2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

The day is here, the celebrations are on full go and the kickoff is mere hours away. The most awaited spectacle and potentially most watched sporting event is about to start at the Sao Paulo's Itaquerao Stadium at 3:15 PM BRT (6:15 PM GMT, 2:15 PM ET, 7:15 PM BST, 11:45 PM IST). A 25- minute opening ceremony will precede the fist World Cup match scheduled an hour and forty five minutes later

While Brazil faces Croatia in the spectacular opening encounter, the ceremony which precedes it will not be less distinguished though. It features a string of performances by acrobats, trampolinists, capoeira performers, stilt walkers, gymnasts to showcase the diversity and beauty of Brazil. Belgian artistic director Daphne Cortez has been overseeing the preparations at Arena de Sao Paulo and the event followed by the match is expected to draw around 60,000 spectators at the stadium and millions of eyeballs on Television and Internet

A display of each participating nation's culture would be followed by a rumored showcasing of a robotic exoskeleton that allows its paraplegic wearer an ability to stand, walk and kick the football. The event will culminate with a rendition of World Cup Anthem "Ole Ola" by Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Caludia Leitte

The song and the opening ceremony can be skipped if you want to spend your last bit of non-footballing time on something else but be there to watch the match 

 The whole event will be streamed live on the FIFA website and all the matches will be covered on this blog, so stay tuned

It is time we sacrifice the work productivity by losing our sleep over football and then by discussing it when we are supposed to sleep to compensate the sleep we lost watching the World Cup. Asians suffer the most due to the timings of the matches mostly suited to European audience and the Americans are bound to miss either their work or the match depending on their not-so-much-obsessed-on-soccer preferences. Australians might be feeling like hell as most of their schedule involves waking up too early or not just going to bed altogether

Brazil World Cup is here and the Countdown ends here, well for some people, it ends tomorrow. For the period of these 32 days, every football fanatic on this planet has a single timezone and it starts with a kickoff ,assisted by an assortment of caffeine based delicacies. I'd assume alcohol would take a side step, at least in the eastern hemisphere, so that the dizziness doesn't kick in when they start kicking the ball in Brazil

Well, there will be easy days where the match ends early, or late depending on where you live, and there are grueling days like the 14th of June where the extravaganza lasts for at least eleven straight hours, and that includes the greasy Manaus encounter between England and Italy. With the exception of the opening day and the final four days, the group stage days involve at most eight hours of football, four and a half hours of game time and breaks in between. The final four group days and the next two knockout rounds involve the familiar back to back schedules most football fans are accustomed with. Even EPL rarely feature three blockbuster matches in a day and yes, all the World Cup matches are blockbusters as the chaos theory says, a tiny fluctuation of a butterfly wings might change the entire course of the tournament. But of course you can and will skip some as it would be physically arduous task to witness 5,760 minutes plus the injury times plus the added extra times plus the penalty shootouts plus the celebrations and a few more things in a matter of less than five weeks

Let's look at the most toilsome days of football on which the unmissable action takes place, you can call sick the next day

While the opening day is must-see as it is the opening day, it just features a single match and Brazil wins it but the trouble starts from day 2. On June the 13th, there's the Spain vs Netherlands match and its neither the first nor the last match of the day and then there's the notorious day 3. Thank the almighty that it's a Saturday as you'll definitely suffer from a non-alcoholic hangover from this weekend and you can't even skip the Sunday especially if you're a die hard France or Argentina fan, the latter would suffer the most as they'd be witnessing a coming of age encounter of Bosnia against the Albiceleste

The parade doesn't end here, it would be followed by an early Monday encounter of Group B giants, Germany and Cristiano Ronaldo. Well, you think you can sleep now!!! What about the Mexico meeting the hosts on Tuesday. This is the toughest first week of a World Cup and at this point you will be forgiven if you skip seemingly pointless encounters of Netherlands and Spain meeting Australia and Chile respectively the next day but the Uruguay beating England is not so skip-worthy. You can cool your heels from Friday as the only highly significant matches take place in Group D mostly like the Tuesday's encounter of Italy against Uruguay but the scene would be set for the knockouts throughout these matches, so keep yourselves updated and utilize the break day well, like by talking to your wife or scheduling that meeting you've been postponing so on.

