The group stages of this summer’s world cup are done and dusted – effectively marking the halfway point of the greatest show on earth –and 16 teams remain for the knock-out stages.
The perceived wisdom among the football fraternity is that, so far, the extravaganza in Brazil has been highly (and perhaps refreshingly) entertaining.
By and large, the games have been relatively open affairs, with chances created and goals aplenty. (We currently stand at a fraction shy of an average of three goals per game, which is clearly testament to the attacking philosophy applied by most of the combatants.
The big shock to date, of course, was the elimination of defending champions Spain after a mere two games, thereby suffering the ignominy of being the first holders ever to suffer such a fate. The likes of Xavi, Villa and Alonso may not be seen in Spanish colours again, which represents a sad reflection on the careers of those luminaries.
Italy and Portugal have departed the set too, the latter’s captain and world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo having failed to live up to expectation during these finals.
Talking of reputations, Lionel Messi appears determined to provide his critics (and yes, there are some) with the major finals performance they say he needs to cement his place among the pantheons of the beautiful game. Four goals thus far, and each pretty special; who knows, this could yet be Messi’s Maradona 1986 moment.
Brazil’s Neymar has also scored four goals, and on that form he must provide the hosts with a shout of lifting the trophy.
The current Brazilian side may be well down the pecking order of samba sides down the years, but they have played some attractive football thus far and a noisy, boisterous support may well carry them over the line come 13 July.
England, of course, mirrored Spain’s early capitulation, defeats to Italy and Uruguay sending them home before the tournament had really got into its stride. This was the first time since 1958 that England had failed to emerge from a group during the finals, and even eternal optimist Roy Hodgson will surely fail to put a convincing positive spin on this one.
Uruguay, of course, progress without their star striker Luis Suarez, who once again brought shame to football’s door with the sort of biting incident which, sadly, has become something of a trademark. His four-month ban from football will doubtless attract a variety of opinions on its appropriateness, but many of us would – for all his undoubted talent – be content if Suarez did not step on to a football pitch ever again. He simply doesn’t deserve to be the story here, frankly.
So let’s not dwell on that any further. Let’s concentrate on the attacking flair of Robben and Van Persie for the Dutch, the aforementioned individual brilliance of Messi, Naymar and co, and the collage of colour and razzmatazz within the stands that has provided a raucous atmosphere at virtually every game. And even the referees have been decent thus far, perhaps too pre-occupied by their white line spraying on the pitch at free-kicks – defensive walls encroach at your peril!
As for the action on the TV sofas, it’s been perhaps more predictable than the football itself. Sure, there’s been entertainment (Strachan, O’Neill, Seedorf), and informed analysis (Cannavaro, Henry, Murphy), but we’ve had the stating the bleedin’ obvious brigade in once more (Hansen, Shearer, Neville). And the likes of Michael Owen and Martin Keown demonstrate that remarkable careers should not be assumed to mean remarkable commentaries.
Meanwhile, could Glenn Hoddle look any more like a man on holiday if he tried? To be fair, Hoddle does offer decent insight for the most part, but the tan deepens by the day in direct proportion to the expanding waistline; any day now, he’ll be sitting in his speedos licking an ice cream.
Anchors Gary Lineker (effortlessly debonair) and Adrian Chiles (overdoses the blokish enthusiasm) do their level best to appear unfazed by the studio backdrop of endless beaches stretching into the horizon.
Whisper it, but on the evidence to date, this world cup promises to be one we’ll fondly recall for some years to come.