Profound, profane or pedestrian

This was exactly the game that you might expect from these two teams - tight football, not too many errors and not too many opportunities for either side. The game had a surprisingly early goal - from Germany when Hummels headed in a Kroos cross off the underside of the cross bar (whoa, far too many "cross"-es in that last sentence). Germany took control after that but it was the German keeper Neuer that had to fend off a Valbuena shot to keep the score the same at half time.

France came out after the break and really took it to Germany but with no result. However, France was doing well defensively, repeatedly cutting out the final German ball. On the other hand, they weren't doing that well up the other end - and, on the rare occasions that they did, Neuer was having another one of days when he could do no wrong. In the dying moments, Neuer showed just how true that was when he kept out a close range Benzema shot that could have equalized the score.

Germany goes on the the semifinals yet again off a narrow 1-0 scoreline. France can go home at least partially redeemed after their miserable 2010 World Cup performance.

On paper, this was possibly the most imbalanced game of the second round and yet it was close all the way. Belgium benefited by an enormous margin on all attacking statistics (shots 38/27 to 14/9, corners 19-4) despite USA dominating possession 53% to 47%. What this boiled down to was that USA often held possession for a while but was curiously unable to do much in the last third whereas Belgium hurtled up the field time and again and fired away at goal (that 38/27 statistic may well be the highest of the tournament so far, certainly it is for this round). Once there though Belgium were facing Tim Howard who was yet another goalkeeper playing the game of his life, pulling off save after save (16 of them, in fact). Stunningly, this meant the the game finished 0-0 and it was on to extra time.

In the first half of extra time, USA's luck finally deserted them with Belgium scoring twice. USA finally started attacking, ironically in what was probably their best attacking football and they scored in the 107th minute. Now it was Belgium that looked vulnerable and USA kept up a relentless pressure on them until the end of the game. Sadly, this never evolved into a second goal and so it finished 2-1 to Belgium.

Belgium face Argentina in the last quarter final and USA go home after a relatively successful World Cup campaign for a team expected to perform well below their world ranking (14 before the start of the the tournament).

Another second round game where the result was as expected but the pathway there was not as smooth as the scoreline suggests. The first half was very much Algeria's as they did most of the running and much of the attacking. On several occasions, it was only Neuer's anticipation and sprint speed over short distances that kept Algeria at bay. Mind you, he is known as one the new generation of keeper-sweepers so that is not too surprising. Even so, there were occasions where it really was a close call. However, Algeria rarely got behind him so the first half finished 0-0.

Clearly, Germany had copped a real talking-to over the half-time break because they came out transformed and re-energised. Germany really dominated possession (63%/37%) from this time on and came close on a number of occasions. As always, Algeria came back at them from about the 75th minute with Feghouli, Slimani and Soudani all having shorts (or crosses) stopped by Neuer. The second half finished 0-0 so it was on to extra time.

Germany really stepped up yet another gear and dominated extra time from beginning to end with Schurrle finally scoring with a delightfully flicked shot going past Mbolhi. Ozil added a second, just to make sure but Algeria still didn't give in and finally got a goal through Djabou in the dying seconds of extra time but it was too little too late.

The game finished 2-1 to Germany and put them through to a quarter final against France.

The first half was dull as Greece sought to blunt the Costa Rica attack by slowing the game down to a crawl. Greece was successful in doing this as the half finished 0-0. Of course, it also meant that Greece barely had a shot on target too.

After the break, the game eased up a little as both sides started to get attacks going. The weight of Costa Rica attacks eventually told and Ruiz scored in the 52nd minute. Greece barely even responded until the red card for Duarte in the 66th minute. This eventually roused them out of their slumber and the game became increasingly desperate for Costa Rica as Greece launched raid after raid though generally without an effective shot on target to finish off. Almost within sight of qualifying, Costa Rica finally conceded, after withstanding a veritable barrage of shots from Greece(24/13 to 6/2). The 91st minute equalizer was so late that there was nothing that Costa Rica could do to respond so the game finished 1-1.

In extra time, the Greeks were far and way the dominant team and thundered shot after shot on the Costa Rica goal (it felt like the majority of Greece shots were from this period of time). No-one really had a great chance so it finished still 1-1.

The penalty shootout was the usual lottery but very accurate Costa Rica shooting (they didn't miss a single penalty) meant that they won, 5-3 on penalties.

Costa Rica now meets Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

In a somewhat similar start to the Brazil-Chile game, this started as a real hack fest and I was starting to wonder if Uruguay had returned to the bad old days when they were certainly one of the hardest sides in South America. They really didn't present much of an attacking threat and their defence was containing the Colombia forwards well - that is, until the irrepressibly James Rodriguez popped up and scored what has to be the goal of the tournament so far. That really changed the game for Uruguay who just had to come out now and attack. Suddenly, they looked vulnerable at the back and a little ineffective up front, despite the valiant efforts of Cavani who seemed to be the only dedicated striker. I will say it and say it just once - they really did look flat in attack without Suarez but then no team should ever be about just one person. The first half finished 1-0 to Colombia.

The second half was much the same as the first and who should score again but James Rodriguez who scored from close range after a wonderful sweeping team move. There was still plenty of time to play but Colombia increasingly retreated into an 11-man defence and at times risked letting Uruguay muscle and blast their way back into the game. Just as that happened, Ospina stepped up and pulled off a series of saves that denied Uruguay any joy in front of goal. The game finished 2-0 to Colombia so they will face Brazil in the quarter finals.