The Knockouts would start on the 28th of June, a Saturday and the World Cup would feel less painstaking from now as most of the matches are in a sense crucial and you get a hang of managing the times and wives effectively. All the matches from now on are non boring and even when they fail my predictions, the encounters are all watch-worthy

Hope you have a happy World Cup, don't worry, I'll keep you updated

The mega event is just a mere fifty hours away and its time for predictions on the prospects of the teams' progress

Some teams possess amazing talent in their lineup while some teams rely on reputation but most of them rely on the form and fitness of the squad. There are players like Messi and Ronaldo who can turn matches on its face while some squads like Spain and Brazil count on how their team work together to achieve success

In this edition, we look at the teams that have never won the World Cup but due to their vast talent have the caliber to cause an upset on any given day

They reached three World Cup finals and lost all of them, coming within an extra time goal of winning the 2010 edition. They knocked out former champions Uruguay and Brazil on their way to final only to lose against the clinical Spain. They only have one European Championship to their name and have gone winless in the 2012 edition

But what makes them the underdogs? With some strong performances in the qualifying, win 9 wins out of 10 games and a draw, they topped the UEFA Group D and grabbed the automatic qualifying position. Their midfield is ever stronger and has managed to gel efficiently with the strong frontline. Playmaker Sneijder, forward van Persie and winger Robben are in good touch

Their only concern would be that if they fail to beat Spain in their opening group encounter, they are bound to face Brazil and Uruguay, that would be tough when playing in South America, but the Dutch has beaten them in the last tourney and would be confident enough to beat any side on their day

It is Cristiano Ronaldo's and if he's fit enough, he would be a handful to deal with against any team, as witnessed in the playoff match against Sweden where he scored all the four goals in two legs. If he's fit

While Portugal might not be just about their talisman player, although without him, they would be a lot vulnerable. And most of their prospects rests on the shoulders of this years best player

Portugal never fared too well in the biggest tournaments, they reached semifinals of the World Cup just twice and their best European showing is the unlikely final loss to Greece in 2004. But with Ronaldo in exceptional form, and players like Pepe, Nani, Moutinho assisting him, they might get lucky this time

Despite them being the founder members of the FIFA, they never made it big in the world stage, with just a single semi final appearance in the World Cup and a single final appearance at Euros. But the current squad looks like they are the kings of the underdog pack, they don't rely on one particular player. They boast a very good all-round team, talent covering all the bases - defense, attack, set pieces, corners, counter attack, flanks

Belgium managed to score in every match of their unbeaten qualifying campaign, they have players like Hazard, Fellaini, Kompany, Lukaku, Courtois in their ranks, they play a fearless brand of football with a right mix of youth and experience. They are the ones to bank on when facing adversities like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar. They might be the team that could make a difference this World Cup and it would be a fairy tale if that happens

Argentina in 2014 is one of the most settled World Cup teams since that fateful World Cup in 1986, where a diminutive talisman called Diego Maradona managed to gain notoriety and footballing equivalent of immortality in a matter of minutes, while guiding their good enough team to one of the best World Cup Championships, almost "singlehandedly"

Even after leaving out "the people's player" Carlos Tevez, the Argentine attack looks sharper than ever with an amazing forward lineup of Higuain, Aguero, Lavezzi, Palacios and a extraordinary man who's just finding his feet in the national setup, Lionel Messi. The are supported by an efficient group which includes Di Maria, Rodriguez, Mascherano backed up by Zabaleta and Romero

This World Cup, Argentina are not just trying to live up to their name but are a team to beat. And playing in the neighborhood would definitely boost their chances much further. Don't be surprised if they are fighting for the title on July 13th at Rio de Janeiro

One of the most consistent teams at the world stage is one of the most disciplined and powerful as well. Ever since they won that ill tempered final in 1990 final against Argentina, avenging the defeat of four years earlier, Germany played a final, two semifinals and two more quarters. In fact, in their 17 appearances at the finals, they failed to reach quarter finals just twice, the last time in 1978 in Argentina

