Why has this World Cup been so good?

Article by e-Football Correspondent Daryl Curle

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England’s highest ever goalscorer at World Cup Finals, Gary Lineker, has hit the nail on the head whilst describing the tournament so far, describing it both as “thoroughly entertaining”, and more importantly, the “antithesis” of the previous World Cup in South Africa. Although the semi-final stage has been reached, with the end of the tournament in sight, there have been plenty of reasons to this point as to why we’ll never forget this month or so of football. I think it would be unfair to say that no previous tournament has had its fair share of positives and negatives, and this edition is no different, although I think it is clear that we will remember Brazil 2014 for the right reasons.

Firstly, there is the success of the host nation Brazil. Wonderboy, Neymar, has lit up the tournament, starting on the opening day, scoring a brace against Croatia. Although he had not scored in the knockout rounds before leaving the pitch injured against Colombia in the quarter-finals, his presence will be missed sorely by his adoring home fans, and it must be stated that his omission could be catastrophic. Another player to thrive so far is the most expensive defender in the world, David Luiz. The eccentric character has not felt the overwhelming pressure focused on his team, made pre-tournament favourites by many bookmakers’. Scoring against Chile, and a contender for goal of the tournament against Colombia, he has started to prove his transfer value on the world’s biggest stage. The biggest factor in the success of Brazil thus far however must be indebted to the atmosphere created by the fans. In a country that is essentially unable to cope with the economic drain of hosting both a World Cup and an Olympic games within two years of one another, the majority of the people have come out in their droves, covered in face paint, backing their team with some serious samba style. The recent riots surrounding FIFA and the construction of the stadiums in particular, as well as the clear rich and poor divide in some of the host cities, cannot be ignored.

Next is the story of the underdogs. Costa Rica so nearly hung on to make the semi-finals of the tournament. They took maximum points off of both Italy and Uruguay in the group stages, as well as a draw against England, in order to finish top of the pecking order, defying almost every accumulator placed outside of Costa Rica itself. Two players with links back home, Joel Campbell of Arsenal, and Bryan Ruiz of Fulham, have shone with the cameras bearing down on them, although the keeper, Keylor Navas, of Levante in Spain, has been on fire. The South American nations of Colombia and Chile both dazzled their opponents, as well as the millions looking on in their offices or homes. Both of these teams played fantastic attacking football, never settling when only a goal up, constantly bombarding opposition defences. James Rodriguez of Monaco and Colombia, currently in line for the golden boot, has been particularly delightful to watch, and looks set to play at the highest level for many, many years to come. Finally, a special mention of Mexico. Their defensive displays, especially against Brazil, have sent out a message for future tournaments. Although it may seem harsh to label some of these nations as underdogs, with Colombia currently ranked at number eight in the world for instance, this tournament has been the first opportunity for these countries to be seen on a global scale, and it must be said that some have exploded onto the scene.

Attacking football as a whole has been refreshing to see on such a scale. As Gary Lineker said towards the top of this article, this tournament has been almost the opposite of its predecessor. Think back to South Africa in 2010, and what can you remember? Is it the vuvuzelas? How about Rob Green, or ‘that’ Frank Lampard goal? Or the bloodbath that can be described as the World Cup final? Whether you thought of one of these things, or all, or something completely different altogether, let me tell you a statistic, comparing that World Cup with this one. There was a total of 145 goals in 2010, compare that to this edition, in which there have already been 158 goals with four matches still to play. In fact, this World Cup has had more goals scored in the group stages than in any ever before. This is due to the attacking tactics teams have employed in order to outscore their opponents, risking losing a clean sheet if necessary. The football four years ago was negative, at an understatement, resulting in the real lack of entertaining football, which is strictly untrue of Brazil 2014.

A final point to mention is the referring of this tournament. Firstly, the introduction of goal-line technology has been revolutionary and looks set to aid the beautiful game for years to come. One instance comes to mind where the new technology was actually used, in the Ecuador vs France group stage match. The second measure undertaken by the officials is the use of the “disappearing” spray, used for free kicks. Although apparently used in South America for many years previous to the tournament, the device clearly looks as if it will benefit football, as it provides a clear, inarguable line to the players. The general referring standard should not be understated also, despite a shaky opening week, especially the opening game, in which Croatia boss, Niko Kovac, afterwards suggested that his nation should just go home, following many instances of controversy in their 3-1 defeat to hosts Brazil.

Unfortunately, it seems that controversy is too difficult to avoid in a tournament like this, and many headlines have been based on the struggles of the general Brazilian population as previously mentioned. The collapse of an overpass in Belo Horizonte, killing at least two people will also not be forgotten. Disgracefully, the biggest negative factor associated with Brazil 2014 will probably be the third biting scandal involving Liverpool and Uruguayan forward, Luis Suarez. Although the victim of the attack, Italian, Giorgio Chiellini, has felt the incident to be too harsh, I believe Suarez will not learn until the punishment becomes so severe it becomes unfair… either that, or the compulsory using of a muzzle.

I do feel however, that the positives of this tournament will mean the 2014 World Cup will go down in history as being one of the best ever. There isn’t much left to say, except congratulations to whoever wins the tournament, with it genuinely still being hard to predict who will win. That, and try not to remember England’s performance this summer.

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