As Neymar strode forward and stroked home an equalizer against Croatia on the opening night of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, a collective gasp of relief filtered its way through a nation as Brazil had equalised and were back on track in their quest for a 6th world title, a quest that had started with plenty of fire and passion during the national anthems but had translated into raw nerves that for the first 20 minutes they looked incapable of dealing with. Neymar’s equaliser brought a huge sense of relief, excitement and the feeling that NOW this tournament had really started and as the emotions swept through the collective consciousness in Brazil, they soon settled down and started to enjoy the opening match to what thus far has proved a fabulous tournament. Lots of goals, lots of late goals, early goals, high quality and drama mixed with some shocking refereeing has given the tournament the kind of start us fans could only have dreamed about with almost every game so far exuding quality, excitement and goals (Iran v Nigeria being the obvious exception) and for the past 5 days the footballing world has begun to rejoice in the fact that after a dismal World Cup in South Africa 4 years ago, the football being played here has been thoroughly watchable. And without those retched horns ruining the atmosphere too! Few teams have parked the bus (Iran and Greece the obvious exceptions) and while it is still early days, optimism is flooding the football world that finally we might have a World Cup to go down in stature as one of the greatest of all time or at the very least, the best of this century. Early days it might be, but already this tournament has surpassed that of South Africa 4 years ago with the Netherlands rout of Spain providing more shock and excitement value than anything offered to us 4 years ago. The first 14 games of this tournament have yielded 44 goals and when you compare this to just 21 in the first 14 in South Africa, you can see why people are already talking about the 2014 vintage in glowing terms and certainly it is easier to look good when the last tournament was frankly a stinker. But it is not just the goals, but the quality of some of the goals has been magical too with Messi, Van Persie and Robben providing us with moments that will take a long time to be forgotten. Messi’s goal in particular was an answer to the sceptics and naysayers who were beginning to question the little man and his desire to etch his name in World Cup history. His opening salvo will have raised his confidence and it can now be expected that he can go on and deliver the kind of tournament his legacy deserves. The Dutch were utterly masterful in their defeat of Spain with their front pairing of Van Persie and Robben scoring some wonderful goals to drive a knife through the heart of tiki-taka while the England v Italy encounter brought some tremendous action on the Saturday evening while Costa Rica delivered the biggest shock (although I felt personally Holland was much more surprising) in beating a poor Uruguay 3 goals to 1 while USA’S last gasp winner through the young centre back Brookes was a moment of real World Cup joy. It’s still early days and the success of a tournament and the legacy it delivers is largely decided in the knock out phases and while we have seen some tremendous goals and exciting football, it is still too early to declare this tournament one of the best but it has certainly got pulses racing and I for one am thoroughly enjoying the spectacle unveiled thus far. The magnificence in the setting, a country obsessed with football has certainly added to the appeal and the scheduling has certainly aided to the overall enjoyment. Who didn’t love the fact that you could watch Chile and Australia go head to head at midnight on a Friday night? One bug bear which I am sure is not an uncommon thought has been the commentary and punditry which at times has been great but more often than not, poor and at times embarrassing. Phil Neville’s performance as co-commentator was scandalous. After literally 5 seconds I asked myself “who is this guy???????” before quickly realising it was the lesser Neville in all his “glory”. To say he was dull would be doing dishwater a disservice and it remains a mystery as to why he was given his debut in such a vital gig. The very fact I was longing for Mark Lawrenson (a thought to strike fear into any man’s heart) says it all and surely this is a mistake the Beeb will not repeat. Possibly because they don’t have any more England games until the 2nd round and it is entirely plausible that they won’t see any more action. Indeed the BBC are not alone in their mistakes as ITV’S Clark Carlisle, a man who seems far too convinced that he is the egghead of English football declared that Ecuador must be a great team if the highly talented Jackson Martinez could not get into their starting line up. Yes COLOMBIA’S Jackson Martinez must be as confused as everyone else about his inability to get a game for Ecuador. Carlisle has not been alone in his gaffes and while I have shouted at the TV on at least 5 occasions due to the utter nonsense being spouted by Robbie Savage and Jonathan Pearce, it must be said that the punditry and presentation has been superior on the BBC for the most part. Thierry Henry has been exactly as imagined...smart, suave, smug, effusive, sometimes funny and always beautifully French while Rio Ferdinand has been surprisingly insightful and genuinely listenable as he provides some excellent anecdotes about his experiences of playing the game. This is the kind of thing everyone enjoys and makes a welcome change from the dourness of Hansen and Lawrenson who provided about as much insight as a man with no eyes. Rio in particular, while a hugely wealthy man and largely unpopular with those not affiliated to England or Man Utd has carried himself very impressively, demonstrating insight, interesting anecdotes and an ability to communicate in a normal, human way. He also seems to be genuinely excited to be there and that is a great thing for a pundit who is still actually a professional player. Trust me, this is not a typical quality of the BBC pundit who more often than not has something to grumble about and in the case of Lawrenson, seems almost angry that they have to talk about football for a living! Gordon Strachan, Neil Lennon, and even Alan Shearer have also brought added weight to the BBC’s presentation with Gary Lineker now a seasoned pro in the presenters chair carrying proceedings calmly and with composure. ITV has typically been the weaker of the 2 and they are certainly missing the dead eyed mania of a certain Roy Keane with Adrian Chiles continuing to provide constant irritation. If only Keano was there to unleash his dogs upon him. Lee Dixon is decent but dull while Patrick Viera has a lovely accent while Fabio Cannavaro has looked like a scared little boy at times and his difficulty with the language is obvious. Back to the football itself, and In terms of who is going to win the title, Brazil remain favourites with Germany especially likely to be their biggest threat and the performances of both the French and the Dutch have certainly added their names to the potential list of champions while Spain have been written off (perhaps a little prematurely) while Argentina struggled badly in their opening period against Bosnia but this was quickly altered by a big change in their shape for the second half and in Messi they have a man with destiny on his mind. I am still sticking with Brazil but I certainly see Germany as their biggest threat and if both are to meet in the semi-final in a few weeks time, what a match that promises to be. It’s been a super tournament so far with thrills and spills aplenty and it seems we are destined for a fantastic month of World Cup action. Comments are closed.
|
Categories |