The physicality, the strength, the defending ability, the attacking calibre and the ever emerging talent had been factors to German consistency at the world stage but their inability to get to and surpass the final is fast becoming the story of a legend itself. But the current team has been blending together beautifully owing much to the strong performances of Bundesliga teams

Manuel Neuer to Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira to Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil to Thomas Muller and then Mertesacker, Kroos, Schuerrle, Klose the German team looks strongest of them all on paper but their performance on the pitch especially in the crucial knockout stages could well define this tourney

Spanish top tier league La Liga is one of the best followed leagues in the world with highly competitive display from the top teams Barcelona, Real Madrid and most recently Atletico. They attract the best talent from the world while retaining the crux of the domestic talent. No wonder Spain has achieved a level of consistency at the top level that it almost feels boring to watch them. Their football follows a predictable path of seamless passing, possession and precision finishing

Spain has been winning everything in the last six years, back-to-back Euro championships sandwiched with a flawless World Cup display and are currently on an enviable run. Everyone in the Spanish national team are supremely talented and knows their role perfectly. The tiki-taka style of play is so efficient that their opponents have no clue what hit them before they start breaking down against some of the beautifully executed maneuvers on display

Although Torres lost his mojo mostly and Villa failed to come back to his venomous touch after injury, players like Casillas, Ramos, Pique, Iniesta, Xavi, Silva, Alonso, new comer Costa et al could make the first squad in almost every club or national football teams all over the world. But, yes there's a but, the Spanish team, like their erstwhile deadly strikers, have been ever so slightly showing signs of being past their prime, like when they lost the Confederations Cup finals and there's the fact that no European team ha won a World Cup in South America. But like they did in Africa, they could be the first, if they can get past the continental giants

You now Brazil has been waiting for this opportunity, ever since the Maracenazo in 1950, ever since they failed to win it back since Ronaldo's World Cup while remaining relatively consistent in other major tourneys, ever since Ronaldinho, Kaka, Robinho et al failed to live up to their expectations but Neymar appeared as the next big thing on that list

Nobody knows how Brazil play, not unless you face them, there's a degree of uncertainty when playing against them while the Brazilians seem to know exactly what they are doing. Nobody especially knows how the current team would fare although they have seen them win the Confederations Cup, but that's just one tournament. They have a revamped side of awesome players like Thiago Silva, Hulk, Oscar, Fred in addition to Neymar

Brazil also chose to get back into the groove with winning the last major tourney before the World Cup, the Confed Cup, against the defending world champs Spain, a team everyone are striving to beat in the recent past. This can well be the Brazilian World Cup in name and in deed to add to their already bulging five championships. They are odds on favorites to reach the World Cup final

• Belgium, an underdog of the tournament for their all round, talented, fearless squad
• Italy, for always managing to be there at the top for so long so consistently
• France, a very balanced squad
• Netherlands, for their resilience and talent on display
• Uruguay, for their second coming and Luis Suarez
• Portugal, for Cristiano Ronaldo

Even with Radamel Falcao and Franck Ribery ruled out and Luis Suarez in doubt, this World Cup still doesn't lack the stardom, the players who'd set the cup on fire with their amazing individual talent and game play. Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Robert Lewandowsky, Gareth Bale to name a few would have sizzled at the big stage but they are not here, at least not on the pitch

Let's look at five of the amazing talented players that make the beautiful game handsome

His form has been phenomenal this season, he successfully reclaimed the Ballon d'Or from Messi after four years of chasing the Argentine. Messi's injury troubles might have put him on a back step but while the Barcelona winger was struggling, the Real Madrid winger who was ever at his heels took over and took off. If you just take into account this season's performances, Ronaldo is a clear winner and the best man to watch this World Cup

Ronaldo scored a record breaking 17 times in Champions league including one in final and nine in group stages - another record, played his 400th career game, won Ballon d'Or, scored five hat tricks, scored his 50th Champions League goal, managed to score more than 50 goals in fourth successive season and described it as "the best form of his life"

