Well, after the first game, it was obvious that at least one referee has been bribed, or at least he has so much fear in the citizens of Brazil that he felt compelled to make calls in their favor.
I dislike big sporting events like the World Cup and the Olympics, because often times the governments spend tens of billions of dollars with few actual benefits for the citizens but some prestige for the country. And government officials and their friends and a few sports teams always get a few handouts. See Qatar and Russia.
Regardless of my dislike of the authoritarian nature of these events, I do enjoy the entertainment aspect. When you put all the emotions and grandstanding aside, that's what modern professional sports is these days: an entertainment industry. When you look at sports from that angle, you get less emotional about the whole thing.
Enough of that schpeel. I like the Germans, Italians, and Argentines this time around. The era of Spain looks to be winding down. Brazil has some great players, but it looks like they need some gifts from the referee to win their first game and they do not play team football as well as some other teams. Then again, the home country advantage has already begun to show.
I would hope that my home country figures out a way to at least tie Ghana this time around. Ghana beat the USA in the last two World Cups, and our team could not compete with their speed, strength, and team play. I say park the bus and play the counter attack. But I'm just an armchair quarterback.
I can’t tell you how strongly I agree.
International sporting events are all huge expenses with little tangible benefits for the host country.
It is inevitably dominated by corrupt and arrogant government officials who waste the people’s money for a tiny bit of prestige.
The entertainment factor is there; I do enjoy it. But I remember, it’s entertainment. There’s no philosophic or intellectual best here, nothing is objective. Refereeing has always been biased towards the home country; FIFA is extremely adverse to having the home country lose early matches because they want to keep the interest levels up in the home country.
Remember how referees were bending backwards for South Korea some years back when they hosted? Even if it is Brazil, a nation practically guaranteed to reach the semis every World Cup, they can’t afford to run the risk of having Brazil crash out early. Already matches are being played to half-full stadiums and anti-World Cup people are demonstrating;
As for FIFA, it is a sleazy organization comparable to Goldman Sachs. It’s not about the Beautiful Game for FIFA officials; it is about getting bribed, wined and dined, treated like kings, etc.
