WORLD CUP 2014 -THE WEAK TEAMS

                                            

In every competition there must be winners and losers, however, what is more hurting is to be ranked among the weaker sides. This sparks doubts on the kind of preparation a team had prior to the tournament. With the competition already past its group stages heading into the quarterfinals, some teams have shown how weak and unprepared they were for these finals with an early exit from their groups. One may ask whether these teams were certain of the tournament before actually booking a flight to Brazil. Let’s have a look at the teams which deserved no slot in this cup: 

   Cameroon (0 points, 1 goal, GD -8)

It may be one of their weakest performances ever in any World Cup but the indomitable lions were no more than a name in this competition. This was one of the nations expected from Africa to shine and indeed I can’t hide the fact they were my best from Africa, but as it stood, they messed in everything lost it all and humbly bowed out. Leaving the competition with no points, only a goal to carry home looks shameful and awkward from the once African giants. Indeed this is not the Cameroon with green kits and red shorts that almost got every opponent scared when they took to the pitch. They flawed in maintaining discipline in all their three matches. The team had rich squad but failed to deliver. It was unfortunate missing their all-time top scorer and captain Samuel Eto’o in their last two matches due to injury but still other bigger names failed to take over. Barcelona’s Alex Song showed less of his professionalism and was red carded against Croatia. Benoit Assou- EKotto too could not stand up for his nation only to clash with fellow teammate Benjamin Moukandjo during their match with Croatia. How on earth with all his due respect and professionalism can he do that! More should be done to revive the team including sending their current coach packing. He gave nothing more than hopeless to the team. He failed as a coach to unite his team and there is no doubt his days are numbered. To me, this is the worse team in the tournamen.

   Honduras (0 points, 1 goal, GD -7)

Here comes another team which was sent out mercilessly, from group E. Suffering a 3-0 mauling by France before getting their lone goal in a 2-1 loss to Ecuador and finally paving the way for Switzerland with a 3-0 defeat. Unlike Cameroon, Honduras played with discipline however could not produce enough to earn even a point from their group. That was another poor performance from another team that should not have made it to the finals or at least needed more time to prepare.

 Australia (0 points, 3 goals, GD -6)

Another astonishing surprise came from Australia which too failed to garner even a single point from their group. They however displayed good games against Netherlands and Chile but could not keep up with their opponents. Although they had a tough group to pull through, they gave their best and came close to pulling a shocking win against the Dutch and also have one of the best goals in the tournament, an equalizer from Cahill in the match.

 Japan (1 point, 2 goals, GD -4)

This tournament will always stick on the Japanese minds for long, quitting at the group stages being that they were the first country to qualify for the finals. Much was expected from this side who boast of Honda and Kagawa but the best they could produce was a barren draw with the Greek. They suffered a 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast and went on to receiving a 4-1 humiliation by Colombia in their final group game. Despite having more time to prepare as other teams were still competing for their chances, the Japanese team was short of what we all needed from them. 

 England (1 point, 2 goals, GD -2)

It is always the same story for the English side, struggling to find themselves with the bigger teams despite boasting of a wealthy squad.  A star-studded side with great players like Daniel Sturridge, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerard, Garry Cahill, Glen Johnson, Sterling and Banes name them, were all but a shadow of their names as they were forced out of the competition with a single point to jet with back and two goals from Sturridge and Rooney. This team has always failed to impress their fans and this time they were forced to settle at the bottom of their group despite being one of the favorites to proceed to the next rounds The mystery of the team’s poor performance on bigger platforms seem not to have any solution but with emerging young stars, a better and more successful squad can be built for the coming competitions.

 Iran (1 point, 1 goal   GD -3)

Here comes the last team in my least that also deserved no allocation in the tournament. Although they managed to earn a point against Nigeria in a goalless draw, their game plan was not much effective. All they reminded me of was Mourinho, the king of that game. They played more of defensive and lacked the killer strikes in the final third. Whenever they play, one would tell they were always ready for a draw from the start. Failure to take their chances well led them to face an early exit from the competition. If indeed they will keep on playing like this, nothing will be expected from this Asian side too soon.