Syed Ashfaqul Haque

Here comes a game that no one wants to be involved in. What glory two losers can achieve from a third-placing deciding game? For teams, nothing but the Cup matters. It’s just cruel to ask one of the losing semifinalists to lose again.

A tragedy, bigger than Maracanazo, has consumed Brazil Wednesday. Brazil were thrown out of the World Cup; a heart-break that the hosts could get over with. But a 7-1 thrashing by the Germans? No way! Brazil would never be able to swallow the insult.  

From 32 countries, the World Cup comes down to eight. It's a D-Day for four teams-- Brazil, Colombia, Germany and France. And two of the four will head home when the daylight breaks in Bangladesh Saturday.

It’s incredibly unbelievable the way fortune fluctuated in the last eight minutes of the match between the Netherlands and Mexico. Sure winners turned losers. Happy faces suddenly became horrified with heart-breaks. What a turn of events! The World Cup certainly unfolded one of its best dramas in Brazil.

Lionel Messi is now relaxed. He is scoring and smiling, just the way he does those for his club Barcelona. This time at the World Cup, Argentina's jersey of white and light blue in vertical stripes agrees well with him. His nightmare with the national team seems to be over.

Luis Suarez does not bark; he bites. The Uruguay striker seems to have a clear hunger for goals and opponents. Banned or fined, Suarez keeps biting.

Luiz Suarez does not bark; he bites. The Uruguay striker seems to have a clear hunger for goals and opponents. Banned or fined, Suarez keeps biting.

Lots of inquests will follow, for sure, the defeat of the four-time winners. But seeing the match Tuesday, one can come only to one conclusion: Italy lost as they did not try to win.

It’s incredibly unbelievable the way fortune fluctuated in the last eight minutes of the match between the Netherlands and Mexico. Sure winners turned losers. Happy faces suddenly became horrified with heart-breaks. What a turn of events! The World Cup certainly unfolded one of its best dramas in Brazil.

Lionel Messi is now relaxed. He is scoring and smiling, just the way he does those for his club Barcelona. This time at the World Cup, Argentina's jersey of white and light blue in vertical stripes agrees well with him. His nightmare with the national team seems to be over.

Salute to minnows. Rank outsiders Iran and Ghana played like champions to offer football buffs a night to remember. Two nail-biting, grinding matches in which biggies nearly bit the dust! They gave their much vaunted opponents Argentina and Germany a good run for their money.  

England tumbled out of the World Cup as Costa Rica turned the Group D upside down, beating four-time world champion Italy 1-0. The result causes double heartbreaks for two football giants.

Luis Suarez was an instant impact. Back from a surgery table four weeks ago and having trained  with the team only for a day, Suarez appeared as lethal as before. He sat out the first match that Uruguay played against Costa Rica for not being fully fit.

Luis Suarez does not bark; he bites. The Uruguay striker seems to have a clear hunger for goals and opponents. Banned or fined, Suarez keeps biting.

It was because of the outstanding goalkeeping exploit of Guillermo Ochoa the match between the two South American countries ended in a goalless draw. Ochoa could get himself in the right time and at the right position on the goal line to deny Brazil poster-boy Neymar twice and skipper Thiago Silva once.

It's a huge sigh of global relief. Argentina scarped through in their opening match with a 2-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina, a team who were playing for the first time in a World Cup.

What a brilliant display of marksmanship by German striker Thomas Mueller! His triple strike reflected the typical grit and guile of a German, whose nerve never frays under any situation. He was always cool, composed and almost mechanical.

No man on earth will be so closely watched, possibly in many years to come. At least 300 million people will keep their eager eyes on one man. Several hundred high-tech cameras will be out there to capture every move of this short and shy man of 26.

The moment has come.  The moment is to decide who will take the World Cup home—Argentina or Germany? Who will have the final smile— team with a superstar or an all star team?

Brazil got off to a winning start to its Hexa Mission for the World Cup. Score in the inaugural match of the 2014 World Cup will read: Brazil 3 - Croatia 1. It's one of the best score in an opening match.