Personal 2014 World Cup Team of the Tournament

A month has passed by and it saddens me that the FIFA World Cup won't be around for another 4 years. What we have witnessed in Brazil in the past 31 days though, were nothing short of magic and shocks. Now the sad realization that I need to get back to Uni and start a new semester will definitely pull me down.

Many surely would have predicted Germany to be eventual champions and England having another humiliating tournament, but no one would have bet high on seeing Algeria progressing further than Spain. You never thought the Costa Rica would progress from a group with Uruguay, Italy, and England, let alone win it. But the shock of the tournament must go to Brazil losing 1-7 to eventual winners Germany in a Semi-Final in their own country. Surely that goes down to one of the most humiliating match they've played ever.

As even teams shining the competition, there were definitely players who did not do their reputations any harm, as listed below will be 11 players who personally, are those that performed brilliant in this World Cup. My XI will be fitted in a 4-2-3-1 formation because Germany used it to win the whole thing, and because I want to.

Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer (Germany)

Surely is now the best goalkeeper in the world. In a competition where most goalkeepers took the plaudits (Keylor Navas, Guillermo Ochoa, Tim Howard, Sergio Romero, Rais M'Bolhi... and I'm just naming a few here!), the German keeper performed the best, and his Golden Glove award was well deserved. At times, he would sweep attacks like Beckenbauer, but then make saves like Kahn. The ultimate definition of the ultra-modern goalkeeper.

Rightback: Pablo Zabaleta (Argentina)

Contrary to the competition of best goalkeeper, there weren't many rightbacks to choose from. But having said that, Zabaleta was incredibly solid at defending against wingers as well as marauding the opponents box. It was a close choice between him and Germany captain Phillipp Lahm, but my choice fell to the best fullback in the Premier League as Lahm only played at this position for 3 matches, while being mediocre in midfield.

Centreback: Mats Hummels (Germany)

2 years ago, I slotted him in my Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament, and he's still a favorite of mine to date. Not only did he kept goals from coming, he managed to score 2 as well. It also doesn't kill to have a face like Orlando Bloom too. If the Ballon d'Or was based on looks, he would be a close second to France's Olivier Giroud.

Centreback: Ron Vlaar (Netherlands)

An Aston Villa defender who could actually defend, and he only showed it in the World Cup. He's one of those few cases that club form means nothing for national team as he did his best Gandalf impression for the Dutch all tournament long because no one was getting passed him that easily. Of all the players who surprised me the most in this World Cup, it had to be Vlaar and his for Feyenoord team-mates in defense (Stefan de Vrij & Bruno Martins Indi) who were sought to be the weak link in the team. Kudos to Ron!

Leftback: Daley Blind (Netherlands)

Again, everyone would have different opinions who the best leftback was in the tournament. Others would pick Argentina's Marcos Rojo or Germany's Benedikt Howedes, maybe even someone out of the ordinary like Mexico's Miguel Layun, but mine goes to non other than the guy whose name sounds like a news tabloid written in Braille. 2 assists in Oranje's 5-1 thrashing of Spain, including a goal against Brazil, on top of a cheeky smirk to boot, he definitely takes my vote (but not my heart just yet. That still belongs to Giroud).

Centremidfield: Javier Mascherano (Argentina)

The nation's best player in the World Cup by a mile. While Di Maria was injured since the semifinals, Masch single handedly kept Argentina in the game against the Netherlands. Even if he mostly plays as a defender for club, he definitely is a natural defensive midfielder as shown by his leading performances in the knockout rounds. The only thing missing was a gold medal, but he'll get a lot of them back with Barcelona.

Centremidfield: Toni Kroos (Germany)

The gap left by Pirlo in the knockout rounds was filled marvelously by Toni. He might not have the greatest performance in the final, but he was almost certainly the German's best midfielder in the World Cup with mouth-watering deliveries that lead to goals, to scoring a quick double in the semis against Brazil. If I was to give the Golden Ball to anyone in the tournament, no one deserved it more than Kroos.

