The End of the World Cup - My Top Moments
[Sunday 20th July 2014]
A week removed from the World Cup’s German climax, I’ve only just come
to terms with it ending. It was a great tournament, full of (mostly) glorious
football, tense drama and spectacular goals. Brazil 2014 was a breath of fresh
air and – for a disillusioned Newcastle United fan – reminded me why I loved
football in the first place. This blog tries to round everything up in a list
of moments. They’re not all the best moments, the biggest moments or the most
memorable ones – just my personal ten which straddles all criteria.
So much has missed the top ten and it’s only right that they get the
honourable mentions they deserve. Argentine and Colombian fans, in particular,
produced scintillating atmospheres at games, which Pekerman’s men rewarded with
marvellously choreographed dancing after each goal. How about the extra-long
national anthems before each Brazil match? I’d always get goosebumps at how
passionate and emotional the selecao were – something which led to their
undoing. We also had protestors throw rocks at ITV’s studio, Chris Kamara
chasing a street robber, a grasshopper latch on to Hamessshh Rodriguez’s shirt
and England physio Gary Lewin dislocating ankles and fracturing fibulas.
True to form, Cameroon imploded whilst Ghana and Nigeria players threw
a fit over missing bonus payments. Giannis Maniatis was so angry at a Greek
teammate’s crosses that he booked tickets to fly home, before being convinced
to stay. Both the BBC and ITV treated us to many beautiful views of Copacabana
beach and Christ the Redeemer, whilst Ian Wright awkwardly dropped in war
references whilst chatting up a German surfer. We had Shola Ameobi, the
wonderful Algeria and impressive dives from the likes of Arjen Robben and
Thomas Muller.
Argentina’s coach Sabella fell backwards into his dugout, whilst the
USA’s overwhelmed John Brooks almost fainted after scoring the winner against
Ghana. Mauricio Pinilla would’ve done the same had his 119th-minute
shot dropped under the crossbar and eliminated Brazil – instead he immortalised
the moment with a tattoo! Belgium vs America had an exhilarating extra time,
whilst FIFA showed there are small adjustments that can still improve the
sport. Innovations included official ‘cooling breaks’ and arming referees with
a free-kick foam spray, whilst discussions have taken place about allowing
teams a fourth substitution for extra time. However, coming in at number 10, it
wasn’t all good for referees.....
10. Dodgy refereeing
In fact, it was barely good at all. The precedent was set from the
opening game, with Yuichi Nishimura’s handling of Brazil vs Croatia. Neymar’s
elbow on Luka Modric went unpunished, whilst he gave a penalty for Fred’s
extravagant dive. After wrongly disallowing Edin Dzeko’s goal against Nigeria,
referee Peter O’Leary was photographed celebrating with the Super Eagles’
Vincent Enyeama. A controversial penalty was awarded to Georgios Samaras in
injury time against Ivory Coast, a vital goal which took the Greeks through.
But the biggest disgrace was probably Carlos Velasco Carballo’s performance
during Brazil and Colombia’s brutal slugfest. He created an atmosphere where
anything went, something which nearly paralysed the host’s poster boy Neymar. There
have been suggestions that FIFA pressurised officials into not letting big-name
players get suspended, thus bookings were rare and teams pushed their luck.
Whether this was true or not, the standard of refereeing was mostly poor.
9. Jonathan
Pearce’s commentary meltdown
As
was TV commentary. The BBC received 445 viewer complaints about Phil Neville’s
mundane co- commentary, whilst Clarke Carlisle pondered why Colombia striker
Jackson Martinez wasn’t in Ecuador’s squad. Mark Lawrenson was his usual
grumpy, witty self, although I ended up actually enjoying how miserable he was.
He sounded like he was being tortured, when he’s actually been paid handsomely to
commentate on football, at the World Cup, in beautiful Brazil. Analysts duelled
in the first week to out-sarcasm each other when goal-line technology replays
were shown for shots that clearly weren’t goals.
And it was this technology
that inspired my #9 spot. France took on Honduras and, while Martin Keown bizarrely
doubted Mathieu Debuchy’s manhood, former ‘Robot Wars’ supremo Jonathan Pearce
decided to publically meltdown. Karim Benzema’s shot hit the post, hit the
goalkeeper and crawled over the line. Replays firstly confirmed there was ‘No
Goal’ when it hit the post. It then correctly showed a ‘Goal’ after the ball
hit Valladares. This confused Pearce, who declared: “Oh goodness me, they’ve
changed their minds now”, then “Which replay are we supposed to believe? If in
doubt, the referee cannot give it!” By now, Keown was calmly explaining what
had happened, but Pearce continued to condemn the technology. Minutes later, he
was still perplexed, as Twitter produced mass mockery via photoshops and jokes.
It was hilarious to watch develop. Have I crossed the line there? Maybe, but
Pearce wouldn’t have a clue.
