My football season review for 2014-15

The dust has settled on another football season for most clubs. Admittedly there’s another round of matches to go in the Premier League and, of course, the final of the FA Cup, but I don’t think I’ll be going to any more games this year, so I’m calling it over.

It’s been a good season for me. I went to the most matches in a season since I was a teenager in 1994-95. It was a good season for Shrewsbury Town too, as they got promoted as runners-up of League 2. I saw them get presented with the trophy on the last day of the league season. The last game I saw was a cup final that ended in a penalty shoot-out; exciting and awful in equal measure.

I’m going to go through the games on an individual basis, but here are some overall stats:

Season: 2014-15

Total games: 13

Most goals in a game: 9

Least goals in a game: 0 (twice)

Total goals seen: 37 (not including a penalty shoot-out)

Number of football grounds visited: 8 (4 of which I’d never visited before)

Shrewsbury Town v Newport County                    

20/09/2014, Skybet League 2

Shrewsbury had been on a great run of form, winning all 4 home league games before Newport visited. I can’t remember much about the game, except it was pretty dire. Newport set up to defend and Shrewsbury couldn’t break them down. It was not an auspicious start to my season.  Result: 0-0

Shrewsbury Town v Cheltenham Town

11/10/2014, Skybet League 2

The problem with writing this up so long after the event is it’s hard to remember what happened. Fortunately I made some notes at the time: “All the goals came in the second half and Cheltenham scored first. There was a rainbow over the opposite stand at one point. It poured down just before kick-off, all during the cheerleaders’ routine, then stopped when they’d finished. God must hate cheerleaders!” (I’m glad I’d made a note. I’d forgotten about the cheerleaders.) Result: 3-1

Paulton Rovers v Poole Town

25/10/2014, Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division

Close to the action at Paulton Rovers

My friend Steve has followed Poole Town – the Mighty Dolphins – for many years and invited me to the depths of Somerset to see them play. I was glad I went as it turned out to be an eventful game. Poole were challenging near the top of the table, but were soon 2-0 down. They pulled it back to 2-2 before conceding a third to trail 3-2 at half-time. I then stood in the slowest-moving tea queue in the history of civilised snack-bar patronage. We swapped ends at half time to stand behind the Paulton goal. We were so close to the action, several Dolphins fans engaged the goalkeeper in humorous comments. But the play was at the other end to start with and soon Paulton were 4-2 up. Poole fought back, getting a goal and then getting a very dodgy penalty, which they converted for 4-4. With two minutes to go, Poole finally went in front, to prove the fans who were singing “We’re going to win 5-4” right. Result: 4-5

Shrewsbury Town v Chelsea

28/10/2014, Capital One Cup (League Cup) round 3

The view from the South Stand as Shrewsbury and Chelsea line up

This was my first Tuesday night Shrewsbury game since they moved into their new stadium in 2007, and it was the first time I’d been in the South Stand behind the goal. It was the place to be as well, as Shrewsbury’s Andy Mangan scored an equaliser in the second half right in front of us. The goal prompted Jose Mourinho to send on some of his first-teamers. For a brief few minutes it really felt like Shrewsbury could have the eventual Premier League Champions. But Chelsea got a second goal and killed the game to avoid an embarrassing reverse. One Chelsea player, apparently the Egyptian captain, struck the worst mishit shot I’ve ever seen. From the left hand corner of the area, it eventually went out for a throw in on the right hand side further away from the goal than the player was when he hit it. World Cup winner Andre Schurrle also played for Chelsea, one of his few games before he got transferred back to the continent. It was a great game, but unfortunately the road south through Shropshire was closed for roadworks, meaning I had a detour through nether Mordor (as I call it) in the dark. I was thoroughly knackered when I got home. Result: 1-2

Shrewsbury Town v Wycombe Wanderers

28/12/2014, Skybet League 2

Both teams shake hands. Horrible away kit!

Exactly two months after the Chelsea game, I was back in the Greenhous Meadow for this game on the Sunday between Christmas and Easter. This was a real top of the table clash, but it wasn’t a great game. Wycombe were wearing a horrible change strip that faded from yellow to orange (the photo doesn’t do it justice). My Mum commented that “It looks like they are melting ice lollies.” Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg was the man in the middle. He seemed pernickety, although he didn’t really have a lot to do. Town got the ball in the net twice, but both efforts were ruled out for offside or a foul in the build-up. It was definitely a case of missed opportunities and my second 0-0 of the season. I was beginning to think I was a jinx. Result: 0-0

