FIFA World Cup 2010: The Awards.

[Brilliant Human Being]

So, with the World Cup 2010 done and dusted, now seems the best time to do this. In my opinion, a World Cup that will go down in memory not due to the quality of football, which improved throughout the competition, but in fact due to the vuvuzelas, the South African crowds, and the pragmatism showed by many of the smaller teams. I'm looking at you, Greece. So without further ado, bring on the awards! And of course, feel free to chime in with your own opinions on these awards:

Best Team
The one thing that has really annoyed me about the aftermath of the final is the repeated statement from various places within the media that Spain were the best team in the tournament. No, they were not. They kept the ball better than anybody else, but that is to be expected. In terms of the criteria exciting, enjoyable to watch, and effective, that honour has to go to Germany. Youthful exuberance and freedom showed up a great deal of high and low profile teams that played cautiously, and showed that you could win games by attacking. For me, Germany were the best team in the tournament.

Best Player
I am going to follow FIFA on this one, and pick Diego Forlan, purely because he almost single handedly took Uruguay by the scruff of the neck to the final, and even the semi-finals was a far bigger achievement than many had predicted. Furthermore, he proved to the majority of English fans who had not seen him play since his Manchester United days that he is indeed a world-class player. I suppose the same argument (that he single-handedly dragged his team thorough the tournament) to Wesley Sneijder, however my nod goes to Forlan, purely because Uruguay were more unfnacied than Holland were. That, and the hair.

Surprise Package
The Mexicans, and the lesser South American teams in general. By this, I mean anyone who is not Argentina or Brazil. The flair and attacking football displayed by the Mexicans, the Chileans, and the Uruguyans really were a pleasure to watch, and they provided a spectacle during the first round of group games that was sorely missing from the European teams. Also, second place has to go to New Zeland, coming within a goal of qualifying for the second round, finihsing ahead of Italy, and being the only unbeaten team in the competition was a brilliant, brilliant sideshow.

Best Moment
Siphiwe Tsabalala's goal against Mexico in the first match. A brilliant, brilliant goal, and a brilliant, brilliant name. The emotion that you could see in the crowd watching was fantastic. A close runner-up is seeing the South Africans in the tunnel singing just before they came out, which just showed what every South African must have been feeling to see their country host a World Cup.

Best Match
You could pick any of the 3-2's (Italy/Slovakia; Netherlands/Uruguay; Germany Uruguay) and be entirely justified in doing so. One could even go for the match between Ghana and Uruguay, purely for the Suarez handball and the Gyan miss, or even the 4-1 demolition job that was Germany/England. Very little games stood out quality wise, but the last 20 minutes of Italy/Slovakia was as good a 20 minutes of international football as you will ever see. An utterly entrhalling game that had so much riding on it for both sides.

Best Manager
Joachim Loew, for bringing a brand of expansive counter-attacking football that was not seen at this tournament. And for the cardigans. Most metroseual German ever.

These are only a few to generate discussion, feel free to add your own awards.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Best Team
I'm going with Germany. They really emerged from there shell so to speak and they preformed some fabulous football. The counter attacking style was brilliant and there defence proved everyone (especially Alan Hansen) wrong. They were superb all round and I enjoyed them more than any other team with individual quality and team play.

Best Player
Mesut Ozil. He showed up as this unknown who we'd 'heard good things about' and he took the tournament by storm. He played the ball well and was superb when it counted (most of the time). He was the star of the Germany team and he was stupendous throughout. Honourable Mentions go to: Forlan, Mueller, Villa, Sneijder & Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Note: Alan Hansen should kindly remove his head from Iniesta's backside. I've no idea how he can claim he was player of the tournament).

Best Goal
Giovanni van Bronckhorst. At the beginning of this tournament there was so much criticising of the jabulani ball. It wouldn't go straight, it wouldn't go where the wanted it to etc...With one strike of the ball, van Bronckhorst proved everyone wrong. He smashed it home from a good 35 yards out and started the Dutch victory against Uruguay, sending them to the final.