This was a great game to watch and a wonderful advert for the game with so much attacking potential on display in both teams.

Best Goal - Messi's goal against Iran, though Villa's against Australia might be up there for sheer cheek.
Worst missed goal - Probably Busquets' missed "tap in" against Chile.
Most sentimental goal - Cahill's thumper against Netherlands, simply because this is the end for most of that squads's international careers so to go out on that note is great.
Funniest goal - Not sure if it is funny or sad but Akinfeev's fumble against Korea Republic might be a contender.
Best use of new technology - No, not the goal line cameras but the soluble white foam - a wonderful antidote to the creeping free kick (both kicker and wall) phenomena. I was just watching some 1990 replays and it was so common an issue that no-one even bothered to pretend after a while.
Outstanding player - There are number in close running but I think it has to be Messi for his wonderful consistency. There are others who show the occasional flash of even greater brilliance but is just that - occasional.
Most disappointing player - Wayne Rooney again - he was my pick in 2010 too! Sadly, Christiano Ronaldo comes a close second. Suarez for sheer stupidity, of course, but he actually played well until he decided to do his own Hannibal Lecter impression.
Dullest game - not really a game but that Opening Ceremony was so bad it both sucked and blew simultaneously.
Most surprising - For me it had to be the Spain vs Netherlands game. To watch the World Cup holders just torn apart in what I thought would have been a tight close game was definitely a sight to see. The Costa Rica vs Italy game would have been a bigger surprise if it were not for that fact that Costa Rica had already beaten Uruguay who were playing much better than Italy.
Flattest team - Interesting because last time it was between Italy and France - this time it is Italy (again) and Spain but near impossible to pick. I am inclined to Spain since they were the reigning World Cup holders and also because they were eliminated after the second group game. At least Italy were still in the mix until that last game.
Punching above their weight - This has to be Costa Rica who not only finished unbeaten at the top of their group but beat two previous World Cup holders and drew with a third.

Belgium were already through but Korea Republic still had a chance providing results went their way. Consequently, it was a surprise to see how ineffective the Korea Republic's attack was at the business end of the pitch. The defence was very well marshalled and the midfield certainly held their own but the attack still failed to score despite a prolific 12 shots on goal. The imposing figure of Courtois had a lot to do that, I feel, as any kind of cross was easily plucked out of the air and he was also a good shot stopper too. Right at the end of the first half Belgium had Defour sent off for an ugly looking challenge - but I'm not sure that it warranted a red card. It made little difference in the second half and Korea Republic really didn't manage to take advantage of their extra player. Finally, in the 78th minute, Belgium broke the deadlock with Vertonghen pouncing on Kim's parry of Origi's shot and then slotting it home with precision. Korea Republic deflated after that - still trying to attack but the heart really was gone.

The result is that Belgium go through first in the group with 9 points and Korea Republic are eliminated, coming bottom of the group with a solitary point.

Both teams had the potential to go through to the next round as long as they scored enough goals and the USA lost by a good margin so there was plenty at stake for both teams here. It meant that both teams not only had to attack but they couldn't even sit back on a one goal lead. It meant there would be attacking aplenty - and there was although it was a strangely disjointed game as neither side's attack really flowed well. Ronaldo had, what would be by any other player's standards a good game, but by his it was a poor game even though he scored the winning goal. Sadly it was not enough to win the game - it really needed to be by at least three more goals and, despite a number of chances to add to the tally, Portugal just could not get there.

Both sides were eliminated and that was a loss for the tournament because both could be every exciting attacking sides but there are no points in potential, only in actual results and neither managed that. Ronaldo is clearly not at peak fitness and it sad to see such a wonderful player look so ordinary at times.

The only statistic that matters is that this game saw the second hat-trick of the tournament and it was from Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri. Almost every other stat is in Honduras' favour - time in possession, corners and so on. It must be a difficult game for Honduras to decide on strategy - already eliminated and not much to play for. To their credit, their choice was to attack and they did this, sadly to no avail. Shaqiri's first goal was a work of art and one of the better goals of the tournament so far. For all their attack, Honduras just lacked finishing power in the last third and, whilst that improved in the second half, the counter attacks of Switzerland were just lethal. Every time they had possession, they looked like could score and they did two more times. The result means that Switzerland went through whilst Honduras already knew that they were eliminated but this ensured that they would finish last in their group too.

What an opening - two goals in the first 4 minutes. I am so glad that no Nigerian defender got near Messi's shot - he hit that so hard that I was afraid it might rip someone's head off! Once that was over, Argentina started to look like the team of old with controlled possession, raiding attacks and constant building pressure - a great sight to see. Having said that, Nigeria were no sluggards either and launched a fair few attacks of their own, but the Argentinian defence was well organised and generally kept them out. Messi's second, just before half-time was a moment of perfect placement that not many people can do as consistently.

The start of the second half was just as exciting but it was Nigeria that scored first and then Argentina restored its lead just 3 minutes later. The game stayed as exciting throughout with Nigeria never relenting in it's search for an equalizer but it was not to be. 2-3 to Argentina it was and a great game. I also realized that whilst Messi might be the goal scorer that everyone notices, Di Maria is the real engine of the attack - he might not have scored a goal but he had more shots (and more shots on goal) than Messi - in any other team in the world, Di Maria would be the superstar but he plays second fiddle to Messi.