The day that was supposed to belong to Lionel Messi and his Argentina team was brought to a grinding halt by Germany, so good, so professional, so ruthless, so efficient, and via Mario Gotze, who scored the most brilliant of winners you are ever likely to see, and that too in extra time in this most amazing of World Cup finals.Jul 14, 2014
It was not as bad as the 7-1 drubbing by Germany, but Brazil yet again showed they are nowhere near world class, with the Netherlands quite comfortably holding off their opponents to end their could-have-been-so-much-better World Cup with a 3-0 win in Brasilia.Jul 13, 2014
Calling the second semifinal of the 2014 FIFA World Cup between the Netherlands and Argentina in Sao Paulo attritional would be like describing the first last four match between Brazil and Germany as a basic run-of-the-mill, nothing extraordinary game. In 120 minutes of ridiculously tight, tactical, there is absolutely no way any team is going to score battle, Holland and Argentina cancelled each other out in the most sleep-inducing fashion, before the South Americans prevailed in the penalty shootout.Jul 10, 2014
Calling the Brazil vs Germany FIFA World Cup 2014 semifinal astonishing, unbelievable, beyond comprehension would be an understatement – words haven't been invented in the English language, and probably Portuguese and German as well, to describe what transpired at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday evening.Jul 9, 2014
Louis Van Gaal is a manager who likes to take chances, throw in a surprise from nowhere to upset the opposition without worrying about the consequences if it goes wrong. The Netherlands coach, seeing the quarterfinal against Costa Rica going into penalties, replaced his No.1 goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, the man who had played every single minute of Holland's World Cup until then, with Tim Krul right at the end of extra time, and what a masterstroke it proved to be.Jul 6, 2014
Gonzalo Higuain, who was giving the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four a run for her money, such has been his powers of invisibility heading into this quarterfinal, finally decided to show up at this 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, scoring the all-important winner to guide Argentina to a turgid, nor-one-for-the-ages quarterfinal victory over Belgium.Jul 5, 2014
Neymar needed some help if Brazil were to quell the Colombia storm, and the superstar got it, with the entire team stepping up just when it was desperately required to help their side to a mouthwatering 2014 FIFA World Cup semifinal against Germany.Jul 5, 2014
It was not the most vibrant of Germany displays that we have come to expect from this "golden generation", but, despite scoring just the lone goal, and that too pretty early in the contest, it was one of the more comfortable victories they have enjoyed at this World Cup, with France seeing their va-va-voom go kaboom under the efficiency of the well-oiled German machine.Jul 4, 2014
Belgium's love affair with substitutes came to the fore again, as Romelu Lukaku inspired a stunning 2-1 extra time win over dejected, gave-absolutely-everything-but-fell-marginally-short USA in an enthralling final last 16 encounter of this remarkable 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.Jul 2, 2014
Argentina are making a habit of scoring late goals, with Lionel Messi at the centre of it time and again. The South Americans, frustrated and repelled by a determined Switzerland rearguard, looked like they were heading into the lottery of a penalty shootout, before a Messi run, unstoppable, even with a Swiss player trying to mow down the little man, inch-perfect pass and a swing of the left boot from Angel Di Maria made those Argentina hearts drop back down from their mouths and sing in ecstasy to the tune of "we are going into the 2014 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals."Jul 2, 2014
Germany had to pull out all the stops to quell Algeria in a thrilling round of 16 encounter at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Porto Alegre which went right down to the wire.Jul 1, 2014
France had a second consecutive game where they failed to find their attacking mojo, but this time they did find the goals, two of them, right towards the end, to take them into the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup 2014 at the expense of fighting Nigeria.Jun 30, 2014
Greece nearly pulled off another impossible comeback again, but 10-man Costa Rica just about managed to hold their nerves before prevailing in a tense penalty shootout in their can't-blame-you-if-you-forget-it-immediately last 16 encounter of the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Recife on Sunday.Jun 30, 2014
This Netherlands side might be a lot different from the one that fell at the final hurdle from winning their first World Cup title, but the protagonists remain the same. On the brink and staring at a last 16 exit to Mexico, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben came to the fore for their country like only they can to inspire Holland to the most stunning of comebacks in the heat of Fortaleza.Jun 29, 2014
Colombia put on a knockout football masterclass against Uruguay, walking all over them with their wonderful quality, with James Rodriguez making the world sit up and take notice with his fourth and fifth goals in this World Cup – the fourth a jaw-dropping volley which makes you want to push that replay button and watch it over and over and over again.Jun 29, 2014