The Beauty of a Tied Game – World Cup 2010
“The Fates have no right to judge what happened here today.”
-Evitus Cesarus
The 2010 World Cup in South Africa kicked off today with two group A matchups. They both ended in ties.
In the opener, the host team South Africa (with Steven Pienaar) took on a promising Mexican side. The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes of fairly open play. There were exciting moments on both sides, with a hotly contested yet correct offsides call in the first half that denied Mexico the opening goal of the tournament. After dominating the first half though, Mexico were the first to give up a goal in the second as a glorious strike by Siphiwe Tshabalala into the upper right interior corner was the first goal of World Cup 2010. This is actually the first ever goal by an African team on African soil, and if any were worthy for the history books, this strike was it. Near the end, Mexico fought back and tied it, when Rafael Marquez cleaned up after a period of really poor backline play by South Africa and knocked one in in the 79th minute. At the end, the score was tied, but viewers surely couldn’t complain after a very worthy and exciting opening match. It did though end in a tie. Both teams earned a point.
In the second Group A game, a star studded France full of soccer celebs like Henry, Riberrey, Sagna, Anelka, Malouda, Diabi, and many more fought a boot fierce defense in Uruguay. Despite some fine play on both sides, even after Uruguay went down to ten, France couldn’t put one in. Uruguay, though mostly fighting off the French pressure, had some excellent chances of their own, most importantly a late miss of a volley for the much heralded Diego Forlan. At the end, the score was 0-0. Again, each side earned a point and it ended as a tie.
Rather than bemoaning the two ties though as somehow evidence that Soccer is a dull game, we should take this moment to celebrate the virtue of the tie in sports. There are after all those times when it truly is a tragedy that either team has to lose. Take one of those multiple overtime games from NCAA basketball for example. Did any of those athletes really deserve to lose?
It seems to me that the tie can at times be the ultimate celebration of skill and that special C word ,Craft, as opposed to the other C word, Competition, and the dominance of others that is represented by a rules system which requires that someone always has to win.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some boring-ass ties in this world. I’ve seen lifeless clashes that ended goal-less, neither side exhibiting enthusiasm or skill in the slightest. If the goal isn’t clear before you walk on the pitch, you won’t leave the field with anything, trust me.
It’s those other ties that I’m talking about. The ones where each side battles its guts out and neither can best the other, where both teams deserve it, and either walking away empty-handed would feel terribly cruel of fate.
Especially let us celebrate now, when the world is so divided, and people seem incapable of meeting strangers with anything but fear or fury, let us celebrate that sometimes both sides can win.
