I almost feel like I need a weekend after this weekend’s World Cup madness.
Just as we have said before, the 2014 FIFA World Cup just keeps on getting better and better and delivering more more surprises around every (short) corner. And this past weekend was no different.
As we are moving into a new phase of the tournament, the teams’ determination and hunger for a win seems to be getting bigger and way more intense.
This weekend we saw a couple of big games, with teams that not only relish in the fact that they have some of the best players in the world (we’re looking at you, Argentina and Portugal) but that they are here to win.
The first of these big games this weekend, was the Argentina and Iran clash on Saturday. Now, we all know that Argentina has a shining star in their team who alone would make many players shiver with fear – Lionel Messi. The man with the golden boot once again had a superb game on Saturday, albeit it only being in the last few moments of the match.
As for Iran – they played their hearts out. Many people were expecting a total thrashing of the Iranian team by the fierce Argentinians. However, things didn’t exactly go that way, with both teams standing at 0 – 0 for most of the match.
It was only in injury time that Messi scored for his country (obviously) and brought the score to a 1 -0 lead for Argentina, who went on to win the match. Good on them, but also kudos to Iran for playing an amazing game of football.
Saturday night also offered up another big game, especially for us Africans. Ghana took on Germany in what was probably one of the hardest and most intense games of the tournament thus far.
As expected, Germany took the lead first, with Mario Goetze scoring in the 51st minute. However, it didn’t take long for Ghana to retaliate, with Andre Ayew scoring the equalizer only three minutes later. The competition then heated up like never before, and then, in the 63rd minute, Ghana scored again putting them in the lead for the first time, 2 – 1.
However, Germany did not back down and, although we were hoping for a Ghana win, the Germans scored another equalizer in the 71st minute, making the final score 2 -2.
Sunday night brought us three exciting games. First of which was Belgium vs Russia.
Once again, the favour was tipped towards Belgium, but the game proved to be way more of a surprise. Both Belgium and Russia played a tough game. Determined to score first, neither team actually scored a goal until the very end of the game.
In the last minute, however, Belgium did prove the critics right with scoring a goal and bringing the final score to 1 – 0. Needless to say, they were very happy.
Next up saw another African country in the limelight. Algeria took on South Korea in a game that saw way more goals than we have come to expect from these World Cup matches.
Algeria, also being the underdog, made African hearts jump out of their chests as they scored the opener in the 26th minute. While Algerian fans was still recovering from this amazing feat, the Algerians scored again, a mere two minutes later making the score a very comfortable 2 – 0.
And the, much to the disbelief of many, just before half time the Algerians did it again and scored another goal in the 38th minute. The score at half time was almost unbelievable with Algeria leading 3 goals to none.
The second half, however, brought on a strong Korean attack. The South Koreans scored for the first time in the 50th minute making the score 3 – 1. However, this only seemed to light yet another fire in the algerian team, who proceeded to score again in the 62nd minute.
After a long battle, the South Koreans did manage to score one more goal in the 72nd minute – but it was too late to redeem themselves and in an incredible accomplishment the Algerian team won their match 2 – 4.
The final game on Sunday was the highlight of the weekend; Portugal vs USA.
In yet another tough match (with screaming fans for both USA and Portugal in full attendance at the stadium) the game of the weekend kicked off. The odds were pretty much 50/50, with critics divided.
But, in the first 5 minutes, Portugal proved that they are one of the bigger teams with Nani scoring the opener.
This seemed to frighten the USA team a little and assure Portugal, as no one scored again in the first half. With score standing at 1 – 0 at the start of the second half, it was clear that team USA was back for a vengeance.
Jermaine Jones scored the US’ first goal in the 64th minute and needless to say, made the game way more interesting.
Then, with everyone on the edge of their seats, team USA smashed Portugal fans’ hearts as they scored again, taking the lead 2 -1 in the 81st minute.
As the time ran up and it was look to be a done deal for USA, Cristiano Ronaldo quickly reminded us why he is one of the best players in the world. With an amazing display of footwork, the hunky star passed the ball to Silvestre Alvera, who needed a beautiful goal in the 95th minute – making the intense game a draw.
A lot of teams’ future depends on games this week. Will your favorite make it through? You’ll have to watch and see!