0 World Cup Final Tweets of the Day - 14 July 2014

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is over. Germany are the victors, to the relief of millions of Brazilians. And Argentina claims another unwanted runner-up position.

Twitter traffic was high during and after this morning's match. Here's just a small selection of reaction:

The Germans can claim the title of World Champions until the 2018 tournament in Russia. The Russian organisers will have a hard job emulating Brazil, but then who would want Brazil's World Cup debt right now?

0 EDIT: Germany are the World Champions

Germany wins its fourth FIFA World Cup. A superbly taken goal in extra time from Mario Goetze has given the Germans a 1-nil win over Argentina at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janiero.

Reaction follows soon...

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Bragging rights in the world of football go on the line in just over an hour. The 2014 FIFA World Cup reaches its crescendo as Germany and Argentina do battle in Rio de Janiero. The Herald previews the match:

The 2014 World Cup has delivered beyond all expectations but now only one question remains.
Will we finally, after almost 30 years, see a classic final?
There hasn't been a truly memorable final game of a World Cup since probably 1986 at the Azteca Stadium, when Argentina trumped West Germany 3-2.
On that day the South Americans led 2-0 with less than 20 minutes to play, before Franz Beckenbauer side's drew level with a typical fightback. With the match heading towards extra time, Diego Maradona, who had been shut down for most of the game, produced a perfect slide rule pass to release Jorge Burrucharga. His precise finish gave Argentina their second World Cup title.
Since then most of the finals have been disappointments, or underwhelming at the least.
The final of Italia 1990 was possibly the worst. Argentina, racked by suspension and injuries, barely tried to play and West Germany weren't much more enterprising, with a late penalty proving the difference.
The 1994 decider was meant to be a cracker - Brazil taking on Italy, Romario against Roberto Baggio - but it was a huge anticlimax, with neither team managing to fashion a goal before Brazil won on penalties.
Four years later France enjoyed a deserved 3-0 win over Brazil but most of the drama came before the game, with the confusion over Ronaldo's fitness and physical state. The match itself didn't reach any great heights.
The 2002 decider was one sided, with an average German side benefiting from a string of upsets on their side of the draw to reach the final and they were duly outclassed by Brazil.
The final of the 2006 edition had drama - especially with Zinedine Zidane's sending off - but was otherwise a stale, dour affair, as often happens when Italy are involved. And last time in South Africa could have been a great match, but the Dutch coaches decided to disregard the talent they had at their disposal and sent their players out to foul, kick and spoil which completely ruined the spectacle.
This tournament deserves a riveting final game. It has had everything else; a stack of memorable matches, tons of drama and plenty of goals. There has been more games go to extra time than in any other tournament and some unforgettable upsets, with an underlying emphasis on attacking football. The fans have come to the party and the Brazilian people have been wonderful hosts.
Of course nothing is guaranteed . Finals are cagey affairs because there is so much at stake - the biggest prize in team sport on the planet. Tomorrow Germany wants to end a 24 year drought while Argentina is desperate to repeat the success of 1986 - which would be even sweeter on Brazilian soil.

As Michael Burgess notes, the high-stakes nature of tournament finals often negates the brilliance of the combatants. Given the standard of football that has been played in Brazil to date, it would be a pity if neither side had the opportunity to unleash its talent.

After their incredible semi-final victory over Brazil, it is hard to go past the Germans. They have had an extra day's rest, and whilst their win was completed in 90 minutes Argentina needed 120 minutes and a penalty shootout to shake off the Netherlands. 

Unfortunately, another commitment means we will miss the first hour of the match. We'll catch the business end of the game however, and will doubtless have some thoughts on it when the dust has settled and the trophy has been decided.

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 10 July 2014

For today's effort, we couldn't go past this piece of pictorial and sub-editorial genius from the good folk at www.stuff.co.nz:

No further words are needed; the picture and headline say it all!

