Sunday, Spain were crowned FIFA 2010 World Cup 'Champions of the World' after Barcelona's midfield supremo Andres Iniesta converted the sole goal in the 116th minute of a tense and ill-disciplined match, which saw Dutch fullback John Heitinga dismissed for a second yellow card albeit at a crucial stage of the match in extra time.

Holland never really played to their natural strengths, instead preferring to spoil Spain's flowing passing football. The tactics of Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk were highly questionable. Van Persie a lone striker up front was simply piped out by a plucky Spanish defense and the service from Sneijder and De Jong in midfield was largely absent. Arjen Robben, so often a match winner for the Dutch, tried his usual darting and daring runs, but Capdevila coped courageously.

Robben has a penchant for being a moaning Minnie, questioning every tackle as if he has a God-given right not to be challenged. Van Marwijk's future must be in doubt, despite the fact that he took Holland to the final. But tactically, he does look out of his depth, and some of his substitutions beggared belief.

In contrast, Vicente del Bosque, the Spanish coach, finally sporting a smile, was generous to his South African hosts after the Spanish triumph for the coveted trophy. "This has been an extraordinary success for this continent...football is going forward and this has been great for the beautiful game", he said in the post-match press conference.

South Africans indeed are hailing the World Cup not only a victory for Spain but also for the country. Politicians, radio hosts and the marketing men are making an art of hyperbole claiming that this has been the best ever FIFA World Cup ever. But then South Africans have a propensity for exaggeration. The only problem is that those in power and in money tend to believe their own exaggeration especially if they are repeated time and again, by a media culture now disturbingly succumbing to product placement and marketing ploys.

This World Cup has also introduced new words to the lexicon of the beautiful game. But whether they remain part of the globalize heritage of football or are jettisoned on the scrapheap of soccer history only time will tell.

The irksome vuvuzela reminds one of English marmite - you either love it or hate it. Surprisingly, it is not steeped in African culture say as the digarreedoo of the aboriginals in Australia. It is a minor moneymaking plastic onomatopoeia contraption, which is neither Green nor would it pass the health and safety and noise pollution standards of most developed countries.

Already some European football federations have banned the vuvuzela and last week the News Zealand Rugby Union banned it in the first Tri-nation rugby international of the 2010 season between the All Blacks and the Springboks in Eden Park in Auckland.

The noise of the vuvuzela is a pale shadow of the lyrics of the cross-cultural closing ceremony with its animal themes and of course the theme song of FIFA 2010 as rendered by the fake blonde Colombian songstress, Shakira, strutting her stuff with the Waka Waka, which has already had almost 95 million hits on the social media on the internet.

Many would have preferred a rendition of the melodious Nkosi Sikele Africa or a host of football songs immortalized in the football terraces the world over. Can one imagine 'You'll Never Walk Alone' drowned out by the vuvu and zela of the vuvuzela. The Kop would go ballistic. If the vuvuzela is the only thing that Bafana Bafana have to offer to the football terraces then the sooner it is made an outcast, the better.

Perhaps the football fans are drowning out their sorrows at the dismal performances on the park, of a Bafana Bafana team that has flattered to deceive.

But the unsavory side of FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa has been the convergence of football as a sports and leisure commodity with corporatism as symbolized by FIFA as a major multinational corporate with the world's most recognizable brand, and popular music.

The sight of Emirates Airline stewardesses standing behind Sepp Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma carrying the medals just before they were handed out to the losers and winners was nauseating. This was sports product placement at its utmost vulgarity and at the heart of the greatest sporting spectacle on earth.

Are Emirates so desperate in seeking brand recognition that they have to taint even the hallowed climax of the beautiful game with their naked commercialism? Is FIFA so desperate for every dollar that it is so willing to compromise sporting ethics, corporate governance and the millions of ordinary football fans the world over?

As for South Africa's other contribution to the global football lexicon, it may equally be controversial, and may be just as ephemeral as the vuvuzela. The jabulani — the official World Cup ball, which was designed in such mystery (at Loughborough University in England) — was not exactly a party favorite of the footballers. And of course it failed to work its Black (sorry Rainbow) Magic for the home team, with Ghana the only African side carrying the flag for the continent. Ayoba (cool) Chic similarly failed to take off.

Sepp Blatter may have brought the World Cup to Africa. For that football should be grateful. But with the FIFA bandwagon has come all its excesses - institutional corruption, naked corporatism, organizational chauvinism, alienation from the ordinary fan and excessive greed. Perhaps, it is not the beautiful game that needs a makeover. It is FIFA, Sepp Blatter and those self-seeking football federations that support him.