So what's the verdict on World Cup 2010? I can't hope to improve on Matthew Norman's magisterial hatchet job in last week's Telegraph, but let's take the different components one by one:
1. Host Nation
Few would dispute that South Africa made a decent fist of hosting the World Cup. Admittedly, the opening ceremony looked as if it was inspired by The Lion King rather than any grasp of Africa's history or geography, but that's excusable since the purpose of hosting the World Cup from South Africa's point of view was to attract Western tourists. The tournament was blighted by horrific violence, as some sceptics predicted, but that occurred yesterday in Uganda, not in South Africa. 8/10. (To read more, click here.)
