Persiecutions, Klose calls and the bite of Suarez
Right from Shakira's La La La to Lahm lifting the cup into the Maracana sky, the 2014 edition of the World Cup has been one of the best since the World cup has been televised. It had all the drama, controversies and the sensational goals that come with the package. Out of the usual suspects, Germany, Argentina, Netherlands and France left with their heads held high but the same cannot be said of 5 time world champions and hosts Brazil, 4 time champions Italy, the defending champions Spain and the 1996 Winner England. As in the previous finals, there are always the dark horses who send glorified teams packing, sometimes with flair and sometimes with just stubbornness. Costa Rica proved to the be winner of the bunch by topping a group with Italy, Uruguay and England. Algeria held the African banner high till the dying minutes of their campaign. The USA and Columbia were one of the most entertaining teams and in James Rodriguez, Columbia have one of the worlds most talented football players and he lit up this World cup with some scintillating performances which brought comparisons to Maradona of '86. He deservedly won the Golden boot and then scored a beauty of a goal which has been touted to be the Goal of the tournament.
Spain, who were expected to even win for the second consecutive time, were ruthlessly split apart by the Dutch, led by their talismanic captain Robin van Persie, who started the rout with a breathtaking header.

Spain had lost the opening match in the last world cup as well but this time around, the curtain came down swiftly on their tiki-taka with a loss to Chile and once again, the defending champions were out in the first round as in 2010. Italy once again faced the ignominy of going out in the first round though they put in a fine performance in their opening match against England. Needing just a draw against the Uruguayans, they succumbed to a 1-0 loss which had the infamous Luis Suarez incident. Meanwhile, England managed to finish their campaign with no meaningful presence apart from Wayne Rooney scoring his first world cup goal. Brazil with a mediocre team had a few dodgy decisions going their way and managed to scrape through at times but with Neymar at the front, they were always a danger. Sadly, their other front men were nowhere near the class of their previous illustrious strikers. The Mighty Germans along with Messi-led Argentina confidently marched on through the group stages with a 100% record. The much fancied Belgians failed to live up to their squad sheet but managed to make it to the next round.

With three former champions already on their flight back home, the knockout stages promised to be quite interesting and Brazil, Argentina and the Netherlands along with the much fancied Germans took another big stride towards the ultimate prize. Brazil managed to see off Columbia and Germany prevailed over France in a tightly contested match. The Netherlands who had been prolific in front of goal with all their attacking talent failed to hit the back of the net and needed a last minute Goal keeper substitution to keep them in the tournament over the Costa Ricans, and also needed penalties. Argentina held on for the better part of 80 minutes to take them into the semi's. The semi final line up put the hosts Brazil against the well organized Germany, and Argentina trying to prevent the Dutch from a second successive final appearance. The Netherlands battering of Spain in the group stages was the talking point up till now, but no one in their remotest dreams had any idea of what was to come. Brazil, playing without the injured Neymar and the suspended Silva, collapsed dramatically and Germany were 5-0 with just 29 minutes on the clock and the final score was a kind 7-1 after Germany decided 'not to humiliate Brazil'. In the second semifinal, Argentina ended the Netherlands' run in a game where there were few chances for both and a penalty shootout was need to separate the teams. Brazil never really recovered after the German onslaught and were convincingly beaten for the third place as well.

As the curtain slowly came down after a delightful month of football, in all aspects Brazil 2014 was one of the best witnessed Cups on and off the pitch. And with Germany taking on Argentina for final glory, this promised to be a sensational battle with both Europe and South America having a good chance. In what was a pulsating final, Mario Goetze wrote his name into German folklore by scoring a brilliant goal deep into extra time to break the Argentinian hearts and make Germany the first European nation to win in the Americas - And they deserved it!