Surprise Package
Japan. Now while they didn't make it to the last 8 or beyond, they did themselves proud. They reached the heights they had set back in 02' on home soil and they played some fabulous football in some of their games. they outclassed Cameroon, looked strong against eventual finalists Holland & played some great football against Denmark. Their final game was less than glamorous but they were truly a marvel to behold. Honda showed why he's the golden boy of Japanese football and Okubo, Endo, Hasebe etc... were all marvellous.

Best Moment
New Zealand score against Slovakia. I was watching this at college and I was preparing for a sad situation and tournament for New Zealand, when the ball floated in past the Slovaks and suddenly the mighty head of complete unknown Winston Reid rose up and slotted it past the keeper, queuing scenes of sheer delight for the kiwis as they get their first point in World Cup history and go on to remain undefeated.

Best Match
Holland vs. Brazil. To me this was a fantastic match. This was a tale of two halves and not just that but an entertaining battle which saw a legitimate upset. The Dutch showed why i picked them for the final and they really proved themselves against one of the top teams in the world. The Brazilians went into meltdown and lost the plot second half but in the first showed real flair and style.

Best Manager
Vicente del Bosque. I have always thought the current Spanish team is overrated but del Bosque showed why he's the man this tournament. He took some flack coming into this tournament and his boys got beat in game one. Did he sit back, take the criticism and change his team. You're damn right he did. He changed the team to play some of the best football of the tournament and when push came to shove, he wasn't afraid to drop out of form players like Torrers. Plus that moustache is AWESOME!

 

[Барбоса]

Best Team
The best footballing side in the tournament were easily the Spanish but that is only because they played three central midfielders the calibre of Xavi, Iniesta and Xabi Alonso, along with Busquets spoiling. However, not only did this shut down much of the attacking potential of their opponents by starving them of possession, it contributed to them not being the best side to watch. Their system with Villa on the left and Pedro on the right consistently left them with no out and out striker so while they held onto the ball unbelieveably well for long periods there was virtually no end product and at times was not easy on the eye.

Argentina were easily the most dynamic team going forward due to the sheer array of attackers they had at their disposal. However, in doing so they almost completely sacrificed any kind of defensive system. People point to their defeat by Germany as the prime example of how overrated they were, and while this is true, both South Korea and Mexico had already exposed this in earlier games.

The most well-rounded team were the Germans. A decent but not great defence, a dynamic and hard-working midfield and a ruthless attack.

Best Player
I would agree with Diego Forlan receiving the Golden Ball as all his competition for the title came from players in good sides like the Dutch and Spaniards. Forlan, with his hard work and injection of some class into an energetic, hard-working but ultimately average Uruguay side, got his country of only 3.5million into a semi final. Although Mueller was a close second for me.

Surprise Package
Easily Uruguay for their exhaustive efforts and attacking style. Indeed many of the lesser South American teams surprised many with their attacking style, although that might be more to do with the bigger sides being scared of losing early on. But the Europeans still came out on top... what does that tell you about attacking football? It requires a solid defence

Best Goal
I personally liked Germany's fourth goal against Argentina. Soaking up pressure, precise, incisive passing and just when they looked to have taken too long a lovely floated cross over the last defender for a cool side foot finish

Best Moment
I'd go with Tsabalala's goal against Mexico in the first match. Great counterattacking football with lovely passing and a wonderful finish and a country erupting in celebration. Indeed almost anything with the Africans was inspiring, such as some of the BBC's packages with Clarence Seedorf at Mandela's cell in Robben Island, Rourke's Drift and Spion Kop, the South Africans singing in the tunnel and how the continent came together to cheer on (and then cry with) Ghana in their quarter final

Best Match
I'd go with Italy/Slovakia. Not just for the giant going out but for the end to end stuff in the last 30 mins when the Italians finally woke up. I also really the last 30 mins of the final itself for the sheer drama and the German massacres of the English and the Argies for the sheer obviousness of German superiority and the rubbishness of their opponents.