Although injuries troubled the end season a bit, Ronaldo never likes to miss big games and revels at the bigger stage. The only blemish in his record would be that he could never guide his national team beyond the last 16 and the 29-year-old Portuguese captain would look to set that straight. If his performance against Sweden in the World Cup UEFA playoffs is of any hint of his talent, he single handedly knocked out Sweden scoring all four goals in the two-legged encounter, the bigger teams would be beware of him when they are bound to face Ronaldo

Ronaldo - Messi - Neymar - Robben - Iniesta

You can watch it for your teams, be it the World Champions Spain or World favorites Brazil, you may watch it for the stars, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi and you might as well watch it because it's buzzing football right now and it's what you should do. There are celebrations, there's drama, there are controversies, there is glamour, there are games and there's the starcast. It's the biggest entertainment on offer and miss it at your discretion

But, if you need some reasons to follow this World Cup, here you go

This edition of the World Cup is set in one of the most diverse countries in the world. Brazil has everything
It has the carnival, the best celebration in the whole world and it has samba
it has the beaches, it has the women and a combination of both,

it has the Amazon and it has the places to visit
and it has football

The last update before the World Cup, the June edition of FIFA/Coca Cola World Cup Rankings has been announced and due to a flurry of friendlies played in the last month, there's been a few shuffles in the positions. Spain and Germany still sit on the top two positions but the two Portuguese speaking nations , hosts Brazil and Portugal, exchanged their positions at 3 and 4

Argentina and Switzerland both gained two positions and the biggest loser in the top ten Colombia dropped three positions to be placed at 8 below Uruguay at 7. Four time champions Italy maintained its position while England found themselves in top ten at the expense of Greece, who lost 2 places to go below Belgium
Out of the thirty-two nations appearing in the World Cup, five nations retained their positions, including Netherlands and Nigeria while Costa Rica has been the biggest riser, gaining six positions to 28. Bosnia went up four places to 21 and Algeria by three places to 22. On the other end of the coin, Iran and Cameroon lost six positions each to 43 and 56 respectively, the biggest fall for the World Cup nations while Honduras and Australia fell by three positions, ending up at 33 and 62 respectively. The Socceroos cemented their position as the worst ranked team of the tourney

Outside the World Cup, Palestine has gained a phenomenal 71 places up to 94th position, their best rank ever while Saudi Arabia lost 15 positions to 90th rank. There have been a total of 112 new matches that were considered into the rankings

The next update of the Ranking would be after the World Cup, Spain is expected to retain the top position after the end of the Cup

About Rankings

The pre-tourney friendlies are one of the most dreaded competitions to happen before a World Cup. There are players, already fatigued by the club competitions throughout the season, who choose to impress the coaches one last time with their skill and commitment, with an aim to cement their place in the squad or push for that last available berth

In doing so, ironically, the footballers tend to play a bit too hard and end up injuring themselves or their opponents. Dreams would be shattered and the team plans tattered. Coaches almost always would be tentative when dealing with the warm ups, they couldn't justify not giving opportunity for a prospect, in pursuit of getting back into form, and at the same time much is at stake in case some of the crucial member of the squad gets injured badly

Some players who carry niggles from their season would be in race to be fit on time to be selected for their team and sometimes they aggravate the injury trying to cheat time. While more than fifteen people missed out on a place in the provisional squads due to chronic or late season injuries, almost as many lost their place on the final squad losing the battle trying to get fit or by acquiring new traumas

Here's the list of players that are going to miss the World Cup despite being on the initial team plans

Falcao lost the race against time in recovering from the Anterior Cruciate Ligament tear he suffered in January

Edwin Valencia was ruled out after he failed to recover from his chronic muscle injury

Thiago managed to recover from his ligament tear successfully before suffering the same injury as soon as he returned to Bayern Squad

The French backup goalkeeper collided with a forward and broke his vertebra playing for Marseille on the final day of French League

Silvio Proto was only named in the squad as a reserve to ailing backup stopper Koen Casteels. Wilmots had to replace him when he broke his arm in the Belgium League finale

Lars Bender suffered a muscle and tendon strain in his thigh during training

He suffered a hamstring tear while playing for QPR in the Championship Playoff match

The most capped dutch player was ruled out after he suffered a calf injury in the training camp

