in

Brazil 2014 World Cup special (June 12- July 13)

The highs and the lows, mesmerizing skills, inch-perfect passes, well-taken spectacular goals and gravity-defying saves are the hallmark of the FIFA World Cup, and the 2014 edition hosted by Samba-loving Brazil has continued the age-long tradition.

Thus far (after the round of 16), 154 goals scored-11 more than the total number scored in the 2010 edition. Here are some of the other interesting facts, with statistical evidence, that this World Cup is the best in a long while…

GOAL LINE TECHNOLOGY

A lot had been said about whether goal line technology should be introduced to world football prior to the World Cup. However, despite resistance from some quarters, FIFA went ahead to introduce goal line technology. The first match it was used was group B opener, France versus Honduras. French striker, Karim Benzema, had a shot ruled by the officials as no goal, but goal line technology showed otherwise.

FIFTH FASTEST WORLD CUP GOAL

Clint Dempsey in the 29th second, scored one of the fastest World Cup goals against Ghana in their opening Group G- the fifth fastest in World Cup history.

WATER BREAK

This is the first World Cup where a timeout was allowed for players to re-hydrate. In the match between the Netherlands and Mexico, the referee, after requests by players, blew for a timeout due to the intense heat. The Netherlands eventually triumphed 2-1 in the round of 16 match.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF PASSES

The average passes per team in this World Cup during the group stage were 384 (31 more than that of 2010).

MOST SAVES

Tim Howard of the United States made 15 saves versus Belgium in their round of 16 tie-the most in World Cup history, breaking the previous record of 13 held by Peruvian goalkeeper, Ramon Quiroga, versus the Netherlands in 1978.

ALL GROUP WINNERS PROGRESS

All the group winners progressed to the quarterfinals for the first time-Brazil(winners of group A defeated Chile in penalty shootout), the Netherlands (group B winners) defeated Mexico 2-1, group C winners, Colombia, defeated Uruguay 2-0. The surprise of the tournament, Costa Rica, won group D and went on to beat Greece in the round of 16 in the penalty shootout. African champions, Nigeria, were defeated by Group E winners, France 2-0. Argentina and Germany were the respective winners of groups F and G and they went on to beat Switzerland and North Africans, Algeria, respectively.

Completing the last eight were Belgium who defeated the US 2-1 after winning group H.

GOALS SCORED IN GROUP STAGE

136 goals were scored in the group stage, 2.8 goals per match (48 matches)

RED CARDS AND YELLOW CARDS

The average number of red cards shown per match in the group stage in this World Cup is 0.2 and for

yellow cards, it is 2.7. In the 2010 edition, the figures were 0.3 and 3.8, respectively.

BIGGEST WIN MARGIN

Netherlands humbled Spain 5-1, France overcame Switzerland 5-2 and Germany thrashed Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal 4-0

HAT TRICKS

Two hat tricks (three goals in a match) have been scored, so far. Thomas Muller Vs Portugal and Xherdan Shaqirivs Honduras

TOP 10 TEAMS DISPLAY

Four teams from the top 10 in FIFA rankings failed to make it to the knockout stage in this World Cup and they are Spain, Portugal, Italy and England.

With the exception of Portugal, the other three have been World Cup champions.

ASIA’S WOES

This World Cup was a forgettable affair for the Asian continent. All the four teams from Asia finished last in their respective groups after failing to win a single match. They scored just 9 goals and conceded 25.

This is the first time since 1998 that no Asian team succeeded to qualify for the knock-out stage.

OTHER RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THE WORLD CUP

USA’s Michael Bradley could be a long distance runner; he covered the longest distance on the field in the group stage. He ran for a total of 38,019 metres.

Nigeria’s Joseph Yobo was the only player to score an own-goal in the round of 16 stage. He scored it against France in a 2-0 loss.

Four teams each from the European and American continents advanced to the quarter-finals in the 2014 World Cup (Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Argentina from Americas while Germany, Netherlands, France and Belgium represented Europe). In 2010, the last eight had an African team (Ghana).

During the match between Russia and Algeria, advancing Algeria and eliminating Russia, in the 60th minute, a green laser was shone in Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev’s face while he was defending from an Algerian free-kick. The set-piece resulted in a goal, much to the outrage of the Russian keeper, team and coach.

Greece and Algeria qualified for the first time to the knockout stage.

For the first time, three teams from CONCACAF – US, Costa Rica and Mexico  qualified to the knockout round.

Title holders, Spain, eliminated after two consecutive losses in what has been regarded as one of the shocks of the competition. 1966 champions, England eliminated at the group stage, first time since 1958.

The highest number of cards was given between France and Honduras (8).

Marouane Fellaini is the dirtiest player left in the competition.

Messi is the master of dribbling with 40 successful dribbles so far.

Germany replaces Spain as the pass masters. In total, Germany have tried 2,695 passes in their first four matches and 2,378 of those have reached their intended target.

Toni Kroos tops the passing list with 360 completed passes from 394 attempts.

First 56 matches produced 154 goals, with the record of 171 set in 1998 under threat.

FLOPS OF THE TOURNAMENT

Spain’s legendary goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, committed costly errors in the monumental loss against the Netherlands.

Portuguese defender, Pepe, left even his coach bewildered when he, for no apparent reason, head butted Thomas Muller; he was rightly sent off and Portugal lost the game.

Gerard Pique-the Spanish defender was made to look like an amateur player by veteran, Arjen Robben, in the Oranje boys 5-1 mauling of the then world cup title holders.

Others are: Leighton Baines and Steven Gerrard of England, Ivorian powerhouse-Yaya Toure, Italian striker-Mario Balotelli, Portuguese captain-Cristiano Ronaldo and Diego Costa of Spain.

WORLD’S BEST 11: FORMATION: 3-5-2

Goalkeeper: Tim Howard, USA

Defenders: David Luiz of Brazil, Yepes (Columbia), Ricardo Rodriguez (Switzerland).

Midfielders: Brazil’s Luis Gustavo, the Netherlands’ Wesley Sneidjer, Lionel Messi-the Argentine captain, James Rodriguez-the Columbian talisman and the world cup poster boy, Neymar Jr.

Strikers: Thomas Muller of Germany and the flying Dutch striker, Robin Van Persie.

-MICHAEL NWOKIKE

Encomium

Written by Encomium

A media, tech and events company.

What do you think?

Leave a Reply

Avatar

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Ekiti election backlash reverberates in Lagos

AREGBESOLA denies plan to sack Osun workers