The FIFA World Cup 2014 has reached the quarter final stage. The quarter finals will kick off with France taking on the mighty Germany and Brazil taking on the under dogs, Columbia. In the remaining two matches the 1986 champions Argentina will take on Belgium and Netherlands will play against Costa Rica. So far the tournament has been exciting with teams having played great football. But the tournament threw up surprises with the reigning champions Spain crashing out in the first round. The other major and notable teams which were knocked out in the first round were Italy, England and Portugal. There were some surprises inclusions in the teams that made it to the round of 16. Algeria was one such team.
Despite these early shocks and surprises, many other teams have made it to the quarter final stage as expected. Teams like Argentina, Netherland, Germany and the hosts Brazil were expected to do well and so far they have justified those expectations. Among the players, there have been some brilliant individual performances as well. Argentine ace striker Lionel Messi has so far lived upto his billing, scoring four goals in four matches and bagging player of the match in every game he played. He has carried the expectations of his team and fans very well. Among other players who have left their mark on this tournament are the Dutch player Arjen Robben, German player Muller and Brazil striker Neymar, though the latter was expected to do play far better than he has done so far. The biggest surprise so far has been the Columbian striker James Rodriguez who has been the highest scorer so fa with five goals, scoring in each match.
Despite many surprises, what has remained largely unchanged in this world Cup is the dominance of South America and Europe. The quarter final line-up has four South American and four European teams. No Asian and African team has been able to come so far. Though a few African teams like Ghana, Algeria and Nigeria made it to the round of 16, no Asian team could be a part of that round. It seems despite showing some promise, the African and Asian teams have a long way to go before they can become serious contenders in such global tournaments as the FIFA World Cup.
The tournament so far has provided some fascinating football and a lot of excitement. It is expected to get better with the last stages of the tournament kicking off with the quarter final stage. Brazil and Argentina, both South American giants will be desperate to win this time. Brazil is hosting the tournament and given the kind of following the game has in that country, it will be natural for them to go all out to win the tournament. But Columbia has been the surprise pack in this tournament and Brazil cannot take that challenge lightly. Argentina hasnt won the tournament since 1986, when Diego Maradonna singlehandedly won it for them.
This tournament may also end up with the highest number of goals scored in a World Cup ever. So far the highest number of goals was scored in France 98 where a total of 171 goals were scored. This tournament has already seen 154 and with eight games still remaining, that record is under threat. This tournament has seen an average of 2.75 goals per match. With millions of fans watching around the globe, the excitement is reaching a crescendo.
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