Best Manager
Joachim Loew deserves a lot of credit for allowing his young German side to express themselves and for picking the best team rather than the best players (Klose and Podolski had very poor seasons). Del Bosque also deserves kudoes not just for winning the tournament but for not being overly stubborn in the face of some poor displays. There are not many coaches that would have made the call to give Pedro his first international start in a World Cup semi final against the Germans; a decision which I think won them their place in the final as his first half performance set the Spanish stall out and the German defence was unable to deal with his movement.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

Best Team
I am going to say Spain. Even though as you said they didn’t play the most exciting, they certainly played the most ‘complete’ game. Their 1-0 wins were all they needed to make the final. Other than they’re loss to SUI early every match they played was superior to their opponent. Germany played the most exciting football but for me Spain played a very classy and complete tournament. Yeah Germany, Brazil and Argentina could all be considered better than Spain but in all honesty they lost it when things didn’t go their way (not Germany, they were just outclassed in the final match by just one goal). Brazil really disappointed me the way they carried on in that match against the Dutch, if it wasn’t for the French they’d be the laughing stock of the Cup.

Best Player
Without a doubt it’s Forlan. He was absolutely gold for Uruguay. He delivered every time and scored some wonderful goals. If not Forlan then it has to be Iniesta, he never quit. Iniesta has to be one of the best players in the world, he has a lot of Messi type qualities.

Best Goal
I’m calling a tie between Forlan and Bronkhurst. Forlan’s goal against the Dutch was crazy good! No one hit the ball of a volley the way he did, great goal. Bronkhurst is another one where not one player throughout the Cup controlled the ball the way he did with that goal. Crazy!

Surprise Package
New Zealand. Being Australian I never thought they’d do well. I was expecting 3 losses for the All Whites but after their gutsy effort against Italy I saw the light. They really did their country proud and proved that they can play good football. Really well done to the Kiwi’s.

Best Moment
Brett Holeman’s goal for Australia against Serbia. I marked out so hard when he kicked that goal, absolutely great moment to be Australian. Although we were still relegated from the next round, going out with a 2-1 win against a quality team really lifted my spirits. And coming from the game against Germany and the 2 red cards we got to come out against Serbia the way we did made me really really proud to be Australian.

Best Match
Spain v Germany in the semi final. Great match, couldn’t have asked for more from either team. Both were attacking, both defended well and both had great respect for the other. This was by far the best football match of the Cup, 2 great teams battling for a spot in the final. For me, the semi final between Germany and Spain was the real final as they were both by far the best 2 teams of the tournament.

Best Manager
Maradonna, simply because he cracked me up every interview. The guy is still coked up I swear! LOL

 

[Ferbian]

Best team:

Germany struck me as one of the better teams. Perhaps the best. Sure you would wonder "But why didn't they beat Spain then? Can you answer that?" Well I can't no. Because in the end it was a 1-0 score. It could've very well come down to luck just as well as skills.

I just thought that Germany did very well by themselves. They kicked the bigger teams asses without much trouble. And proved worthy competitors against Spain. They kicked England and Argentina's ass pretty decisively.

Best player:

There's quite a few that I found overall great during this tournament.

Miroslav Klose: I have always loved this guy during World Cups since 2002. He has delivered and delivered with a vengeance. He has been among the top scorers the most of the time. Damn close to beating Ronaldo's World Cup score. Might even do it if he competes in 2014.

Wesley Sneijder: I said this from the start. Or at least after the group rounds. Wesley is a beast. He is by far one of the better mid-fielders in the world if you ask me. And he proved it during this world cup. He scored goals left and right (Or well he did score 5 goals, still a feat). As well as he lead his team to victory all the way to the finals. Remaining undefeated until the finals.

