After a month-long marathon, the 2010 FIFA World Cup has finally come to a close. Both Spain and the Netherlands played in their first World Cup Final ever, with the Spanish coming out on top. Looking back, there are a few things we can take from this year’s tournament for 2014 in Brazil.
Though it may be a hallmark of tradition for South Africa, vuvuzelas are the most annoying musical instrument known to man. It sounds like a droning, swarm of bees attacking something. Fans were complaining about hearing problems and players were complaining that they couldn’t hear their coach on the sideline. Millions of vuvuzelas were sold in South Africa and around the world during the tournament. There are reports of them spreading to other sporting events. For the future, let’s not make this a World Cup tradition, or any sports tradition for that matter.
We also learned that USA soccer is back after a long hiatus as the world’s punching bag. The USA won their group, which included England, and made it to the knockout rounds of the World Cup for the first time in quite a while. The tie against England in the group round showed England’s weaknesses, especially at goalkeeper. Wayne Rooney was expected to make his first major impact on the international stage but it never came. Online gambling sites are offering odds on how many babies will be named “Wayne” for the year following the 2010 World Cup. He’s a popular guy but I’m guessing not many since England fell far short of expectations.
The World Cup still brought in a lot of viewers and remained as the most popular sports betting event of all. FIFA estimates around 700 million people watch the 2010 World Cup Final live. That beats out the estimated 600 million that watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and is on par with the 700 million that watched the great 2006 World Cup Final between Italy and France.
The 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil. To no surprise, the host country leads the odds, which are already getting plenty of action. There has never been a European winner when the tournament was held in South America or Mexico. The Netherlands, Italy and Germany have all made finals but fell short.
2014 World Cup Outright Odds (provided by Eurobet)
Brazil: 7/2
Argentina: 5/1
Spain: 5/1
Germany: 10/1
The Netherlands: 12/1
England: 16/1
Italy: 18/1
France: 20/1
Portugal: 25/1
Chile: 33/1
Uruguay: 33/1
Paraguay: 40/1
Russia: 50/1
USA: 50/1