That there football... (Part 3)

And so, another World Cup has been and gone. Was it the best ever? No, most probably not. That honour still goes to Mexico 70. With Spain 82 & Germany 06 perhaps running them close. However, it was certainly enjoyable, with the prima donnas ousted early enough for new heroes to be welcomed and championed.

England's performance was encouraging enough, Brazil regained some composure after the horrors of the last tournament (despite Neymar's histrionics), Germany's departure made for a little more jeopardy in the latter stages, France glided to victory, Croatia gave everything but came up short, Spain's pre-comp suicide most probably did not have much impact and Ronaldo's vanity still irked enough to detract from his sublime technique. Cavani looked a much better player than I've previously given him credit for and Japan proved shrewd tacticians despite themselves.

There weren't any real downsides, the stadia looked great, the promised violence just didn't kick off and the hosts weren't the no hopers they had been portrayed as. As for Australia, the hype and hoopla back home was always going to be impossible to live up to. The notion that Australia were shoe-in's to escape their group showed a lack of perspective of the world game that will continue to limit the national team's progress in major tournaments. They are still Championship challengers in a Premiership world. The major problem in Australian football is highlighted at junior and club level, where physicality is praised over finesse. It is all very well promoting a Dutch footballing model and imposing 4-3-3 on junior sides but until coaches, clubs and committees recognise that the world of football is ever evolving, they will continually be 20 years behind the world game.