Football has really come home!

One of the incontrovertible truths of World Cup is that in a team's first appearance, the players are captivated by its magic and atmosphere and not really bothered about the history that they are likely to make. Then in their second and third, the teams feel winning is possible and the players are engrossed in the unimaginable glamour that it imposes on them.

The fans are not left out, they almost always catch the euphoria once their favourites make an appearance.

The 2014 World Cup is almost over, and football can celebrate the memorable landmarks that have made this tournament  a really special event. When it is all over and its pages added to the well-shelved history books, everyone will have a special moment or a line or phase on those pages to remember.

Indeed, when in her special welcome address Brazil President, Dilma Rousseff, said her country's hosting of the Mundial was like “football returning home”, many said she was being overenthusiastic. However, the way the tournament has turned out proves that she was stating the obvious.

However, not even in her wildest dreams, did she anticipate that Germany would humiliate her darling team, the Selecao, 7-1 in their semi-final match on Tuesday, July 8. 

Football has indeed returned home!

Unforgettable moments

From the opening game to now, there has never been a dull moment or match. From Marcelo's opening goal, an own goal against Croatia, Algeria's 4-2 win over South Korea through to the Netherlands traumatic penalty shoot out against Costa Rica —  the excitement, surprises and shocks have all come to play — an emphatic prove that football has really come home.

The matches have been fantastic, the tactics apt, the goal, breathtaking just as there have been masterclass finishes and so have there been controversies; sad to say though that those-off-the pitch controversies have all come the way of the African teams.

Already, there have been many talking points which will go down in the history books. Notable among them are defending champion Spain’s humilating exit from the group stages, some Croatian players captured on camera naked by the pool side at their hotel after a match as well as Luis Suarez's biting of Italian Giorgio Chiellini in their last group match, which has earned the Uruguayan striker a nine-match, four-month ban in addition to paying a hefty fine.

Who will also forget the accidental injury of Brazil's poster boy, Neymar, whose vertebrae was broken after receiving a heavy knee knock from a Colombian in their quarter-final match last week.

Better still, how does one ever forget the tears that both the young and old shed as they watched on helplessly as Germany tore their darling team, Brazil to shreds?