Simon Kuper in today’s FT, has travelled 18 days and slept on 15 different beds. He is sleep deprived but that would not be a problem if this World Cup had seen exhilarating soccer from most teams, including the most overhyped team, the English. He really wonders whether the brouhaha that is the World Cup is worth it after suffering such mind numbing soccer.
He has a point. Nowadays, the selection of the players is media driven, and instead of seeing young and fresh talent we get to see the timetested warriors. The coach is not the good old autocrat that he was in the past and unrepentant to put his impramatur on the team. The teams that we see playing exciting soccer like Germany, Argentina, and Spain have coaches that have thumbed their noses against the media and conventional wisdom, and gone for a totally revamped squad full of youth. Klinsmann, Aragones, and Pekerman.
His pointed question– will you be watching the World Cup in 2010?
This article does not mention France’s win over Spain, that saw old aging warriors play exhilarating soccer.