FIFA World Cup 2014: On and Off the field

Fans at the FIFA World Cup 2014

A football World Cup must bring more fans to love the game, it must highlight the best aspects of the sport in general, and it must captivate and thrill audience across the world to encourage the love of the game in its next generation. FIFA’s blatant ignorance of local issues in Brazil while encouraging great spending in stadium infrastructure, and its absolute mishandling of the opening ceremony stand contrary to its main goal.

You can’t mask over such massive protests by simply asking famous women to wear skimpy clothes, and sing and dance as if nothing is wrong. It was insulting to say the least, but thankfully once the football came on, the headlines were being made for all footballing reasons. Not that these were always the right reasons, but heck, can we really hope for a world cup without referees playing spoil sport?

While off the field things haven’t been great, thankfully, the action on the pitch has been terrific. Towards the end of the first round of games, this world cup has provided a lot more goals and quality than in recent previous additions. A lot of big names seem to have come together in the group stage itself and that has only added to the glamour of the cup. Such grouping also seems to provide some of the so called weaker teams a golden opportunity to qualify to the knockout stages.

Normally one sees a degree of predictability in the first round, and only one or two surprise results provide the headlines, but while teams with higher pedigree have generally won this time too, the results have been quite unpredictable. Score lines such as 3-1, 4-0, and even 5-1 among big teams have made it quite interesting to watch and from a fans perspective this can only be a good thing. Even a typically boring tie such as Italy v England was a rare delight, with both teams shunning their typical cautious approach for a more pragmatic style.

Germany, Netherlands and hosts Brazil look like the teams to beat this time around, having started their campaigns in mesmerizing style. The attacking prowess displayed by these sides far exceeds expectations, and it seems that the common thread among more successful teams this year is a counter attacking style. There seems to be a link now between successful styles in the UEFA champion’s league and success at the World Cup. Four years back teams that held possession and played passing football were having great runs at the champion’s league and promptly that propelled Spain to the top. The last two editions of the Champions league though have been won by teams displaying lightning speed counter attacks, and this edition (while too early to predict) seems to be headed to a team developed on those lines.

All in all, as long as the excitement stays on the pitch, and the entertainment is mostly football related then we are in for a hell of a month. After watching the Portugal and Germany game last night, I can only hope that injuries and sending offs are not the main talking points through this awesome tournament. Here’s to many more late nights that are getting more and more worth it!