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On Top of The World

The Turkish referee gifted two early goals to the Netherlands and the deserved Germans held the World Cup high in the Maracana ending one of the most competitive World Cups in the history of football.

By MiQ
Matthias Hangst

BRAZIL 0-3 NETHERLANDS

Coming back from suspension, Silva pulled Robben's shirt from behind just outside the box three minutes into the match. The referee did not make one mistake by calling a penalty kick for that pull but two by only showing the defender a yellow card instead of a red one as he was the last defender. Van Persie converted the penalty to take the lead in the battle for third place. The sideline referee wanted in on the mistakes and did not call an offside that lead to the second call before the half hour mark.

Brazil formation and Scolari's tactics had no chance anyway and in spite of the few brilliant touches from the likes of Maicon, Willian and Oscar, Brazil conceded a third goal in the closing additional minutes. The referee had earlier ignored a clear foul on Oscar in the box as well. Netherlands went on to receive the bronze medals.

ARGENTINA 0-1 GERMANY

Argentina played a strong match defensively staying away from individual skills when comparing the previous World Cup participations. Both teams were arguably the best in the World and Sabella almost stole the Cup on a few occasions during the 90 minutes if it was not for Higuain's and Palacio's inability to shoot on target when one on one with Neuer. The match ended scoreless and moved to the extra 30 minutes. The difference in fitness and rest of both national teams started to show and took its toll on the Argentinian side.

On the other hand, the German machine was tireless and even though Rizzoli did not send neither Mascherano nor utterly useless Aguero off with a second yellow for violent tackles, lowe's substitute Schurrle drew three Argentinian defenders and crossed the perfect ball to unmarked Goetze who put an end to the Tango dreams with a wonder goal. Argentina pushed to level the score in the last minutes but it was too late to build anything near dangerous.

