By Simon and Jason Wright – Follow us
on Twitter @Siwri88 and @JDBWright91
After 64
years, the World Cup returned to one of its spiritual homes in Brazil. Despite
all the concerns over protests, transport issues and lack of stadium planning,
the 2014 FIFA World Cup will go down as one of the greatest ever.
The group
stages saw the likes of Spain, Italy, England and Portugal all plan for early
journeys home, whilst Costa Rica had won the hearts of many and Algeria and Greece
were experiencing knockout football at the World Cup for the first time.
The second
part of this review takes a look at the knockout stages, starting with some
energetic round of 16 matches all the way to the final, where the pride of
Germany would ultimately win through.
Round of 16
FINAL RESULTS: Brazil 1-1
Chile (Brazil win 3-2 on penalties), Colombia 2-0 Uruguay, Netherlands 2-1
Mexico, Costa Rica 1-1 Greece (Costa Rica win 5-3 on penalties), France 2-0
Nigeria, Germany 2-1 Algeria (AET), Argentina 1-0 Switzerland (AET), Belgium
2-1 USA (AET)
The last 16
matches began with a familiar encounter, as Brazil battled it out with Chile.
The Chileans had frozen at this hurdle against their opposition in both France
98 and four years ago in South Africa, but the Chile class of 2014 was a far
tougher nut to crack. The game in Belo Horizonte began at breakneck speed, as
both teams showed immense passion and determination to come out on top. David
Luiz scrambled the hosts infront from close range, but that lead was a short
one, as new Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez smashed in an equaliser after Brazil
was caught napping from a quick throw-in. As the game progressed, the pace
slowed but both teams still had chances. Referee Howard Webb correctly ruled
out Hulk’s second half goal after he chested the ball with the top of his arm,
whilst Chile hit the crossbar in the closing stages of extra time. After two
hours of gruelling action, the first penalty shootout beckoned. Chile’s first
two penalties were saved by Julio Cesar, but Willian dragged his horribly wide
and when Claudio Bravo’s mind games with Hulk saw him crack and hit his penalty
straight at Bravo, the penalties were level at 2-2 after four kicks. As you
would expect, Neymar made no mistake with his kick, which left Gonzalo Jara
with the pressure to score to keep Chile in the World Cup. He couldn’t;
striking the post and the hosts survived by the skin of their teeth. It was
third time unlucky for Chile, but once again, they showed why they are
considered as one of the world’s emerging elite.
If that had
drama, the second clash in Rio lacked it. Colombia v Uruguay wasn’t quite the
festival of attacking football expected, but it did produce a real moment of
brilliance. 25 minutes were on the clock when James Rodriguez collected the
ball from around 30 yards out. The midfield wizard took a deft look over his
shoulder to see where the goal was, then turned around, collected the ball,
lifted it into the air and struck an unstoppable volley which gave Fernando
Muslera no hope of saving. Tim Cahill’s heart would have sank. His mesmerising
goal against the Dutch in the group stages had just been bettered in some
style. Rodriguez added a second early on after the restart to complete a
routine 2-0 victory, sealing Colombia’s place in the quarter-finals for the
first time. Uruguay’s tournament had been a rollercoaster, but ultimately a
disappointment and they lost both matches the naughty boy Suarez didn’t
feature.
Sunday, 29
June began with Netherlands facing Mexico in sweltering temperatures in Fortaleza.
So hot that this game made history in being the first World Cup match to
institute “cooling breaks,” a decision reserved for matches that are played in
temperatures exceeding 30°C. Giovani dos Santos gave the Mexicans the lead at
the start of the second half but it all went wrong for the Azteca in the
closing minutes. First, Wesley Sneijder struck an equaliser with two minutes to
go before stoppage time saw Arjen Robben go to ground, suspiciously easily, to
win a penalty for the Dutch, converted by Klass-Jan Huntelaar. The Dutch had
survived an almighty scare to go through and for Mexico; it was last 16 and
bust again for the sixth consecutive finals.
The
tournament’s major surprise package Costa Rica played Greece in Recife. In a
game that lacked attacking flair, Bryan Ruiz put Costa Rica infront before
Oscar Duarte was sent off for a second bookable offence. Greece waited until
stoppage time to take the extra man advantage, as Sokratis Papastathopoulos
forced extra time. No goals in the extra 30 minutes meant a penalty shootout,
in which both sides successfully scored their first three penalties before the
Greeks missed their crucial fourth spot-kick, allowing Michael Umana to score
and send Costa Rica to their first ever World Cup quarter-final. Greece coach Fernando
Santos was sent to the stands before the shootout for arguing with the
officials, ending his tenure of the team on a rather low note.
