2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Review: A Classic World Cup?

Above: the official logo of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. Below, left: the flags of the 32 countries that contested the World Cup, along with which group they were in

As I sit writing the start of this blog entry late at night, I find myself a little sad, sad because the World Cup is over and there now won't be football on the TV most nights; at least until the excitement of the English football leagues start again - with Premier League games on the TV, left, right and centre - and I return to going to watch live matches of my beloved Reading Football Club! But there's much more to my sadness than just that football won't, for now, be on the TV. You see, at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, after England (the team I support, obviously!) had been knocked out in the Round of 16 by Germany, I found myself not caring about the rest of the tournament that much. Yes, I still watched quite a few games, but I just don't recall the football being that exciting, with even the final being remembered for the way that the Netherlands kept fouling the Spanish, being lucky to only get one person sent off in the process! I guess it didn't help that there was a major incident in the match between England and Germany, an incident that still annoys me even when I see clips of it to this day; it was genuinely one of the worst officiating decisions I have ever seen in my life, when Frank Lampard's looping shot crossed the line - by some distance - yet somehow wasn't given by the officials, despite the rest of the world seeing it was a goal (thank heavens they introduced goal-line technology in Brazil!)! Oh, and how annoying were the vuvuzelas!? The one thing I won't doubt, though, is that the South African people had amazing spirit and did put on a successful World Cup, but I just think that Brazil has been on a whole different level, for the one reason that truly matters: the action on the pitch.

I'm not going to go into anything that happened off the pitch - although, having said that, despite talk of potential rioting and trouble during the World Cup, due to the problems in Brazil, this never really happened, with a party atmosphere being the order of the day. Within the first few days, you could tell this was going to be a special tournament, with attacking football being on show in so many games, and underdogs showing that they were completely up for the fight. The very first game showed me things that I both wanted to see, and things that I didn't want to see. Especially in the first half of the opening match, Brazil v Croatia, I felt that Croatia - the underdog against a team who some believed could win it - had been the better team, deservedly taking a 0-1 lead, but how this match ended up 3-1 to Brazil is down to two mistakes by the officials, with one being due to an act of cheating, both of which I was hoping to not really see at this World Cup, and fortunately both were fairly rare in the tournament. I believe that Fred went down way too easily for Brazil's penalty, and that Croatia's disallowed goal should have been allowed, both of which could've provided a whole different result. In these first few days, I had witnessed passion, exciting football, and players who genuinely cared about representing their countries. The incredible passion with which the teams would belt out their National Anthems at the start of every match, especially when I first heard Brazil do it - the music stops, but the fans (so many of them littered every stadium, whether Brazil were playing or not) and players continue to sing - it was truly a spine-tingling moment to behold!

Netherlands' first goal: Robin van Persie's phenomenal diving header

On only the second night of the tournament, one of the best matches of the whole of the 2014 World Cup occured, and I found myself having to pick my jaw up off the floor. Spain v Netherlands was truly a match I will never forget, and it seemed like it was going to be just as I'd expected as the current World Champions (at the time), Spain, went 1-0 up, but the Netherlands were not just going to give up. Just on the stroke of half-time occurs one of the many beautiful goals of the tournament (not up there with James Rodriguez's volley against Uruguay, but more on that later!), as Daley Blind sends a stunning pass over the top of the Spanish defence, Robin van Persie leaves Sergio Ramos behind, launching himself, 15 yards from goal, to loop a diving header over the top of a fantastic goalkeeper, Iker Casillas. The Dutch went on to score 4 more goals during the second half, with the fifth being another amazing goal, this time by Arjen Robben, one of the best players at the tournament, in my opinion. Running from his own half, on to a through ball from Wesley Sneijder, completely outpacing Ramos, before turning back on himself to round the keeper and expertly finish past the two Spanish defenders on the line, making the score 5-1 and leaving everybody watching the match absolutely speechless.

