Badru Banerjee on the highs and lows of Fifa World Cup 2014

Every four years we get to watch an entertaining show of football skill and technique. It’s a treat for those of us who have played the game and we really cannot afford to miss anything. Although I could not keep awake for the late night games, specially at the group stage and the knock-out stage, from the quarter-finals onwards I have fought sleep to watch these important fixtures. Like all other things in the world today, football is also coming in a colourful and glamorous package. To a large extent, those who are watching the tournament, are liking this. But for players like us, there is much more to the game than just this. Football is a mind game, played using the whole body. Today, however personal skill has lost its place because of speed and professionalism.

Not just the Fifa World Cup, but the game as a whole has changed a lot. I feel that players have a terrific task ahead as speed, skill and strength have taken priority in the game. It’s a do or die situation for every team because each match involves a lot of money and each player’s performance decides his future. Eventually, football turns into rugby and players play a rough and tough game. This has become all the more evident in this year’s tournament. It has reached a crescendo with good players being frequently and severely injured on the field. I want to point out Neymar’s case in the quarter-finals. His injury has shocked and disappointed me to a great extent. Since, the game has become more of a battle, I feel that good players ought to have control over themselves on the field. They always have to keep this in mind that they could be injured at any point of time because their opponents are always ready to get them. When we were young, we suffered injuries in the leg or foot. Now, players are severely injured in the body. Neymar is still immature in a number of ways and I feel his coach should groom him well. After all, he has to continue playing football all his life and cannot afford such severe accidents on the field. Strangely, a lot of foul play is being allowed in the tournament this year. I was surprised that 54 fouls were allowed in the Brazil vs Columbia quarter-final. I wonder what the referees were doing.

Football passion is everywhere, specially during the World Cup. However, I feel that being the host country, Brazilians are becoming too emotional. With every goal, they start weeping like children.

James Rodriguez, the find of Fifa World Cup 2014, says Rahim Nabi

I am trying hard to watch all the games of the World Cup this year, even the late night fixtures. For players like me, it is not just the fun of watching the game but I also get to learn a lot about what is going on in international football. Of course, the excitement increases from the knock-out stage when the teams are all giving a tough fight to reach the semis and the final. It will be tough for Argentina at the semi-finals as the Dutch are a strong team. Germany and The Netherlands are consistently playing well in this tournament and I think Argentina will have to fight hard to reach the final.

On the whole I did not quite enjoy the tournament as much this year. I felt that all the teams were playing the same way. The difference in playing style of each team did not show so much. As far as the game is concerned, I think Germany and The Netherlands are the best teams this year in World Cup. Brazil and Argentina have a huge glamour quotient for which they have such a huge fan following across the world.

Traditionally, football lovers believe these two teams will always make it to the top in every World Cup. Of course, their team heroes’ striking performances always add to the fans’ frenzy in the tournament and they cheer loudly with every small good move that the player makes on the field.

But yesterday it was catastrophic. I am an Argentina fan but even then I did not expect that Brazil would lose in this fashion. Seven goals in a World Cup semi-final match! I think they were joking. They had taken the game too lightly. The team was extremely disorganised. It looked more like a para football match where boys play just to pass the time. It was disgraceful for a team like Brazil to lose this way, specially on home turf.

In the second semi-final, Argentina will be missing Angel di Maria and, again, will only depend on Messi to take the team to the final. There hasn’t been any particularly outstanding performance in this World Cup. But yes, some of the teams have depended on one particular player who takes the lead. For Argentina, it was Messi all the way, while Netherlands depends a lot on Arjen Robben to take them ahead. Germany, on the other hand, has played a team game. One particular player that I liked in this year’s World Cup was James Rodriguez.

Our columnists penned these articles after the first semi-final match

Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben at work

Speed, strength and stamina

Football is a man’s game and crying makes them weak both in body and mind. Why is the coach allowing this? To sustain a tournament of this magnitude, players have to be both mentally and physically fit and lot of this is the coach’s responsibility.

The teams have also become one-man army. Argentina, for instance, depends solely on Messi. The Netherlands is also pulling through because of Arjen Robben. Only Germany is playing a consistent, speedy team game. Thomas Müller is, obviously, a leading player of the team. Earlier, although there would be one outstanding player in the team, there would be other good players who would provide support to that player and not just completely depend on one person.

Germany’s Thomas Müller going strong

When Pele was a star, he found support in the likes of Garrincha, Vava and other players. When Maradona shot to fame, after his performance in the 1986 World Cup, he also had support from his team. I had the fortune of watching the matches from the quarter-finals onwards of the 1986 tournament live at the stadium in Mexico. Although Argentina shot to fame after Maradona’s success, there were other players earlier in the team like Mario Kempes, who brought the World Cup for Argentina in 1978 and also received the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals that year.

Messi is another prolific player, who, I must admit, has excellent footwork. I like to watch how he moves through the field, avoiding his opponents and swiftly changing course the moment he is obstructed in front. However, the quarter-final between Argentina and Belgium seemed like a one-sided game. Belgium gained momentum late, after they were down 1-0. Its useless watching uneventful games where teams are playing tiki-taka, short passing and movement, working the ball through various channels and maintaining possession of the ball. There is no hurry or motivation to score and they were just wasting time. In our time, we would give 100 per cent right from the word go.

The tournament has reached a tough stage. The semi-finals and final will be crucial matches. Initially, I had great expectations from Spain, since the same team that had played the last World Cup is playing this year as well. But they highly disappointed me. After being world champions, they lost disgracefully this year.

I had quite expected this fate of Brazil this year because the team has all newcomers. A good team should have a mix of both old and new players like Germany and Netherlands. The older experienced players can guide the younger ones on the field. None of the players of the Brazil team are experienced enough to play the World Cup. There was no co-ordination between players. A match like this involves a strong mind. As I said before, speed, strength and stamina are the key words for playing World Cup football.

But the game is still on as we are yet to witness some good matches. My World Cup tagline this year is ‘Goal the Ball and bring Cup of Joy’ and everyone will put up a good fight.

Mexican goalie Guillermo Ochoa saves yet another

Every player’s career at stake

I think he is a fantastic player with excellent left foot skill. This is his first World Cup and he has played very good football. I have always been an Argentine fan and I think Maradona was outstanding in the 1986 World Cup. In the semi-finals, it is evident that most teams will play a defensive game. No one will want to leave his home unprotected and the aim is to win. Every player’s career is at stake. The losers really do not want to play for third position. They are compelled to play for third position because that is the rule of the tournament, but the teams, naturally, lack motivation and enthusiasm.

Personally, I would have loved to watch Brazil and Argentina reach the final and fight a tooth and nail battle on the field. But that is not to be. Leave the action at the Estádio Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, the reaction in our own Calcutta and Howrah would have been mind boggling. However, now with Brazil eliminated, the Cup fever shall not be the same.

But even now with Argentina having a good chance to make it to the finals, there will be a huge sale of Argentina team T-shirts at the sports stores, giant screens will be up in localities and lakhs will be spent on fireworks and food on July 14 and the following days.