The world cup
football 2006 has been the biggest sporting phenomena of the year. it has captured the imagination of the people of participating and non participating nations alike.children and elders prayed feverishly for their favourite
teams. and the god of football,brazil was tipped to ultimately
win the
tournament.nations from africa like togo and trinidad and tobago won the hearts of the millions of people watching their matches for their indomitable spirit and sportsmanship.of course there were stray incidents of fans hooliganisn and intended injuries caused by the players on the field but overall the tournament was calm and pleasant.the group matches were closely fought affairs with teams losing quarter final
berths by whiskers.the quarterfinal berths were occupied by the best teams in the tournament where france just managed to hold on to it s berth by a win and 2 draws.they met brazil in the quarterfinals ,the latter being
greatly criticised for their laclusture perfomance of their star players ronaldo and ronaldinho and their alleged arrogant and over confident attitude.france manged to pull of an upset 1 -0 win and gods of football were made to look like mere mortals.this win has been one of the highlights of the tournament with last editions winners packing off to their homes and a rejuvenated zinedine zidane grabbing the spot light in a deserved way. coming out of retirement,he inspired his team to consider brazil as just another team. this mindset greatly helped the team to score off a surprising win against brazil.refreeing decisions were closely followed and contested with bad refreeing decisions spoiling the good spirit of the game.neverthless to err is human rite??with
england also going out of the tournamet and david beckham s ensuing resigning of his post as the england captain in a tearful press conference,the tournament is hotting up...and in what a way!!!
More reviews about the New York Times