The 2014 World Cup could not be off to a better start. It has been a spectacle filled with goals and excitement. Here is a recap, and some conclusions that I'm drawing from what I have seen so far.
- Brazil are not the World Cup favorites. In fact, I would confidently place Netherlands and Germany ahead of them. I don't care if they have home-field advantage. There has always been talk of Argentina and Portugal being one-man teams, but no team has arguably shown their dependence on one player more than the Brazilians. Although Argentina came out of their group with 9 points, I did not place them above Brazil simply because they won all of their games by a margin of 1, and all 3 were won by individual moments of brilliance from Messi. They struggled to find the breakthrough against the likes of Iran, Nigera, and Bosnia. Most of us can agree that they have yet to be tested.
- The Netherlands still remain the strongest historical footballing nation to have never won the World Cup. Could this be the year? They clearly have all of the attacking talent in the world spearheaded by the dynamic duo of Robben and Robin. Defense continues to be this team's biggest concern.
- No Falcao? No problem. Colombia has been the best team in the World Cup thus far. With the youngest team in the tournament, they have caught the eyes of many with their brilliant attacking displays. Did you see the way Colombia celebrated after their goals (see below)? Team chemistry is certainly something Colombia has on their side. I currently have James Rodriguez winning the Golden Ball (given to the most outstanding player of the tournament). I would not be surprised if the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United, etc. make an inquiry to Monaco for this 22 year old wonderkid sooner rather than later. Oh, and Cuadrado too.
- Spain, the reigning World Cup champion, as well as the winner of Euro 2008 and 2012, has already been knocked out of the World Cup. One has to question Vincente del Bosque's decision to play Diego Costa over David Villa in the first 2 games that ultimately decided Spain's fate. You are really going to bench a proven World Cup goalscorer, David Villa (9), and your country's all time leading goalscorer with 59, in favor of Diego Costa, who had barely even played any friendlies with the squad yet? To complicate matters even further, Villa scored in the one game that he played. Inevitably, a lot of what-if scenarios are playing through my mind on this one. R.I.P. tiki-taka (2008-2014).
- With Luis Suarez suspended effectively for the rest of the tournament, I am giving Uruguay no chance to go deep into the knockout stages. I tweeted this 2 days ago, "Seriously, what is wrong with Suarez. You are a top 5 player in the world, and above all, a professional football player. Start acting like one." I continue to hold these sentiments. Suarez needs help and should not be allowed back on any pitch until a psychologist signs him off as mentally stable enough to not go cannibal again.
- It was incredibly saddening to watch Ronaldo limp through the World Cup. As happy as I am that USA was able to advance to the knockout stages at the expense of Portugal, there is no doubt that the fitness of CR7 ultimately hampered Portugal's success. The world was ready to see the 2013 Ballon d'Or winner's coming out party in the greatest spectacle of all professional sports. It was just not meant to be. At least Portugal exits the tournament on a good note, and it was satisfying to see Ronaldo get on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, this will add fuel to the never-ending debate of Messi v. CR7. Seriously, can we just all agree that they are both excellent at kicking balls? Remember: one bad tournament does not suddenly turn you into a bad player.
- After Germany's 4-0 thrashing of Portugal, they have not been able to find the same success in the latter rounds of the group stage. Low has continued to play around with the false 9 formation. Götze is not, and will never be, Messi. However, Joachim seems content with trying to align his team's tactics with the tactics that Guardiola has been instilling into his Bayern side. If Germany want to ultimately end their major title drought, they will need to find some consistency and continuity up top. They have the joint greatest World Cup goalscorer of all time Klose, tied with Ronaldo with 15, coming off the bench. At the end of the day, they ended up on top of the 2014's "group of death" with 7 points, so kudos to them.
- How many times have you heard analysts call Belgium the tournament's dark horse? After watching them play throughout the group stage, they are exactly just that. They certainly have all of the talent in place from front-to-back, but the question remains if they can convert this talent and potential into results. Although advancing easily to the latter stages of the tournament, I have not been impressed by their performances thus far in the tournament. Belgium have all of the technique and qualities necessary to be a legitimate competitor, but it remains a question whether or not they can utilize the players' individual talents to a team effort. Belgium remains the dark horse of the tournament for me, simply because no one, including themselves, knows what they are fully capable of doing.
- Predictions: Germany v. Netherlands in the 2014 World Cup Finals
Golden Boot- Lionel Messi
- Oh, and did I mention, USA are onto the next round? U S A! U S A! U S A! A friend the other day said to me, "I hope USA loses so that ESPN will stop talking about USMNT." My response, "And I hope you get deported, you unpatriotic ****."
Now, some of my favorite pictures from the World Cup so far:
 |
| Rooney finally scores that elusive first World Cup goal. When will England finally live up to expectations? |
 |
| Early contender for goal of the tournament, completely changed the outlook of the NED-ESP game |
 |
| Colombia is certainly enjoying the moment |
 |
| Klose ties Ronaldo for all-time World Cup goals and celebrates with his signature front flip |
 |
| USA! |
0 comments:
Post a Comment