Paul and the Plastic Trumpets

You've heard of 'rose-tinted spectacles'. It's a phrase that is used to refer to the way that, with the passing of time and the effect of nostalgia, looking back on times gone by is done in such a way that glorifies the particular memory.

I'm sure you are just like me, there are plenty of times in your life that you look back on as being particularly brilliant, which at the time you were perhaps not so mad on. Asked now about my exchange trips to Germany, I've caught myself talking about how fun they were, how much I learnt, how much I enjoyed Germany and meeting German people, would love the opportunity again, etc etc. At the time, dear me, I freaking well hated it. Lonely, difficult, harsh, unfamiliar and generally not what I wanted to be doing. Nostalgia kicks in and you think how good it was.

The reason I mention this, is because I realised recently that it does not always happen that way. Exactly one year ago today I set off on the trip of a lifetime, to Cape Town, South Africa for the World Cup. We had tickets to 5 games, we had various activities planned, and we were going to be there.

Now, don't get me wrong.

I had an absolutely fantastic trip, and many experiences that I will never ever forget. The atmosphere was incredible and the sheer thrill of actually being there was something I will always be grateful for and would recommend to anyone perhaps contemplating it. Do it.

But, here's the thing. With hindsight, and even to be fair at the time, one thing for me is sadly and undeniably true:

That was not a very good World Cup.

France 98, Japorea 02, for me both classic tournaments full of thrilling drama and breathtaking spectacle. SA2010 was sorely lacking in all of this.

I've tried to think about precisely why that was, and here is my list of things that ruined it:

• A weak host nation team. No-one can doubt the enthusiasm of the Bafana fans, but their team were sadly out of their depth and departed all too early, leaving the tournament without that crucial presence and engagement from those at home.
• No superstar. The big name players by and large played below their best - Messi, and Ronaldo never shone like they can, but were not huge flops - Rooney, Ribery, Torres and countless others failed to make much of an impression. Even the Spaniards who topped most player of the tournament lists were not at their imperious Barca best. If the tournament had one outstanding superstar that might have made it more memorable perhaps - Real (very fat now) Ronaldo in 02 for example defines that tournament with the level he was playing at then. The star of 2010 was a psychic octopus.
• The tactical approach of most sides. So many games were incredibly cagey and guarded, no-one (Germany aside) seemed to let loose and let the scoring of goals be their main objective. Unfortunately that made for many dour and frustrating games.
• Season. Think of a World Cup, you think of stadiums bathed in sunshine, fans packing city squares and enjoying the great weather, sitting outside in front of giant screens, barbeques, beer gardens, and so on. This tournament was played in winter which had the effect of most people attending the games being wrapped up in warm winter coats, removing colour from the stadiums, and it just does not look as good.
• This is obviously a subjective one, and apologies to anyone who does not share the allegiance (an allegiance which I might add is currently flimsy due to this very reason)...England were atrocious. A bright opening spell against USA. A decent half against Slovenia. 15 good minutes against Germany. Thanks for coming, losers. It adds so much to a tournament from a selfish point of view when England do well, and last summer they did nothing well. It still hurts.
• Finally, and this played more of a part than you might initially think...that god-damn vuvuzela. From first hand experience I can absolutely vouch for this - the vuvuzela destroys the atmosphere at a football match. At England Algeria, the massed hordes of England fans did their level best to get chants and songs going, only to be drowned out every time by that swarm of bees that by the end of the trip had us viewing anyone with a vuvuzela with murderous intent. Good riddance to it.

So there you have it. Harsh? Unfair? It's taken a year for this view to fully form, I know at the time I wrote much about the tournament as it was progressing and did mention the cagey approach, but it was always with a sense of denial - it'll get better, it's actually not that bad...so maybe my rose-tinted spectacles are just working the wrong way round?

Let me know what you think, and I'll see you in Brazil...

(Gina wants me to stick a question mark on that end sentence there. We'll see, we'll see...)