10 most memorable moments from the 2014 FIFA World Cup

After years of preparation and anticipation, the 2014 FIFA World Cup has finally come to an end, and boy was it a greatride. With a total of 171 goals scored over the span of one month, this World Cup became the joint highest-scoring World CupwithFrance 98. And, we are not just talking about the goals here.A World Cup in itself tends to be one of the most memorabletournamentsfor a football fan, and the 2014 World Cup definitely had moments which made it special. Not everyone would have seen Miroslav Klose break Ronaldos record of 15 World Cup goals, or Luis Suarezs biting Giorgio Chiellini, or even Mario Gtze scoring the World Cup winner.The English authorTerry Pratchett had once said,The thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football. So in this slideshow we bring you the ten best moments from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

#1 David Luiz consoling James Rodriguez after Colombia were eliminated

Colombia’s stellar campaign at the World Cup came to an end after their 2-1 loss to Brazil in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup, and that also meant that the tournament’s best player until then, James Rodriguez, had to pack his bags.

The 22-year-old couldn’t bear the thought of that, and ultimately broke into tears as he had worked so hard, scoring six goals from five matches in the tournament, to keep Colombia’s hopes alive. But, David Luiz, who had earlier scored the winning goal from a free-kick intervened, and consoled the young midfielder. He also called out to the crowd to give Rodriguez a standing ovation.

Talking to reporters following the match, James Rodriguez said, “He told me I was a good player. The truth is that having so many superstars hugging me did make me happy. We have to raise our heads now and thank Colombia for their support.”

He added, “We are sad because we wanted to keep going and set new records. We gave everything to reach the semi-final, but we have to be proud because we played a great side. I'm crying because we gave everything we had inside of us. The referee didn't help us. Men cry too."

#2 The day a whole nation cried

Coming from a victorious Confederations Cup campaign, Brazil stood as one of the favourites to clinch the World Cup, especially as they were playing in front of their home fans with their expectations that loco hero Neymar would lead them to their sixth title. The stage was set, the stadiums were pumped, and the tournament served as an excuse for the Brazilian people to forget about the burning struggle that was going on in the country.

However, things didn’t turn out as anticipated as six minutes is all to took for the Germans to extinguish all their hopes, as they cruised to a shocking 7-1 victory in their semi-final encounter.

“The problem partly was Brazil either got too carried away in the Neymar hype, or let themselves be carried away with it,” wrote Sportskeeda correspondent at Brazil, Sujay Sharma. “For all his match-winning goals in the Confederations Cup or even in this World Cup to date, Neymar is no Pele, and hasn’t actually achieved that much on the European, Continental, or Global football scene.”

“So for an entire nation, that too with such a history, pedigree, & football DNA such as Brazil to raise the paranoia levels to this extent seemed absurd, almost delusional, and wholly uncalled for. Then the team wears ForcaNeymar caps pre-match and holds up his T-Shirt during the anthem. Was playing a strong team such as Germany in the World Cup semi-final even on their minds?”

If this defeat wasn’t enough, Brazil went onto suffer yet another loss, but this time it was at the hands of the Dutch. In a matter of two games, Brazil had conceded 10 goals ending their campaign with the worst defensive record in the tournament.

#3 Tim Cahill\'s stunner against the Netherlands

After conceding a goal to a solo effort from the man-in-form Arjen Robben, Australia bounced backed immediately through a lethal volley from Tim Cahill, who was left un-marked inside the penalty box.

The Australian launched a deadly volley with his weaker foot, just a minute after Robben's goal. The goal will surely go down as a career highlight for Cahill, and certainly one of the tournament's best.

One of the funniest aftermaths of the goal was, however, a clip of an Australian commentator with a pretty thick accent, reacting to the goal with five simple words, “Get f***ked. Get absolutely f***ked.”

#4 Oops!... I Did It Again - Luis Suarez

From being a National hero to a player everyone despises, Luis Suarez has seen several ups and downs in his career. However, he overplayed his hand in this World Cup after he bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during a group stage encounter. This wasn’t the first offence of this sort for the Uruguayan, who had done the same during his Ajax days when he was banned for seven matches, followed by another incident of him biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovi for which he was banned for ten games.

