After watching what must have been the most boring and uninspiring of all Football World Cups, I've come to the conclusion that both the type of players selected and the choice of coach, very much reflects the cultural and political nature of the nation.

Although the Germans have one or two players whose names shall be remembered, all the media focus was on their new leader, "Klinsi" the wunderboy. Only in the days before their match against Poland was the attention taken away from the leadership due to worries about the loyalty of their Polish-born players. The rest of the competition was dedicated to the capabilities and dedication of Herr Jurgen Klinsmann a.k.a. Jay Goppingen. The German need for a strong and capable man at the helm definitely overrules their need for superstar players.

The Dutch, to my surprise, have also started down the path of the "Manschaft". After years of domination by individual talent and especially players from Holland's former colonies, the new Cloggy focus is on the ex-god Marco van Basten. Magic Marco who, like Klinsmann, has never before been tested in a "real" management environment opted for a collective of mainly Aryan players while omitting a large group of darker players. By omitting alleged "troublemakers" such as the dearly missed Edgar Davids, he nicely conformed to the needs and desires of the New Orange Free State behind the dykes.

The Brits, who are only just emerging from a Swedish Ice Age, were as usual totally focussed on one player and when he went down, so did they. The individual worship of a few star players has become the norm in this country where conformity and mediocrity usually rule. To stand out in England is only reserved for a few privileged individuals and definitely not for an entire team. Amazing to see how similar to England the mentality of the Ukrainians was.

Of course the most stereotypical activities were deployed by the Iranians, Saudis, Koreans and Japanese, about whom we can only say that they were there and that they did their best.   

The French, Spanish, Italians, Argentineans and Brazilians have one thing in common; they are all convinced they are gods...  In the case of the Italians I would say the luckiest gods on the planet and in the case of the French the most stupid. I fail to understand how a great player like Zidane can let himself be provoked by a cockroach like Marco Materazzi!

The Brazilians and Argentineans played ok, but unlike their heritage they forgot to party and have fun and instead conformed to the way they play their club football. The Spanish played better then ever before in the World Cup, but lacked the luck needed to reach the top.

I hope that the players of Portugal do not represent the true nature of their country as I've near seen a more pathetic bunch of cheats in my life. I know too little about Portugal to make any comparisons between the team and the country, but all I can say that I have never met a Portuguese I didn't like and so I am completely puzzled where they found this Christian Ronaldo and his gang of flying drama queens who truly are a total disgrace to their country.

The happy go lucky but totally dedicated play showed by countries such as the US, Australia, Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago give me hope for the future.

But what can we say about our beloved but absent Bulgaria football team? Just like the country, the dapper national team have not yet shown their true potential on the world stage. The dapper Bulgars managed by the great Hristo Stoitchkov may still be considered a dark horse on the international stage. Although blessed with great talent, when playing as a national team the Bulgarians have a tendency to implode and underachieve on a grand scale. Not unlike the political leaders of Bulgaria, Hristo's mission should be to instil in his squad the confidence that they have the capabilities to conquer foreign powers. I have supported Bulgaria in most of their home matches in previous years and I consider them my new national team, while of course not forgetting the orange colours of my home land. On October 7 my loyalties will be severely tested when Holland plays Bulgaria in Sofia in a qualification game for the European Championship of 2008.

In conclusion I would like to beg forgiveness for anyone offended by my intentional stereotyping and carefully planned bigotry!

Koos Jan Schouten (1954) was born in Amsterdam, has lived in Bulgaria since 1998, owns webfactorybulgaria.com and has been married since 2002 to his lovely Lilly.