PARENTHESES

Matapos ang isang buwang pagpupuyat, natapos din ang World Cup. Nagwagi ang Italya sa kanilang ika-apat na titulo bilang World Cup Champion.

I rooted for the Italians in their final match against France, but altogether I was not impressed how the matches were played during this World Cup. Except for some teams like Ghana and other underrated teams who really played with their hearts, most teams played a very defensive type of football. It seemed like most of the powerhouse teams have prepared themselves in playing defensive tactics than in scoring goals. So everybody ends up waiting and praying for the final whistle to blow in order for their team to settle scores in a penalty shoot-out. And a lot of matches during this World Cup were concluded in penalty shoot-outs including the final match, the second time where the World Cup title is decided by a penalty shoot-out. A penalty shoot-out is like a lottery, the team who wins it simply has more luck than the other.

The excitement and thrill of attacking football where scores are settled in full regulation time is what I missed in this World Cup. The only attacks I saw were attacks that gained nothing but flashing red and yellow cards. The great Zidane ended his brilliant football career this way, he retired with a flying color – red. World Cup 2006 will go down in history as having the most issued red and yellow cards.

I hope to see more exciting football four years hence in South Africa. By that time, I hope and pray that African and Asian teams will finally make it to the finals.