David Villa: This guy was the top scorer of the tournament. Or among them. Either way. There's no denying that he was one of the favorites to dominate this tournament. And surely he did. He brought many victories to Spain.

Best goal

I'm not gonna go by what I think was the most beautiful one of them. But the one I marked out the most for. I absolutely loved Steven Gerrard's goal against USA. That was by far my favorite and therefore best goal.

Surprise package

There's three actually.

First one is Holland making it to the finals. I truly believed they were one of the teams with the least chance of getting past the quarter finals. Past Brazil of all teams. I was surprised to watch them become victorious and make it to the world cup finals.

Secondly I was surprised to watch how incredibly well the Germans made it. They didn't make it to the finals. They became the 3rd team. But even with that I was surprised to see that they beat Argentina and England in such dominating ways.

Last I would say that Japan beating Denmark 3-1. I thought Denmark would've been the favorites going into that game. But they weren't. It kinda surprised me and while it weren't really that big of a surprise. I was still a little bit in shock. And ultimately back to my beliefs that Denmark can't play proper soccer.

Best moment:

Denmark winning a match. I know. I'm surprised as well. That I even cared. But I truly expected to watch Cameroon kick Denmark's ass. The fact that they won had me pretty excited. Enough to actually hope for them to proceed to the knockout stages.

Best match

Good question. I think there's very different variations of how I would consider a good match.

First off I would say Germany vs Argentina. Watching Germany kick Argentina's ass so obviously was a great sight. Not because I thought "oh, I can't stand Argentina" but because I was surprised to watch Germany beating them so hard.

Secondly I would say a match like Spain vs Holland. Mostly because it was the finals. There's always a huge hype over the finals. And because of that I think it was one of the better matches by default.

And ultimately I would say Holland vs Denmark. Not because Holland kicked Denmarks ass, but because Denmark actually stood up against Holland for the first half. I suspended beliefs towards the fact that Denmark was gonna get their ass kicked in this tournament. To actually being somewhat of a supporter.

Best manager

Joachim Löw: He managed Germany damn well. He made them into a team that could go incredibly far in a tournament bracket that had them facing some of the bigger favorites and opponents of the tournament. Argentina and England. Ultimately suffering a defeat to Spain. Which there is no shame in. Germany handled themselves incredibly well.

 

[future admin]

Best Team
Germany, they had three games where they absolutely dominated, and there group was relatively dominated, apart from a surprise loss. with a young, entertaining team, they have a very entertaining team for the next world cup

Best Player
Wes Sneijder, I agree with you, Forlan only won it because he lead a not so good team to the semis, Sneijder was good throughout the tournament.

Best Goal
for me, Bret Holman, I may be blinded by allegiance, but that was one goal to remember, 30 metres out, hit perfectly, it was beautiful.

Best Moment
The first goal of the tournament, when the ball was played through, and he just hit it, that was one of the candidates for goal of the tournamet, and it was so great to watch though

Best Match
Spain vs Germany
crazy match from the start, I couldn't help to see the end of the game, Puyol's goal was a very good header, and it was an on-the-edge-of-your-seat game in general

Best manager
Hard one, but I have to say Vicente del Bosque, winning the final obviously helps you alot in becoming best manager, but being able to kick back from the 1 nil loss at the start, to win every other match, but he had done well

 

[Miko]

Best Team

Spain, sorry but they won the tournament and that's all that counts, their football was pretty boring, everybody seems to wank over the spanish passing football, but it's fucking boring, Ghana probably played the looking best football, but Spain lifted the trophy.

Best Player

I agree with Forlan, the guy was the best thing in the tournament, why the fuck was Uruguay's biggest ariel threat taking the corners though?

Best Goal

Gyan's goal against America in extra time, classy goal, kept on his feet when anyone else would've dropped and put Ghana through to the next round where they were cheated out of it by a goofy toothed cunt.

