Special and controversial moments? Each match had some. In Brazil vs Chile, the opening round of 16 clash, we had Hulk’s handball which disallowed his goal, but more than anything there was Gonzalo Jara with the penalty kick miss. In the later match that day, it was simply about James Rodriguez scoring the best goal of the tournament, and then adding a simpler one.
A day later most of the focus went to the match between Mexico and the Netherlands. Giovani Dos Santos scored a great goal, and so did Wesley Sneijder, but for all of the great work Guillermo Ochoa did in the tournament and that specific match, it was all over after Ajren Robben was fouled in the box, giving the Dutch a winning penalty kick.
Manuel Neuer was the star of the show against Germany. Not just his clearances like he’s playing as a centre back, but his amazing ability to cover the entire pitch with just one kick, or his basketball skills when the Algerians were trying to snatch the ball away from him. Lets not forget the free kick “trick” Germany introduced to the world, clumsily we must say.
And the most dramatic finish: United States vs Belgium. Wonodlowski with the miss in the 90th minute that could have sent the USA into the quarterfinals, the hope from Julian Green scoring and the almost perfect free kick trick that needed a better finishing touch.