Apologetic? huh? lol was never my intention.
I could care less about 'making more fans in US' and that 'Chilly and H2O' tried - no offense. I get that these guys can provide an opinion from a stand point of a 'new to the event' to the whole party. Whatever they pointed out, they may have as well pointed out during plenty of other cups. The thing is no cup was ever perfect, and there are always blown calls, and crazy ass diving that leads to advantages/goals etc. (say thanks to the Italians, for exploding the diving contest in recent years).
Do you even remember the last World Cup? I still maintain Italy rode the 'diving pony' all the way to the Cup winner. I will agree that things should be improving in overall experience; and that's something that may not be true, and if anything, maybe there were even steps taken back in recent cups (diving is 1 example - but that's play as opposed to actual FIFA things or host nation).
Vuvuzelas are something that was unique and original, and it is the way South Africans like to express their support. That should not even be mentioned in this discussion. That comes down to personal preference.
Good for you that some things were obvious - on TV. Wow, you got so much skill. Plzz dude. The players are faster than ever, and the game is faster than ever. The ball was going faster than ever, (and flying crazier than ever). 3 people are in charge of the whole field. So maybe, this will just be the opportunity to help these 3 human beings in the future.
The fields were not pristine? OH NOES! It's Africa. But I get it. Maybe it's true. Thing is, it was good enough and we didn't see any crazy bouncing around because of the field - like I've seen plenty of times before in FIFA games; not necessarily in WC though. I didn't see players tripping, ankles being rolled what have you. Bottom line is, the fields were good enough, and it was not of major concern from the players.
As you said, yes well done on infrastructure as well.
If anything, I will agree with the ball complaint - something that the players actually complained about, and showed concern for. And looks like their complaints/worries were true. The ball was crazy in flight and did have the 'knuckle' effect.
But as Adidas said, the ball was given to teams for testing and to get a feel for it. No complaints were filed. I don't know why that is, but it would have good if they caught it early.
Imagine all the disasters that could have happened - stadium and field security stuff, out of control riots n things, etc etc etc use your imagination and maybe past world cups. We had just 1 guy get onto the field this whole time (I saw just 1 occurrence, and haven't heard of others; who btw was total fail and lame; not to mention he did at the beginning of the game and probably got kicked out, but maybe did so as to not disrupt the intensity at the end) No things thrown at players/on field, out of control flares, etc etc etc. Sure that may just be the people being nice, as opposed to the security team preventing it; all I know is they DID not happen.
I maintain: Well done South Africa! Well done.
Did the best team win? I believe so. Whether 1 or two games may have been different because of some calls, remains unknown but a valid point not the less. But that may be true for most WCs. However, I think the overall elimination process lead to the two best teams playing it out. And I do think the best team did win. I was so glad it did not go to penalties - that would have been lame to end a WC. And btw, VIVA EUROPA!!!!
Successful Cup? Yep!
When Barcelona lost the Champion's League to Inter Milan, I was thinking maybe Spain will win the world cup. Hah! it happened, and I was super glad that Italia got eliminated so quick, as I said.
The only cool thing for me about Inter winning the CL cup is that Chivu was on that team.