Best Moment

South Africa scoring first, love the Mexican style of football, but South Africa were good fun and it was good that they scored.

Best Match

Spain vs Germany
Same as the guy above, I was gonna say Uruguay vs Germany but there was so much more riding on this one, it was just a great match and if you want to see how to defend and cancel out Germany's style (looking at you Australia, England and Argentina) then watch how the Spanish slapped them about like the overrated bunch of averageness they truly are.

Best manager

None of the managers want to take the blame when their team plays badly, I believe it was Brian Clough who said that players lose you games, not tactics, so they shouldnt get any credit when their guys win or do well.

 

[The Hiphopapotamus]

Best Team:
Well, using the criteria of, you know, who won, obviously spain were the best team. However, when it comes to best to watch, Germany definitely. To me, Spain's passing game is just a fancier version of the defensive style of football that other teams were criticised for using. Germany however were fast, precise and ruthless when going forward, and were my favourite team to watch.

Best Player:
Wesley Sneijder. Joint top scorer. Finalist. But the main reason is that he pretty much inspired a team to winning. All of His goals were always at important times, unlike Thomas mueller who scored a few when they were already on top. Sneijder got the two to take them past germany, and scored in a few other tight wins. David Villa and Diego Forlan close behind.

Best Young Player:
Mesut Ozil was mesmeric in the opening stage and impressed so many people, including me. Alexis Sanchez and Mueller close behind

Best Goal

Luis Suarez against South Korea or Giovanni van Bronkhorst's rocket. Both tremendous.

Best Moment:
Felipe Melo and Julio cesar getting in a right mess against holland. Signalled the end

Best Save:
Luis Suarez vs Ghana.

Best Match:
Germany vs England. Surprising. Controversial. Exciting. Amazing

Best Manager:
Bert Van Maarwijk. He managed to keep all of the infighting and drama normally asscoiated with the dutch away.

Biggest Surprise.
Uruguay definitely, although a case could be made for germany destroying argentina, Miroslav Klose and chile's brilliant football.

Best XI

Iker Cassilas;
Gregory Van Der Wiel, Lucio, Diego Lugano, Phillip Lahm;
Mesut Ozil, Thomas Mueller, Wesley Sneijder, Andres Iniesta;
David Villa, Diego Forland.

 

[TheAnimal]

Best team: Spain, possession is 9/10 as they say, and Spain kept the ball to an outstanding degree. They rarely wasted possession and aside from the Swiss game, which i dont see how they lost, they never looked in danger of losing. They were solid in defence and excellent in attack.

Best player: Although i would like to say David Villa, he had an outstanding support cast. So i will go with Sneijder. He was the guy for Holland who made things happen. I know there was a lot of fuss surrounding Robben but for me he is too predictable, left footer on right side, has no option but to cut in and against better defences it is ineffective and he would have to leave his position. Sneijder proved his quality.

Best young player: only 1 option, Ozil. He was fantastic and Germany would not have got 3rd without him.

Best goal: Van Bronckhorst. Unbelievable! He just let fly and it was destined to go in.

Best match: South Africa v Mexico. It is always nice when the host does themselves proud in the tournament with how they perform on the pitch. They came out singing and then scored an excellent goal and almost won it at the end.

Best moment: Iniesta's goal to win it. If for no other reason than it made my bets successful!

Best manager: Maradona. He is obviously not a renowned tactician but his team were very good and always motivated. He had bags of enthusiasm and passion too which clearly rubbed off on his players. Plus it is quite a turn around from a team in danger of not qualifying and the talk being of any success would be in spite of him.

Surprise package: Torn between Germany and Uruguay. Germany were a team i didnt expect much of. Maybe stupidly because, well they are the Germans, but i didnt think they had the players to perform to the level they did. Uruguay, because who expected them to get past the last 16? They had 2 excellent strikers who fired them to the semis.