If someone had said to me at the start of the tournament that Germany would win the World Cup and England fail to get out of the group stages, I would have been truly disappointed.
Although that is in fact what happened and I am gutted by England's early exit, I think the 2014 tournament has actually been the best World Cup of my life time.
Plenty of shocks, drama and entertainment from the word go, with Brazil claiming a fortunate 3-1 win over Croatia in the opening game before holders Spain were demolished 5-1 by Holland. England lost their opening game 2-1 to Italy but the performance had given many supporters hope that we could turn things around. Already I was loving the tournament, even smaller games such as Switzerland vs Ecuador were grabbing my attention. Football had well and truly taken over my summer but I wouldn't have it any other way. What a great tournament!
When trying to reflect and look back on it, it is difficult to know where to start, but it makes sense to focus on England before then dissecting the rest of the tournament by way of awards.
So how would I rate England's performance?
Usually before a tournament the media over-hype our chances and we are left disappointed. This time, even as early as when the groups were drawn, our chances were already being written of and we were given no hope of getting out of the group stages. So when we failed as most had expected it surprised me somewhat how critical some were of the outcome. It is always disappointing to exit a World Cup but did we really expect much more this time? If it is judged by the pre-tournament comments of some people I think not. I'm not defending our side, far from it, we should've done better. I just think some of the criticism was over the top.
Realistically our squad isn't as good as the top sides. We have some great players but are lacking some truly world class talent. Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney can be great on their day but whether they are up there with the best players in the world I am not so sure. There are a lot of younger players coming through like Raheem Sterling who could become one of those players, but we are still lacking. Our defenders are fairly decent too but then when compared to real top defenders such as Philipp Lahm, Mats Hummels and Thiago Silva just how class are they really?
It sounds like I am being too negative so don't want this coming out the wrong way, England have some great players that in theory have great potential but they just never quite deliver when it matters when other big sides can. If things are addressed, who knows, maybe, just maybe we can really give the best sides a run for their money in major tournaments.
Onto the matches, despite losing the opening game to Italy there was a sense of optimism among some fans as we had given it a real go and been unlucky to lose. The performance against Uruguay wasn't bad but wasn't great either, just average, until we equalised then was ours for the taking but we still lost. It is hard to analyse the goalless draw with Costa Rica as it was a dead rubber.
But this tournament was about far more than just England. Even for England fans and fans of sides of other under-performing nations like Spain, there would've been something to enjoy from the tournament from a neutral point of view. An array of great games, great goals, top goalkeeping, and much more, so what were the best points?
GOALKEEPER OF THE TOURNAMENT
This is so hard to call as there were several top performers in this category. Manuel Neuer, who is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, deservedly won the golden glove. After helping Germany to World Cup glory it is hard to argue with that, but it was kind of expected from the global star. It is easy to make a case for a few other candidates who seemingly came out of nowhere to become stars of the tournament. Mexico's Guillermo Ochoa produced some great performances and was the key factor in his side's goalless draw with Mexico. But apart from Neuer, it is Costa Rica's Keylor Navas and USA's Tim Howard that really stood out for me. Navas was instrumental as Costa Rica defied the odds to reach the quarter-finals, while Howard became a record-breaker in one of his many fine displays at the tournament. USA were unfortunate to exit the tournament after a narrow 2-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16 but, in that match, Howard made more saves in a single match than any other player in World Cup history with 15.
WINNER: KEYLOR NAVAS
The star of the show for Costa Rica and if people hadn't heard of him before they sure have now. What a World Cup this guy had and he thoroughly deserves to win the award as my best goalkeeper of the 2014 tournament.
SAVE OF THE TOURNAMENT
I could make a case for all these to be number one but have had to make a decision
3) KEYLOR NAVAS - COSTA RICA VS URUGUAY
Diego Forlan's looping shot was heading for goal only for Navas to react superbly and tip it over the bar
2) MANUEL NEUER - GERMANY VS BRAZIL
Germany eased to a 7-1 victory and, although Neuer didn't have much to do, their goalkeeper was excellent when called upon and produced a stunning double save to keep out Paulinho.
WINNERS: GUILLERMO OCHOA MEXICO VS BRAZIL/HOLLAND
TIM HOWARD USA VS PORTUGAL
In the end, I couldn't separate these two. Ochoa deserves the title for two magnificent saves. The first a superb diving stop to stop Neymar's goal-bound header before an excellent close range save to deny Holland's Stefan de Vrij in the round of 16. But Tim Howard, who had a top class tournament, deserves to share the award after reacting superbly to push over Eder's follow up after Nani had struck a post.
But it is no good the goalkeepers doing all the hard work if the outfield players don't bang in the goals and we were treated to plenty of wonder goals this summer.
SO WHAT WAS THE GOAL OF THE TOURNAMENT?
3) JERMAINE JONES VS PORTUGAL/ROBIN VAN PERSIE VS SPAIN
Although Robin Van Persie's header deserves a place of its own, I thought a wonder goal from one of the so-called lesser sides also deserved a mention. Jermaine Jones beat his man before unleashing a thunderbolt from outside of the box in USA's 2-2 draw with Portugal - a goal truly worthy of joint-third place. Jones' shares the award with Van Persie, whose sublime looping header helped Holland on their way to a shock 5-1 win over holders Spain.
2) TIM CAHILL VS HOLLAND
A high ball flew into the box and Cahill met it with the sweetest of volleys to hammer the ball home for what, at the time, I thought would easily be goal of the tournament.
WINNER: JAMES RODRIGUEZ VS URUGUAY
Take a bow Rodriguez! Cahill's goal was only going to be beaten if someone came up with something truly incredible, and one of the young stars of the tournament did just that. Rodriguez cushioned the ball expertly before turning to execute a thunderous volley that crashed in off the crossbar.
PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT
WINNER: JAMES RODRIGUEZ
I must admit that before the tournament I had barely even heard of this young star, but now I am a big fan of the Monaco winger. Rodriguez was one of the stand-out performers of the tournament and his six goals saw him take home the golden boot. His displays left me hoping Arsene Wenger would make an offer to try and prize him away from France and into Arsenal. That is unlikely but I can keep dreaming! An incredible player from this summer's spectacle and one I hope I see a lot more of.
Rodriguez's team-mate Juan Cuadrado also had an excellent tournament, while the likes of Costa Rica duo Joel Campbell and Giancarlo Gonzalez, Germany's Mats Hummels and his side's entire midfield, that man Lionel Messi and Belgium's Divock Origi also deserve a shout out. There were several other great performers, but it's onto the next category!
But first...like all good awards ceremonies there needs to be a break, so we'll be back for part two after these messages...
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