ALL the planets had aligned. The world cup had advantageously coincided with the footy mid season break and the mid year break at uni… and with this I’ve been taking full advantage of the situation! With having no football commitments for a few days, and no uni assignments to feel guilty about not starting, I was free to sit on the couch with remote in hand to watch the soccer. And sit I did!

The world cup is such a sensational spectacle. Although there were some doubts about South Africa’s ability to host such a grand event, they’ve done an amazing job so far. For what it’s worth, I’m in the minority as I actually don’t mind the vuvuzelas. I think they add to the atmosphere.

It’s the player’s ability to skilfully control the ball with their feet and head that to me is truly astounding. On top of this, I’ve got so much appreciation for the top players who can control the swing of the ball in the air.

However, I can’t help but look at the event from an Aussie Rules player’s perspective.

First thing is the difference in culture between the two sports when it comes to injuries. In my opinion in Australia we have a great culture of fighting on if you get hurt or injured.

Sometimes it might be a small “corkie” in your quad that you’ve got to forget about and push on, or in Dan Hannebery’s and Tadhg’s case, your shoulder might have popped out but you just want to get it back in so you can keep playing.

By fighting on through a bit of pain in a team sport you earn the respect of your team mates for putting the team first , ahead of yourself.

In soccer it is not uncommon to be one man down momentarily as they “recover” from a fall. I cringe when I see these world class athletes “taking a dive”, and what makes matters worse is that often these dives can win a team a game.

Also, I laugh when I see the medicos run out with a water bottle and pour water on a kick in the shin. Our club doctor Nathan Gibbs would justifiably throw the cup of water on your face if we asked him to pour it on a bruise!

The other aspect that I can’t get over is the player’s relationship with the referee. In Aussie Rules I think it’s great that players are forced to respect the umpires and the decisions they make.

No touching or abusing the umpires in the AFL sets a great precedent and standard for other leagues, especially junior leagues. If players stray from this then there are harsh penalties.

Soccer doesn’t seem to put too much emphasis on this. If a call doesn’t go your way,  you and your team mates seem to be allowed to run to the ref to abuse the decision, and not only that, you can tug on his uniform to get his attention.

Finally, I can’t get over the fact that they change the make of the ball in the sport from time to time. It must be so frustrating as a professional athlete to train and become familiar for so long with one ball, only for it to be modified unnecessarily for the major event in the sport.

I would hate to think that a lot of shots that have missed the goals were due to the player’s inability to control the new ball, as this would be taking away from the whole spectacle.

Although I have been quite negative so far in a few of the aspects of the World Cup, overall I’m just loving it, and so too are the rest of the boys.

I’ve set up a fantasy team with Goodes, Kennelly, Jude Bolton and McVeigh all having teams and in the same league too. It’s quite a competitive league with all of us fairly close.

Of course Nemanja Vidic was my first picked and my captain Messi has been leading from the front. However, Spaniard Fabregas in the midfield has been struggling to get out on the park so I’m going to trade him tonight.

Like most Australians, after watching a few games I now talk like I’m a tactical soccer guru. I have to pull my head in when I start talking about how I’d strategically position the Paraguay midfield even though two weeks ago I couldn’t name one of their players.

The talk in the rooms at training is non stop about “what about that goal….”,  and “….should have been given a yellow card”. It’s great having the banter, and even though us Aussies haven’t done too well so far there’s nothing like reminding Kennelly and McKaigue that at least we made it and Ireland didn’t.

Ted “Vidic” Richards

p.s. I hope Australia beats Serbia, but part of me hopes my old mate Vidic has a good game.