Attacking Midfielder: James Rodriguez (Colombia)

Honestly, although he cost €45M from FC Porto to AS Monaco, he was never in my radar apart on Football Manager. But a month after, despite not being a forward, and the most debatable first name pronunciation, won the Golden Boot award after scoring 6 goals in 5 matches, including the Goal of the Tournament in a Round of 16 match against Uruguay. Probably was a shame that his Colombia side could not reach the semifinals, otherwise Hamez (or Jaimz if you prefer) might have scored more.

Right Wing: Arjen Robben (Netherlands)

In the group stages, despite being 29 and bald, no one could keep up with his pace as defenders were left for dead in a foot race with Robben. On top of 3 goals and 1 assist, he won the decisive penalty against Mexico where he graciously fell on purpose and secured a Quarterfinal berth. Despite all the controversy surrounding him, he had a brilliant tournament which could have - and should have - scored more.

Left Wing: Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Despite given the Golden Ball award from FIFA and wasn't even Argentina's best player in the World Cup (see Mascherano), there is no doubt that his country would never go through past the Group Stages if it wasn't for their beloved captain that is Lionel Messi. Four time Ballon d'Or winner just edges out club teammate Neymar and former club teammate Alexis Sanchez for a spot for his heroics and influence through out the tournament, even if he was out-marked in every knockout match.

Centre forward: Thomas Muller (Germany)

If Karim Benzema's France won against Germany in the Quarterfinals, we might not be even talking about Muller. 2010's Golden Boot winner, Thomas started the tournament with a hat-trick against Portugal in a false-nine role, eventually leaving Brazil with a tally of 5. And when he wasn't scoring, he was either making them or making space for his teammates to score. Muller's intelligence in the final to create space for Gotze to score the winner was the perfect interpretation of a false-nine you would ever see. Probably Muller would have deserved that Golden Ball accolade more than Messi does, but Muller would not mind at all if he wins the biggest prize in the end - as a World Cup winner.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO basically that was my team. If you made it hear, thank you for reading and wouldn't hurt listen to your opinions.

The "What ifs?" of Germany's World Cup Campaign

This was posted on my Posterous account like 2 weeks ago, don't accuse of being late in posting something World Cup-related. I'm just re-posting what I wrote there.

The FIFA World Cup is over, and Germany's young squad missed out to eventual champions Spain in the semifinals, and ended up 3rd overall after winnign against Uruguay. Despite a great squad and performance by young players, it took everyone away from the thought that most of their key-players were actually missing from the tournament. And their path to the Semi-finals didn't come with ease. I would just like to imagine the "What ifs?"  of this German squad and would've happened.

Fig 1. Robert Enke

First of the problems came way before the World Cup happened where Robert Enke - Germany's 1st choice Goalkeeper - attempted suicide back in November 2009. His replacement the young and promising Rene Adler declared he would not take part in the upcoming World Cup to undergo a surgery for his rib injury a month before the World Cup began. So up stepped another promising Goalkeeper in Manuel Neuer who played magnificently in the World Cup. But here comes the question, "What if Robert Enke didn't die and what if Rene Adler didn't get injured?". Maybe and just maybe, Germany wouldn't concede that goal against Serbia which cost them the game, or maybe the goal from Carles Puyol in the semis.

Fig 2. Heiko Westermann

Next comes the defence problems. Schalke defender Heiko Westermann was scheduled to be a key player in the German's defence to pair up with Per Mertesacker but broke his foot in the last warmup game before the World Cup. Arne Friedrich who was scheduled to play as rightback was then converted as Westermann's replacement and playing well with a goal to add in the competition. Westermann's injury forced Phillip Lahm to switch sides from Leftback to Rightback and leaving young players in Holger Badstuber and Jerome Boateng sharing roles as back-up left-back. My question here is , "What if Heiko Westermann didn't get injured?". Will either Badstuber or Boateng be even called-up to the national squad? if they did, would they get a minute on the pitch? Friedrich was great in teh heart of the German defence but he may have had a better performance should he had played in his natural position as rightback.

