That Was World Cup 2010 That Was

A new host in a new continent gave us a new winner of the World Cup. But this World Cup won't go down as a classic.

Despite venturing into new territory, games didn't sell out. Empty seats at the ultimate sporting event looks bad. Yeah, getting to South Africa isn't easy. Air prices went sky high. Hotel rooms doubled in price overnight. But where there's a will, there's a way. Fans will get there somehow if they're interested enough. The USA sold the most tickets - encouraging for the development of the game over there. England were well backed of course. As were Argentina. Germany. Holland. Spain - largely thanks to their success.

But there were few classic games to remember this tournament by. The final was a disappointment. The stand out game was probably Ghana v Uruguay in the quarters. Drama aplenty. But there were no 4-3s. Most teams seemed to play just one up front with two out wide. Because it worked. England played two up front and went home early. The days of the two-pronged attack seem over. The days of a pair of defensive midfielders sitting in front of the back four acting as spoilers seem to have arrived. A shame, because that comes at the expense of an attacker.

Surely this tournament will usher in the introduction of goal-line technology. The Lampard Line Incident should see to that. And surely it's time to throw the book at players who dive. If TV pictures pick up their cheating, let's punish them after the game. See if that stamps out the professional footballers' amateur dramatics by 2014.

It's Brazil next. So another winter World Cup. Let's hope it's more of a wonderland of great football and well supported games than South Africa gave us. Just don't forget to pack the vuvuzelas.

Until then... or until Euro 2012...