Exams Done... World Cup 2014!

So yeah, after a brutal couple of months, exams are finally over! I guess now it's all about getting on with that uni application. But that can wait for at least a few weeks. Time to relax and enjoy this World Cup! Although viewing has been somewhat hindered over the past couple of weeks, it has not escaped me that this competition has already proved itself to be both exciting and surprising. Despite talks of unfinished stadia and social unrest in the lead up, I think that it's safe to say that the football itself has taken centre stage and has not failed to impress. The stand-out shock headline so far has undoubtably been the unceremonious removal of the defending champions Spain at the very first hurdle. The notion that the "era of Spanish dominance" has come to an end has been lingering in the air since both Spanish club giants suffered significant defeats in the semi-finals of the Champions League at the hands of German clubs and has only been further-catalysed by these two poor performances. Perhaps less of a shock has been the elimination of England, also after just two matches. Although the general consensus amongst the British media in the run-up to their opening game against Italy in Manaus was that the country didn't expect all that much, a nation of football-loving fans hoped and prayed that their squad of inexperienced rookies (plus Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney) could produce the goods in a far-from-straghtforward Group D. Ultimately a few individual mistakes in the first game and a clinical performance from one of the best players in the world in Luis Suárez saw England lose their opening two matches and spell the end of their World Cup dream for at least another four years. However, I genuinely believe that the country should not lose too much heart in the squad or manager Roy Hodgson after this campaign for a number of reasons I will mention later on in the post. There is something about this tournament, from the surprises to the ingenious "vanishing line marker" which suggests that this World Cup is just getting started and will only get better.

So who's going to win it? Minus Spain, all the main contenders are still going strong. Brazil, although unable to get on the scoresheet against Mexico thanks to an inspired performance from the opposition goalkeeper, showed that they can create good opportunities with astutely-worked combination play, and as long as Scolari either gets a lacklustre Fred to start playing or replaces him with Hulk, they should have no problem going far in the competition. Although after only just one showing, Argentina looked good in their opening game against debutants Boznia and Herzegovina at the Maracana. I only managed to catch the first half of the game, but from what I saw of the highly-rated South American outfit they seemed to move the ball around the fastest out of the 32 teams in Brazil. Furthermore, it was great to see Lionel Messi score his first World Cup goal since his debut in 2006 and even better to see the quality of it. Hopefully this will be the World Cup performance the four-time winner of the Ballon d'Or's already gleaming career deserves. In my opinion, if this Argentina side are to go on and win the competition, they must accept that their defence is no longer what it was, with the old guard of Zanetti, Sorín, Ayala and Samuel having retired, and take the Liverpool approach of "we will score more goals than you" which their abundance of quality attacking players allows. Perhaps most emphatic of all was Germany's 4-0 win against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, who admittedly had Pepe sent off early on for a confrontation with Thomas Müller which had his name written all over it. Spain's preemptive exit leaves Germany as Europe's leading representatives in Brazil and many see them as the outright favourites to go all the way and win it. Although Müller will take the plaudits for his hat-trick on Monday, it's important to highlight the importance and quality of performance of Toni Kroos, whose services are seemingly being sought after during every transfer window and who is also keeping the highly-rated Bastian Schweinsteiger out of the starting eleven. He'll certainly be one to watch as the tournament progresses. It may be worth adding the Netherlands to the end of this list as they've also been excellent going forward thus far.

Miroslav Klose's 15th World Cup goal saw him join Ronaldo as the all-time joint-top scorer at the World Cup

Group A should see Brazil qualify comfortably with their last game being against Cameroon who have already been eliminated. The interesting battle is for second place as Croatia take on a Mexico side in Recife who are coming off the back of a surprise draw against Brazil. That said, although a draw is sufficient to see Mexico through, Croatia have been better than their three points suggest and I'd back them to qualify for the last 16 in second place - it will definitely be a tight game! The stand-out player for me has been Ivan Rakitic. It went fairly unnoticed due to the eventual shoreline that he and Luka Modric dominated the centre of midfield against Brazil and the pair were at it once again in their comfortable 4-0 win over Cameroon.

The Netherlands and Chile have already progressed from a tough Group B mathematically but it will be unlikely that either side takes their foot off the pedal as first/second place will be decided in their head-to-head in São Paulo. The whole Dutch team has impressed with left-back Daley Blind, Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie taking most of the headlines. But it cannot be stressed enough (although he cannot be considered unestablished) how important Alexis Sanchez is to Chile and how crazy it is that Barcelona are trying to offload him. With the perfect combination of strength, pace, technical ability and an eye for goal, he has proved himself to be the key to any success Chile go on to have in the knock-out stages of this tournament. It has been frustrating to see Martino consistently leave him (and Pedro) out of the Barcelona side this season due to his reluctance to drop star-signing Neymar. It would be great to see Sanchez play in the Premier League - hopefully, as rumours imply, at Anfield.

Robin van Persie celebrates his headed equaliser against Spain with manager Louis van Gaal

Group C is interesting in that all four of the teams can still go through (Colombia have already qualified). Ivory Coast and Japan have shown glimpses of attacking flair, whilst Greece displayed courage after seeing their captain Katsouranis sent off after 35 minutes in their match against Japan to see out a decent 0-0 draw. With three points on the board, Ivory Coast are favourites to go through with Colombia, but anything short of a win against Greece could see Japan take advantage whilst playing a Colombia side who may not inclined to fight tooth and nail for a win. James Rodríguez has caught the eye with two goals in two games from the midfielder. His successful season at Monaco in 2013/14 saw him named in the Ligue 1 XI and he finished the season with the most assists. Although he is probably not going anywhere due to the luxuries of playing for Monaco it will be great to see him play in the Champions League next year, as well as during the rest of this competition.

Like the first group, Group D is poised with one side already through, one side already out and the two remaining teams playing each other head-to-head for the second qualifying place. Costa Rica have surprised many by winning their first two matches captained by a player who was apparently not good enough to make a relegated Fulham team. They have undoubtably impressed as a team though with Joel Campbell a potential prospect for Arsenal next year. Personally, I have absolutely no idea who'll come out on top between Italy and Uruguay. Italy arguably have that extra bit of quality and security at the back, but a team with Luis Suárez is capable of beating them. Chances are, it'll be a cagey affair with neither team wanting to take any risks. As for England, it's a shame that their most promising youngster in Brazil was Andros Townsend as a pundit for ITV! I'm joking. This team of enthusiastic youngsters is one of the most exciting the country has seen for many years, with new-found talents Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Luke Shaw all showing signs of promise. But this overhaul of youngsters is obviously too much too soon. I am a great fan of Fabiola Capello, but a certain degree of blame must lie with him as he failed to integrate youth into the squad going to South Africa which left Hodgson with, on the one hand, inexperienced, uncapped players in their low twenties and teens and, on the other hand, of ageing veterans. It's therefore imperative that the country stays patient with the manager and waits for the squad to mature. I have no doubt that they will be a much-improved outfit come Russia 2018. The future does indeed look bright.