Brazil-Colombia 2014

Day -24 WorldCup2018

The greatest debacle in Brazilian football history was preceded by what was probably Brazil's best performance at their home World Cup in 2014. They beat a very impressive Colombian team, partly courtesy of a stunning David Luiz free-kick.

The bad news for Brazilians was the serious injury that Neymar suffered that ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. They would also be without their captain and influential defender, Thiago Silva, for the semifinal. But that bad news would get a lot worse soon after that semifinal started.

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pAUGJpu6FKo

Brazil '14: Tim Howard

Day -25 WorldCup2018

You know I'm doing this late at night when.....its short and I let the video tell the story.
This is Tim Howard's incredible performance for the USA against Belgium in the last 16 of Brazil '14. He single-handedly stopped a Belgian rout. Instead Belgium just got by with a 2-1 win after extra time.

Watching this don't you think who needs defenders anyway? Or as Tim Howard was probably thinking after his 16th save, where have my defenders been all night?

Brazil '14: Algeria

Day -26 WorldCup2018

Costa Rica and Algeria. Brazil '14. Every World Cup has it's surprise team, or two. Turkey and Senegal in 2002. Belgium in 1986. Bulgaria in 1994. Croatia in 1998. Not neccessarily teams who came out of nowhere, but teams who maybe slipped under the radar of many football fans.

Africa has arguably the toughest qualifying tournament and it's as amazing seeing who didn't qualify as who did. Algeria would have come to Brazil battle hardened and not without an impressive amount of talent.

When Belgium needed two late goals to beat Algeria in a come-from-behind 2-1 in their opening group match, it could have been put down to Belgium not being fully into their stride yet. Algeria put up a good fight but they wouldn't go far, was the opinion. Then they beat South Korea 4-2 and were scintillating in attack. Maybe this was a good team. By the time they drew 1-1 Russia in their final group match to qualify for the last 16 at the expense of the Russians, their energy and passion had attracted a lot of supporters.

In the last 16 they pushed the Germans all the way to extra time. Finally they buckled but not without fighting right up until the last minute of the 120. Literally. They scored in the last seconds of play but it wasn't enough to prevent a tough 2-1 loss. How the Algerians would have loved to exact revenge on the Germans for the grossly unfair events of 1982.

Reaching the second round was a huge achievement. Winning admiration and new fans is nowhere near as significant as a win on the pitch, but Algeria did leave many football fans wishing that they could have been in Brazil longer. And, as further proof of the challenge of getting through African qualifying, they did not make it this year, after being in a final qualifying group with Nigeria, Zambia and Cameroon. It would not have been a surprise no matter who qualified.

We'll miss them in Russia. I'll miss them, not just because I called on my Algerian ancestry but because they were one of those teams that played with a passion and sense of joy rarely seen at a World Cup.

Brazil '14: Costa Rica

Day -27 WorldCup2018

Costa Rica were not only unbelievably and surprisingly good in the group stage of Brazil '14, they were also a lot of fun to watch. Then they played Greece in the last 16 and it might have been the effect of playing Greece or it might have been because they now had pressure to win but all the fun seemed to go and it was all about grinding out a win, boring as it was.

When they beat Italy in their second group match it was a massive upset. But it was their exciting, quick play in their opening win against Uruguay which got a lot of neutrals excited.

Brazil '14: Colombia and those goal celebrations

Day -28 #WorldCup2018

The last World Cup to look back on in my "World Cups I have watched" litany hardly feels like a memory. Brazil '04 still feels so fresh.

Brazil and their wonderful strike force of Fred, Jo and hulk; David Luiz and his prayers offered to the heavens; Neymar and his crushed vertebrae; and of course Big Phil, the manager given the ominous responsibility of leading one of the weakest ever Brazilian teams ever to glory, at home, in front of expectant home fans, in a country determined to replace the memories of the 1950 national disaster with a new glorious entry in the nation's history books. Oh, if only they new that this was going to be even worse.

But it was more than just about Brazil. There was van Persie's flying header in Holland's incredible opening 5-1 win against the World Champions, Spain; the excitement of watching two other South American contenders, Chile and Colombia; the energy of the Algerians; the surprising run of the Costa Ricans all the way to the quarterfinals; and the match which became my benchmark of turgid-ness: Costa Rica-Greece.

There was lots of colour, noise and a general feeling of everybody in Brazil enjoying the football. And nobody provided a better exhibition of this joy than the Colombians every time they scored.

South Africa '10: the final

Day -29 #WorldCup2018

South Africa 2010 is getting the quick treatment. The Final saw Spain face Holland in a match-up few would have imagined at the beginning of the tournament.

It could have been a classic. it wasn't. Holland looked determined not too lose, Spain were being their new Spanish selves: lots of possession with little end product.

In the end Spain won and were World Champions for the first time.

Luis Suarez: villain or cheat?

Day -30 WorldCup2018

World Cup 2010 had one of those "would you have done the same thing?" moments. The Uruguay-Ghana quarterfinal had gone to extra time. It was 1-1 when in the final minute of the extra time, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez made a great save on the goal line to deny Ghana what would have been the winner. The only, and big, problem was that he saved it with his hands. It was a penalty and a red card and all Ghana had to do was score the penalty and they would be the first African team to reach the semifinals of the World Cup.

Asamoah Gyan missed and Uruguay went on to win on penalties. Was Suarez one of the biggest World Cup villains of all time, or Uruguay's biggest saviour ever? Either way he did what was to be expected. He stopped a definite goal and gave his team a chance of still winning the match. How could he really have done any different? What would the whole of Uruguay have thought if he had decided to have a moment of high morality and put his hands down?

Not just because Uruguayans loved him and Ghanaians hated him, but I never quite understood the "Suarez is a cheat" argument. He was penalized two ways for what he blatantly did and never tried to pretend he hadn't done anything wrong. He never tried to claim divine intervention and the hand of a higher power.

Now that linesman who didn't see Frank Lampard's "goal" to make it 2-2 for England against Germany, he has some explaining to do.