Another important aspect of the teams has been superb physical fitness. ``Even after 90 minutes of stipulation period, the players maintain high tempo,'' said Dinesh.

``The teams are playing an attacking game and are not banking on the brilliance of the individual players; rather it is the collective efforts of the attackers and the midfielders, which is enabling the teams to win the matches,'' said Kanwar Vinod, a national footballer. Vinod, who watched the matches live on TV , said that due to certain changes in FIFA rules the game is being played on a fast pace. ``The teams are refraining themselves from employing the negative tactics to win due to arming of the referees with the discretionary power.'' However, Vinod's favourite teams were Italy and England and the best player is Argentina's Ortega, who was shown the red card for head butting in the quarterfinal match against Holland. ``He (Ortega) played with confidence and depicted good ball control,'' said Vinod.

While IP Nagi another coach was of the view that due to overall improvement in the standard of the game some of the dark horses have come up. ``Croatia are one of the teams which look jubilant even in defeat,'' said Nagi. The coach said that absolute powers should not be given to the referees. ``Sometimes the referees flash cards unnecessarily, which could have been avoided.''

Kamaljit Singh Walia, a former national player says: ``The thrill and exciting associated with the world's biggest extravaganza is not to be seen.'' Kamaljit who represented Punjab in nationals in early `60s has been impressed by the Samba style of play and admires their superstar Ronaldo. ``Ronaldo has speed and can anticipate ball well. He paved the way for most of the goals scored by the Brazilian team.''