FIFA World Cup Brasil 2014

[PIPA23]

What and achievement by Gotze, only 22 years old scoring an epic winning goal at the greatest temple of football!!

i dont think he realises it.. His behaviour and body language after the final whistle suggest he isn´t realising it.. He was so cool and calm as if it was just another game he won... it will come to him later with time..

 

[jihado86]

why didn't they give Suarez Fairplay trophy?

 

[bebo]

This has been the best World Cup to date. I really enjoyed this month... It was real as it lasted. Big respect to Argentina they fought bravely . Germany ... Massive respect. They made history fought tooth n nail to reach the cup. \0/


Germany World Champion Winners 2014

 

[Kanouté]

Argentina without Messi would not make it out of their group... talk what you want guys but he was his team leading scorer and assist maker... he played in final, he was the best player this tournament. If Robben made it in to final, he would be the best... give credit to those who deserve it.

that's your opinion pipa. and by this logic, if it wasn't for mascherano and the brilliant defending by the back 4, they would as well be out in the quarters max. so give credit to those who actually deserve it.

 

[jihado86]

Kanouté, I always tell them they only see Messi and neglect every other player.

 

[jihado86]

I must admit, Sabella surprised me in this tournament, he's very concentrated as a person, and he transferred his amazing concentration to his players, though, he's poor at the offensive side.

 

[andy18cruz]

Sabella was very good in the final. Argentina pressured very high, great defensive positioning, trying to exploid Höwedes in the first half.

But for the majority of the tournament Argentina played too stiffed, with a a mess on midfield. The defensive stability, plus the mental aspect the union spirit was the things that Sabella bring to the table, but that's a bit too short for a team like Argentina. Luckly they had one of the easiest group and Switzerland was a week opponent on the knock-out phase as well. From there he found a model. Nothing spetacular, but was enough.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Argentina created more than enough to win this in regular time, Germany were lucky and won in the end, like Lineker always predicts.

 

[andy18cruz]

The first time for almost 20 years that a non-latin/south european team wons something. And it's again Germany. Hope that isn't the end of a cycle

 

[cfdh_edmundo]

Argentina without Messi would not make it out of their group... talk what you want guys but he was his team leading scorer and assist maker... he played in final, he was the best player this tournament. If Robben made it in to final, he would be the best... give credit to those who deserve it.

Why not Mueller then, if we are making the criterion that a player has to play in the final, he was his teams leading scorer? Oh and he got one more goal and one more assist than Messi, oh and guess what his team got the final and won it! Or why not Neuer as he was proabably Germany's most vital player especially against France and Algeria.

I'm sorry but there is no way on this planet that Messi can be considered the top performer at the World Cup, unless the survey was done two weeks ago - what did he do in the knockouts? One assist for the Di Maria goal (and Di Maria did most of the work to score that goal against the Swiss). Mascherano has been so so so much more important and influential for Argentina than Messi. Tonight if Messi had been another player he would have been taken off (probably instead of Higuain). It just wasnt happening for him, he looked tired and he couldnt shake his markers. He's a great player but he was rank ordinary in the knockout stages of this world cup. Giving him the award of best player is pandering to sponsors, or maybe they made the award before the final and just hoped that he would do something during the game. It demeans the award and it also demeans the other awards Messi has actually won on merit (like the Ballon D'Or in 2009 or 2011).

 

[jihado86]

Sabella was very good in the final. Argentina pressured very high, great defensive positioning, trying to exploid Höwedes in the first half.

But for the majority of the tournament Argentina played too stiffed, with a a mess on midfield. The defensive stability, plus the mental aspect the union spirit was the things that Sabella bring to the table, but that's a bit too short for a team like Argentina. Luckly they had one of the easiest group and Switzerland was a week opponent on the knock-out phase as well. From there he found a model. Nothing spetacular, but was enough.

Totally agree.

in the other hand, Germany needs better defenders than Howedes, Boateng.
Boateng is average and sometimes do good, but Howedes can't be in a squad like Germany, he was their weakest link today, and generally he has very poor technique, am speaking about ball control mainly, not to mention his shitty passing.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

He (Messi) created ~30 goal scoring chances during the WC, he scored 4 goals and had at least one assist. FIFA can defend their decision, really. Personally I think Mascherano was the best player in this WC by miles. He played his position to near perfection in every match. The final was probably his worst game and that was still a great match for him. Water carrier is a very unappreciated role in these "best player" awards anyway though, it isn't fancy, beautiful or sexy to watch unless you're a masochist.