8. Super Timmy Krul became Holland’s hero
Tim Krul is an adopted Geordie, having been at Newcastle United since
2005, but Louis Van Gaal chose Jasper Cillessen as his first choice goalkeeper.
Yet, as extra time against Costa Rica neared its end, Van Gaal made an
unprecedented and incredible move. Despite a mediocre record of saving
penalties on Tyneside – two from 20 – Krul replaced Cillessen specifically for
the penalty shootout. As per the script, Krul was the hero, saving two Costa
Rican kicks and taking Holland to the semi-finals. I was shaking throughout, on
such a high. His mind-games upset many but the poor sportsmanship worked.
They turned
out to be Krul’s only minutes this summer and, if they’re the only World Cup
minutes he ever gets, what a way to make an impact! Surprisingly, Krul wasn’t
used in the following shootout against Argentina. Van Gaal had a final sub to
make near the end of extra time, but chose to bring on Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for
Robin Van Persie. Sure enough, Cillessen saved none of the spot kicks and
Holland failed to make the Final. After the Costa Rica game, I didn’t know who
should be more insulted – Cillessen, the #1 goalie humiliatingly told he’s not
trusted with penalties, or Krul, good enough for penalties but deemed not good
enough for a standard game of football. What a moment, though!
7. Incredible goalkeeping
Manuel Neuer deservedly walked away with FIFA’s Golden Glove award but,
in truth, it could’ve gone to six or seven goalkeepers. Keylor Navas was consistently
magnificent as Costa Rica only conceded twice – one of which was a penalty! It
seems to have earned him a move to Real Madrid too. Guillermo Ochoa may be
forgotten because of Mexico’s second round exit but the FM legend was wonderful
in those four games, including a Gordan Banks’esque save to deny Neymar. Tim
Howard became a household name in America after making a record 16 saves
against Belgium, whilst Sergio Romero, Rais M’Bolhi and Vincent Enyeama stood
out for their solidity. But Neuer was calm, commanding and reliable. He evoked
school playground spirit by playing ‘rush keeper’ against Algeria, often
charging 30 yards up field to sweep up any potential problems. Special mention
must go to Ghana’s Fatau Dauda, who was seemingly pleased with saving Ronaldo’s
header.
6. Spectacular Goals
In truth, only four are being discussed for ‘goal of the tournament’
but they were all brilliant in their own way. Day 2 gave us Robin Van Persie’s
beautiful, picturesque diving header that looped over a stranded Iker Casillas.
The Dutch Twitter logo replaced the bird with RVP’s dive for several days
after. Soon after, it was Holland’s turn to concede, as Australia’s Tim Cahill
unleashed an unstoppable volley past Cillessen. Not only was it on his weaker
left foot, but it confronted probably the hardest skill in football - to volley
a ball that came over your shoulder, from behind.
Leo Messi’s 90th
minute winner against Iran was even better because of the narrative. Iran
initially parked the bus, but slowly gained confidence and nearly went ahead
through Mehrdad Pooladi and Reza Ghoochannejhad. It would’ve been a huge shock.
But, still at 0-0, Messi finally got past his two markers and curled in a
stunner from 25 yards. The goal that seemingly tops the poll, though, is
Hamesshh Rodriguez’s volley against Uruguay. 25 yards out, with his back to
goal, Rodriguez took the ball on his chest, turned and lashed a magnificent volley
in off the crossbar – Muslera had no chance. Another goal for consideration is
Haris Seferovic’s injury-time winner against Ecuador. At one end, Ecuador were
just about to score but – thanks to Valon Behrami and Ricardo Rodriguez – the
ball was in their own net 18 seconds later. I’d personally give the award to
Cahill.
5. Klose breaks the original Ronaldo’s record
Believe me, I’m also one of those who wishes that Ronaldo kept his all-time
World Cup goal-scoring record. History remembers the Brazilian in a beautiful
way, a phenomenal talent whose career was ravaged by injury – we only got a
glimpse of what he could really have been. Miroslav Klose, on the other hand,
is a very ordinary player. He’s awkwardly tall, had an unspectacular club
career (his time at Bayern Munich and Lazio is alongside spells at Homburg,
Kaiserslautern and Werder Bremen) and German. His first five goals were
headers, seven in total, and all 16 were spread over four World Cups. But
credit where it’s due, totalling 16 is remarkable. Klose equalled Ronaldo’s
record against Ghana, before beating it against Brazil. His record may not
stand for long though, with 24-year-old Thomas Muller already on 10 with
(probably) two more World Cups in him. Another record-breaker was Colombia’s goalkeeper
Faryd Mondragon, who came on as a late sentimental substitute against Japan. At
43 years and 3 days, he became the World Cup’s oldest ever player, beating
Roger Milla by almost a year.
