From Sao Paolo to Rio de Janiero: A to Z of World Cup

A: Awful Asia
For the first time since 1990, Asia’s representatives returned home without a single victory. Australia, Korea, Japan and Iran managed only three draws.

B: Bite
Uruguay forward Luis Suarez appeared to bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in their 1-0 win and Fifa slapped the Uruguayan forward with a four-month ban.

C: Costa Rica
Nobody gave Costa Rica a chance to reach the last 16 from a ‘Group Of Death’ having three former winners. But they surprised them before falling to Dutch goalie Tim Krul’s heroics on penalties at the quarterfinals.

D: Didier Deschamps
Didier Deschamps returned Les Bleus to the top of world and will be among the favourites in Euro 2016.

E: England
Like many recent outings, Brazil was another easily forgettable one as England were eliminated at the group stage.

F: Freekicks
There were only three direct free-kicks scored at these finals, the fewest since 1986. In 2010, five were scored, whereas nine found the back of the net in 2006 and 2002.

G: Goals, goals and goals
There were only seven barren draws with 171 goals scored.

H: Hands of Howard
USA goalkeeper Tim Howard made a record of 16 saves in their last 16 clash with Belgium. It earned him a presidential call from the White House.

I: Injuries
The tournament was amiss several stars and others were left cursing. Neymar, Suarez, Sergio Aguero, Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria also suffered injuries.

J: James Rodriguez
The Colombian baby-faced star became the first player to score in his first five career World Cup appearances since Peru’s Teófilo Cubillas.

K: Klose record
Miroslav Klose took home his first World Cup winner’s medal and also become the all-time goal scorer with 16 goals.

L: Luiz
The photo of David Luiz consoling James after the Colombia match went viral on wires and will be one of the quintessential images of this tourney.
M: Messi
He finally stepped out of Diego Maradona’s shadow as Argentina’s star man. He won four man-of-match awards and also took the ‘consolation’ Golden Ball prize.

N: Neymar
The Brazilian superstar lived up to the billing with four goals and an assist in five games before his light dimmed. He scored the 100th goal of the competition in Brazil’s 100th game in World Cup finals history.

O: Officiating
The standard of refereeing was questioned with Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura giving Brazil a soft penalty against Croatia in the

opener but later, it became clear that referees had been ordered to be more lenient.

P: Pitbull
The Latin American rapper’s World Cup anthem ‘We Are One’ was not as popular as Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’ of 2010, but it proved good enough.

Q: Queen’s kiss
When England’s chances of progressing slid to the hands of Italy, Azzurri striker Mario Balotelli ‘demanded’ for a kiss from the Queen to do England a favour. But Costa Rica beat the 2006 champions 1-0.

R: Records tumble before Russia
History was made as all eight group stage winners progressed to the quarter-finals stage for the first time.

S: Substitutions
There were more goals scored by substitutes in this World Cup than in any previous edition (32) including 22-year-old super Mario Goetze’s winner in the final.

T: Torment to Tears
The hosts’ fans and players set the tone with an emotional rendition of their national anthem but the 7-1 defeat in Belo Horizonte left every corner of the country weeping hard.

U: Uefa
Teams from Uefa have now won the last three World Cups, the first time a single confederation has won three-in-a-row.

V: Vanishing spray
Fifa referees used the special spray to paint a temporary white line 10 yards from the free kick spot, marking the safe area into which opposing players cannot encroach.

W: Water breaks
Fifa implemented water cooling breaks in view that temperatures in Brazil can rise to scorching levels of over 32°C and the first was during the Dutch’s 2-1 round-of-16 victory over Mexico.

X: Xhedran Shaqiri
Swiss man Xhedran Shaqiri scored a hat-trick in the Group E win over Honduras. It was the 50th treble in World Cup history and the second of the tournament.

Y: Yellow
The host country embraced the tournament absolutely, with everything, including roads, painted yellow and green, and colourful ticker tape strung up everywhere. Brazil played seven matches and each one prompted the entire country to turn canary yellow.

Z: Zuniga
Juan Zuniga must be the most hated footballer in Brazil, more than their own Fred and Hulk who failed to sparkle. The Colombian defender’s challenge got Neymar injuring his vertebra during his side’s 2-1 defeat. Organisers had to offer him special security thereafter.