 

[Footboy]

Congrats to the Germans, and what a Cup it was!
Very good to receive the whole world here in Brazil =)
The feeling among us Brazilians is that the World Cup should always be played here.

Even though our team put a page of shame in our history, we will all miss these days!

 

[PIPA23]

If we are looking on individual stats, Messi made it in to final and from both final teams he was the player who scored + assisted most for his team.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

The way Fred was treated by the fans and the media was the only truly shameful event in Brazil 2014. Football-wise it was a great tournament and great entertainment, I will miss it for at least four years. The Brazilian NT's collapse were just sad and tragic for the players. The Brazilian fans deserved it though, seeing how they treated Fred, their own player... pathetic.

EDIT: And Suarez biting was shameful.. almost forgot that one

 

[bebo]

The way Fred was treated by the fans and the media was the only truly shameful event in Brazil 2014. Football-wise it was a great tournament and great entertainment, I will miss it for at least four years. The Brazilian NT's collapse were just sad and tragic for the players. The Brazilian fans deserved it though, seeing how they treated Fred, their own player... pathetic.

EDIT: And Suarez biting was shameful.. almost forgot that one

Fred was attacked and force to retire from the NT regretfully (Copa America 2015) Suarez was defended by the country for biting.... strange to blame one for all and defend the self proclaim guilty.

 

[Rantboy]

Brazilian fans create great atmosphere as neutrals, but not for the Brazil NT. Fans are a bit 'glory hunters' in that respect - they're with the team during good times, but they can boo the team when they don't play well. It was truly shameful when they were shouting 'Olé' for the extended possession Germany had when the match was 7-0, and it got to a point when German fans that were puzzled by that attitude started shouting 'Brasil, Brasil' as if they were teaching the Brazilians how to support. In a way, they were.

Congratulations Germany, for their triumph was deserved in and outside the pitch. The whole squad trained a lot, but enjoyed Brazil thoroughly and were very light hearted all along. They interacted with locals in a very cordial way both on social media or face-to-face (there's an awesome video of Schweinsteiger stopping the bus to talk to a local fan). Perfect attitude overall, respect and hats off to those guys.

Argentina did really well and Sabella seemed like a class act all along. Not to mention his aptitude for organising a defense - he didn't have the best CB pairing out there but, hell, did he get his team defending! It was really impressive.
Some guys like Perez, Aguero and their keeper didn't help much in the way of sportsmanship though and, rivalries aside, that made me like Argentina a bit less.
Still, I feel sorry for Messi. I don't know if he will get a shot at a World Cup title as good as this one.

As for the golden ball award, I don't entirely agree either. But maybe since there wasn't a clear winner, FIFA thought it would be a consolation prize for the greatest football player of the last 6 or 7 years. After all, the complaints about him from previous tournaments cannot be repeated: he finally turned up for a World Cup. IMO he was decisive in all matches until the quarter finals, after which he faded away a bit.

Well that's it... I've been to 6 matches and loved the whole thing. I can already feel the post-World Cup emptyness creeping in. What do I do with my life now that this wonderful tournament ended?

 

[Lami]

Why not Mueller then, if we are making the criterion that a player has to play in the final, he was his teams leading scorer? Oh and he got one more goal and one more assist than Messi, oh and guess what his team got the final and won it! Or why not Neuer as he was proabably Germany's most vital player especially against France and Algeria.

I'm sorry but there is no way on this planet that Messi can be considered the top performer at the World Cup, unless the survey was done two weeks ago - what did he do in the knockouts? One assist for the Di Maria goal (and Di Maria did most of the work to score that goal against the Swiss). Mascherano has been so so so much more important and influential for Argentina than Messi. Tonight if Messi had been another player he would have been taken off (probably instead of Higuain). It just wasnt happening for him, he looked tired and he couldnt shake his markers. He's a great player but he was rank ordinary in the knockout stages of this world cup. Giving him the award of best player is pandering to sponsors, or maybe they made the award before the final and just hoped that he would do something during the game. It demeans the award and it also demeans the other awards Messi has actually won on merit (like the Ballon D'Or in 2009 or 2011).

Agree with you.

There are many more contenders. Messi surely is nowhere near the list. Neuer would be top of the list for me. The man was just immense.

 

[ss4_goku]

I won't say that James Rodriguez was the best player of the tournament, but there are a lot that are better than Messi for sure.

FIFA has been treating this Golden Ball as the consolation prize for the non-winning team rather than for the REAL MVP of the tournament. The winning team has not won this award for sometime already...

