Things we learned from the group stages

So, with the conclusion of two weeks of top class and highly entertaining FIFA World Cup football action during the group stages in Brazil we now get to the vital stage of the tournament, the knock-out round of the last 16 and boy oh boy have there been some surprises.

With an average of three goals per match this World Cup is definitely one of the most interesting one of the most exciting in history.

This is what we have learned from the tournament’s group stages so far:

Teething problems

All the talk this week has been about Uruguayan and Liverpool striker Luis Suarez’s brain-fart in the Group D encounter against Italy. The player, who has featured in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in his career, sunk his teeth into Italian centre-back Giorgio Chiellini. Clearly the player has major psychological issues. This is the third time in his career that he has chomped on an opponent in a move that was last seen in the yard of a pre-school. A nine match international football ban as well as a complete four month ban from all football activity by FIFA seems like a fortunate escape for Suarez.

Click the video below to see his three bites:

Some memes that have done the rounds on the web since Suarez’s bite:

Form is temporary, class is permanent

When Joachim Low needed a goal in his German team’s highly competitive encounter with Ghana, after falling 2-1 down courtesy of an Asamoah Gyan goal, he introduced a 36-year-old substitute who is renowned for scoring important World Cup goals. The striker entered the fray and scored with his first touch of the ball (a header) to ensure a draw for his nation. This goal also equaled Ronaldo’s (the Brazilian) all-time World Cup goal record of 15 and there is still time for the Lazio man to extend this incredible achievement before the tournament ends.

The superstar hasn’t caved to pressure

With the hopes of the host nation firmly fixed on the shoulders of striker Neymar Jnr, the Barcelona player with the blonde highlighted locks has not succumbed to this huge pressure. Despite the Mexico game where he and his team failed to score a goal he has managed to find the back of the net on four occasions.

Bon voyage to the big names

What do Wayne Rooney, Andres Iniesta, Andrea Pirlo and Cristiano Ronaldo have in common? All of these players’ nations are out of football’s showpiece event after initially being shoo-ins to advance to the next stage of the World Cup. With these teams falling out it has opened the door for surprise packages like Costa Rica to show their mettle in the Last 16. Players like Pirlo will certainly never grace a World Cup field again as they retire from international football.

Africa’s last hopes

With Cameroon, Ghana and the Ivory Coast eliminated from the World Cup the Mother Land now has just two representatives in the last 16: the -erias of Algeria and Nigeria. Algeria seemed the more convincing of the two in their Group H games but both will have extremely difficult opponents to face in the last 16, being Germany and the USA.