SHOCKS
Check out our in-depth analysis of the World Cup surprises so far
The first round of games are in the books, and boy have there been some surprises! This post is designated to the shocks that there have already occurred during the first 8 days of the World Cup.
Spain
As current World Cup Champions, the home of “tiki taka”, and manager Adrian Heath’s pick to win it all, Spain have certainly not lived up to the hype this time around.
After losing their first two games of the tournament, the La Furia Roja will return to Europe with nothing but tattered dreams and a host of dissatisfied natives waiting for their imminent return.
A Dutch invasion on the Spanish goal led to the ‘Oranje’ taking the treasure of a 5-1 victory. This stunning loss was quickly added to by Chile, who managed to steal a 2-0 win against Vincent del Bosque’s side.
Headers
Goal/Golazo/Gol…whichever word you use; I’m sure it has been on your lips plenty this last week. With the most goals at this stage in a World Cup since 1958, it has been alarming to see that 23% of the goals have come from headers.
The most notable headed goal was in the USA vs. Ghana game, when Johnny Fútbol himself (John Brooks) sent the whole country into hysteria. A reason for all of these headers may be the excellent wing-play during the tournament, which has led to plenty of crosses into the penalty area for strikers to attack.
Ochoa
If anyone has dampened the spirits of the host nation, it was Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. In arguably the most exciting 0-0 draw a World Cup has ever seen, super-stopper Ochoa had 7 saves.
His spectacular reactions have led to some outside rumors that he is actually half-man, half-machine. These rumors are (unfortunately) not true, but his shot stopping ability against Brazil was surely out of this world.
The Guadalajara native did not renew his contract with French club Ajaccio this summer and will be free agent heading into the coming season. After his performances so far, his agent will probably be an extremely busy man in the next few months.
Cards
To be sent off in any soccer game is devastating. To see the referee pull out the red card in a World Cup Tournament can be fatal, and in fact, no team that has received a red card have been able to win so far.
Portugal and Real Madrid defender Pepe was struck by a moment of stupidity when he decided to head-butt German striker Thomas Müller in their opening game in the World Cup. Portugal went on to lose the game 4-0.
Cameroon’s Alexander Song was sent off in the first half against Croatia after doing his best impression of a WWE wrestler’s elbow drop. Croatia ended up winning 4-0.
Uruguay’s Maximiliano Pereira was also sent off against Costa Rica, and as a result, the Costa Ricans came out with a 3-1 victory.
Honduras Wilson Palacios received his second yellow after 43 minutes against France which led to a heartbreaking 3-0 loss.
Klinsmann
We all hoped the US would come out with a win against Ghana, but did we really believe it? Questionable. But after Clint Dempsey’s goal 32 seconds into the game, every supporter meant the words to the chant: “I believe that we will win” at watch parties across the nation.
At 1-1 with 4 minutes left Klinsmann’s substitutions paid off, and the fact that the US managed to get back in the game and score the game winner was both important and surprising.
“Super-subs”
It is no secret that the heat and humidity in Brazil makes the playing conditions considerably harder than other places in the world. The importance of fresh legs has been apparent, as 10 of 49 goals have been scored by substitutes so far.
As earlier mentioned John Brooks won the game for the United States against Ghana. Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens turned the game around for Belgium after coming off the bench in their come-from-behind 2-1 victory against Algeria. For Belgium this is not something new, as half of their game-winning goals in the qualifiers were netted by substitutes.
