“Jermaine Jones ….OHHHH!” yelled ESPN commentator Ian Darke as United States men’s national team midfielder Jermaine Jones fired a 25-yard shot into the back of the Portugal net. I sprung off my couch and screamed in excitement. It was the first time in my life I saw the United States match up amazingly well against one of the best teams in the world.
This was just one of the hundreds of exciting moments from the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was hosted in Brazil this summer.
Appropriately nicknamed “the month-long festival of football,” the World Cup not only brought the whole nation together but united the entire world.
Watching the World Cup this past summer was undeniably one of the best experiences of my life, not because the United States or the Netherlands, whom I support because of their vibrant and attacking playstyles, won, but because it brought such extreme teeth-clenching and nail-biting excitement to soccer fans all over the world.
One exhilarating moment was the United States’ conquest of the so-called “Group of Death,” a group that contained some fearsome players such as world-renowned Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, respected German captain Philipp Lahm and lethal Ghanaian forward Asamoah Gyan.
Along the way, soccer fans all over the world also discovered young talent such as 23-year-old Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez, famous for his quick technical skills and 19-year-old United States striker Julian Green, known for his finishing ability.
As a final point, this World Cup tied the highest goal-scoring tally in this tournament’s history (171) with the 1998 World Cup hosted in France.
Amidst all the magical moments that the World Cup gave us, there was one in particular that, although not positive, was definitely one of the biggest talking points: Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez’s bite, for the third time in his career, this time on Italian defender Georgio Chiellini in the dying minutes of Uruguay’s playoff-clinching 1-0 victory over Italy on June 26.
A day after this incident, FIFA decided to suspend from Luis Suarez from all football-related activity for four months which included even entering a stadium, therefore ending his World Cup. This was one moment I cherished because I absolutely despise Luis Suarez as a human being because of his despicable actions and the disgraceful personality he imposes on the face of football.
And as if that didn’t incident didn’t add enough drama to the cup, just under a week later, the United States was knocked out by Belgium, leaving me and thousands of soccer fans around the country heartbroken. Despite the loss, however, the United States goalkeeper, Tim Howard, did America proud as he set the record for most saves by a goalkeeper in a World Cup match.
Because the grit the American team showed throughout its World Cup campaign, I was proud to be American and I have decided that rather than dwell upon the Americans’ unfortunate exit, I will cherish their surprising, exciting performance.
My favorite moment of the whole tournament, which brought a smile from ear-to-ear, was the host country’s crushing 7-1 semifinal defeat at the hands of the eventual World Cup champions, Germany. I am strongly against Brazil because of their strong reliance on their forward Neymar Da Silva and center defender Thiago Silva, so seeing Germany completely crush them was special.
The World Cup has been and always will be the greatest sporting event, and the next World Cup in Russia, although four years away, already has me on the edge of my seat.