Should World Cup fans look elsewhere for proper sporting spectacle?
Post categories: World Cup 2010, World Cup Have Your Say
| 07:39 UK time, Thursday, 24 June 2010
This is John Isner and Nicolas Mahut.
They'll go onto a court later at Wimbledon to begin the third day of the longest tennis match in history.
It's 59 games all in the third set, after more than 10 hours play.
And, while the sports hacks around the world flick through their thesauruses to find word other than gladiatorial, epic and marathon, they might also be thinking whether such words could ever be used to describe the likes of Wayne Rooney ...
For, despite the odd spectacular goal now and the odd 7-0 thrashing, some people are persisting with the notion that this World Cup isn't anything special.
Folahan on our Facebook page says
I hate all those 1-0 wins & goalless draws
... although lots of others disagree, like Peter
What was boring about the Ghana - Germany war of attrition? Or the explosive bursts forward by Oz into the Serbia pernalty area? Are we watching the same World Cup?
Around a World Cup, the anti-football camp always write about why their sports are better - here's a Canadian who prefers ice hockey and here's an American professor's take on why his countrymen often aren't keen.
Have we seen any gladiators or any epics at this World Cup - or are we likely to? Is the passion and struggle in football really at the level of other sports? Is the World Cup really the spectacle a lot of people make it out to be?
Comment number 1.
At 09:41 24th Jun 2010, greenandgold4ever wrote:One has to admire the fitness of the two tennis players who produced such an epic. Neither is a top player and whilst the serving was exceptional perhaps understandably a lot of the play was no more than competent. In the world cup we have seen scintilating play - Ghana v Germany (probably the best 1-0 game I've ever seen) and the resolute Kiwi defence against Italy. You can't expect a nugget every time you dig for gold.
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Comment number 2.
At 10:04 24th Jun 2010, John wrote:That's what they do and when they're top class players they forget where they've come from just like these over paid and under achiever players we have at the world cup.
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Comment number 3.
At 13:19 24th Jun 2010, modernJan wrote:There are only two reasons that made this tennis match more enjoyable than a lot of world cup matches.
1) Tennis knows no draws (if it did it would have those spineless matches when two overpaid stars make a deal).
2) There are no vuvuzelas in tennis.
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Comment number 4.
At 14:18 24th Jun 2010, andy wrote:Is anybody out there that shares the feeling that football has reached the point of shameless arrogance and falsity which actually diserves?
In this miserable world driven by western decadent societies cheated by the self essence of money power, there are thousands of people, such a big audience, still enjoing this waste of words and money, despite the global recession, untouched, bilionaire contracts, well designed legalized tax evasion businness.
Then, I wonder what will happen to Africa when this universal cyrcus. Same wars and rampages (one million killed in 100 days of forgotten slaughter, than reconciliation), tribalism and false democracy, charity businness and false investments, best of all: Football Accademies. Who benefits?
WHY NOT TO SET UP A PANEL ON THIS?
SHAME!!!
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Comment number 5.
At 05:54 25th Jun 2010, Steve Hayes wrote:Goalless draws are what one can expect in a World Cup final, in any form of football. When the best in the world are playing each other, they should not let in any goals, or let the opposition score any tries.
The Slovakia-Italy match was quite exciting, though.
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