'Miracle boy' Gotze brought pride for Germany

Vijay Anand

World cup in Brazil 2014 ended with victory for Germany. It was the third straight cup for an European country and first for an European nation on American soil. Goal by Gotze in extra time was the separator of the two teams in the final. 

At the end, Messi was adjudged Best player of the tournament. He was given Golden ball for the achievement. Golden Boot went to James Rodriguez for his goal tally of 6 goals. Paul Pogba of France won the award for best young player. For fair play, Columbia was adjudged the best team.

There are many points to discuss and it is tough to summarize in a few words. But here they go-

1.    Best Goals- James Rodriguez (COL) v URU. He simply took the ball on the chest, turned and volleyed it over Goalkeeper Muslera in first half of round of 16 game.

Robin Van Persie (NED) v ESP- He headed header of the tournament. Flying high, he beats Casillas for an equalizer in group game.

Tim Cahill (AUS) v NED- He volleyed at the first time to send the ball inside the net.

2.   Best Goal Keeper in a match- Tim Howard (USA) v BEL. In this round of 16 games, he made 16 saves which is a World cup record.

3.    Best match- MEX v BRA. Though the score line read 0-0 but match was full of action.

4.    Worst Match- BEL v RUS. In this entire 90 minutes, only 9 shots were shoot by both teams combined.

5.    Upset of the championship- Exit of Spain in group stage was the most upsetting outcome.

6.   Most shocking outcomes of the tournament- 7-1 result of Germany bt Brazil and 5-1 result of Nederland bt Spain were most upsetting result of the tournament.

7.    Team of the World Cup- Costa Rica. They not only topped the Group of Death but also travelled up to QF.

8. Most discussed topic- Biting of Suarez(URU) on Chellini (ITY) was most discussed topic of the championship.

9.    Most discussed match- It was 7-1 defeat of BRA v GER.

10. Most important substitution- When Louis van Gaal (NED) sent Krul as Goal keeper for penalty shootout against Costa Rica. NED won.

11.  Most unmeaning full goal of the tournament- Oscar’s goal v Germany.

12. Most sensational free kick- David Luiz(BRA) v COL.

13.  Most disappointing continent- Asia-Oceana. 4 teams could collect only 3 points of 12 games, all with draws. Australia could not collect even a single point and all teams finished last in their groups.

14.  Finest quarter for a team- Certainly it was time between 2^nd to 5^th goal in match of GER v BRA.

15.  Blooper of the tournament- 2^nd half miss by Okubo (JPN) v GRE was blooper of the championship.

Team of the tournament-

Goalkeeper- Manuel Neuer (GER)

Defenders- Pablo Zabaletta (ARG), Tiago Silva (BRA), Philipp Lahm (GER), Mattieu Debuchy (FRA)

Midfielders- Tomas Muller (GER), Angelo di Maria (ARG), Arjen Robben (NED), Paul Pogba (FRA)

Forwards- James Rodriguez (COL), Lionel Messi (ARG).  

For one month, the world was a global village. It’s hard to believe the passion this game generated in this part of the world, where team ranks somewhere around 140 in FIFA rankings!! Full credit for Germany for winning the cup after gap of 24 years. Now Germany can proudly add another star to their team jersey. Bye bye Brazil, waiting Russia.