Where did the "World" go at the World Cup?

World cup is an exciting time for me because I've been a football fan my whole life. My team, as decided for me by my Dad at birth, is Liverpool FC. I've only attended a few big games, one at Anfield to watch Liverpool when I was about 8, one to watch my home town team Preston North End at Deepdale, and one here in Canada to watch Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago in a World Cup qualifier in Edmonton 2001. I remember them all. The atmosphere at a live professional football match is unmistakable, thrilling. The World Cup is especially so; like at the Olympic games, people from all over the world come together to cheer for their country, in their own way, and in their own language.

This tournament has been an exciting one; there have been underdogs proving their worth and supposed powerhouses struggling, freak outs, great goals and near misses. Something is missing in 2010 though. In a place as vibrant as South Africa, I had expected the matches to seem like giant parties. But they don't. While watching the England vs. Slovenia match a couple of days ago, I realized why. When Defoe scored for England, the commentator said "the English fans are singing We're Not Going Home Yet!" which they probably were...unfortunately I couldn't hear it.


Football fans are well known for singing songs or chants during matches, it's just like cheering for a goal or yelling at the referee. At this World Cup we have become accustomed to the droning sound of thousands of vuvuzelas in lieu of singing. There was brief talk that the vuvuzela would be banned from matches, the main argument against banning was that the instrument was representative of the way South Africans like to celebrate and to ban it would be "Europeanizing" the tournament. So instead of listening to the Spanish sing "Cielito Lindo..." or the Germans chanting "Deutschland-Deutschland!" or perhaps being treated to a rendition of

"Steve Gerrard, Gerrard.
He's big and he's feckin hard,
he'll pass the ball 40 yards.
Steve Gerrard, Gerrard "

we hear this:



To football fans and non-fans alike, no matter what language they speak, a match often sounds like this:



Is it really a fair comment to say that taking the vuvuzela out would be taking something away from the host nation? I don't think so. South Africa has been a joyful host, I would love to hear their songs. Sadly, I think the "World" has been droned out of the World Cup this year.