In Brasilia,
France made heavy weather of the game against Nigeria. Both teams had fleeting
opportunities, but it was the French who made it count in the last 15 minutes.
The excellent Vincent Enyeama flapped at a corner, missed the ball and Paul
Pogba gleefully did the rest. Antoine Griezmann thought he had got the second
in injury time, although his goal later went down as an own goal off Joseph
Yobo. France were through and looked set for a European showdown with old
rivals Germany. Germany did complete that quarter-final, but only after dogged
Algeria took them all the way in Porto Alegre. No goals after 90 minutes, as
the Algerians had the best of the play, but weren’t clinical enough when it
mattered. In the opening moments of extra time, Chelsea’s Andre Schurrle
flicked in the opening goal – underlining his presence as an outstanding impact
player. He also set-up the second too, crashed in by Mesut Ozil, masking the
fact that he had an absolutely dreadful match. Algeria nicked a deserved
consolation right at the end but bowed out bravely. Once again, the challenge
from Africa hadn’t seriously materialised. Their wait goes on, as Germany
reached the last eight again since quarter-finals were reintroduced into the
format in 1986.
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| Tim Howard was in outstanding form against Belgium, but it wasn't quite enough |
Both of the
matches on the final day of the first knockout round needed to be settled in
extra time. In Sao Paulo, Argentina were again pushed all the way by their
opposition, as Switzerland simply refused to cave in. Eventually, Angel di Maria’s
goal in the 118th minute kept the dream alive for Messi & co and ensured
Ottmar Hitzfeld’s swansong as a coach would be a miserable one. The game in Salvador
was to be more thrilling. After no goals in 90 minutes, both Belgium and USA
went for hammer and ton in the following half-hour of play. Kevin De Bruyne and
Romelu Lukaku put the Belgians 2-0 to the good, despite the heroics of Tim
Howard (pictured above) who set a new record for amount of saves in a World Cup match. Howard’s
performance was so good, even President Obama telephoned him a day later. Julian
Green’s goal ensured a nervy final 13 minutes but Belgium held on for the win
and progression to the quarter-finals. However the Americans had certainly won
over plenty of new supporters for their never give up approach in all four of
their matches. For the first time since 32 teams qualified in 1998, all eight
group winners had progressed to the quarter-finals.
Quarter-Finals
FINAL RESULTS: France 0-1
Germany, Brazil 2-1 Colombia, Argentina 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 0-0 Costa Rica
(Netherlands win 4-2 on penalties)
Less than 96
hours after finishing their Algerian examination, Germany were back in action
in the first quarter-final against France in Rio. Mats Hummels returned after
missing the last match through injury and the tall Borussia Dortmund defender
proved to be the difference. His header in the 13th minute settled a
tight and tense encounter that didn’t quite live up to its expected billing.
Benzema aside, France looked nervy and didn’t push players forward when they
needed to the most. Nevertheless, Les Bleus’ standing as a strong international
side has fully recovered and they will fancy their chances with more experience
gained for Euro 2016, a tournament to be played on home soil. Germany marched
into a fourth successive World Cup semi-final.
They would
face Brazil, but it was to be a painful night for them despite beating Colombia
2-1 in Fortaleza. Skipper Thiago Silva gave them the best start with a tap-in
after seven minutes and with around 20 minutes left, his centre-back partner,
David Luiz hit a blockbuster of a free-kick to double their lead. Colombia
pulled a goal back in the last 10 minutes. A foul by Julio Cesar led to a
penalty, coolly dispatched by Rodriguez for his sixth goal of the finals which
meant the 22-year-old was going to win the Golden Boot. The big story of this
game came even later though. Camillo Zuniga’s crude challenge into the back of
Neymar left Brazil’s golden boy in lots of pain on the field. He was
stretchered off in tears and hours later, it was confirmed that his tournament
was over with a fractured vertebra. With him out and Silva suspended for a
needless yellow card in the second half, Germany would fancy their chances in
their semi-final showdown. Colombia had entertained many but were going home
without the silverware they believed they might have won.