GROUP STAGE STANDINGS

Group A

Team

Played

W

D

L

For

Against

GD

Points

Brazil

3

2

1

-

7

2

+5

7

Mexico

3

2

1

-

4

1

+3

7

Croatia

3

1

-

2

6

6

0

3

Cameron

3

-

-

3

1

9

-8

0

Group B

Team

Played

W

D

L

For

Against

GD

Points

Netherlands

3

3

-

-

10

3

+7

9

Chile

3

2

-

1

5

3

+2

6

Spain

3

1

-

2

4

7

-3

3

Australia

3

-

-

3

3

9

-6

0

Group C

Team

Played

W

D

L

For

Against

GD

Points

Colombia

3

3

-

-

9

2

+7

9

Greece

3

1

1

1

2

4

-2

4

Ivory Coast

3

1

-

2

4

5

-1

3

Japan

3

-

1

2

2

6

-4

1

Group D

Team

Played

W

D

L

For

Against

GD

Points

Costa Rica

3

2

1

-

4

1

+3

7

Uruguay

3

2

-

1

4

4

0

6

Italy

3

1

-

1

2

3

-1

3

England

3

-

1

2

2

4

-2

1

Group E

Team

Played

W

D

L

For

Against

GD

Points

France

3

2

1

-

8

2

+6

7

Switzerland

3

2

-

1

7

6

+1

6

Ecuador

3

1

1

1

3

3

0

4

Honduras

3

-

-

3

1

8

-7

0

Group F

Team

Played

W

D

L

For

Against

GD

Points

Argentina

3

3

-

-

6

3

+3

9

Nigeria

3

1

1

1

3

3

0

4

Bosnia-Herzegovina

3

1

-

2

4

4

0

3

Iran

3

-

1

2

2

3

-1

1

Group G

Team

Played

W

D

L

For

Against

GD

Points

Germany

3

2

1

-

7

2

+5

7

USA

3

1

1

1

4

4

0

4

Portugal

3

1

1

1

4

7

-3

4

Ghana

3

-

1

2

4

6

-2

1

Group H

Team

Played

W

D

L

For

Against

GD

Points

Belgium

3

3

-

-

4

1

+3

9

Algeria

3

1

2

-

6

5

+1

4

Russia

3

-

2

1

2

3

-1

2

Korea Republic

3

-

1

2

3

6

-3

1

Golden Boot

Name

Team

Goals

James

Colombia

6

Mueller

Germany

5

Neymar

Brazil

4

Messi

Argentina

4

Robben

Netherlands

3

Schulle

Germany

3

Van Persie

Netherlands

4

Benzema

France

3

Shaqiri

Switzerland

3

Cahill

Australia

2

Mandzukic

Croatia

2

Ruiz

Costa Rica

2

Oscar

Brazil

2

Gyan

Ghana

2

Suarez

Uruguay

2

Memphis

Netherlands

2

Perisic

Croatia

2

Jackson

Colombia

2

Hummels

Germany

2

Ayew

Ghana

2

Djabou

Algeria

2

Alves

Brazil

2

Musa

Nigeria

2

Slimani

Algeria

2

Dempsey

USA

2

Klose

Germany

2

Kroos

Germany

2

Sanchez

Chile

2

Peralta

Mexico

1

Alonso

Spain

1

De Vrij

Netherlands

1

Valdivia

Chile

1

Beausejour

Chile

1

Armero

Colombia

1

Gutierrez

Colombia

1

Cavani

Uruguay

1

Campbell

Costa Rica

1

Duarte

Costa Rica

1

Urena

Costa Rica

1

Marchisio

Italy

1

Balotelli

Italy

1

Sturridge

England

1

Bony

Ivory Coast

1

Gervinho

Ivory Coast

1

Honda

Japan

1

Valencia

Ecuador

1

Mehmedi

Switzerland

1

Seferovic

Switzerland

1

Ibisevic

Bosnia-Herzegovina

1

Brooks

USA

1

Feghouli

Algeria

1

Fellani

Belgium

1

Mertens

Belgium

1

K H Lee

Korea Republic

1

Kerzhakov

Russia

1

Jedinak

Australia

1

Vargas

Chile

1

Aranguiz

Chile

1

Olic

Croatia

1

Quintero

Colombia

1

Rooney

England

1

Dzemaili

Switzerland

1

Xhaka

Switzerland

1

Matuidi

France

1

Giroud

France

1

Valbuena

France

1

Sissoko

France

1

Odemwingie

Nigeria

1

Origi

Belgium

1

H M Son

Korea Republic

1

J C Koo

Korea Republic

1

Hallichi

Algeria

1

Brahimi

Algeria

1

Fer

Netherlands

1

Torres

Spain

1

Villa

Spain

1

Mata

Spain

1

Matip

Cameron

1

Fernandinho

Brazil

1

Fred

Brazil

1

Marquez

Mexico

1

Hernandez

Mexico

1

Guardado

Mexico

1

Godin

Uruguay

1

Okazaki

Japan

1

Cuadrado

Colombia

1

Rojo

Argentina

1

Dzeko

Bosnia-Herzegovina

1

Pjanic

Bosnia-Herzegovina

1

Vrsajevic

Bosnia-Herzegovina

1

Boye

Portugal

1

Ronaldo

Portugal

1

Vertonghen

Belgium

1

Kokorin

Russia

1

Alves

Brazil

1

Dos Santos

Mexico

1

Huntelaar

Netherlands

1

Shneijder

Netherlands

1

Sokratis

Greece

1

Ozil

Germany

1

Pogba

France

1

Di Maria

Argentina

1

De Bruyne

Belgium

1

Lukaku

Belgium

1

Green

USA

1

Higuain

Argentina

1

Khdiera

Germany

1

Blind

Netherlands

1

Wijnaldum

Netherlands

1

CONTINENTS PERCETAGE QUALIFICATION TO THE ROUND OF 16:

Qualification Section

Number of Teams

Qualified to Knockout Stage

Ratio

Percentage

North, Central America & Caribbean

4

3

3/4

75%

South America

6

5

5/6

83%

Europe

13

6

6/13

46%

Africa

5

2

2/5

40%

Asia

4

0

0

0%

Oceania

0

0

0

0%

*Indicates that there is still team(s) with undecided results in the last day of group stage

CONTINENTS PERCETAGE QUALIFICATION TO QUARTERFINALS:

Qualification Section

Round of 16

Qualified To Quarterfinals

Ratio

Percentage

North, Central America & Caribbean

3

1

1/3

33%

South America

5

3

3/5

60%

Europe

6

4

4/6

67%

Africa

2

0

0

0%

Knockout Stage is Shaping Up:

ROUND OF 16

QUARTER FINALS

SEMI FINAL

FINAL

CHAMPION

BRAZIL

1*

BRAZIL

2

BRAZIL

1

GERMANY

1

GERMANY

CHILE

1

COLOMBIA

2

COLOMBIA

1

URUGUAY

0

FRANCE

2

FRANCE

0

GERMANY

7

NIGERIA

0

GERMANY

2

GERMANY

1

ALGERIA

1

BELGIUM

2

BLEGIUM

0

ARGENTINA

0*

ARGENTINA

0

THIRD PLACE

USA

1

BRAZIL VS NETHERLANDS

0-3

ARGENTINA

1

ARGENTINA

1

SWITZERLAND

0

COSTA RICA

1*

COSTA RICA

0

NETHERLANDS

0

GREECE

1

NETHERLANDS

2

NETHERLANDS

0*

MEXICO

1

*Brazil won 3-2 penalty shootouts

*Costa Rica won 5-3 in penalty shootouts

*Netherlands won 4-2 in penalty shootouts

*Argentina won 4-2 in penalty shootouts

The Awards winners of the World Cup were as follows:

Golden Ball: Messi (For best performance)

Golden Boot: James (scored 6 goals)

Golden Glove: Neuer (Best Goalkeeper)

Young Player: Pogba

Fair Play: Colombia

I have to bring this up even though I am a big fan of Argentina, Messi did not deserve the Golden Ball in anyway. My vote goes to Mascherano for sure. I added a poll to get the ViolaNation community opinion as well.

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