 

[LuizaoCR]

Most people in Costa Rica was not satisfied with Neuer being given the Golden Glove. IMHO, Neuer should deserve it as he has taking an important role in Germany's success to reach the finals and the cup, but numbers also talk, here in this picture are most of the reason why most Costa Ricans think Navas should deserve the Glove

Spoiler

Translation of the pic in spoiler:

5 games
510 minutes
Save Rate: 91.3%
Number of Saves: 21
Goals Against 2

And isn't he the Golden Glove?
For FIFA, Neuer is the best keeper
For the whole world, Navas is the best keeper

I also have to tell that even a friend of mine threw away all his Adidas products as considering the fact that Keylor wasn't sponsored by the 3-striped brand and Neuer was.

 

[gerd]

A well deserved victory for Germany and their coach. I have a soft spot for that man.

I have seen WC finals since 1970 and i can only remember one goal that could perhaps compete we the beauty Schuerle and Götze scored yesterday, that is the legendary Carlos Alberto goal in 1970. If i remember well, Carlos Alberto scored that goal when Brazil already had won the match, so this got to be the best evern WC final goal (well at least since 1970). What an absolute beauty.

The discussion on these pages about Messi being the best player of the tournament once again demonstates how daft it is to give individual awards in a team sports.

The haters and the clowns also forget to see this from Messi's point of view...it was clear that has to be the most embarassing moment of his carreer...the haters and the clowns never saw how delighted he was being on that podium...Shame on you FIFA for submitting the best player ever to that farce... Once again FIFA demonstrates that they don't have a clue what football is all about.

Now about the final.
As much as Germany deserve to win the tournament, i'm not sure if they deserved to win the match. It was a close one, but Argentina IMO were slightly the better team, although both Mascherano and Aguëro should have gotten a second yellow.
I know that Höwedes could also have got a red card for his tackle on Zabaleta in the first half.
For me Ezequiel Lavezzi was the outstanding man in the first half, so his substitution made no sense whatsoever unless he was injured.
Germany also showed what a machine they are. Even in the first half they dominated for large stretches, but Argentina always somehow seemed in control. They played the counter and had the better chances in that first half. IMO they lost the match in the second half where they were for large parts the dominating team but hardly created any chances.
People here criticize the ref. One can ask uestions about some of his decisions (Höwedes, Masscherano/Biglia and Aguëro, perhaps Neuer), but these are very difficult matches. If he gives either Masscherano or Agüero a second yellow, i'm sure people wil say that he had no feeling for the match (and something tells me that, then the match would have ended 0-0 and that Argentina would have won with the penalties). If he gives Höwedes a red card, he kills the match.
I'm all for giving another punishment between a first and a second card. Why not expulse a player for 5 minutes ? And i also like what Collina has proposed. Let's take the Agüero/schweinsteiger incident as an example. The ref thinks this does not warrant a second yellow, but Schweinsteiger is injured. For as long as Schweinsteiger is treated for injury, then Agüero has to come off the field. The Garay/Kramer incident: Garay has to come off and when Kramer is substitued, then Garay also should be subbed.
I think in the long rum this will stop the elbowing and all the challenges that are dangerous. Now refs hesitate to give red cards because football is in the first place a spectacle and by giving red cards, you kill the spectacle and it is not sure this advantages the team with 11 players on the pitch.
A purist view is that sports should prevale above spectacle. Well yesterday i have seen one of sports highlights of the season: Germany's Tony Martin wins the Tour de France stage after a rush of 170 km's, the last 63 km's in a fantastic solo. What a perfomance, but rather boring to watch...

But all in all: congratulations Germany. This generation deserves to win this trophy for the very attractive football they played. I have seen Germany between 1975 and 2002, they won plenty of silverware in that period, but they played a cynical and ugly football based on transpiration rather than inspiration. This team under KLinsmann and Löw plays beautifull football, it would have been a shame had they never won anything...they really deserve this. Nice touch also to show Reus' jersey at the end...

I'm glad for Sebastian Schweinsteiger, i like him very much. IMO the team really played better with Lahm as RB and Schweini in midfield. I hope Guardiola has watched.

One final word: Jerome Boateng was immense in the final and throughout the tournament. I never tought he was that good.

