FIFA --Some of my thoughts
The FIFA World Cup 2010 --
The vuvuzelas will go silent after a month long noise it made across the football stadiums in South Africa. This sound has become so familiar that it may be difficult to watch football matches without this back ground noise. The final between Spain and the Dutch was a big disappointment . I supported neither of the sides but wanted to see a good football match. That did not happen. It was a scrappy affair from the start and Yellow cards galore . Only two players in the Dutch team did not have yellow cards against them .
Spain played their normal self controlling the ball and this approach frustrated the Dutch. Both teams had their chances but finally after extra time , Spain squeezed one through Inniesta and that was good enough to win the world title . The Dutch can have no regrets. They played sub par in the final and minutes after the final , the scène of Dutch players arguing with the referee was a sight not everyone would enjoy. Agreed it was their best chance to win the world cup , but you need to play like a champion to win. Not getting nine yellow cards and one red card would help you do that.. Dutch have to go back to the drawing board for their next attempt.
The heroes of the month long campaign to me were
1.Vuvuzela -- Never realised that this instrument would be such a hit . People just kept blowing it throughout the match . FIFA considered at one point to ban the instrument but could not do that and we had the Vuvuzela droning through the telecast of all matches
2. Paul the Octopus-- Paul kept his choices perfect. None of this predictions failed during the world up. If Paul can do so well and get international recognition and coverage on all major media networks , why cannot our own Parrots ? We need to market well -- If the same Octopus had predicted cricket results , I am sure there would be huge discussions of match fixing to suit the choice of the Octopus and involvement and punters and players and so on… H…m
3. German team and Thomas Muller -
I would like to keep my forecast for Germany to win the world cup in 2014. The team is very young and by that time would have been more experienced internationally . I still think they lost the semi final because Muller did not play due to his suspension. Muller is so imaginative and has a great influence on the way the team plays. In fact , Germany bounced back to win against Uruguay for the third place when Muller played. So….and Muller wins the Golden Boot award as well
Technology --
No dispute that technology will play a major role in the future world cup matches. Referees can do only what they can and there is no harm in using technology to get the right decisions. FIFA has to move in this direction
The SilverStone British Formula One
Somehow this year the Formual one races have not thrilled me-- May be there are various reasons
1. Schumacher is not making a impact on his comeback. Every race, there is hope , that he will turn things around and be on the Podium. The die hard fan is still waiting....
2. Getting to grip with new rules that are not helping from a race viewer's perspective. No Fuel change , reduced opportunities for strategy , strategy based only on tyre and so on..
I would love to hear from the Formula 1 fans as to what they think-- Few already expressed boredom earlier
H...mmm Need to find a another exciting sport if this one does not turn on !!
The vuvuzelas will go silent after a month long noise it made across the football stadiums in South Africa. This sound has become so familiar that it may be difficult to watch football matches without this back ground noise. The final between Spain and the Dutch was a big disappointment . I supported neither of the sides but wanted to see a good football match. That did not happen. It was a scrappy affair from the start and Yellow cards galore . Only two players in the Dutch team did not have yellow cards against them .
Spain played their normal self controlling the ball and this approach frustrated the Dutch. Both teams had their chances but finally after extra time , Spain squeezed one through Inniesta and that was good enough to win the world title . The Dutch can have no regrets. They played sub par in the final and minutes after the final , the scène of Dutch players arguing with the referee was a sight not everyone would enjoy. Agreed it was their best chance to win the world cup , but you need to play like a champion to win. Not getting nine yellow cards and one red card would help you do that.. Dutch have to go back to the drawing board for their next attempt.
The heroes of the month long campaign to me were
1.Vuvuzela -- Never realised that this instrument would be such a hit . People just kept blowing it throughout the match . FIFA considered at one point to ban the instrument but could not do that and we had the Vuvuzela droning through the telecast of all matches
2. Paul the Octopus-- Paul kept his choices perfect. None of this predictions failed during the world up. If Paul can do so well and get international recognition and coverage on all major media networks , why cannot our own Parrots ? We need to market well -- If the same Octopus had predicted cricket results , I am sure there would be huge discussions of match fixing to suit the choice of the Octopus and involvement and punters and players and so on… H…m
3. German team and Thomas Muller -
I would like to keep my forecast for Germany to win the world cup in 2014. The team is very young and by that time would have been more experienced internationally . I still think they lost the semi final because Muller did not play due to his suspension. Muller is so imaginative and has a great influence on the way the team plays. In fact , Germany bounced back to win against Uruguay for the third place when Muller played. So….and Muller wins the Golden Boot award as well
Technology --
No dispute that technology will play a major role in the future world cup matches. Referees can do only what they can and there is no harm in using technology to get the right decisions. FIFA has to move in this direction
The SilverStone British Formula One
Somehow this year the Formual one races have not thrilled me-- May be there are various reasons
1. Schumacher is not making a impact on his comeback. Every race, there is hope , that he will turn things around and be on the Podium. The die hard fan is still waiting....
2. Getting to grip with new rules that are not helping from a race viewer's perspective. No Fuel change , reduced opportunities for strategy , strategy based only on tyre and so on..
I would love to hear from the Formula 1 fans as to what they think-- Few already expressed boredom earlier
H...mmm Need to find a another exciting sport if this one does not turn on !!
Comments
As usual, Red Bull has the fastest car and is always on the front row on Sat'day qualifying but they consistently loose ground on the raceday to McLaren. No other team seem to come closer to these two, not even Ferrari or Brawn's Mercedes GP, which makes it less exciting but hopefully things should change.
Radha