Who'd have thought that the Netherlands would beat Spain 5-1!? And yet there was an even more jaw-dropping match to come in this unforgettable World Cup

On the third day, we would witness two teams who would eventually go on to make the quarter-finals, Colombia and Costa Rica, with the former being very impressive and exciting to watch, and the latter shocking the world by topping a group that consisted of Italy, England and Uruguay. I could genuinely reel off a huge list of games that kept me rivetted during the group stages. I won't talk too much about my beloved England getting knocked out at the group stage with only 1 point, but, at the same time, you won't hear me say anything bad about them, either, as I believe we played an attacking style of football that was sometimes great to watch, and I'm glad that a load of youngsters (Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, Ross Barkley, etc.) got the chance to play, and they'll all be better players for having experienced what they have at this World Cup; future tournaments could be very interesting for us, I believe.

Many other memorable matches came and went during the group stages, including the games that had the two hat-tricks that were scored at the tournament: Thomas Muller in the Germany v Portugal match (4-0), and Xherdan Shaqiri in the Switzerland v Honduras match (3-0). Three other matches that stood out for me during the group stages were: the French beating a great Switzerland team by 5 goals to 2, with all 5 goals scored by different players - Olivier Giroud, Blaise Matuidi, Mathieu Valbuena, Karim Benzema and Moussa Sissoko - although, had the final whistle been blown just a few seconds later, Benzema would've had another goal, as he sent a lovely curling shot from 20-yards, past Diego Benaglio and into the top left-hand corner of the net. The USA v Portugal match stands out for me because, whilst not in any way truly stunning, it was a match where you thought there was going to be a shock. The Portuguese went 0-1 up very early with a Nani strike, and the USA's way back into the game was another fantastic goal at this tournament: the ball falls to Jermaine Jones about 25-yards from goal, he sidesteps Nani, before unleashing a blistering shot which looks like it's going wide, before incredibly curving into the far right-hand side of the goal, leaving Beto rooted in the centre of the goal. The USA went 2-1 up thanks to Clint Dempsey, and would've won the game if not for a last-minute equaliser by Silvestre Varela, after a perfect cross from Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been quiet up until then, and one of the tournament's disappointing players. Another match which I liked was the Colombia v Japan game, as it made me think that we could have a serious dark horse here, who could potentially go the distance. It's just one of the 5 matches that Colombia played, on their way to the quarter-finals, in which James Rodriguez - the player of the tournament (yep, I said it - not you, Messi!) - shined, and proved himself to be an absolute world-class talent (and it's come to fruition that Real Madrid have signed him for about 90 million Euros, in what will be the best signing of the summer!)!

Unfortunately, there was an incident that I never wish to see on a football pitch, or anywhere, for that matter! To see a football player, Luis Suarez, bite another football player, Giorgio Chiellini, on the biggest stage of all, with hundreds of millions of people watching around the world, including impressionable kids who look up to their heroes, was absolutely horrifying! I'm not going to say too much on the matter (and I'm not putting any pictures or videos of the incident on my blog, but anybody who has seen the images/videos will know he did it), as I'd rather talk about the amazing football, but I believe he deserved his punishment (feel free to disagree with me) - the money punishment won't affect him one bit (100,000 Swiss Francs), but not being able to play football for 4 months certainly will - as it's a complete act of thuggery. We'll soon see whether or not he's learned his lesson, but he had also done it two times before - on Branislav Ivanovic in a Premier League match against Chelsea in 2013, whilst playing for Liverpool; and on Otman Bakkal in an Eredivisie match against PSV Eindhoven in 2010, whilst playing for Ajax - so, we'll see. I think what really annoyed me is that his Uruguayan team-mates/coach/president stuck up for him, which, in a way, is admirable, but how can you really stick up for somebody after they've done something like that!? I believe they were only sticking up for their star player because they knew they had no chance without him, and that was true, as they were played off the park by Colombia in a one-sided Round of 16 match. The way I think about it is like this: how would I feel if a Reading (or England) player did this? I'd be completely shocked, disgusted, disappointed, embarrassed and angry, and not want him to play for my favourite football team again. Fair play to him for admitting to it and apologising, because it takes guts to do that, but there were rumours that Barcelona said they wouldn't buy him unless he apologised and said that it won't happen ever again. Anyhow, I really hope he does get his act together, because there's no denying that he's a world-class talent who is very exciting to watch, and he was easily one of the best players in the world during last season, helping Liverpool to second in the league, just 2 points shy of Manchester City; in this time, he scored 31 goals for Liverpool, none of which were penalties, and won the Barclays Player of the Season award, even though he missed 10 games at the start of the season for, ummm... biting!