4. Spain 1-5 Holland
The tone for a fantastic group stage was set on Day 2, as reigning
world and European champions Spain were dismantled by Holland in a rematch of
the 2010 Final. Symbolically, it was the end of an era. Group B was labelled the
‘Group of Death’ but not many people seriously believed Spain would be eliminated,
not like this. Whether their downfall was because of age, motivation or being
tactically sussed out, it felt sad to see Spain humiliated like this. They went
1-0 up and, in hindsight, it should have been 2-0, had David Silva not missed a
sitter.
If it was, maybe Spain would’ve qualified and gone far. But, shortly
after that miss, Daley Blind’s magnificent lofted pass enabled Robin Van Persie
to score that header. In the second half, the career of Iker Casillas
unravelled. The Dutch demolition was epic, iconic, fascinating and outrageous.
Two for Arjen Robben, another for Stefan De Vrij and another for Van Persie
completed the rout – leaving observers shellshocked. Depending on the capitulation,
90 minutes can undo a person’s whole career but let’s hope this doesn’t happen
to Casillas. As for Spain, Chile defeated them 2-0 and it was over as quickly
as it had begun.
3. Costa Rican fairytale sees Los Ticos make the quarterfinals
Another ‘Group of Death’ candidate was Group D, which banded England
with Italy and Uruguay. Yet nobody anticipated that the fourth team, the
unfashionable Costa Rica, would finish the group on top, ahead of the three
former world champions. It wasn’t even a fluke. They shocked a Suarez-less
Uruguay, before out-shocking that with a 1-0 win over Italy and affording to
have a dull stalemate in the pointless match against England. They drew 1-1
with Greece in the second round, before beating them on penalties, and took
Holland all the way in their quarterfinal. Only Tim Krul stopped the fairytale
continuing. These players are mostly unheard of, plying their trade in the
leagues of Costa Rica, USA and Scandinavia. Giancarlo Gonzalez, in particular,
was near-perfect in every match and was arguably the best defender on show.
Costa Rica constantly defied expectations and were the shock underdog of the
2014 World Cup. They deserve a huge round of applause.
2. Luis Suarez has Giorgio Chiellini for lunch & gets a
4-month global ban
Most footballers won’t ever bite a fellow professional during their
career, yet this animal has done so three times. It takes a seriously deranged
individual to even think of harming an opponent like that, which Suarez is, but
it still doesn’t justify his bite in any way. During Uruguay’s vital 1-0 win
over Italy, Suarez bit Chiellini’s shoulder before dramatically rolling on the
floor holding his teeth in agony. He then had the nerve to deny it! Bite marks
ultimately led to FIFA imposing a four-month global ban from all footballing
activity on Suarez, who isn’t even allowed to train or enter a stadium in this
time. Mysteriously, it didn’t stop him signing for Barcelona! Conspiracy
theorists say it was all a plan to force Liverpool’s hand – a club that have
stood by him and wouldn’t sell him under any circumstances. Even this was one
step too far for them, so they sold him for £75m. Almost as bad as the
despicable bite, was the Uruguayan FA’s remarkable denial that it happened.
They put up a siege mentality, as the English media was out to get them.
Funnily enough, they’ve now dropped those claims. And now, thankfully, Suarez
is out of our country!
1. 7 (seven) - 1
I’ll keep this one brief, because I dedicated a blog post to the match
(http://gegenpress.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/world-cup-day-27-day-brazil-cried.html).
Quite simply, it was the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever seen in football –
not just for me, but almost everybody. It took my breath away and made
Maracanazo (http://gegenpress.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/maracanazo-in-1950-expectant-world.html)
look like a fun experience for all. What happened before our eyes was a huge
bursting of a bubble, the hype of this Brazil team exposed for what it really
is. The Thiago Silva-less hosts took part in a shameful meltdown, conceding 4
goals in 400 seconds, as Germany found themselves 5-0 up after half an hour.
Gary Lineker called Brazil’s record-breaking humiliation: “The most
extraordinary, staggering, bewildering game I’ve ever witnessed.”
Pre-match,
all the attention was on Neymar’s injury and the tantalising prospect of
returning to the Maracana to heal their 64-year wound. Their pre-match vigil for
Neymar was disturbing – fans wore hats and masks of him, players held up ‘Neymar
Jr 10’ shirt during their national anthem and the general grievance of a man
who is still very much alive! David Luiz – the world’s most expensive defender –
once again performed like a joke. No Brazilian came out of this game with any
credit, as TV cameras found a perverse joy in finding crying child fans. By
full time, the Brazilian crowd had completely turned on their heroes – with good
reason. What we saw on Tuesday 8th July was monumental. Not only did
Brazil’s World Cup dream come crashing down, but the mystique surrounding the
selecao has finally died.
And, with that, comes the end of the World Cup.
Memories made, great football and worthy winners. A wonderful month has come to
an end and I don’t like it!
Thanks for reading.