Fig 3. Michael Ballack

Then the centrepiece of them all, the captaincy. First choice captain Michael Ballack injured his ankle in his last game as a Chelsea player against Portsmouth in the FA Cup final where his opponent Kevin-Prince Boateng tackled late on him causing Ballack to miss the World Cup. Boateng incidentally, is Jerome Boateng's brother whom both played for Germany in youth levels. Kevin-Prince though decided to play for Ghana and help their campaign in the World Cup. Michael Ballack's place however, was replaced by Stuttgart midfielder Sami Khedira and his captaincy fell to Phillip Lahm's arms, while his proud #13 shirt was worn by young striker Thomas Muller. Khedira had a blast in the World Cup which lead interest from Real Madrid and Manchester United while Phillip Lahm lead the team by example, and Thomas Muller snatching the Golden Boot and Best young player. The question that fits here is, "What if Michael Ballack didn't lose his captaincy because of Kevin-Prince Boateng's late tackle?" who knows Ballack wouldve played better than Khedira would, and could've lead the team to even the World Cup Final.

Fig 4. Miroslav Klose  & Lukas Podolski

Strikers selection also became an issue. Usual choices Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose have both flopped in the league, while Cacau is naturally a Brazilian who has a German citizenship. That leaves the inform strikers of last season's Bundesliga are Stefan Keissling, Kevin Kuranyi and youngster Thomas Muller. To the surprise of everyone Podolski and Klose were chosen after all following a horrid season and Cacau too added to the squad. Kevin Kuranyi earlier in the year had a bust-up with Germany head coach Joachim Low so he wouldn't be called up, which gives Thomas Muller a chance to be part of the squad including Keissling and Spanish-born Mario Gomez in the squad as well. Media and fans criticized Low's selection policy as being "too trustworthy of Podolski and Klose". But as it turned out, Klose and Podolski both had great tournaments with Klose scoring 4 and Podolski scoring 2. Thomas Muller scored 5 and became topscorer of the worldcup, while Cacau managed to score one himself. The questions now are, "What if Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Muller was never called-up to the National team? and what if Cacau never took Germany citizenship?". Certainly things would have been very different.

Fig 5. Lampard's shot crossing the line

Then came that game against England in the round of 16. Germany took the lead with goals from Podolski and Klose but England narrowed the gap with a Matthew Upson header to make the game 2-1 to Deutschland. Moments after Upson scored, Frank Lampard attempted a long range shot which bounced off under the crossbar which England fans thought that it crossed the goal-line for an equalizer, but referee Jorge Larrionda and his assistants ruled that it did not pass the line although replays showed that it passed the line by quite a margin. England never got back into the game and concede a further 2 goals from a double by Thomas Muller and lost 1-4. Next question would be, "What if Frank Lampard's goal was given?" England could have gone back into the match and fight until the death if the scores were tied again, but yet again the German side that day was unstoppable.

Fig 6. Thomas Muller

Thomas Muller's red hot form did not stop there as he scored and helped Germany thump Argentina 4-0 but got his second yellow card of the tournament for a challenge which couldve been avoided and misses the Semifinals against Spain because of this. Germany lost that game because they couldnt counter as much as they wouldve liked against a stubborn Spanish defence line probably because of a certain missing link on the right side of attack in Muller. Spain won the semifinals - and eventually the World Cup - with a 1-0 scoreline. Here comes the last question, "What would've happened if Thomas Muller actually played in the semifinals?". I don't know if he would've made a significant impact considering how great Spain's defence is, but you can't stop the writer from wondering...

Now to recap them all, "What if all those never happened? could Germany got even closer to winning the World Cup?" They certainly have excelled from their shortages, but it goes to wonder what if they didn't have their key absentees...