 

[lo zio]

congratulations to the new world champions!!!
i was rooting for an argentina win, but seeing the germans lifting the cup.... it just felt right. argentina played a great game yesterday and the players can get back home with their chins up, but germany have been on top of their game for years now, so it was a more than deserved victory.

it's been a fantastic world cup till the very end. the final yesterday was one of the most entertaining i can remember (perhaps the most entertaining?), and the brazilians were fantastic hosts. even watching the games (and the pre-games and post-games shows) from a television, u could still feel a great "vibe", as if u were actually in copacabana (although the fact that i watched most games at the beach probably helped too).
except from the freaky weather in manaus and recife, i can't think of a single aspect of this world cup, which was anything less than spectacular, and this last month has been an amazing football overdose for me.

i can't go into much details about the match itself, as i'm already running late, but Gerd's post, right above mine, summed it up nicely.

 

[we7god]

From historical point of view and "the law of series" normally only Germany could be the winnder of this years World Cup.

Brazil got the third title in 1970 and the fourth in 1994 (24 years later)
Italy got the third title in 1982 and the fourth in 2006 (24 years later)
Germany got the third title 1990 and right now it is 24 years later and they are in the final again...

This can not be just a coincidence...

The 24 year prophecy someone mentioned (wegod?) is real

Yeah, it seems that is not just a coincidence...

 

[Godotelli]

i also like what Collina has proposed. Let's take the Agüero/schweinsteiger incident as an example. The ref thinks this does not warrant a second yellow, but Schweinsteiger is injured. For as long as Schweinsteiger is treated for injury, then Agüero has to come off the field. The Garay/Kramer incident: Garay has to come off and when Kramer is substitued, then Garay also should be subbed.
I think in the long rum this will stop the elbowing and all the challenges that are dangerous.

That's ripe for abuse. It'll lead to the inured player staying off the field for longer than is needed if it means an important player from the opposition has to stand on the sidelines. It will also mean more faked injuries.
I also don't think it's fair that a player be punished for an accident. Kramer ran into Garay. Sometimes there is no blame and we should just deal with it. Besides, this could - nay, certainly would - also lead to the farcical situation where a player like Howedes (or a "surprise debutant"/ squad player) is instructed to 'accidentally' run into a player like Messi just to get him out of the game.

 

[drekkard]

A well deserved victory for Germany and their coach. I have a soft spot for that man.

I have seen WC finals since 1970 and i can only remember one goal that could perhaps compete we the beauty Schuerle and Götze scored yesterday, that is the legendary Carlos Alberto goal in 1970. If i remember well, Carlos Alberto scored that goal when Brazil already had won the match, so this got to be the best evern WC final goal (well at least since 1970). What an absolute beauty.

The discussion on these pages about Messi being the best player of the tournament once again demonstates how daft it is to give individual awards in a team sports.

The haters and the clowns also forget to see this from Messi's point of view...it was clear that has to be the most embarassing moment of his carreer...the haters and the clowns never saw how delighted he was being on that podium...Shame on you FIFA for submitting the best player ever to that farce... Once again FIFA demonstrates that they don't have a clue what football is all about.

Now about the final.
As much as Germany deserve to win the tournament, i'm not sure if they deserved to win the match. It was a close one, but Argentina IMO were slightly the better team, although both Mascherano and Aguëro should have gotten a second yellow.
I know that Höwedes could also have got a red card for his tackle on Zabaleta in the first half.
For me Ezequiel Lavezzi was the outstanding man in the first half, so his substitution made no sense whatsoever unless he was injured.
Germany also showed what a machine they are. Even in the first half they dominated for large stretches, but Argentina always somehow seemed in control. They played the counter and had the better chances in that first half. IMO they lost the match in the second half where they were for large parts the dominating team but hardly created any chances.
People here criticize the ref. One can ask uestions about some of his decisions (Höwedes, Masscherano/Biglia and Aguëro, perhaps Neuer), but these are very difficult matches. If he gives either Masscherano or Agüero a second yellow, i'm sure people wil say that he had no feeling for the match (and something tells me that, then the match would have ended 0-0 and that Argentina would have won with the penalties). If he gives Höwedes a red card, he kills the match.
I'm all for giving another punishment between a first and a second card. Why not expulse a player for 5 minutes ? And i also like what Collina has proposed. Let's take the Agüero/schweinsteiger incident as an example. The ref thinks this does not warrant a second yellow, but Schweinsteiger is injured. For as long as Schweinsteiger is treated for injury, then Agüero has to come off the field. The Garay/Kramer incident: Garay has to come off and when Kramer is substitued, then Garay also should be subbed.
I think in the long rum this will stop the elbowing and all the challenges that are dangerous. Now refs hesitate to give red cards because football is in the first place a spectacle and by giving red cards, you kill the spectacle and it is not sure this advantages the team with 11 players on the pitch.
A purist view is that sports should prevale above spectacle. Well yesterday i have seen one of sports highlights of the season: Germany's Tony Martin wins the Tour de France stage after a rush of 170 km's, the last 63 km's in a fantastic solo. What a perfomance, but rather boring to watch...

