He’s the darling of the Brazilian national team and the poster-boy for a host nation desperately in need of a World Cup good news story. In Europe, they question if he deserves the hype after a difficult first year at Barcelona but his personality is at odds with the reputation that preceded him. As we saw in last year’s Confederations Cup, Neymar Jr could be about to light up the tournament and live up to the legend that it seems has already been created for him.
He’s been the steady hand guiding generations of football fans through some of the most heady days in Irish sport. After decades on our television, and 36 years tearing his hair out with everyone from Denis Irwin to Don Givens on RTE’s football panels, Bill O’Herlihy is embarking on his final World Cup as anchor. ybig.ie look back at some of Billo’s memorable moments.
The Football Pools have created a good luck message to the England football team with a little help from a World Cup legend Gordon Banks. He created a piece of Banksy artwork to commemorate ‘That Save’ against Pele in 1970.
“And What a Great Goal That Was” A simply stunning animation of some of the greatest World Cup goals by the supremely talented Richard Swarbrick @RikkiLeaks
Robbie Keane’s early strike sent Ireland on their way to the second round but nerves weren’t settled until a goal from the unlikeliest of sources, centre-back Gary Breen. Damien Duff, one of the stars of the tournament finally got on the score-sheet to seal the win and give us one of the most iconic celebrations in Irish sport.
World Cup 2014: Iconic World Cup moments reimagined as five second films in new series Fives
World-Cup bound Portugal dished out a 5-1 drubbing to a weakened Irish team in New York as Martin O’Neill suffered his heaviest defeat. Cristiano Ronaldo’s side were too much for a defence in disarray, missing first choice regulars with James McClean pulling one back to sign off Ireland’s end-of-season tour. Portugal, ranked fourth in the world, move on to Brazil.