(originally posted on Grand Old Team 14/07/2014)
The World Cup of 2014 has finally, and lamentably, reached its end. Germany defeated Argentina by a solitary goal in The Maracana Stadium. Despite the low tally of goals, the game had its moments and was probably a better Final than 2010. Alas, it wasn’t a patch on some of The Finals that came before it, most notably the 1986 Final between the same two nations which ended in a 3-2 Argentine victory, but it was still engrossing viewing.
Indeed, it seems like even when the goals have been in short supply this tournament has still been capable of producing exciting and dramatic matches. The match between Costa Rica and Holland may have ended goalless after 120 minutes but there were enough near misses and heart-in-throat moments that the game became an interesting one regardless. The added controversy of Louis Van Gaal to bring on Tim Krul just for the penalties only added to those emotions. So rarely has a 0-0 been so demanding of my attention.
Of course, there were some Duds in this tournament; every tournament has them, the most obvious ones being the Iran Vs Nigeria match and the equally dire Argentina Vs Holland contest. However, those type of contests were thankfully few and far between in this World Cup.
Some people are calling this the Greatest World Cup of all time, where as others are equally as passionate that it is not. In my own personal opinion, this has certainly been the best World Cup that I have watched while still current. The first World Cup I can remember is USA 94 and Brazil 2014 was better than every single World Cup from 94 to now. Again, I stress that this is only my opinion of course. No matter what I day, there will still be someone adamant that Chile 1962 was better, or indeed Argentina 1978 or even France 1998.
Football is a subjective thing, which may surprise those who don’t follow it. What makes a match entertaining to me could ruin it for someone else and vice versa. Vince McMahon described his brand of American Professional Wrestling as “Sports-Entertainment” back in the 80’s but I think the term could just as easily be applied to Football.
Football isn’t just a sport. It’s not there solely to be an athletic contest but it is also there to entertain the people who watch it. And, as with all forms of entertainment, there isn’t a definitive answer to what actually constitutes entertainment. It’s a thoroughly subjective exercise and this is why large groups of people will declare this World Cup to be the best ever but also why just as many will line up to declare that it wasn’t.
For every person that liked Breaking Bad there will be someone who couldn’t get into it. For every person who likes the Transformers Movies there will be another who will bemoan the fact that it’s ruining cinema. There is no right or wrong answer here. You either like something or you don’t and I very much liked this World Cup.
I would honestly go as far to say that this World Cup has been the best since the advent of Television. I feel it is impossible to say which World Cup truly was the best ever because there just isn’t enough footage of the tournaments pre-1954 to make an informed decision. You can look at some footage here or there but we’ve had the benefit of watching over 60 games in this most recent of tournaments. Those matches were shown globally so it’s easy to weigh them all up.
However, as someone who has seen the footage on offer, I feel very confident in saying Brazil 2014 has been the best World Cup since the dawning of the TV age, edging just ahead of Brazil 1970 and Mexico 1986.
Brazil 2014 has by no means been a flawless World Cup, but it has produced some excellent attacking football and has also been relatively low on the snide front as well. People have pointed out that there haven’t been enough upsets but I really don’t see that as viable reason to mark the whole tournament down. A good match is still a good match, regardless of whether the favourite wins or not.
Holland ultimately triumphing against Costa Rica didn’t automatically ruin the match for me. It was still entertaining. Yes, it would have been an incredible moment if Los Tico’s had somehow conspired to advance but they suited the role of “gallant losers“ just as eloquently as “upset kings”.
Iran were so close to shocking Argentina and yet fell just short, but the moments where they nearly took the victory were no less exhilarating. America’s desperate attempts to take the game to penalties against Belgium did not lose any of its drama because the Belgians were just able to hang on.
And let’s face it, if all the underdogs advanced the same people complaining about the favourites winning would be complaining that the quality on offer wasn’t good enough due to the best teams being eliminated.
In the end, the boot of Mario Goetze saw to it that The Germans triumphed. It seems only right that potentially The Best World Cup Ever was won by potentially the Best Team at the tournament.
Germany not only won the World Cup but did so by playing a more direct and attacking style of play than the Spanish side they replaced atop the mountain. Some will see that as a positive, where as some will see it as a negative. Such is the subjective world of Sports-Entertainment.
One thing is for sure, this World Cup and its Champions will be remembered long after this summer has ended. It was a World Cup that I was delighted to watch and I will miss it dearly.
Oh well, roll on the 16th August and let’s get back to business! Come on you Blues!
Thanks for any who have read these over the course of the tournament. Think I'll bring back "Football Re-Heated" between now and the beginning of the season. Need to work on a way to streamline it and make it more accessible. If there's any matches you'd like me to review, send me an Inbox and provided I have the match I'll add it to my "To review" pile
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