Change is not always for the better

Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard would have looked on in anguish on Sunday evening. It was not the mere fact that the Dutch team lost its third-ever Word Cup final – this time to Spain – but it was its ill-fated decision to change its beloved style of football to a belligerent, rough-house tactic that might have annoyed these legendary icons of Dutch football. Spain, which remained true to its original football identity and style, eventually won the World Cup final 1-0 in a match that produced 47 fouls, 13 yellow cards and one red card.

Throughout the match, Andrés Iniesta – who produced the match-winning goal in the 116th minute – Sergio Busquets and Cesc Fábregas, as well as Xavi, tried to pass, to stay true to their slick, flowing, beautiful passing game and to build momentum by opting for speed and superb teamwork.

The Dutch have been renowned for their flair and for using the speed of Arjen Robben and the well-timed passes by Wesley Sneijder in the build-up to the final. But in the final, they opted for a destructive, negative Plan B instead of the superb passing game that has made the Dutch past masters in soccer/football – a tactic that created the genius which was Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard.

Ultimately, fortune favours the brave instead of the destructive. The Spaniards were brave, stuck to their guns in the face of a vicious and often ill-tempered negative onslaught. They received a rich reward in the form of their first-ever World Cup trophy.

In the process, they built on the legacy started by Luis Aragonés, who guided Spain to the European Champions title in 2008.

Vincente del Bosque, the coach of the Spanish team throughout their World Cup-winning campaign, recognised the importance of the Spanish style. “We have a good legacy and always try to respect that legacy. We followed the way we played then, and we have always stuck to those strengths.

“Our effort, our flair, our desire to move the ball along is never ending, and it will continue,” he said.

Spain received $30 million for its winning effort, and the Netherlands $24m for making it to the final.

The president of the world governing body Fifa, Sepp Blatter, said South Africa hosted the best-ever World Cup, beating the attendance figures of France in 1998, South Korea and Japan in 2002 and Germany in 2006.

Blatter was so thrilled about the performance by the host that he said: “I will fully support Durban to host the Olympic Games in 2020.”

Matches involving Bafana Bafana made local television history with figures by media company Carat showing that the opening game against Mexico drew 7.7 million viewers, the largest TV audience for a sporting event in the history of South Africa.

Danny Jordaan, chief executive officer of the local organising committee, told the Sunday Times that the tournament was both a critical and commercial success, a boost for brand South Africa and a boost for nation-building.

“We have seen black and white side by side at fan parks and stadiums, when for many years these people were prohibited by law to sit together. The nation has crossed a huge psychological barrier. It has instilled a huge sense of pride. We are only one of 15 countries that have hosted the World Cup,” he said.

Brazil, the host of the 2014 Soccer World Cup, intends to approach South African companies that had a hand in completing World Cup projects to assist with its preparations for the event.

Two years after the soccer event, Brazil will host the 2016 Olympic Games, another opportunity that South African companies can take advantage of, according to Business Day.

About the major success of branding team South Africa in the eyes of the world, business tycoon Saki Macozoma said the country had created a second honeymoon with the world, and that citizens should mobilise behind a newly united team South Africa to battle poverty.

Former British activist Peter Hain said that whatever the challenges ahead, South Africans now have the optimism and a can-do attitude to meet them.

Conservatively estimated, R13 billion was injected by 373 000 World Cup visitors into the South African economy, with South African Tourism estimating that every visitor spent at least R12 000.

But there were a few last-minute hiccups amid the euphoria which gave South Africans food for thought:

Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) came in for heavy criticism after turning back three jets carrying fans to the semifinal in Durban on Wednesday night. Acsa has since pledged to pay R400 000 in compensation to those who missed the match;

The splurging of over R120m on World Cup tickets by the country’s parastatals and various arms of government will come under the microscope after the tournament, reported the Sunday Times;

There were also some major disappointments for Cape Town-based fans. Thousands of Capetonians were denied the opportunity to see their football heroes in the flesh when only two teams, Portugal and the Netherlands, held closed training sessions at Athlone Stadium, reported the Cape Argus; and

Uruguay was the only team to train at the new Philippi Stadium. The two stadiums, Athlone and Phillipi, underwent a R500-million upgrade before the World Cup.