Those in
attendance for the Argentina v Belgium match-up in Brasilia would have been
left feeling extremely short-changed. Argentina took the lead from an early
Gonzalo Higuain strike and the game pretty much went downhill after that.
Argentina had very few shots on target and typically didn’t take advantage of
the ones they had whilst Belgium never registered a decent shot on goal in the
entire match. The Argentines had once again scraped through and it ended
Belgium’s rather hit and miss campaign. Though they had reached the
quarter-finals for the first time since 1986, the absence of Christian Benteke
certainly had a major impact on the team’s overall style of performance.
The last
quarter-final pitted Netherlands against surprise package Costa Rica in
Salvador. The Dutch were expected to make short work of their opponents and
they did indeed dominate with the lion’s share of shots and ball possession.
However, Costa Rica’s goalkeeper Keylor Navas was in top form, denying every
single Dutch shot that came his way. With penalties looming, Dutch coach Louis
van Gaal made a rather bizarre decision, by substituting number one goalkeeper
Jasper Cillessen for Tim Krul, Newcastle’s regular GK. This was made because they
believed Krul had an excellent penalty saving record, although he had only
saved 2 from 20 in his Newcastle days. He turned out to be the hero though.
Despite some unimpressive mind games, Krul saved two Costa Rican spot-kicks and
the Dutch were through to another World Cup semi-final. Costa Rica though
rightfully went back home as national heroes for their resilient efforts.
Semi-Finals
FINAL RESULTS: Brazil
1-7 Germany, Netherlands 0-0 Argentina (Argentina win 4-2 on penalties)
The quality of
the final four was impeccable. What we got over two nights was one of the worst
semi-finals the World Cup has ever seen, and one of the most extraordinary
results in football history. First up, it was Brazil v Germany in a replay of
the 2002 final.
Without
Neymar and Thiago Silva, Brazil were perhaps slight underdogs, but no-one could
have predicted what was to come. When Thomas Muller fired Germany ahead after
11 minutes, an interesting question was asked of the hosts. The answer they
provided was to suffer a complete meltdown infront of millions of home fans and
viewers across the globe.
First, Miroslav Klose produced a bit of history. He
made it 2-0 on 22 minutes, converting at the second attempt after Julio Cesar
parried his first shot. That was Klose’s 16th goal at World Cup
finals, surpassing the record of the great Brazilian striker, Ronaldo. Moments
later, it was 3-0 as Toni Kroos smashed in after the defending went walkabouts
again. The game was as good as over but the ruthless Germans were not finished.
Not even a minute later, Fernandinho was horribly caught in possession and
Kroos helped himself to another. Then when David Luiz attempted to do a Usain
Bolt and outrun his opposition, he was caught out and with no cover; Sami
Khedira had an easy tap-in. In eight minutes, the scoreline had gone from 1-0
to 5-0! Words failed a lot of the journalists inside Belo Horizonte, as fans
cried their eyes out. Some even left and started to humiliate their own teams,
cheering the Germans ‘Ole’ when they kept possession. Substitute Schurrle added
another two goals in the second half to make it 7-0! Luiz’s defensive
performance must have given PSG’s owners concern – they’ve just paid Chelsea
£50m for his services! Others like Fred and Hulk strolled around without a care
in the world and Marcelo put in one of the worst performances ever seen by a
full-back. Not even a late consolation from Oscar could cover over the cracks.
It was the biggest ever defeat for Brazil (players pictured below) at a World Cup and also in any
semi-final at a major international tournament. Germany were heading to the
Maracana in real knockout form. Things though could get potentially worse for
the Brazilians. Their long-standing rivals Argentina could now reach the final
on their own backyard. To do so, they needed to get past the Dutch in Sao
Paulo.
 |
| Sombre Brazil applaud their support after their semi-final humiliation |
This game might
have begun with attacking flair but as the minutes ticked on, it was a match
where you would have struggled to stay awake. Both teams began putting cautious
emphasis on their gameplay. As extra-time was needed, it was clear that this
one was going to end goalless and go all the way to penalties, the first time
since 1998 that a World Cup semi-final had to be settled that way. Back then, Netherlands
lost to Brazil on penalties and on this occasion, lightning would strike twice.
