In South-East Asia, the Suzuki Cup commences
Soraya Soemadiredja, Manila.
South-East Asia is football mad, and collectively one of the largest consumers of European football* in the world. This December, it’s all about Asia though, and we’ll see all the big names in their region performing for their countries. The ASEAN Football Federation’s Suzuki Cup will commence in South-East Asia, co-hosted by Indonesia and Vietnam. The Cup has been around since 1996, originally called the Tiger Cup and come the eve of the new year, will another side be in possession of the coveted cup? In Group A, we have Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Laos. In Group B, we have Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar and the Philippines. Read on for a lightning quick introduction to each of the contenders.
Who is the villain of the 2010 World Cup?
By Eric Beard
In 2006, Marco Materazzi stood out to many as a villain for his unbecoming words that caused Zinedine Zidane to lose his cool, sparking the infamous headbutt. However, this time around, there are all sorts of villains. From the FIFA administration’s reluctance to provide referees with the tools to make correct decisions to absolutely atrocious calls made to handballs to cursed celebrities, South Africa has been the home to a whole lot of controversy. Here’s my list of 2010’s villains that were present in Africa.
Sepp Blatter and FIFA
Always happy to be the centre of attention, Blatter and his stubborn, old-school ideas have made neutrals and supporters of the likes of the United States, England, and Mexico outraged. Goal-line technology, in some form, is needed in football. At least when the stakes are this high. But Blatter, in his dictator-esque role, is no stranger to stubborn, illogical thought. Conservative in his ways, the winners of matches have been placed in jeopardy because of his reluctance to use some sort of video replay at the game’s biggest stage. Sepp, this is a disgrace to football.
The Referees
From Jorge Larrionda (Germany-England) to Koman Coulibaly (United States-Slovenia) to Carlos Batres (Spain-Paraguay), blown calls have never been in such abundance in a World Cup. Sure, they’re only human and they’re not getting too much help from FIFA as there could be extra officials on the touchlines or even instant replay, but some of these mistakes have been unforgivable. It’s a hard job to be the man in the middle, but to many, these men are nothing but villains who don’t have to explain themselves.
The Mind of a 6-year-old.
By Alison Dennehy, writing from Reading, England
64 games in 31 days is a lot of football. I normally manage 1 or maybe 2 a week. This should show how much “growing up” is to be done over a month for a football fan. At the age of 6, I went to my first game, and I have been going ever since, but as a kid then it’s more about your team winning and the atmosphere. As I get older experience starts to kick in. You know which starting XI to play, who are the fitter players, whose passes are awkward and what position to play them in. The simple things that maybe when you were 6 years old didn’t really matter to you.
In my eyes, this World Cup I have gone back to being 6 years old again. I had no clue which games to watch or what players to look out for. I had no real experience of the teams. I tended to stick to the English football league rather than International football, and I expect many readers do the same. That is, watch local rather than worldwide. It has opened my eyes to how much football is actually being played.
AFR’s 2010 World Cup Awards
By Dominic Vieira and Eric Beard
The 
World Cup has come and gone, so it’s time to give credit to those who deserve it. All behold AFR’s 2010 World Cup awards!
The Zidane Aggression Title: De Jong (Netherlands)
Top Team: New Zealand… they didn’t lose a match did they?
Best Pitch Invasion: (tie) Jimmy Jump trying to put a hat on the World Cup and Mario Ferri telling Marcello Lippi that he should have brought Cassano to South Africa.
Top Goalkeeper: Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
Star of the World Cup: Paul the Octopus
World Cup Circus Clown: Raymond Domenech
Anti-Football Trophy: The Vuvuzela
Most Solid Defence: England
Best Haircut: Tshabalala
Expected to be Player of the Tournament: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Greatest Disappointment: If Argentina won the World Cup, Maradona promised to run through the streets of Buenos Aires naked. If only…
From Paul the Octopus to Joachim’s Boogers, it’s the Seven Wonders of the World Cup 2010
By Darshan Joshi
We learn plenty over the course of a World Cup, don’t we? We realise the unimportant things, like the ability Germany have without Michael Ballack, like the fact that we’ll have a new World Cup winner this summer, like the fact that we’re all now going to have vuvuzelas line our attics, and like the fact that once and for all, we now know that the England national team are made up of a rubbish bunch of overpaid princesses.
Of course, none of that matters. We’re done with the World Cup, and it’s time to look back at seven of the brilliant events that have overshadowed this summer’s extravaganza.
Nike doesn’t write the future, Paul the Octopus does (and Mani the Parakeet!)
We’ve covered the curse of Nike’s wastefully overdone advertisement, but where one fails, another (two) succeed. Step up, Paul and Mani. They hail from opposing poles of the World but have pretty much one thing in common: they’re challenging the Lord. They may still be Gods of the animal kingdom, but to mess with humans like this? No way, we won’t stand for this.
Paul, the more mainstream of the two, is the story of the World Cup. He is the symbol of South Africa 2010. He correctly predicted all of Germany’s matches in the tournament, and also predicted Spain’s triumph over the Netherlands. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul the Octopus.
