South Africa: Shakira and the Vuvuzela Dawn
Before the first match, half the world's commentators predicted the vuvuzela would ruin the tournament. The plastic horn, a feature of South African football culture for decades, produced at volume a sound somewhere between a swarm of bees and a malfunctioning industrial fan. Players reported difficulty hearing teammates on the pitch. Broadcasters struggled to provide audible commentary. The sound was constant — not the rhythmic surges of European terraces but a continuous, unwavering drone beneath every moment of every match. Within a week, the world had adjusted, and the vuvuzela had become the signature sound of a tournament that was unlike any before it.
Africa hosting the World Cup for the first time — the continent's identity, its place in the global game, the political history that underpinned the symbolic act — gave the tournament a meaning beyond the football. Nelson Mandela attended the final draw ceremony. Bafana Bafana, the South African national side, opened the tournament in Johannesburg and drew 1-1 with Mexico in a moment of such collective emotion that the stadium's noise exceeded the vuvuzela drone. The football was not always excellent — it was the first tournament in which not a single match was decided by more than a three-goal margin — but the context was irreducible.
Spain's tiki-taka system had been evolving since the 2008 European Championship and arrived in South Africa at its conceptual peak. Xavi and Iniesta controlled possession with a consistency no previous World Cup winner had achieved; David Villa scored five goals in direct support of the system's dominance. But the final against Netherlands was tortuous: negative, physical, the Dutch playing with a cynicism that produced a record fourteen yellow cards and one red. Arjen Robben had two clear scoring chances and wasted both. In the 116th minute, Iniesta received the ball in the Dutch penalty area and drove it through Stekelenburg's body.
Iniesta's celebration — the shirt removed, the name Torres written in tribute to a friend who had died of a blood disorder during the tournament — was the moment that carried everything the summer had been about: private grief, collective triumph, the intersection of football and the rest of a human life. Spain were the right winners. The world had found its way to Johannesburg and Cape Town and Durban, and the football had been, on balance, worthy of the journey.
MATCH FOOTAGE
2010
Netherlands 0–1 Spain (AET)
2010
Germany 0–1 Spain
2010
Uruguay 2–3 Netherlands
2010
Argentina 0–4 Germany
2010
Mexico 2–0 France