The thrills, spills and chills of group stage

There was the shambolic Samba Boys and then there was Neymar. Somewhere across, the indifferent Argentines and Messi. We had Costa Rica and then Suarez. A cast of star-studded defending champions turned tourists as their skipper keeper turned morphed from Casillas to Curse-llas. At another end, there was the equaling of the all-time WC goal record. This is a Fifa World Cup to live. Ivory Coast spilled it, Yuichi Nishimura and Luis Suarez suffered chills, while Costa Rica and Netherlands served up the thrills. There will be apologies for Cristiano Ronaldo, whose Portugal was turned into 4turgal as he has lived up to the billing of changing haircuts. He is the only ‘star’ looking out of place. Now, did you lose money in bets? Well, betting is not a good idea. This is not a betting column, but just a prediction one to add to the thrills of the soccer extravaganza. Before the tournament, my semifinalists were Germany, Argentina, Uruguay and Switzerland. But from the way things are panning, it looks like I have hit hot air. Switzerland will face Argentina, meaning one of my top four is out. I never saw Spain’s shock exit coming, but I had it perfect that Brazil will be a shadow of its past glory, Italy would beat the dust, Cote d’Ivoire would go painfully short and Ghana would flatter to deceive. We also got it that Nigeria would join Argentina in Group F progression, and that Germany would make a light meal of Portugal. But we did not even have the wildest imagination that Suarez would ‘bite’ an opponent. The standard of officiating have been a tad disappointing so far, but there is hope that as the Nishimuras are sent home, the remaining crop of match officials will give fans value for money. Let’s welcome the knock-out stages and live the euphoria that is World Cup. Expect penalties but before we get there, I am off to consulting with my Octopusy.

Sports

The thrills, spills and chills of group stage