o_1915f04bi181p2m9qs12em17oea.pdf
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
after the defeat of the Le Selecao who<br />
suffered their heaviest defeat at home and<br />
marked the end of Brazil’s quest to win<br />
the prestigious cup. They last won for the<br />
<br />
On the other side of town in Belo<br />
Horizonte, Argentina was struggling<br />
to overcome a determined Dutch side<br />
playing under Manchester United bound<br />
Louis Van Gaal and an instrumental Arjen<br />
Robben.<br />
The Lionel Messi captained side had<br />
to settle for penalties to progress to the<br />
<br />
<br />
in regulation and extra time.<br />
The stage was set for an epic encounter<br />
in Rio de Janeiro at Estadio do Maracana<br />
near the Copa Cabana beach for a grand<br />
<br />
and the South Americans were chastised<br />
for missing guilt edged chances.<br />
Argentina paid dearly when second<br />
half substitute Mario Gotze secured the<br />
win in the second half of extra time.<br />
Gotze, who is dubbed by many in<br />
Munich as the future of German football,<br />
controlled a gem of a cross from Chelsea’s<br />
forward Andre Schrulle with his chest<br />
before calmly putting the goal beyond the<br />
reach of Romeru who was left clutching<br />
his head.<br />
The goal summed up what had been<br />
the night of brilliant football from Bastian<br />
Schweinsteiger who silenced Messi from<br />
making his daunting runs from the<br />
<br />
and Sergio kun Arguero in the second half.<br />
“Congratulations to Germany for<br />
winning the cup and all the teams that<br />
lost I say try again next time you never<br />
know lady luck might smile on you,” said<br />
Lloyd Mhizha a football analyst.<br />
Asked about Zimbabwe’s chances of<br />
qualifying for the World Cup in 2018<br />
Mhizha said, “With the way football is run<br />
in this country, we have slim hope that<br />
Zimbabwe will qualify for Russia 2018.”<br />
The minister of tourism Walter<br />
Mzembi highlighted that government<br />
will bid to host the 2034 World Cup and<br />
maybe until then Zimbabwe will keep on<br />
watching other countries playing at the<br />
tournament. TP<br />
Sports Writer<br />
The 2014 FIFA World Cup<br />
brought with it a full<br />
package of entertainment<br />
galore, surprises and boring<br />
moments.<br />
The tournament kicked off in earnest<br />
on Thursday the 12th of June a day<br />
before the most feared day in the world<br />
by those who are superstitious (Friday<br />
the 13th), with the host Brazil taking on<br />
Croatia in Sao Paulo. The Croatians sent<br />
shivers down Brazil’s spine when Real<br />
Madrid full back Marcelo scored an own<br />
goal in the opening stages of the game<br />
<br />
<br />
With the advancement in technology<br />
<br />
shared with ease over social media<br />
networks.<br />
WhatsApp groups were awash with<br />
debates on who was the best player, best<br />
team, who was going to win and so on.<br />
<br />
14 was very active during the World Cup<br />
with its subscribers at one time getting<br />
on each other’s nerves in gruesome<br />
debates.<br />
Betting houses made a fortune out<br />
of punters who lost their fortunes to<br />
the dark horses especially when Costa<br />
Rica beat Uruguay and Italy. Most if not<br />
all had predicted a straight win for the<br />
2006 champions.<br />
Nyandoro, a subscriber on Soccer<br />
Zone 14 stuck with his German team<br />
from the beginning of the tournament<br />
and was a very happy man when<br />
Sports<br />
Mixed Reactions at 2014 World Cup<br />
Germany beat the South Americans in<br />
<br />
“Hail Germany, hail Schweinsteiger,”<br />
said Nyandoro in appreciation of the<br />
<br />
game.<br />
Facebook was awash with<br />
congratulatory messages but most<br />
Barcelona fans were left with egg on<br />
their faces after their club hero Messi<br />
failed to exhibit his magic and talent to<br />
beat the Europeans and win the World<br />
Cup.<br />
“Oh Messi, has failed to do it again I<br />
am hurt to the bone,” said a Barcelona<br />
fan on Facebook.<br />
Messi failed to replicate other legends<br />
like Pele and Diego Maradona who have<br />
won the World Cup during their peak.<br />
Maradona went on to blast FIFA for<br />
awarding a Golden Ball award to Messi<br />
saying, the pint sized forward did not<br />
deserve the award but it should have<br />
been awarded to either Rodriguez or<br />
Thomas Mueller.<br />
Rodriguez was the tournament’s<br />
top goal scorer with six goals ahead of<br />
<br />
dubbed to be the goal of the tournament<br />
against Uruguay when he controlled<br />
<br />
goal, before he made a sharp turn to<br />
score with his left foot.<br />
The tournament will forever remain<br />
as one of the best in history and FIFA<br />
President Sepp Blatter has praised Brazil<br />
for hosting a good tourney and admitted<br />
the tournament was better than that of<br />
South Africa 2010. TP<br />
The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine August 2014<br />
Page 93
Change language