He has now been banned from all football activities for four months, and will also be forced to sit out of nine international matches, and has a whole lot of restrictions imposed on him.

#5 Miroslav Klose breaks Ronaldo\'s 12 year old record

Germany’s Miroslav Klose is one of the most loved and respected athletes, and why wouldn’t he be? The former Bayern Munich star is known to be a very modest player with heart of a lion and passion for the game you would see in kids. Probably, the whole world, except for the Brazilians of course, celebrated Klose’s goal as he overtook Ronaldo as the tournament’s all-time highest goal scorer during his team's shocking runaway 7-1 victory over Brazil in the semi-finals.

It was depressing for many of the supporters to see him not celebrating the goal with his ceremonial front-flip. However, given how close he was to hurting himself the last time he had performed the flip against Ghana, probably the decision to not do one was likely a wise choice for the 36-year-old.

#6 Neymar carried off the pitch on a stretcher

"My dream has not yet ended, it was momentarily put on hold due to an incident, but it is still alive. I am sure my team-mates will make sure that I can achieve my dream, which is to be a World Cup champion,” said a defeated Neymar, not defeated by any team, but by an injury that shattered millions of Brazilians hopes.

When the tournament’s poster boy Neymar was being carried off the pitch on a stretcher after being kneed hard in his lower back by Juan Camilo Zúñiga, the whole of Brazil knew that it was the end of their biggest star’s World Cup campaign. Neymar suffered a fractured vertebra, and was forced to miss the remainder of the tournament.

It was an emotional moment for Neymar who now has a long layoff ahead of him.

#7 Miguel Herrera: The most passionate manager of them all

One of the major highlights of the tournament was to see Mexico head coach Miguel Herrera celebrate his heart out whenever his team would score. Now, this might not sound interesting enough right now, but once you see the passion the man has for his team, you would agree with me. And yes, he is just as energetic when he feels his team was wronged.

He had gained a lot of attention for his energetic and passionate goal celebrations, so much so that someone made a Super Saiyan edit out of his celebrations from his Club America days.

#8 The saddest man in Brazil

Images of sad Brazillian fans started emerging on social media following Brazil’s humiliating 7-1 defeat at the hands of Germany in their semi-final tie.

Among many of those disheartened fans, a fan called Clovis Acosta Fernandes, who is also known as ‘Gaucho da Copa’ was caught on camera broken hearted while holding onto the World Cup replica tight. He was given the nickname ‘Gaucho da Copa’ due to his look that included a hat, scarf and boots that resembles the traditional gaúcho attire.

Watching him cry was not a very pleasant sight, considering his passion for Brazil. He however became the Internet’s new hero after he gave away the replica cup that he was holding onto throughout the match to a German fan following Brazil’s defeat.

This was the seventh World Cup that Fernandes had attended, having travelled to 66 countries to support his nation as their “12th man” in the stands. He is said to have been to a total of 154 matches including the seven World Cup matches this year, 6 Copa Américas, 4 Confederation Cups and one Olympics.

Read more about him here.

#9 The flying Dutchman

A moment is all you need to separate yourself from the ordinary, and Robin van Persie’s unique and one of a kind header was one of those moments that people will talk about for years to come.

Several reasons made the goal unique but him getting the best of Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas with a stunning diving header right before half time was the primary one. Coming from a great assist by Danny Blind, followed by great positioning by van Persie himself, and then him chipping in the goal from a diving header almost 15 yards out, left one of the best goalkeepers of our generation clueless. All of these added up to a goal which was perhaps the best goal to have been scored in this tournament.

#10 Mario Gtze emulates Andres Iniesta

This goal may not have been the most stunning goal of the tournament, however its importance and timing was reason enough for it to be one of the moments to remember from the tournament.

Mario Gotze’s World Cup winning goal came in the second half of extra time after a brilliant pass through two defenders from Andre Schürrle, found Gotze right in front of goal with the Bayern Munich playmaker making no mistake as he successfully beat Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero with a left-footed shot.

Following his goal, the Bayern Munich playmaker said, “It’s an unbelievable feeling. I don’t know how to describe it. I just took the shot and didn’t know what was happening. It’s unbelievable. For us, the dream has become a reality.”

This is the goal that will make the Borussia Dortmund fans forgive him for leaving them; also the goal that will probably earn him free beer all over the nation.