Mark Namanya
Thieves, prostitutes, Italys exit, a United States miracle and vuvuzelas; its all been happening at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa which climaxes tomorrow at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg. No one will dare suggest the tournament has not been a success, no chance. The football has been breathtaking, the organisation superb and the world finally has a glimpse of what to expect next year. Still, the tournament has not gone without incident and in the words of South Africa 2010 organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan, an unperfect Confederations Cup will give us chance to tighten things up in time for the World Cup.
Where were you when Spains 15-match winning streak was brought to a halt? The venue was Mongaung/Bloemfontein, the stage Free State stadium and the lead actors Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu and Jay DeMERIT.
At last, a team showed the world how to beat Spain. Take the game to them, then sit deep, ride your luck, fashion a goal out of nothing, defend well, panic not, throw your bodies at everything in the box, shut out Xavi Creus Hernandez, make Fernando Torres and David Villa inept and score a second against the run of play. On an extremely freezing Wednesday night in Bloemfontein, USA created one of footballs greatest shocks to emphasise footballs oldest cliche that soccer is soccer.
In an economy where unemployment is 25%, Fifas decision to offer 70,000 free tickets for group matches reflected brightly on its Fair Play campaign. Crowds have considerably grown since the tournament started and tomorrows final will be full to capacity. Although European, Asian, South American and North American fans will be expected to storm the World Cup, a huge South African presence in and out of the stadiums is desired for a special World Cup. And Fifas free tickets gesture should go a long way in emphasising that.
On arrival in Italy, Lippi appeared to retract some of the comments he made in his post match press conference. I will make changes to this team, the World Cup winning coach said. In Pretoria after being thrashed by Brazil, an adamant Lippi had indicated he would retain faith is his ageing team. You speak so much about young people - what young people!? Lippi raged. The veteran coach was deflecting attention from his failures and lost his cool to everyones bewilderment.
Man of the match
The Fifa Technical Study Group decides the Man of the Match award. But how did Mohamed Homos outshine goal keeper El Hadary when Egypt beat Italy, never mind the former scoring the winner? And with all due credit to Clint Dempseys display, was he more important to USAs victory over Spain than Oguchi and DeMERIT? No. Not for me.