0 UPDATED: Argentina or the Netherlands? It's Argentina!

UPDATE: Extraordinary scene in Sao Paulo. Argentina is through to the World Cup final on penalties after two Dutch spot kicks were saved by goalkeeper Sergio Romero. Well played Argentina, but the depression in Brazil just deepened as the home team's bitter rivals did what Brazil could not achieve.

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And nil-all after 90 minutes of regular time. Arjen Robben had a late chance, but was denied by brave Argentinian defence, and to his credit he stayed on his feet. It's off to extra time, and if that doesn't break the deadlock, to penalties.

Nil-all at halftime, in a match which has had little of yesterday's action. We get the feeling that it's going to need a moment of magic from the likes of Messi or van Persie to break the deadlock between two star-studded teams, or we might be headed to the penalty spot.

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Lionel Messi's Argentina will face Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie's Netherlands in just an hour's time. At stake is a date with Germany in the FIFA World Cup final.

After putting the mockers on Brazil yesterday, we won't try to second-guess the outcome. But we doubt the match will be as one-sided as yesterday's crushing German victory.

So who's it going to be? And can today's winner match the supremely confident German side?

Bring it on!

0 World Cup Tweets of the Day - 9 July 2014

What an amazing morning of football it has been. Here's a small summary of the day's action from Twitter.

First-up, Piers Morgan's reputation as a predictor has been shot; as has ours, to be fair, but we're NOT Piers Morgan!

Unsurprisingly, German fans at the match were delighted, and they had plenty to celebrate:

The same cannot be said of home fans. This montage of photos reflects the widespread doom and gloom being felt by Brazilian fans.
 

Brazil has now booked a place in the match that no side ever wants to play in; the play-off for third and fourth. After having gone unbeaten in competitive matches at home between 1975 and this morning, who would bet against Brazil losing twice in a week? 

0 UPDATED: And then there were four. Make that three...

FINAL SCORE: BRAZIL 1 - GERMANY 7

What an unbelievable score-line in a World Cup semi-final. And there are already reports of Brazilian fans taking this result very hard, and rioting in the streets. And the Telegraph in the UK reports:

Brazil spent $11 billion on a national calamity. The world’s greatest football nation was left numb, humiliated and flummoxed as five German goals flew into their net in the first 29 minutes of a crushing 7-1 defeat.

Neymar was not the only one missing in action. It was true of Brazil’s whole defence, discipline and structure. A majestic display of German passing through the centre of this Belo Horizonte pitch will be obscured by the trauma endured by Brazil. But Joachim Löw’s men will not mind that. Their eyes are on the prize of becoming the first team from Europe to win a World Cup in Latin America.

The indignity of this night will haunt Brazilian football for generations.

The defeat by Uruguay in the 1950 final at the Maracana has always been the most persistent ghost in the home of football arte. Brazil, though, have won five World Cups since then, and have paraded before the world some of the game’s greatest players: Pele, Garrincha, Jairzinho, Rivelino, Zico and Ronaldo. The golden shirt was never meant for journeymen. In international terms, Fred and Hulk are solidly in that category.

“We lost one match to a great team,” Luiz Felipe Scolari, their coach, tried to argue, without success. “Five goals [in 29 minutes] – it was because of their skill, and we respect that.” It went much deeper, to a failure of Brazilian talent, tactics and temperament. 

Elsewhere we have seen this result described as "the night the music died". It is a result that will send shockwaves around the footballing world.

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LIVE UPDATES: Germany scores early, from a corner to lead Brazil 1-nil.

And Germany adds a second, then a third; Brazil will be in a state of mass depression. Surely Brazil can't come back from three down...

... or four-nil. Germany has absolutely stunned the hosts with an incredible opening half hour, breaking Brazilian hearts.

And then there were five. If the German side was a racehorse, it would most certainly be swabbed!

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The FIFA World Cup began around three weeks ago with 32 teams. As we type this, just four remain standing, and that number will reduce to three by mid-morning and two by mid-morning tomorrow.

