2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Official Book
9. Switzerland – Ecuador 2-1: Probably the most boring match so far, with yet another unfairly disallowed goal. The late goal and the 5th comeback in 9 matches are the good news.
Defence: 1 – 1
Midfield: 1 – 1
Attack: 1 – 0,5
Interplay: 0,5 – 0,5
TOTAL: 3,5 – 3
23. Shaqiri (SUI) - 0,57. Montero (ECU) – 0,5
8. France – Honduras 3-0: The dirtiest
match so far, easily won by France. 6 yellow cards an expulsion doesn’t fully attract the picture. For the first time in the tournament the new Goal-Line Technology was brought to use.
Defence: 1,5 – 1
Midfield: 1,5 – 0
Attack: 2 – 0
Interplay: 1,5 - 0
TOTAL: 6,5 – 1
10. Benzema (FRA) – 2
14. Matuidi (FRA) – 1
8. Valbuena (FRA) – 1
3. Figueroa (HON) – 0,5
18. Valladares (HON) – 0,5
7. Argentina – Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1: A very difficult match to win for Argentina. Messi and Co. have to be satisfied they didn’t concede one more in the last minutes. Not bad for Bosnians, who will still have Iran and Nigeria to play against in this group.
Defence: 1,5 – 1,5
Midfield: 1,5 – 1,5
Attack: 1,5 – 0,5
Interplay: 1 – 0,5
TOTAL: 5,5 – 4
8. Pjanic (BIH) – 1,5
10. Messi (ARG) -1
4. Spahic (BIH) – 1
14. Mascherano (ARG) – 0,5
6. Germany, one of the strongest teams and a candidate to win the trophy was prevented of Marco Reus right before the start of the tournament. As the coach Joachim Loew announced, Reus’s absence is not going to be a big loss, as there are many other great players for that position - Oezil, Mueller, Schurrle, Podolski, Draxler, Kroos, Goetze. There is no need to mention all of the top talents for the other positions, but there is one position, which has to be named: there is only one striker in Loew’s squad, and that striker is 36 years old. Of course, the whole Germany wants Klose to score these last two goals to become the topscorer of the World Cups, but the fact that there is no alternative for Klose in Germany will surely make Loew be creative. Let’s see how this problem is going to be solved. There is a big chance that the 20-year-old Schalke 04 midfielder Julian Draxler will shine brighter than other of his peers.
5. The best player of 2013, Cristiano Ronaldo, will be 33 by the time the World Cup is held in Russia in 2018. So he would rather make his mark here in Brazil. The odds of the Portuguese national team are not that high, however. Paulo Bento’s team has been famous for unstructured football and its dependence of Ronaldo. Still, there are profiles like Pepe and Fabio Coentrao, both Champions League winners with Real Madrid, Raul Meireles, Nani, Joao Moutinho, with many more. They have to be on the top half of their group after three matches, otherwise it will be considered as a tragedy at home in Portugal. The country has always got many young talents. It is trendy to talk about William Carvalho (Sporting) nowadays.
4. Only 6 players of the Iran World Cup squad play in European clubs. Most of them are unknown to an average football fan. But still, there are some players worth to be mentioned. Particularly it is the captain and veterean Javad Nekounam, once a player of Osasuna, as well as Andranik Teymourian, the veteran, famous for playing in Bolton and Fulham previously. Ashkan Dejagah is the biggest name of them all, famous for his 50 matches for German youth national teams, and his controversial decision not to play on Israeli ground, when together with the German team. Charlton’s Reza Ghoochanejdah was once a member of the Dutch youth national team. And finally the coach of the Iranian national team is Carlos Querioz, the former assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson, as well as head coach of Portugal and Real Madrid.
3. Stephen Keshi has built his Nigerian team around Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel, Liverpool’s Victor Moses and CSKA Moskva’s Ahmed Musa. The presence of these players is the product of Keshi’s generation change. Most of the players in the squad are not older than 25. This means that many of these players have got the chance of their lives to appear in a top European club soon. It is also important to mention Ogenyi Onazi, the Lazio midfielder, who is only 21. There are also a couple of more experienced players taken to Brazil, Shola Ameobi, Joseph Yobo and captain Vincent Enyeama in particular. Must be interesting to follow Nigerians this year.
2. James Kwesi Appiah is another coach of an African team, this time Ghana. And Appiah has also decided to bring the new generation to light. Many of them will have their first World Cup, so the role of the experienced players like Asamoah Gyan, Michael Essien, Kwadwo Asamoah, Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari will be priceless for the development of young talents. Among those are Andre Ayew, only 24, and Christian Atsu, 22. It could have been interesting to watch Richmond Boakye, the 21-year-old Juventus player, but the coach Appiah decided to leave him at home. Ghana is believed to challenge Portugal in the fight for the second ticket to the Paly-off.
1. It is Jurgen Klinsmann, who coaches the United States of America. At least Germany and Joachim Loew, Klinsmann’s assistant back in 2006, are familiar to him. The German specialist has tried almost 70 players for the past year. The final 23-man squad didn’t include big names as Oguchi Onyewu, previously playing in Milan, and the favourite of the whole USA, Landon Donovan. But the experience is there for Klinsmann’s side. Tim Howard, Damarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey have earned more than 400 caps for USA altogether, while Jozy Altidore, only 24, has already played 70 matches for his national team. The team doesn’t hide, that they don’t expect much after a tough draw, but USA doesn’t give up and, who knows, may become the surprise opening of the World Cup.
The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Fact File
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