After a month of a real soccer frenzy, the 2014 FIFA World Cup is finally over. The Germans are probably still celebrating their ultimate triumph while the hosts are recovering from the historical disgrace they suffered in the semifinal. Nevertheless, most of the players and fans are back home, getting ready for the next season. The 2014 FIFA World Cup has been remarkable in many ways and here are 25 of its most memorable things.
1. New Technology: French striker Karim Benzema´s goal against Honduras has become the first goal in soccer history to be confirmed by a new goal-line technology. This goal helped the French defeat Honduras 3:0.
2.The Spanish Failure: Spain, the defending champion from South Africa, had to go home after the group stage. They lost both first matches and only managed to beat Australia. A very disappointing performance.
3. James Rodriguez: Colombia´s attacker scored 6 goals in Brazil and was awarded with the Golden Boot for the top scorer of the tournament. He scored more goals than any other player including mega-stars like Messi or Neymar.
4. Biting Suárez: This moment has become one of the Brazilian World Cup symbols. Uruguay versus Italy; with just ten minutes remaining, Urugay´s striker Luis Suárez bites Italian defender Chiellini. Suarez was later handed a 9-match ban in international matches.
5. Howard´s Heroics: The American goalkeeper was performing well in all his matches but on round 16 against Belgium, he was just incredible. His 16 saves in this match set the new record for the most saves by a goalie in one match in World Cup history.
6.Costa Rica: Their team was supposed to be the biggest outsider of the extremely difficult group D. Former champions Italy, England and Uruguay were expected to battle for the two spots in the knock out stage. But instead, Costa Rica won the group, and beat Greece on round 16. However, they lost against Netherlands on penalties in their first quarterfinal ever.
7. New World Cup Goal-Scoring Record: 36-year-old German forward Miroslav Klose broke Brazilian legend Ronaldo´s record for the most goals in World Cup history. In Brazil, Klose added two goals to his previous 14, which made him the greatest World Cup striker ever.
8.Social Media: The Brazilian World Cup was also a turning point for social media. The Germany versus Brazil match became the most tweeted sport event in Twitter history. Twitter users sent more than 35 million tweets during the match.
9.Brilliant Netherlands´ Goalkeepers Change: With less than 60 seconds of 120 scoreless minutes remaining, Netherlands´ coach Van Gaal decided to change his goalkeeper, replacing Jasper Cillessen with Krul. This remarkable decision proved to be the coach´s masterstroke as Krul caught 2 penalties and got his team into the semifinal.
10.Colombia´s Goal Celebration: Every player has his own way of celebrating goals but Colombia was really original. After scoring a goal, their whole team started dancing.
11.The Germans: The Germans left no doubt that their team was the best. They breezed through the group stage, beat Algeria on round 16, France in the quarterfinal, they hammered Brazil in the semi and finally they were crowned world champions (for the fourth time) after their stunning extra-time victory over Argentina. It was their tournament indeed.
12.Van Persie´s Breathtaking Header: His goal against Spain in the group stage was one of the most spectacular goals of the tournament. He was literally the Flying Dutchman.
13.Record–Breaking Semifinal: Without Silva and Neymar, Brazil went in as underdogs into the semifinal against Germany, yet they still hoped to keep their golden dream alive. Instead, they seemingly forgot how to play as Germany absolutely tore them to shreds in a 7-1 obliteration. It was the highest semifinal victory in World Cup history.
14.Zuniga and Neymar Collision: Colombia´s defender Zuniga hit Neymar so hard that he broke his vertebra. Consequently, Neymar; the biggest Brazil star and the top scorer of the team, was out of the game. This might have been one of the reasons why Brazil was so harmless in the following matches.
15.Polite Japanese Fans: Soccer fans do not always have a good reputation for their behavior. Supporters of the Japanese team, however, became a shining example for others when they started cleaning up the stadium after their country ´s matches. Way to go guys.
16.Brazil Downfall: The hosts were originally considered the main front runner of the tournament. Their performances, however, were far away from meeting the expectations of Brazilian fans. The ultimate disgrace came in the semifinal against Germany. Brazil lost 1:7 and their golden dream was mercilessly torn to pieces.
17.Dempsey´s Belly Goal: American forward Clint Dempsey scored in the 81st minute against Portugal and gave his team a 2:1 lead. Nothing special about goals except that this goal was scored using his stomach.
18. English Physio´s Injury: When celebrating the equalizer against Italy, popular English physiotherapist Gary Lewin stepped on a water bottle and broke his ankle. Strangely symbolic of England´s unsuccessful campaign.
19.Controversial Opening Match: The first match of the tournament between Brazil and Croatia was significantly influenced by the Japanese referees. They awarded Brazil with a very debatable penalty and later on disallowed a regular Croatian goal.
20.A Brazilian Fan Dies Of A Heart Attack: A 69-year-old supporter of the home team suffered a heart attack when watching the penalty shootout between Brazil and Chile. At least, this time there were no suicides as it happened in 1950 after Brazil lost to Uruguay in the final.
21.Messi versus Neymar: They were the most watched players of the tournament; teammates in Barcelona but huge rivals in the World Cup. They both met the fans´ expectations and led their teams to victories. They both scored 4 goals. But the long-desired direct confrontation of these two soccer superstars never happened.
22.David Luiz´s Goal against Colombia: The epic free-kick goal from about 35 yards became one the most amazing goals of the World Cup.
23.A Giant Insect on Rodriguez´s Arm: The Colombian forward became the World Cup´s best scorer. However, he got even more public attention after a huge grasshopper landed on his arm following the scored penalty goal against Brazil.
24. Hattricks: Only two players managed to score 3 goals in one match. Switzerland´s striker; Shaqiri, scored against Honduras and the best scorer of the German team; Muller, scored against Portugal.
25.Super Fast American Goal Against Ghana: It only took Dempsey 32 seconds to score the opener against Ghana. It was the fastest goal of the tournament and one of the fastest in World Cup history.
We hope you enjoyed these 25 FIFA World Cup memorable moments. What was your favorite FIFA moment?
Source: http://list25.com/