It is entirely unsurprising that Germany, Brazil, Argentina and the Netherlands are the four teams remaining for the semi-finals. They are football's heavyweights, two from Europe and two from South America.

The first semi-final this morning is between the Germans and the home side; the Herald previews the contest:

Brazil and Germany collide in a heavyweight clash of continental superpowers as the World Cup semi-finals get under way this morning.
The prize for the winner is a place in the final where they will meet either Argentina or the Netherlands, who face off in another South America-Europe semi-final duel on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).
Brazil face Germany missing star striker Neymar and captain Thiago Silva after an appeal to FIFA to rescind his suspension fell on deaf ears on Monday.
Two hundred million Brazilians may not agree with him but German coach Joachim Loew suggests this twin misfortune may help rather than hinder the hosts.
"Setbacks often set free additional forces," Loew said.
"Nobody should believe that our task is made easier by the loss of Neymar, quite the opposite.
"And Thiago Silva's suspension shows the depth of the Selecao's squad.
"(Brazil coach Luiz) Felipe Scolari can now use a player like (Bayern Munich centre-back) Dante, so I can't see there being a loss of quality."
Scolari has urged Brazil to use Neymar's injury blow as motivation to reach the title.
"I think the additional motivation we must have in every match is going up another step and getting closer to our objective of the final," Scolari said.
"The way Neymar spoke to the players made them understand that he had done his share and now we need to do our share.
"Myself, the other players, all the Brazilian people. This match is very important, it could take us to the final.
"We are playing for our country, it is everything we imagined and dreamed of, and also for Neymar."

The loss of Neymar to injury is a blow to the Brazilians, but not a fatal one. They can still beat the Germans, but they would need to do it in regular time, we reckon. We believe that if the match goes to extra time or to a penalty shoot-out the composure of the Germans will trump the emotion of the home side.

FIFA's dream final would be Argentina vs Brazil, although to be fair a final between the Netherlands and Germany would also be a cracking match. We'll stick our neck out and pick Brazil to win by a single goal.

Get in quick with your tip for the match, which kicks off at 8am. We'll see who has bragging rights at the end of the day!

0 World Cup Tweet(s) of the Day - 3 July 2014

From 32 teams to the round of sixteen; now just eight teams remain at the FIFA World Cup. The USA was the most recent side to bow out, losing 2-1 to Belgium. 

Football fever reigned in the US for a few short hours:

However another wit has tweeted this morning that just 1437 days remain until the USA becomes a soccer-mad nation again; assuming of course they qualify for the 2018 version!

And goalkeeper Tim Howard produced an incredible performance yesterday as he bravely held the Belgians out until extra time. That has produced dozens of internet memes, of which this is but one example.

The USA fought bravely yesterday, but not even Barack Obama's support could save them. Roll on the quarter-finals on Saturday morning (NZ time), and especially the clash between European heavyweights France and Germany. And could Colombia provide possibly the biggest upset in World Cup history, and oust the hosts?

Bring it on!

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 30 June 2014

There may be another one of these after this morning's second match. But for now, let's look at the way KLM has bid farewell to the Mexicans:

We're not sure whether KLM flies in to Mexico City, but we suspect that if they do, patronage will be down over the next few months!

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 29 June 2014

Chile and Uruguay were eliminated from the FIFA World Cup this morning. Chile lost to hosts Brazil on penalties, after the match ended at 1-all after extra time. And the Luis Suarez-less Uruguyans were beaten 2-nil by a rampant Colombia.

The Uruguyan result has prompted this tweet:

Not much we can add to that; bring on the next two games, as four teams will become two.

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 28 June 2014

There has been no play in Brazil today prior to the commencement of the knockout phase of the tournament. 

But Luis Suarez is still the name on everyone's lips, and we found this more than mildly amusing:

With all the wonderful football that has been played already in Brazil, Suarez's moment of madness stands out as a particular low for the Beautiful Game. Here's hoping that the remainder of the tournament will be remembered for the quality of the football.

