FROM 32 teams, international football’s ultimate quadrennial spectacle, the 20th FIFA World Cup, is down to the Final Four or semifinal stage.
Germany (5-1-0) reached the World Cup finals for the first time since 2002 with a 7-1 demolition of host Brazil (4-1-1) in their semifinal match early morning yesterday at Belo Horizonte. Overall, it will be the Germans’ eighth finals appearance (the first six – 1954, 1966, 1974, 1982, 1986 and 1990 under West Germany – and the last two under unified Germany) with titles in 1954, 1974 and 1990.
Germany’s semifinal rout of Brazil was some sort of a revenge for the Germans, who were beaten, 2-0, by the Brazilians in the finals of the 2002 World Cup jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan.
Four years ago in South Africa, the Germans secured the bronze medal with a 3-2 win over Uruguay. At four, Germany owns the most third-place finishes in WC history.
Germany will meet the winner of the other semifinal encounter between the Netherlands (5-0-0) and Argentina (5-0-0) in Sao Paulo on July 10 (4 a.m. PH time) in a battle of unblemished squads.
The gold-medal game will be held on July 14 (3 a.m.) in Rio de Janeiro.
Before their shell-shocked home crowd at Belo Horizonte, the awe-struck Brazilians, playing without injured striker Neymar and suspended captain Thiago Silva, surrendered four goals during a six-minute stretch and trailed 5-0 at the opening half en route to suffering their first defeat in six matches in the prestigious one-month, 64-game competitions and the worst debacle in their World Cup history.
Neymar, who scored four goals through first-round play, suffered a tournament-ending broken vertebra during Brazil’s physical quarterfinal triumph over Colombia, which before then had registered four victories in as many appearances.
Thomas Mueller, the 2010 World Cup Golden Boot awardee and the Germans’ scoring leader, opened the offensive avalanche. Miroslav Klose was next to score then Toni Kroos knocked in a pair within a span of two minutes and Sami Khedira netted a shot for a five-goal first-half romp by the three-time World Cup titlists.
Mueller now has accumulated five goals, one short of Colombia’s James Rodriguez for the tournament lead. Klose, with two goals against Brazil, has surpassed Brazil’s “The Phenomenon” Ronaldo (by one) as the all-time leading scorer in WC history with 16 goals in 23 matches.
Both Argentina and the Netherlands, which settled for the silver medal four years ago after losing to European champion Spain, 1-0, in extra time during the finals, have won all their five games in the tournament.
The Dutchmen are bannered by Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben. Argentina, of course, is led by the popular and highly-paid FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, who after four years lost his FIFA World Player of the Year crown to Real Madrid star forward Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal last January.
The Netherlands (formerly called Holland) is bidding to reach the finals for the fourth time in its WC history.
Note that all seven previous World Cup tournaments held in the Americas (four in South America and three in North America) were won by South American teams.
Brazil will clash with the Netherlands vs. Argentina loser for the bronze medal on July 13 (4 a.m.) in Brasilia.
Germany will be a tough nut to crack in the finals but my heart goes to Argentina (assuming it beats the Netherlands in their semifinal match) for the World Cup title.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup features all the world champions since the first international soccer spectacle was staged in 1930 – Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Uruguay.
The 32 participating nations were divided into eight groups of four teams each.
Spain, which captured its first WC title in 2010 (the eighth nation to accomplish the feat and the first European nation to win it all outside its home continent), failed to survive the first round with a 1-2 record, having dropped its first two matches to the Netherlands (5-1) and Chile (2-0) before beating winless Australia (0-0-3). The Spaniards, the 2008 and 2012 Euro champions, thus joined Italy (1950 and 2010), Brazil (1966) and France (2002) as the only defending champions to be ousted in the first phase.
Euro powerhouses Italy (1-0-2) and England (0-1-2) also dropped out of this year’s tournament following elimination action.
The United States and Portugal registered identical 1-1-1 record (four points, based on three points for a win and one point for a draw) for second place in their grouping behind topnotcher Germany (2-1-0, seven points) but the Americans squeezed into the Round 16 over the Portuguese due to a better goal difference, 4-4 to 4-7.
Germany beat Portugal, 4-0, behind Mueller’s hat-trick, and edged the U.S., 1-0, on Mueller’s goal. The U.S. and Portugal played to a 2-2 draw and both squads beat fourth- and last-placer Ghana by identical 2-1 scores.
The Americans, however, were beaten by Belgium, 2-1, in the Round of 16.
Asian countries Japan (0-1-2), the Islamic Republic of Iran (0-1-2) and South Korea (0-1-2) placed fourth and last in their respective first-round groupings.
During the quarterfinals, Brazil ousted Colombia, 2-1; Germany eliminated France, 1-0; the Netherlands edged Costa Rica, 4-3 (0-0); and Argentina slipped past Belgium, 1-0.
Four years ago, South Africa became the first hosting country in WC annals ever to be ousted in the first round. South Korea and Japan made it to the Round of 16 while North Korea was ousted in the initial phase. New Zealand was the only unbeaten team in the tournament but its three draws during the eliminations knocked it out early. Spain became the first team ever to win the WC after losing its opening game (1-0 vs. Switzerland).
The victories of Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010 marked the first time that two different countries from the same continent had annexed back-to-back World Cup titles.
Europe now has an all-time high 10 WC winners – one more than South America’s nine. Brazil, the only team to have played in every tournament, owns the most number of championships with five (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). Italy has four (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006).
The next two World Cups will be hosted by Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.