World Cup 2014: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The world’s most prestigious soccer tournament is down to the final eight teams and has captured the attention of this sports fan through exciting play, surprising parity and of course, the expected occasional controversy.

Once I am able to get past the unbelievable level of faking that goes on on the pitch, and I have been able to accept/ignore it more during this years tournament than in the past, I have come to appreciate this tournament for what it is. A sports spectacle for the masses, that gets all people from all nations talking and waving the flag of their heritage.

Here is the good, the bad and the ugly heading in to the tournament quarterfinals.

The Good

There have been more goals scored in this tournament already than there was in the entire 2010 World Cup, and there seems to be a commitment to an attacking, exciting style of football from many of the competing nations. There have still been many low scoring matches, but the chances are there and there is nothing more exciting in sports than a legitimate scoring chance in soccer, because most times they seem so few and far between.

There aren’t a lot of upsets in soccer on the world stage as the familiarly dominant teams seem to get through time and time again. This year seems to have produced some surprisingly emerging teams such as Columbia, Costa Rica and Chile. The USA was also able to make it out of a group that included Ghana, Germany and Portugal, an accomplishment that has resulted in a surge of tournament interest in States.

Of course, the players are what make the tournament and this tournament has had it’s share of excellent play. Lionel Messi, James Rodriguez, Tim Howard and Neymar quickly come to mind. Most of the stand out players have been the young up and comers, so the future of soccer is in good hands.

The Bad

While i have grown to accept all the diving and referee trickery that goes on in football at the highest level, I still can’t get past the fact that these guys roll around, fake it and act like they have been shot at the slightest of touches. It looks so bad on them when they roll there in “agony” for what seems like an eternity only to spring back up as soon as the appropriate amount of hugs and condolences have been given.

All I can say is that I hope there is never a serious injury on the soccer pitch because the “Never Cry Wolf” attitude may take over and deter the player from getting immediate help.

I’ll put all the political issues and possible civil unrest in the bad category because despite what many including me thought, there have not been many injuries, casualties or disruptions during the games. No games have been stopped or postponed and no one has been seriously injured attending the games and that keeps it out of the ugly category. The issues in Brazil are very real and the people have every right to protest, but it has not had an effect on the tournament from a spectators point of view.

The Ugly

Luis Suarez. There is no excuse for what he did and it certainly put a black mark on the tournament not to mention kill his country’s chances to win. As an athlete, he should be most ashamed at the latter.