The Korean defender couldn't recover from the ankle injury suffered during training

He suffered a fifth metatarsal fracture on his right foot during training

The friendly between between Mexico and Ecuador turned out to be a gruesome affair when Montes attempted a tackle on Segundo Castillo and broke his leg. Castillo also suffered an ankle injury but was included in the final team

An ankle injury during a friendly against Netherlands and a subsequent surgery ruled out Akaminko from the World Cup

Montolivo broke his leg during a friendly against Ireland

Matias Fernandez was ruled out of the World Cup after undergoing a surgery on his persistent ankle problem

Apart from these players, a few others managed to get into the final rosters despite injuries

• Diego Costa, Spain - Hamstring
• Luis Suarez, Uruguay - Knee
• Frank Ribery, France - Back
• Jonathan De Guzman, Netherlands - Hamstring
• Kolo Toure, Ivory Coast - Malaria
• Sengundo Castillo, Ecuador - Ligament tear

Legends Part I - Garrincha, Meazza, Puskas, Eusebio, Pele
Legends Part II - Yashin, Moore, Cafu, Maldini, Beckenbauer
Legends Part III - Kocsis, Fontaine, Charlton, Muller, Cruyff
Legends Part IV - Maradona, Romario, Klinsmann, Zidane, Cannavaro

Michel Platini

10 days to go for kick off and things are getting just too hot to handle before the start of the much anticipated World Cup in Brazil. There are injuries and there are Injuries, players are ruled out for months but some have recovered just enough to be back in the squad

Managers are juggling between getting a final look at the squad before the final roster but not wanting for the players to overexert themselves in the fear of receiving that unfortunate knock that would not only rule them out but change the entire team's fortunes

Luis Suarez for example underwent an emergency surgery and is in race against time to get back to good touch before their first group game, even Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez knows that his team's chances would significantly diminish without the star striker. Same is the case with Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Falcao and few other players having to battle out end of season injury bouts to get in top shape for the biggest tourney of their lives

Some of the players to be ruled out, after making it into the initial squads, include Thiago Alacantara (Spain), Steve Mandanda (France), Silvio Proto (Belgium), Lars Bender (Germany), Niko Kranjcar (Croatia), Van der Vaart (Netherlands), Kim Jin-su (Korea), Alviro Saboria (Costa Rica), Edwin Valencia (Colombia), Luis Montes (Mexico), Riccardo Montolivo (Italy), Segundo Castillo (Ecuador)

All the participating nations need to submit their final squads by June 2nd. Check out the links below for all the updated squads:

Termed as the best player to ever grace a football game by the fans, Diego Armando Maradona Franco was part of everything. Beautiful victories, ugly controversies and everything in between. He's the only footballer who can compete with Pele in terms of fandom. He played four World Cups from 1982 to 1994, contributing hugely to the 1986 victory. One of his goals in that edition, termed as the "Hand of God", against England was one of the most notorious goals in football and he followed it with one of the best goals ever scored, dribbling past five English players to score an amazing goal single handedly

Maradona in his later career was part of a few controversies. He tested positive for illegal substances twice, sent home from 1994 World Cup as a consequence. He also had to battle with cocaine addiction and overweight but overcame the same to return to his national team as a manager, albeit unsuccessfully

One of the best modern strikers of the game, Romario is instrumental in Brazil's success in 1994 World Cup. He scored more than a thousand career goals plying his trade for big clubs like Barcelona, PSV, Valencia et al. He appeared 70 times for Brazil and scored 55 times, third highest for the nation, and played two World Cups

Romario was also part of silver medal winning team in 1988 Seoul Olympics which they followed with 1989 Copa America victory when he scored the only goal against Uruguay in the final

He's currently a member of Chamber of Deputies in Brazil

Klinsmann won the World Cup in his first attempt in 1990 and played two more cups in 1994 and 1998. He is one of the consistent strikers for West Germany and then the united German teams and scored in every major tournament played by his national team from 1988 Euro to 1998 World Cup

He managed German national team briefly and is currently the head coach of United States Men's National Soccer team winning CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2013