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 27 June 2014

The 2014 FIFA World Cup has been spectacular so far; for the most part. But there's one blight on the game.

Acting, diving, simulation; call it what you will. Whatever you call it, it's cheating, and it's a blight on the game. So some wag has found the time to produce statistics as to who are the leading simulants at the 2014 World Cup; check this out:

Whilst Brazil has the most instances of faking it, the fakes are "healed" relatively quickly; an average of just 11.6 seconds each. On the other hand, it has taken each French player an average of 43.9 seconds to be restored to health after such dramatic injuries that they have been forced to the ground, writhing in agony.

And kudos to the players from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have had the fewest dives. They may not have progressed to the knockout rounds, but they have played the game on their feet, as intended. We salute them.

0 UPDATED: The Wiggles on "Chewy Luis"

UPDATE: Luis Suarez has been banned from any involvement in football for four months; FIFA reports:

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has reached a decision in the case related to Luis Suárez of Uruguay following an incident that occurred during the FIFA World Cup™ match between Italy and Uruguay played on 24 June 2014.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided that:
· The player Luis Suárez is regarded as having breached art. 48 par. 1 lit. d of the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) (assault), and art. 57 of the FDC (an act of unsporting behaviour towards another player).
· The player Luis Suárez is to be suspended for nine (9) official matches. The first match of this suspension is to be served in the upcoming FIFA World Cup™ fixture between Colombia and Uruguay on 28 June 2014. The remaining match suspensions shall be served in Uruguay’s next FIFA World Cup match(es), as long as the team qualifies, and/or in the representative team’s subsequent official matches in accordance with art. 38 par. 2a) of the FDC.
· The player Luis Suárez is banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for a period of four (4) months in accordance with art. 22 of the FDC.
· A stadium ban is pronounced against the player Luis Suárez in accordance with art. 21 of the FDC as follows: the player Luis Suárez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium during the period of the ban (point 3). The player Luis Suárez is prohibited from entering the confines of any stadium in which the representative team of Uruguay is playing while he has to serve the nine-match suspension (point 2).
· The player Luis Suárez is ordered to pay a fine in the amount of CHF 100,000.
The decision was notified to the player and the Uruguayan FA today. 

And in other Suarez-related news, the Wiggles' song (see below) is indeed proving popular, with almost 60,000 views; great stuff!

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The Wiggles entertain children, right? The band has become well known and very wealthy playing to young audiences all over the place.

But there's more to The Wiggles than that; who knew they did opera, and satire? Check out their hard-case take on serial biter "Chewy Luis" Suarez:

This video has only been out for a few hours, and it's already had more than 5000 YouTube views. We predict that, as the footballing world sees and hears it the video will go viral, and we'll be keeping an eye on the counter.

Well done to The Wiggles; great stuff!

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 26 June 2014

Here's a shout-out to all the English football fans who might be down in the dumps about England not qualifying for the knockout phase of the 2014 World Cup.

On the other hand, we're feeling good. We drew Switzerland in a local sweep, and their 3-nil win over Honduras this morning takes them through to the round of 16 where they will face Argentina. France won that group, and their prize is a sudden-death match with Nigeria.

Luis Suarez's disgraceful bite apart, this has been a brilliant World Cup so far. And it's only going to get better, going into the second phase of the tournament.

0 Chewy Luis

The FIFA World Cup has been sensational to date. But it has descended into controversy this morning; the BBC reports:

Uruguay's Luis Suarez was involved in another World Cup controversy after he appeared to bite Italy's Giorgio Chiellini.

Suarez pushed his head towards Chiellini in the penalty area just before Diego Godin's Uruguay winner.

Chiellini then pulled his shirt down to show the referee an apparent mark on his shoulder made from the clash.

