, clinical and magnificent as the ecstatic opening night.
On the day when they were summoned to gave their every ounce of sweat, the Chelsea players gave everything heroically and triumphed. Such was the velocity and intensity of their performance that Wigan was practically trampled. The 8-0 score was the highest score recorded during this season and CHELSEA walked out as the worthy champion. What happened at OLD TRAFFORD last night, even beating Stoke City by 4-0, was already academic.
Didier Drogba even bagged the golden boot with a fantastic hattrick, his third of the season.
Man United can take heart that many of the team players are still young and Sir Alex Ferguson can surely rebuild the team around these players of calibre to mount another stiff challenge next season.
All in all it was another great season. Barclays EPL is still the best league in the world. We, the supporters enjoyed the games thoroughly.
TO ALL THE CHELSEA PLAYERS, MANAGEMENT, STAFF AND SUPPORTERS, WE OFFER HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS ON THIS SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT.
CHELSEA DESERVED TO BE A TRUE CHAMPION. SAVIOUR THIS BEAUTIFUL MOMENT BECAUSE NEXT YEAR MANCHESTER UNITED IS COMING BACK STRONGER TO RECLAIM THE TITLE.
(Picture taken from Chelsea FC Official website)
Howard Webb, the referee in charge of the game between Manchester United and Liverpool on Saturday handled the game efficiently despite not showing a red card to Mascherano for the foul committed on Valencia inside the box.
The game has hardly warmed up when Fernando Torres struck early. From a floated cross by Dirk Kuyt, Torres who was lurking in the penalty box out jumped Vidic and Rio Ferdinand to head home Liverpool first goal in the fifth minute. What a shocker that was...
To the credit of the team, Man U players regrouped and launched counter attacks.
From one of the attacks, Valencia accelerated from the left only to be pulled down by Mascherano dragging him from outside the box into the penalty area. With no hesitation, the referee pointed to the spot and yellow carded Mascherano. Riena, the Liverpool keeper, did well to block the first kick only to see Rooney converting the rebound for his 33rd goal of the season.
With the score level at one all, the game’s tempo increased tremendously. Manchester United’s five midfielders of Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Ji Sung Park and Nani began to exert their authorities. While Fletcher and JS Park were commanding in the centre, Nani and Valencia were menacing on the flanks. Gerard and Mascherano simply had no answer.
Minute 22 saw Vidic sending the ball up the field picking Rooney who floated to Valencia. A beautiful cross by Valencia reached Park who headed just wide to the left. What a golden opportunity missed.
Minute 28 saw Nani sending in a stiff grounder only to be pushed out by the alert Riena.
The pulsating 45 minutes of the first half ended with Manchester United dominating though Torres continued to be menacing at times.
The fast pace of the game continued in the second half. Both teams reappeared with the same line up.
With Vidic and Ferdinand back to their best form and Evra supporting Nani very well on the left, Manchester United looked good for another goal. Gary Neville, the MU captain playing at right back ran endlessly feeding good balls to Valencia. Liverpool was pinned in their own half for most of the time. Several Liverpool seemed frustrated with the situation and started to vent their anger at MU players. Torres and Jimmy Carragher were cautioned.
MU kept mounting the pressure with Nani and Fletcher excelled. On the 59th minute, Park Ji Sung sent in a diving header for MU’s second goal. It was such a memorable moment for the 75,216 fans who packed the Old Trafford stadium.
The sweet moment was momentarily spoilt by a caution to Valencia apparently for time wasting. Liverpool with their never die attitude tried very hard to come back.
With the introduction of Aquilani and Benayoun replacing Kuyt and Lucas, Liverpool gained a slight control.
Benayoun could have salvaged a point for the visitor with minutes ticking away but his soft header went straight into the gleeful arm of Van der Sar, the MU’s keeper who was just superb throughout the game.
The disappointment was clearly registered on the face of Rafa Benitez, the Liverpool manager.
Just like Spring started to blossom in United Kingdom, Manchester United and their loyal fans were not to be denied the sweet aroma of success.
With the score at 2-1 to Man U, Howard Webb blew the final whistle after exactly 95 minutes and 40 seconds of play sending Manchester United back to the top of the English Barclays Premier League.
Well done MU...
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