He earned 108 caps combined for West Germany and Germany and scored 47 international goals. He's one of the three players to score in three different Euro tournaments and also one of the three players to score three goals in three different World Cups. Klinsmann scored 11 World Cup goals in total

One of the most elegant footballers of his generation, Zinedine Yazid Zidane or simply Zizou for fans, is often termed as one of the greatest footballers of all time. He scored twice in the 1998 World Cup final and also almost single handedly took his team to the 2006 finals. Thrice the FIFA World Player of the Year, he was awarded Golden Ball in 2006 World Cup where he infamously head butted Italy's Marco Matterazzi in the final and was sent off

He was also the player of the tournament in 2000 Euro, won by France following their World Cup victory. His team depended on him so much that they failed to score a goal in 2002 World Cup due to his injury problems. His sending off in the final match of 2006 World Cup is often suggested as the reason France lost to Italy in that game. He scored 31 times in 108 appearances for France

Cannavaro won the final which Zidane lost. He captained the 2006 Italian side to their fourth World Cup victory at Germany. He's the pillar of the Italian famed defensive lineup and is one of the best defenders of all time. Cannavaro is the most capped Italian footballer with 132 caps and played four World Cups for the Azzuri

Cannavaro played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe like Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan and won two La Ligas, two Italian Cups and a UEFA Cup in his career spanning ten years. He played 531 club games and also scored 17 times. He is termed as "The Berlin Wall" for his defensive caliber

Legends Part V - Platini, Matthaus, Lineker, Baggio, Ronaldo

FIFA has a deadline of June 2 by which all the participating nations would need to announce and submit their final squads. The final squad should contain not more than 23 members and three of them should be goalkeepers. The players that are going to be part of World Cup games should be picked from these squads only with rare exceptions, like a player injured seriously can be replaced up to 24 hours before their first group game upon the acceptance of FIFA medical team

FIFA would publish the final squads on its website on June 5th. A similar deadline was imposed regarding the announcement of Provisional Squads, the deadline was on May 13th and the lists were displayed on the FIFA website on May 16th

So far thirteen out of thirty two teams announced their final squads

Along with Puskas, Kocsis is one of the best players to have emerged from Hungary. Both of them were part of the golden team "Mighty Magyars", which also include Zoltan Czibor, Jozsef Bozsik and Nandor Hidegkuti. The legend of Kocsis was established when he scored a record 11 goals in the 1954 World Cup. He also scored two hat tricks in the tourney

Kocsis is famed for his goal scoring rate. His eleven goals at 1954 tournament were recorded at the rate of 2.2 goals per game, still unbeaten achievement. His 75 goals for Hungary arrived at 1.1 goals/game in 68 appearances. He also scored seven hat tricks for his nation

Fontaine is the only other player to score more goals than Kocsis in a single World Cup edition. He bettered Kocsis record with thirteen goals of his own for France in the immediately next World Cup in 1958. His only World Cup appearance also puts him on the fourth place in the overall top scorers list, behind Ronaldo (15), Muller and Klose (both on 14)

Fontaine scored an astonishing 227 goals in just 248 senior appearances. His national career is much more appealing with 30 goals in 21 games. He scored his 13 World Cup goals in just six games with 2.17 goals/game just missing Kocsis' another record

Sir Robert Charlton played in four World Cups for England and is instrumental in the 1966 winning squad. He's considered as the best midfielder in England. A Manchester United player for most part of his career, he won the Ballon d'Or in the same year he won the World Cup. He's one of the survivors of the tragic Munich air disaster

He played 106 matches for England and scored 49 goals and was part of World Cup squads in 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970. he also scored a record 249 goals for Manchester United in 758 appearances. He was knighted OBE, for his services to football in 1969

Gerhard Muller is the first player to beat Fontaine's record thirteen goals in all World Cups by scoring his fourteenth at the 1974 World Cup, which was eventually beaten by Ronaldo at 2006 tourney. He blasted ten of those goals in 1970 World Cup. He was named "The Bomber" for his explosive goal scoring ability

Muller is a very prolific scorer in international football with 68 goals in just 62 appearances for Germany in just six years and 487 goals in 555 club appearances