"It was ridiculous not to send Suarez off. It is clear, clear-cut," Chiellini told Italian television station Rai TV.
"Then there was the obvious dive afterwards because he knew very well that he did something that he shouldn't have done."
Liverpool's Suarez was banned for 10 games for biting Branislav Ivanovic in a Premier League match in April 2013.
Suarez was also banned for seven games for biting PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal's shoulder while Ajax captain in 2010.
The forward courted controversy at the tournament four years ago when he used his hand to block Dominic Adiyiah's goal-bound shot in the 120th minute.
Suarez was sent off, while Ghana missed the subsequent penalty and went on to lose the World Cup quarter-final on penalties.
After the clash with Chiellini, Suarez went to ground holding his mouth, apparently suggesting he had been elbowed.
The Italian defender ran after referee Marco Rodriguez pulling down his shirt while Uruguay forward Gaston Ramirez attempted to get Chiellini to cover his shoulder. 

The video evidence against Suarez is strong, and the fact that he has twice been suspended for biting in the last four years will not help him. If FIFA finds him guilty of biting, his World Cup will end in shame. Check out this footage, courtesy of Radio Sport

And we've flogged our headline from the Huffington Post:

"Chewy Luis" Suarez is a very gifted footballer. But there is no place in any sport for biting an opponent, and if Suarez is found guilty of a third biting offence, FIFA must take very strong action against him. 



 

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 24 June 2014

There's been a bit of a merchandising glitch at the FIFA World Cup:

For the record, here's Chris Smalling:

There's a passing resemblance, but that's where it ends. It'll give all the Obama birthers something to get excited about though!

0 World Cup Tweets of the Day - 21 June 2014

Costa Rica provided the upset of the World Cup to date so far, upsetting 2006 champions Italy 1-nil. That's bad news for England, whose mathematical chance of qualifying (and a complex equation it was too!) was stuffed by the Costa Ricans.

Here's the agony and ecstasy of two nations:

And the French weren't bad either, winning 5-2 over Switzerland. The parade of brilliant football rolls on.

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 20 June 2014

Barring some kind of divine intervention, England's World Cup is all but over. The drought which began after 1966 will continue for at least another four years.

There were plenty of possibilities for today's World Cup Tweet of the Day, but in the end this one won out:

We have supported the New Zealand cricket team since before England last won the FIFA World Cup. We know exactly what John Bishop means!

No further comment is required.

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 19 June 2014

The first major upset of the 2014 World Cup has taken place. 

After only two matches in the Group phase, defending champions Spain have been eliminated after losing two-nil to Chile. That's prompted this tweet:

Australia will also fail to progress after a three-two loss to the Netherlands. But at least our trans-Tasman neighbours were far more competitive than the Spanish who, like Italy in 2010, have surrendered their World Champion status far too meekly.

0 What a stunning performance

Mexico and Brazil fought out a nil-all draw at the World Cup this morning. But the match was anything but dull, and Mexico can thank its goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa for a performance of a lifetime; here's some of the action:

Ochoa's keeping brought back memories of Mark Paston's efforts against Italy at the 2010 World Cup. The first save on the video was probably the best, and if there is a better save at this year's tournament, it'll be worth seeing.

FIFA's goal-line technology later showed that the header from Neymar had reached but not crossed the goal-line before a sprawling Ochoa got a hand on it and deflected it forward. It was a moment of absolute brilliance from the Mexican.

Let's not forget too that is was Mexico which stood in New Zealand's path to the 2014 World Cup. Wouldn't that have been a dream match for the All Whites; playing Brazil in the World Cup finals in Brazil?

Well played Guillermo Ochoa; what a stunning performance to keep Mexico is contention for the second round.

0 World Cup Tweet of the Day - 16 June 2014

We drew Switzerland in a World Cup sweepstake, so to see this is a little bit gut-wrenching:

Switzerland did manage a late winner, but this is a clear blunder by the match officials; supposedly the best in the footballing world. A decision like this could be crucial to a team's progress in the competition.

There has been some average officiating so far, especially in the penalty area. That's a shame, because otherwise, the quality of the football has been outstanding, and the 2014 World Cup could be the best ever.