Without their skipper Robin van Persie, substituted during the game through
illness, and having used all three of their subs, meaning Van Gaal was unable
to make the goalkeeping change that won his side the quarter-final, it proved
to go against the Dutch. Argentina’s goalie Sergio Romero saved two Dutch
penalties from Ron Vlaar and Sneijder. Argentina scored all four of theirs,
Maxi Rodriguez with the winning spot-kick. For the third time in World Cup
history, Germany and Argentina would face each other in the final.
Third Place Play-Off
FINAL RESULT: Brazil 0-3
Netherlands
Netherlands’
latest penalty shootout loss left them to face a rather wounded Brazil in
Brasilia to dispute the bronze medals of the tournament.
Brazil’s
collapse in the semi-final seemed to continue in the early stages of this game.
Thiago Silva was very lucky to stay on the pitch after fouling Robben inside of
two minutes, with Van Persie converting the subsequent penalty. Then on 18
minutes, David Luiz made another terrible blunder. Instead of heading the ball
out of play, he headed it back into the path of Daley Blind! Blind took his
chance and made it 2-0. Though Brazil had chances, they came very few and far
between, and their fate was sealed through Georgino Wijnaldum scoring a third
for the Dutch in injury time. It was so easy, that third choice goalkeeper
Michel Vorm got a chance to play for a minute or so at the end of the game. Netherlands
took a deserving third place and if proof was needed, Brazil are just poor
without Neymar’s presence, if this World Cup was in Europe they would have
struggled to get out of the group stage. Since 1998, only three teams have
conceded more than 10 goals at a World Cup. They are Saudi Arabia (2002), North
Korea (2010) and now Brazil in 2014. Not the company they were hoping to keep
when the finals began.
As Van Gaal
heads for pastures new in trying to resurrect the fortunes of Manchester
United, Luiz Felipe Scolari was heading for the job centre. He announced his
resignation three days later, jumping before being pushed by the Brazilian Football
Federation.
2014 WORLD CUP FINAL
FINAL RESULT: Germany
1-0 Argentina (AET)
So after 63
games, the World Cup final in 2014 was to be between Germany – the best team of
the tournament against Argentina, led by one of the greatest players of his
generation in Lionel Messi. Who was going to win out – the team or the individual?
There was an
early blow for Germany when Khedira was injured in the warm-up. He was replaced
by the unheralded Christoph Kramer, who had only made his national team debut
in May. Kramer wouldn’t last too long though. He went off with concussion
before the interval and was replaced by Schurrle.
Argentina
matched their opponents throughout and had the best opening. Kroos’ misjudged
back header put Higuain in on goal in the 20th minute. He fluffed
his lines though and missed the target comprehensively. There were no goals in
the first half and as the second half wore on, a mistake or a moment of genius
was going to be the difference. Messi was largely kept quiet but he did have a
half chance after the restart that went narrowly wide. For Germany, Benedikt
Howedes hit the post from a header but neither goalkeeper was being heavily
overworked. There was good build-up play but the final ball or big chance was
being denied by either great defending or woeful finishing.
0-0 after
normal time, the 11th time this occurred at the finals (a new
record), extra time dawned. It might have lacked the style of the Mexico 86
final but was far better than the dismal showing the Italia 90 showpiece
produced. Argentine substitute Rodrigo Palacio missed a great chance in the
first period of extra time, before another sub, Sergio Aguero was lucky to stay
on, after smashing Bastian Schweinsteiger in the face with an elbow. Time was
beginning to run out until in the 112th minute, Schurrle found some
space, got a decent ball into the box and Mario Gotze (pictured) produced a brilliant
finish. It was a moment that fitted the occasion – a piece of skill that
deserved to win the World Cup.
 |
| Mario Gotze celebrates with his teammates after he scores the winner at the World Cup final |
Argentina
couldn’t muster anything in the final eight minutes. Messi ballooned a
free-kick into the stands was their final opportunity. They had come up short
against Germany again. After near-misses in Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro
2012, this was Germany’s time again. It was their first major trophy in 18
years and their first World Cup in 24 years; a fourth in total which equals
Italy’s number.
Messi was the
rather strange selection of Player of the Tournament, whilst Manuel Neuer was a
more overwhelming winner of the Golden Glove. Finally, it was left to the
retiring skipper Philippe Lahm to join the likes of Zoff, Maradona, Moore, Matthäus
and Cannavaro to hold aloft the greatest prize in football.
Congratulations
Germany on a fitting triumph and thank you Brazil for producing a special World
Cup that we will remember for years to come.
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