Another German Miroslav Klose is level with Muller's record of 14 goals in World Cups

Johan Cruyff is the personification of "Total Football" phenomenon which put Netherlands in the top bracket of World Football. He is the central part of Rinus Michels scheme of Total Football in which every player will be part of all the elements of football in the pitch and no one is restricted to a single position. The Netherlands team used to play around Cruyff, which paid rich benefits to the team. Only Beckenbauer's outstanding defending could stop the Dutch from winning the 1974 World Cup

Along with Messi, Platini and van Basten, Cruyff is the only other player to have won the Ballon d'Or three times, Messi overtaking the others with his fourth win in 2012. He is considered to be the best player to have played in Europe and voted so in 1999 poll by IFFHS. Even as a manager, he's one of the most influential figure. He scored 33 times in 48 games for his nation

Legends Part IV - Maradona, Romario, Klinsmann, Zidane, Cannavaro
Legends Part V - Platini, Matthaus, Lineker, Baggio, Ronaldo

The FIFA World Cup is organized on such a huge scale, it's the biggest single event sports competition in the world, its impact on the host nation, on the broadcasters, media, viewers and the participating nations is more than noteworthy. On television and internet, it is the most followed event, and the fact that football is played literally in every nation of the world, including the Vatican makes it one of the most influential events

This is exactly why most of the innovations are introduced at or around the World Cup. Even the players chose to introduce their innovation like celebrations, new moves, hairstyles, beards, apparel and other accessories during a World Cup. No wonder Qatar has won the bid mostly based on cooling technologies, carbon-neutrality and man-made clouds, it promise to introduce to the world by 2022

FIFA World Cup 2014 at Brazil has its fair share of innovations in terms of advancements in sports, and sustainability of environment. The mascot of the cup Fuleco, is a three-banded armadillo, which is one of the endangered species native to Brazil. Fuleco comes from Football and Ecology (Futebol and Ecologia in Portuguese) and sustainability is one of the most recurring themes of this tourney

Here are some of the technological innovations we're going to witness at the World Cup

Football is one of the most uninterrupted sports, in terms of break of play due to non-playing circumstances. It has only one break in normal time and the goals and fouls that offer some kind of breaks in play are part and parcel of the game. It is due to this reason that FIFA doesn't want to stuff the game with lots of technology in order to maintain the natural flow of an established game. Due to this fact, games are sometimes hit by controversies when the Referee adjust debatable line calls regarding goals, off-sides, corners and penalties

FIFA decided to introduce its much anticipated goal-line technology, which was trialed and deemed fit in 2013 Confederations Cup. Each goal post is monitored by seven high speed cameras and capture a ball passing the post at 5000 pictures per second. Within a second the referee will be notified, as vibrations and alerts, through a gadget he wears, whether the goal has been scored or not

To assist the against the mischief of the players who tend to move around or move the ball, to gain advantages during free kicks, FIFA introduced the vanishing spray. Referees can mark the ten-yard line and the position of the ball with the spray, which duly vanishes in a minute after use

All the stages of the World Cup hosting are planned and implemented to ensure sustainability and environmental preservation. Most of the newly built stadiums use the theme of reuse, renew and recycle in order to be nature friendly, especially in case of waste management, environment conservation, energy usage and raw material utilization. Solar panels are extensively used to produce renewable energy. Waste and water are better managed with an emphasis on recycling. Carbon emission is reduced to a minimum and preventive measures against its impact are being undertaken

The volunteer programs are also improvised so that the trained participants can be employed in future programs. It is often debated whether this could be the greenest tourney ever to be held at this scale

Adidas, the official partner of FIFA, seems to have delivered a much improved game ball this World Cup, termed as the Brazuca. It follows uo the much criticized Jabulani from World Cup 2010. Here are the sailent features of Brazuca according to Adidas

• Most aerodynamic in nature due to its panel shape and provides the most reliable flight speed and shape
• With a water absorption rate of just 0.2 percent, it will retain its weight, shape and size even in the most heaviest of rains
• Latex made bladder would ensure a desired bounce
• Made of six thermally bonded rough panels, the geometry of the ball ensures the most reliable flight path reducing unpredictable movement