During the Round of 16 matches occured my favourite goal of the tournament: James Rodriguez's unbelievable volley against Uruguay (viewable in the video over to the right. Footage is taken by a fan, as most videos that contain match footage get taken down from YouTube by FIFA)! The way the Colombia player positions himself in the space between Uruguay's defence and midfield, 25-yards out, takes a look towards the goal as the ball is headed to him, before chesting the ball and unleashing an unstoppable left-footed strike off the underside of the bar and into the goal, was simply stunning to watch, and a piece of brilliance that will be remembered for years to come. It's one of those goals where you look around the room to make sure everybody saw it, and that they weren't staring at their phones or something (something which I'll admit I'm occasionally guilty of!), and if somebody isn't in the room, you shout, "get in here quickly, you have to see this goal!!" I believe this was the best goal of the tournament, and by the best player of the tournament, too. Other goals that stand out in my mind, include: three that I've already mentioned - Jones (USA) against Portugal; van Persie's (Netherlands) first goal, and Robben's (Netherlands) second goal, both against Spain - with Tim Cahill's sensational volley against the Netherlands certainly being up amongst my favourites. Despite not being as good as Rodriguez's left-footed volley, and being about 10-yards closer to goal, what makes this incredibly impressive is that it was struck with Cahill's weaker foot. Shaqiri's first goal against Honduras was an absolute belter, Andre Schurlle's second against Brazil was amazing, and Lionel Messi's beautiful goal against Iran was needed to prevent an unlikely shock result (if I've forgotten any fantastic goals - and I no doubt have, as there were many beautiful goals at this World Cup - please fill me in in the comments section below this blog entry).

How Messi got player of the tournament (the Golden Ball), I'll never know, as I could name so many players who were better than him; hell, many of the German team were better than him, and I'd even include Schurlle in that statement, as he did so much - scored three goals, as well as setting up Gotze for the World Cup winning goal - and yet only came on as a substitute in every game that he participated in! But, being more serious, the player of the tournament was Rodriguez, followed by Muller, then Robben, in my opinion. They were the three players who excited me the most during the tournament; they were setting up goals, scoring memorable goals, and being entertaining. I'm certainly not saying that Messi wasn't good, and maybe it's because we expect so much from one of the finest football players to ever grace the planet, but he just wasn't as amazing as I thought he'd be, and was outshone by quite a few other players. James Rodriguez scored 6 goals in 5 matches, picking up the Golden Boot, scoring my favourite goal of the tournament, and earning himself a 90 million (Euros) move to Real Madrid! Seeing him come on as a substitute for the second half of Colombia's match against Japan, score one and set-up two Jackson Martinez goals, was simply amazing. His goal in this match was sublime: he points to where he wants the ball, then gets the through ball from Adrian Ramos; runs into the Japan box, turns right then quickly left, leaving Maya Yoshida on his backside; before exquisitely lifting the ball over Eiji Kawashima and into the back of the net.

Manuel Neuer, the best goalkeeper at the World Cup

I don't think many people would disagree with Manuel Neuer getting the Golden Glove (although, maybe he should've also been up for the Golden Ball award given how much he comes out of his goal!), and I don't think many people would argue that he's the best goalkeeper in the world. The biggest surprise, in terms of goalkeepers, came from Costa Rica's Keylor Navas, a goalkeeper I hadn't heard of before seeing him at this World Cup. In all honesty, I could mention so many goalkeepers that were brilliant, because so much of the football was so incredibly attacking, the goalkeepers really had the chance to shine. Tim Howard is a world record holder for his amount of saves, 15, during the USA match against Belgium, a Round of 16 match which got very exciting when USA were fighting to get back into the match in extra time, pulling one goal back - thanks to Julian Green's volley, after a lovely pass by Michael Bradley - but couldn't get the second that they needed. A mention has to go to Tim Krul, who didn't play during normal match time in any game, but was boldly brought on by the Netherlands coach, Louis van Gaal (and now the Manchester United coach), for the quarter-final penalty shootout against Costa Rica, and proceeded to save two penalties, helping the Netherlands through to the semi-finals - although, I wasn't hugely impressed by his antics towards the Costa Rica players just prior to their penalties being taken, but the referee took no action, and you do what you have to do to get through; mind games can be a huge part of many sports!

