World Cup Top Fives

Article by e-Sports Net's Jonathan Vine

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Even though the group stages have only just finished, this World Cup will already be going down as one of the best in recent history. Almost every team seems to have come to Brazil with an attacking mentality, which has led to lots and lots of goals, something every football fan wants to see. We have seen the world’s best players strutting their stuff, some big surprises and some even bigger moments of controversy. It really has had everything so far, but which teams have stood out the most? We will look at some of the nations making the headlines in Brazil, both for good and bad reasons.

Top 5 Winners

Algeria

Many thought Algeria would be scrapping it out with South Korea for third place in Group H, especially after a spirited 2-1 defeat to group winner Belgium, who had to rely on two late goals to break through a solid Algerian defence. But this didn’t dampen the spirit and optimism in the Algerian camp. In their next game against Korea, they produced a superb attacking display, full of pace, power and clinical finishing, to win the match 4-2. They conceded early on against Russia in their final group game, but came alive in the second half, to grab a draw and book their place in the second round for the first time in their history.

Colombia

For me, Colombia have been the most impressive team I have watched during this tournament so far. Yes, they did have a pretty straight forward group, but they still had to go out and perform, which they did brilliantly. Some thought that the absence of Falcao would be a hindrance to the team, but they have played with real style, pace and hunger, displaying wonderful flair and talent going forward and great discipline and structure at the back. They have had huge support from their fans, maybe even more so than the host nation themselves. Jose Pekerman will be hoping the fans can roar their team into the quarter finals, and maybe go even further.

Costa Rica

No-one would have predicted that Costa Rica would top Group D, especially at half time in their opening game, in which they put in a pretty luck lustre first half performance. What followed though, was totally unexpected. They recovered from a goal down to destroy Uruguay 3-1, and followed that up with an impressive 1-0 victory over Italy. They defended very well against England to secure the point they needed to top the group and with Greece waiting for them in the next round, they will be confident that the same fast paced, attacking style they employed in their opening two games, will be enough to book their place in the quarter finals.

France

In the past, France has struggled to cope with the weight of past glory and expectation. After going out in the group stage in 2010, pressure on the team will have been lower than ever going into Brazil. This has certainly showed to be the case on the pitch. Didier Deschamps side have looked lethal going forward, scoring eight goals in their opening two group stage wins. They rested many of their stand out players in their final group game, but that didn’t stop them playing out a draw and topping the group. When a French team performs, they often get to the final, it will be very hard to do the same this time round, but they have enough talent at their disposal to do just that.

Netherlands

After being drawn into a difficult group, I didn’t think the Netherlands had it in them to progress. But it turned out I was totally wrong, with Holland notching up three impressive wins, scoring ten goals in the process. In their own country, their success has been tainted with the fact that van Gaal is not playing the “total football” the Dutch invented, but the 3-4-1-2 formation they have been using has not only stiffened up their historically shaky defence, but it has allowed their three big attacking talents to flourish, as they have hit teams with devastating, fast paced, attacking football.

Top 5 Flops

Cameroon

Along with Honduras, Cameroon were easily the worst team in the tournament. They have a decent squad of players, but their attacking was slow and one dimensional and their defending were poor, almost comical at times. They managed just one goal in their three group stage defeats. Add to the fact that two of their player almost came to blows during their second game against Croatia, the travelling Cameroonian fans, as well as the million watching back home, were given absolutely nothing to cheer about.

England

It would be amiss of me not to mention England in this category. Despite falling to narrow defeats against higher ranked teams, the fact still remains that they under performed in all areas of the pitch. Statistically, this is the worst an England squad has ever performed at a World Cup. Much work will need to be done to restore confidence in the squad, but this may prove to be the kick up the backside the English national team so desperately need.

Portugal

With star man, Cristiano Ronaldo struggling with an injury, his Portuguese teammates needed to rally around, work as a team and play well together if they had any chance of progressing. In the end, they did exactly the opposite. A inept attacking display was teamed with poor defending in their opening game, as they fell to a 4-0 defeat to Germany. Pepe’s petulant and pointless red card didn’t help, but you got the feeling they were not going to be good enough that day, even if they still had a full quota of players. An early goal in their second game looked to set Paulo Bento’s team back on track, but after that it was all USA, who dominated the game for the next 80 minutes, before allowing Portugal to snatch a late draw. That was still not good enough to overtake the American’s. Despite winning their final game against Ghana, Portugal were eliminated at the group stage of a major competition for the first time since 1986.

Russia

Fabio Capello’s Russian side will have been hoping to challenge Belgium for top spot in group H, but they just couldn’t replicate the good form they showed during qualifying. They defended ok in all three games, but there was a real lack of desire and quality going forward. Just like when the Italian was in charge of England, his side were poor when in possession of the ball, lacking drive and creativity. A 1-0 defeat to Belgium was sandwiched between two 1-1 draws against the other teams in their group. They could still have progressed had they had beaten Algeria in their final game, but after leading at half time, they just couldn’t see the game out, meaning they are still yet to make it out of a World Cup group in their entire history.

Spain

I would never have imagined that I would be naming Spain as one of my top flops at the start of the tournament, but two woeful displays lead to the reigning champions being dumped out at the group stage. We have seen over the past two years how structured, confident defending combined with fast, direct attacking play has been used to overcome the tiki-taka football Barcelona made famous. Holland used this tactic to great effect in the first game, thumping the Champions 5-1, and when Vicente del Bosque needed a reaction from his men, it didn’t come, as they put in an unimaginative and frankly toothless display against Chile, going down 2-0. Is this the end of Spanish dominance? Only time will tell, but from this evidence it certainly looks that way.

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