But all in all: congratulations Germany. This generation deserves to win this trophy for the very attractive football they played. I have seen Germany between 1975 and 2002, they won plenty of silverware in that period, but they played a cynical and ugly football based on transpiration rather than inspiration. This team under KLinsmann and Löw plays beautifull football, it would have been a shame had they never won anything...they really deserve this. Nice touch also to show Reus' jersey at the end...

I'm glad for Sebastian Schweinsteiger, i like him very much. IMO the team really played better with Lahm as RB and Schweini in midfield. I hope Guardiola has watched.

One final word: Jerome Boateng was immense in the final and throughout the tournament. I never tought he was that good.

+1!

You saved me ten minutes of writing here, thanks!

 

[LFC Albania]

does someone have stats of Messi from last night game ? how much did he run? I'm curious coz he seems to don't run at all!

 

[we7god]

Most people in Costa Rica was not satisfied with Neuer being given the Golden Glove. IMHO, Neuer should deserve it as he has taking an important role in Germany's success to reach the finals and the cup, but numbers also talk, here in this picture are most of the reason why most Costa Ricans think Navas should deserve the Glove

Spoiler

Translation of the pic in spoiler:

I also have to tell that even a friend of mine threw away all his Adidas products as considering the fact that Keylor wasn't sponsored by the 3-striped brand and Neuer was.

The golden Glove (Yashin-Award) existe since 1994. First one receiving it was PREUDHOMME.
After that always a GK participating in the final won the price.
So it was quite clear that Navas would not get that trophy.

Navas, Romero and Neuer showed great performances.

Neuers' big plus is that he is not just a GK, but aswell as some kind of sweeper - like in match against Algeria. Right now he is superior to a lot of good GK due to this fact and his skillz on the pitch-

Nevertheless Navas is also a great GK and played an outstanding world cup, but in the end it was two games less for winning the title.
I don't think Adidas plays a role in winning the title or not.

 

[Kanouté]

If we are looking on individual stats, Messi made it in to final and from both final teams he was the player who scored + assisted most for his team.

yes, pipa. argentina miraculously jumped to the final straight from the group stage thanks to those blessed messi goals scored against the famous world beaters bosnia, iran and nigeria, if we are looking on individual stats... and let's ignore that he didn't do anything so significant against belgium, holland and germany, the teams matched as the seeding advantage was gone. because he's played in the final somehow, hasn't he...

 

[amineken22]

...For the whole world, Navas is the best keeper...

That's a very opinionated view tbh. Navas is the best keeper in the world based on what? Those stats? He plays for smaller team and NT with the defenses he has at his disposal he got more exposed, he'll naturally have a great number of saves, deflections...ect. Don't get me wrong I think he's good, very good (already know him from the amazing season he had with Levante, but he carried that to an international competition, that's even more impressive)... but let's face it, Neuer is clearly a mile ahead of any keeper in the world atm. He's not just word class in very goalkeeping aspect there is (Positioning, Handling, Reflexes) he's on field skills are even more amazing, the guy can clearly read his opponent intentions and act based on that, never seen any other keeper do the sweeper like intervention. His ability on the ball is extremely good and he's been delivering so many great/accurate (through) passes to his attackers from his own box. He's just so much more than a your regular keeper with him Germany is playing with an extra man, an actual 11 player team on field. Navas doesn't have/do that, not even close.

To accuse FIFA of blindness and corruption might a justified cause, but to doubt Neuer's rightful crown is another thing. Think before making assumption/conspiracies mate, don't let the bias blind you, you're better than that.

 

[zeemeister]

Such a shame

Honestly some people

Messi has proven himself over and over and over again
first they said he is beong carried by Barca and cant perform for his country.

Now he drags this Argentina team along with
him all the way to the world cup final no less but falls short and people take the opportunity again to say he performed against weaker teams.

I dont care who he played enroute it was the freaking world cup. Maradona had Buruchagga and Valdano to pick up when he couldn't it almost seemed as if Argentina strikers left him to fight his own battle.

To hell with being everyones favourite - Messi will always remain one of my greatest footballers of all time. I have hope he will still get that elusive world cup winners medal.