The best match of the knockout stages, and the most staggering match of the whole tournament, is an obvious one: Greece v Costa Rica... but, seriously, Germany v Brazil, of course! It was one of those matches where it almost became laughable - unless you're a Brazil fan - as scorelines of this nature just do not occur in the later stages of tournaments. The Germans absolutely embarrassed the Brazilians, with no remorse, breaking records left, right and centre as the match progressed: scoring the most goals, 7, in any World Cup semi-final; becoming the highest-scoring team at World Cups, with 223 goals in total, surpassing Brazil (really rubbing salt in the wound with this one!); and scoring 5 goals in the first 29 minutes of a World Cup match! In the 11th minute, Germany took the lead through a cool Muller finish from a Kroos corner, with the marking from Brazil's defence being ridiculously poor; to not mark one of the best players of the whole tournament - a player who's incredibly clinical and had already netted 4 goals in the tournament - is just shocking. Then, truthfully, this match was over as a contest in the space of 179 crazy seconds, as that was the [very short] time between Germany's second and fourth goals, and then it was a case of whether Brazil were going to restore some pride, or if Germany went and scored more: it was the latter of the two. The second goal was also a record breaker - albeit an individual one, not a team one - as Miroslav Klose's goal was his 16th World Cup goal in 23 matches, and 16 goals is a record that overtakes the Brazil legend, Ronaldo. Another of Real Madrid's signings, Toni Kroos, added the 3rd and 4th goals, before Khedira made it 5, with Brazil fans looking on in disbelief, shock, and some already in tears! Yes, these goals were partly due to Germany's brilliant attacking football, but so much was to do with Brazil's abysmal defending; everybody knew they were going to miss the amazing Thiago Silva, but nobody knew it would be this much. Also, with Neymar out, they lacked any sort of flair or spark going forward, which are the sort of things you expect to see from a great Brazil team, but this Brazil aren't a great Brazil team, unfortunately. Easily the best sub of the tournament, Schurlle, came on to score the 6th and 7th goals, with the latter being a brilliant strike. Oscar did get one back for Brazil, but, by this time, it really didn't matter. The Germans had been building up to a match like this, looking like one of the most impressive teams in the tournament, now they had to go on and win it, surely?

Germany celebrating winning the 2014 World Cup!

And it's obviously no secret that they did go on to win it (the picture above is hardly a spoiler!), but the final was far from the excitement that we had witnessed in that semi-final. The first thing I think of is that I bet Gonzalo Higuain wishes he could have back his first half chance which he squandered. Early in the second half, Messi had a chance, but he put his shot wide with his usually deadly left foot. Before the match, the talented midfielder Sami Khedira got injured in training, so the Germans replaced him with Christoph Kramer, who got a blow to the head and replaced by Schurlle. The Germans never let this bother them, though, and it was in fact the man that I have deemed "best sub of the tournament" that set-up the World Cup winning goal: Schurlle bursts down the left wing past two Argentinian players, crosses the ball in-between two players, and into Gotze, who sublimely chests the ball and then, on the stretch, lofts it over Sergio Romero with his left foot, for the sort of technically-beautiful goal you'd want to see win a World Cup that has just been so interesting, unpredictable and unforgettable! Yes, it wasn't perfect: any game that involved Greece wasn't exactly rivetting, Cameroon and South Korea were pretty boring and poor, and Belgium - despite all their phenomenal players, like Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Axel Witsel, etc. - failed to excite me, despite reaching the quarter-finals; rubbish games did exist, but very rarely. I'm only 27, so not old enough to have seen England's stunning 1966 World Cup win, but this has definitely been the best World Cup I have ever witnessed during my time on this planet. There were teams who did much better than expected - like Costa Rica, Algeria, etc.; there were goals that will forever replay in my mind; there were matches that were so mind-blowing, that if somebody didn't know the result and you told them, they'd think you were lying to them! The only way this World Cup could've been better is if England had done better, but, still, from the point of a massive football fan, I'm glad I wrote this blog, as I will forever be able to relive this classic World Cup!

Let me know what you think! Best goal of the tournament? Best player? Best goalkeeper? Best match? Best team? Biggest surprise? What you thought of the tournament? Thanks for reading, it's hugely appreciated! :) <3

 

The World Cup trophy along with the official ball of the 2014 World Cup Brazil