Africa gets into groove with Latin tunes
The first Fifa World Cup on African soil has not been short of talking points, from the Jabulani to the vuvuzela. However, when it comes to the field, the form of the Latin Americans has been the talk of the town, with coach of European champions Spain the latest to label the Conmebol teams as favourites.
Argentina have been ‘Messi’merising, Brazil have produced enough magic to join their bitter rivals in the next round. Even the likes of Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile are poised to enter the Round of 16. At the same time, some of Europe’s biggest teams are stuttering. England have been mediocre, France all but out, defending champs Italy have failed to win either of their first two matches and even Germany lost after a 4-0 win in their opener. Spain coach Vincent Del Bosque was pleased that his side recovered to down Honduras 2-0 on Monday after a shock loss to Switzerland in their opener, but admitted that the South Americans sides have been the best on display.
“If we look at the tournament so far the Latin American sides have been the ones playing the best football. The Argentines and Brazilians are already through to the knockout stages. Even Paraguay and Uruguay have been in fine form,” said the veteran coach.
Argentina manager Diego Maradona even installed Brazil as the favourites after their ruthless beat-down of Ivory Coast on Sunday. “Brazil are not playing well but they settle their matches and for that reason they are still the big favourites,” he said.
Football fans look at numbers and random events more closely than conspiracy theorists, and in World Cup folklore there is no fable more storied than the alternate winners’ theory.
Since 1962, when dazzling winger Garrincha led Brazil to their second straight World Cup the event has been alternately won by national teams from Europe and Latin America. With Italy winning the last World Cup, for the believers, all signs point to a South American team going the distance in South Africa.
However, del Bosque was quick to add that the tournament is still up for grabs and it will be a whole different ball game once the knockout rounds kick off.
“I think the tournament is still open. Once the knockouts begin things will be more even and all the teams will be equally matched,” said the former Real Madrid coach.
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