Ofz the Tournament.

With the 2014 World Cup preparing for its big finale and there being absolutely nothing on TV it seems like a good time to look back at the bests of the tournament.

For best match I think an honourable mention has to go to the Group B game between the Netherlands and Chile. Although this was a completely dead rubber with both teams having already qualified for the knock-out stages it did provide both sides with an opportunity to showcase how the tactical aspects of the game are supposed to work. As such both teams spent the first 75 minutes carefully choosing their positions on the pitch and precisely passing between themselves to mix probing attacks with periods of controlled possession in an effort to force the other to make a mistake. The Dutch of course then raised things in the last 15 minutes with Leroy Fer putting them 1-0 up in the 77th minute and Memphis Depay making sure of it in the 91st minute (90+ 3mins stoppage) with a goal that has stood him in good stead to in the young player of the tournament contest. However while this game had the football purists stroking their beards in admiration of the tactical display I think it lacked the excitement and passion to really qualify as the game of the tournament.

The opposite is probably true of the Group F game between Argentina and Iran. Although the football on display here was competent it was far from exemplary but that was more than made up for in the tension and drama of the match. As eventual finalists and counting the magician Lionel Messi amongst their ranks Argentina went into the game as clear favourites against an unfancied Iranian team that would eventually leave the competition with only 1 goal and a single point from a 0-0 draw against a mis-firing Nigeria. So great was Argentina's supposed superiority that there was an expectation that they wouldn't just defeat Iran but beat them by a margin that would equal Portugal's 7-0 defeat of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North Korea) at the 2010 World Cup or even threaten the all time World Cup finals winning margin of 10-1 that was set in the 1982 tournament when Hungary defeated El Salvador.

As a result I - as a neutral - spent the first 15-20 minutes thinking that at any second Argentina would start scoring and Iran would be destroyed. The next half an hour or so was spent thinking; "This is definitely going happen." Then as no goal came there was another 15-20 minutes where you started thinking that maybe it wasn't going to happen at all. Optimism started to raise its head at around 75 minutes when you started to think that not only might Iran not lose the match they may even go on to win. That hope was then dashed in the cruelest of ways when Messi turned on the magic in the 92nd minute with a spectacular 25 yard goal that saved Argentina's blushes but left all the neutrals slightly dejected but mainly emotionally exhausted.

I think the honour of "Game of the Tournament" though has to go to the Group B contest between Australia and the Netherlands. Again it had the David versus Goliath element of the Argentina V Iran game with the Netherlands coming in to the match off the back of a 5-1 trouncing of the reigning World Champions Spain against Australia coming in off the back of a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Chile. However Australia then produced a fast-paced pressing game that saw them press the Dutch at every opportunity which not only restricted the Dutch's trademark tactical game but also saw Australia displaying extensive tactical know-how of their own.

This produced as genuine end-to-end game with both sides matching each other almost blow for blow in attacking stakes. This was unlike say the Honduras V Ecuador game which only appeared end-to-end because both sides kept hoofing the ball from one end of the pitch to the other without producing any real chances. The Netherlands drew first blood in the 20th minute when Arjen Robben put them 1-0 up but very much setting the tone for the game Australia came back inside just 72 seconds when Tim Cahill levelled things with a spectacular volley. The game then turned in Australia's favour in the 52nd minute when Daryl Janmaat conceded a penalty the Mile Jedinak slotted away to give Australia an unexpected 2-1 lead. Again though the lead didn't last long with Robin van Persie equalising just 6 minutes later in the 58th minute. Australia very nearly took the lead again just 10 minutes later with Tommy Oar finding himself one-on-one with the Dutch 'keeper only resist taking a shot in favour of passing to an unprepared Matthew Leckie who fluffed his shot.

Just 40 seconds after that the Netherlands charged up the pitch and Memphis Depay let fly with a shot from 30-40 yards out. This proved to be the winning goal and rather summed up the game because Depay's shot was highly skilled and very impressive. However displaying almost equally impressive skill Mat Ryan - the Australian 'keeper saw the shot coming and dived with his hands being exactly where the ball should have been. Unfortunately the ball skimmed the pitch on its way in taking it just centimetres beyond Ryan's fingertips. So this great battle between the two sides was ultimately won and lost on luck alone.

As for the goal of the tournament every time I think about it quickly ends up giving me a headache. That's because I find myself saying things like; "Actually neither van Persie nor Robben's goals against Spain were really good enough" and that's normally a sign that you've started to lose your mind. However, in no particular order, my favourites include;

Gervinho's goal for Cote d'Ivorie against Columbia because it displayed the individual skill that took him past three defenders before blasting home a shot from deep inside the penalty area.

James Rodriguez's goal for Columbia against Uruguay because he first displayed the vision to get himself into space before chesting the ball to turn past the defender before volleying the ball home for 20-25 yards out.

Tim Cahill's goal for Australia against the Netherlands. As with Rodriuez's goal against Uruguay Cahill also showed great vision by getting himself into position before showing great skill by volleying the ball home from distance. However looking at them side by side I can't help but feel Cahill's goal is slightly better because the pass comes in from much further out and Cahill only needed the single touch to score a net buster of a goal.

Gonzalo Higuain's goal against Belgium. Although Higuain displayed great skill sweeping the ball into the net what really made this goal special for me was the skill shown by Messi whose dribbling pulled Vincent Kompany out of position before his pass found Di Maria who quickly passed it onto Higuain who had found the space where Kompany should have been. As such rather than showing a moment of brilliance from one player this goal showed three players of great skill combining to score and I think that element of teamwork is often forgotten in greatest goal competitions.

20:50 on 11/7/14 (UK date).