World Cup in need of a thriller to reignite tournament excitement

Now that the initial euphoria which greeted the World Cup’s long awaited kick-off has died down, it is difficult not to look at the matches played so far and feel slightly underwhelmed. The opener between South Africa and Mexico appeared to have lit the blue touch paper, but it has only fizzed since and threatened to go out on a couple of occasions, with the dire second game played out between France and Uruguay serving as a better indicator of what we have since seen.

Matches such as those between Algeria and Slovenia, Serbia and Ghana, and yesterday between Japan and Cameroon, have all failed to capture the imagination or produce much in the way of inspiring football. To date, out of the twenty-two teams who have taken to the field, only three – South Korea, Germany and the Netherlands – have managed to find the back of the net on more than one occasion. And the Dutch even required an own goal to clear that particular hurdle.

Many reasons have been rolled out for the somewhat lacklustre fare on display so far. The altitude, the pitches, the Jabulani ball, and even the sound of the Vuvuzela have all been passed as excuses. However, perhaps a more simple explanation is that we are still in the first round of matches, and it is understandable that teams are somewhat cagey in their attempts not to immediately lose ground on the rest of the group. Losing the opener and still qualifying will be a struggle for most teams.

With that said, some teams have clearly been below par. England’s performance hardly needs mentioning again, whilst those who had backed Serbia as dark horses were made to think twice following their flat performance against Ghana. Many had Greece as favourites to finish second in Group B, although that prediction will need to be reassessed after they were comprehensively outplayed by South Korea, meanwhile Italy hardly started the defence of their title in convincing fashion last night.

So are things likely to get any better? Well, today’s Group G opener between the Ivory Coast and Portugal has the potential to be the game of the tournament so far, so if that doesn’t get the pulses racing then there could be a problem. The two tournament favourites, Brazil and Spain, both still have to make their tournament debut as well and the neutral, along with those watching in Sao Paulo and Madrid, will be hoping they can play with the same kind of conviction that was seen from Germany on Sunday.

As it stands, to date we have seen more column inches devoted to the Vuvuzela debate than have been lavished on the quality of football on display. The tournament is just four days old however and it would be surprising if there was not better to come from it in the later group games and the knock-out phases. Whilst it may have been a sluggish start to proceedings, there is no need to panic just yet. After all, New Zealand vs. Slovakia kicks off at 12.30pm, and that surely has all the making of a classic, doesn’t it?