FIFA World Cup 2014: The highs and the lows

Already being hailed by many as the best World cup ever, the football extravaganza in Brazil has been hugely entertaining and has given us many moments to cherish combined with few shocking ones. The previous World Cup winners Spain and European giants like England, Italy & Portugal fell at the first hurdle while unfancied teams like Algeria, Costa Rica and USA performed well beyond expectations. Though the round of 16 failed to provide any big surprises it was a great spectacle with the underdogs like Chile, Mexico holding their own against the favourites Brazil and The Netherlands. Heres looking at some of the very best and the worst moments of the World Cup:

#1 High: Goals galore

This World Cup has been full of goals with the teams having a go at each other till the final whistle. Even the goal-less stalemates between Germany-Algeria & Belgium-USA were open games with chances for both the sides. Statistically this World cup has seen the best goals per game ratio since 1960.

#2 High: Magical moments

RVP’s flying header. Tim Cahill’s incredible volley. Ochoa’s sprawling save against Neymar. James Rodrigruez’s audacious turn & goal. Tim Howard’s heroics against Belgium. Even with lots of action yet to come, this world cup has already seen its fair share of magical moments which will remain etched in the memory long after the tournament is over.

#3 High: Scintillating Superstars -

Before the World Cup started the entire spotlight was on the Brazil’s prodigal son Neymar and Messi, arguably the greatest player of this generation. Both of them have so far lived up to the hype and have single-handedly carried their relatively weaker teams into the Quarters with moments of individual inspiration. Moreover, other superstars like Robben, Muller, etc. have also been in fine form for their team.

#4 High: Unyielding underdogs

The pre-tournament favourite dark horses Colombia and Belgium have done justice to their tag, easing past the opposition. Costa Rica usurped European giants England and Italy to make it to the quarter-finals while Mexico, Chile and Algeria also won the hearts of football fans all over the world with braveheart performances against their much fancied oppositions.

#5 Low: Suarez bites again

Suarez biting Chilleni during Uruguay-Italy match was undoubtedly the lowest point of the world cup. He might be a talismanic striker, but this was his third offence of such kind and rightly saw him being severely punished with a ban of four months. What made the saga more acrimonious was Uruguay’s misplaced sense of injustice and continued support of the forward’s action.

#6 Low: Corrupt Cameroon-

They were by far the worst team in the competition and put in abject performances complete with head-butting teammates and horrendous challenges. Now the shadow of match fixing has made the scenario even gloomier with an allegation of the Croatia vs Cameroon match being fixed. If found true, it will be a big blemish on the competition.

#7 Low: Diving divas

The menace of diving has reared its ugly head again in the World Cup. It all started with a dive by Fred in the Croatian penalty box in the opening match. Arjen Robben (who has been spectacular otherwise) however, took the top honours in theatrical tumble with his theatrics against Mexico. With players going to ground on the slightest of touches, they are making a the referees’ job even harder than it already is.

#8 Low:Spoilsport Injuries

The World Cup already was shorn of a host of stars like Frank Ribery, Marco Reus, Radamel Falcao, Theo Walcott because of injuries. Player of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo clearly was half fit. But the latest injury blow, a horrific broken vertebra for Neymar has been the biggest of them all. The host nation’s biggest star is out of World Cup which is sad news for sports fans all over the world.