Newport County v Shrewsbury Town

31/01/2015, Skybet League 2

The closest ‘away’ game of the season, ten minutes on the train and a fifteen minute walk on a sunny January day. Newport share their ground, Rodney Parade, with the rugby club and the pitch looked like a rugby pitch. One end of the ground is completely open to the elements and a keen wind blew through it. The game wasn’t much better than the pitch, settled by a single goal when Shrewsbury's Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro shimmied past two defenders and beat the goalkeeper at the near post. It surprised everybody, including, it seemed, him. Result: 0-1

Caerau (Ely) AFC v Carmarthen Town                     

07/02/2015, Welsh Cup round 4

My friend Steve mentioned that Kieran, a lad we both know, played for Caerau Ely in the South Wales League and we could go and see him sometime. Then I saw they were playing Carmarthen Town of the Welsh Premier League in the fourth round of the Welsh Cup – the furthest Caerau Ely had ever progressed in the competition. So we decided to go. Kieran wasn’t playing as he was recovering from an injury. (He was on the bench though). The game was pretty even and Caerau probably had the better chances in normal time. But it finished 0-0 after ninety minutes and went to extra time. Carmarthen scored a minute into extra time then got a penalty, with Caerau’s central defender getting a red card as well. The penalty was converted and Carmarthen scored twice more before the midway point of extra time, to win by a flattering four goal margin. Result: 0-4 (aet)

Queens Park Rangers v Everton

22/03/2015, Premier League

One of the QPR mascots

Along with Poole Town, Steve is also a lifelong fan of QPR, so he invited me to go see them. This was the second game of the season that I went to on a Sunday. QPR were desperate for points near the bottom of the league and played like it. Everton led with a goal out of nowhere in the first half. QPR equalised in the second half and were pushing on to get a second when Everton hit them on the break and Aaron Lennon scored the eventual winner for them. This was the first time I remember seeing a ref using the ‘vanishing spray’ at free kicks, and also those moving electronic advertising hoardings around three edges of the ground – they don’t bother putting them on the side where the TV cameras are as they wouldn’t show on TV. Coming back the M4 was blocked by an accident, so we turned off and moseyed through Berkshire, meaning I saw Windsor Castle close up for the first time. Result: 1-2

Wales U21 v Bulgaria U21            

31/03/2015, UEFA U21 Championship Qualifier

Bulgaria turn to face east during the anthem

A young lad called Dom Smith who has come through the ranks at Shrewsbury was called up to the Wales Under-21 squad for this game, so I hoped he would get a game. It was at Cardiff City Stadium, within walking distance of home, so I went along. Dom made his debut, coming on as a substitute after one of the starting centre backs was concussed in a challenge. Bulgaria scored while the guy was prone on the halfway line, but by then they were 3-0 down so in the end it didn’t matter. Bad sportsmanship, though. Result: 3-1

Shrewsbury Town v Exeter City

11/04/2015, Skybet League 2

Steve hadn’t been to the Greenhous Meadow, although he had seen QPR play at the old Gay Meadow a couple of times. With Shrewsbury doing quite well in the league, I hoped this would be a game worth going to. I was not disappointed. I have never seen Shrewsbury play this well. They dominated their opponents, who were not a bad side. Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro got two goals, but the best goal of the game was right at the end, a thunderbolt from the edge of the area from Tyrone Barnett. There was also a funny moment when a load of rubbish escaped from the wheelie bins in the corner between the stands and blew on the pitch, prompting a chorus of "What a load of rubbish!" from the fans. A steward ran on to pick up the cardboard and plastic, which kept blowing away from him, prompting a chant of "You don't know what you;re doing!" Fair play, he laughed as well. Result: 4-0         

Cheltenham Town v Shrewsbury Town

25/04/2015, Skybet League 2

The Cheltenham mascot chats
 to a Town fan before the game

Cheltenham were staring relegation out of the league in the face for this game, while Shrewsbury needed to win to guarantee promotion. The game was decided by a farcical first-half goal credited to Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro, although it bounced off a defender and into the goal. Cheltenham really pushed to get something back and Shrewsbury’s Swiss goalie Jayson Leutweiler (playing on his birthday) made some tremendous saves, including a double save in the second half. It was Shrewsbury’s 23rd clean sheet of the season – a record for them. The away end was a sell-out but the seat next to my brother, Dave, was free, mysteriously, so we spent the second half cheering the lads on together. At the final whistle loads of Shrewsbury fans ran on the pitch to celebrate. I didn’t, as I felt that was disrespectful to Cheltenham.  Result: 0-1            

Shrewsbury Town v Plymouth Argyle

02/05/2015, Skybet League 2

This was meant to be the promotion party, but Shrewsbury were a goal down after two minutes and just never seemed likely to get back into it. Plymouth needed to win to get into the play-offs. If Shrewsbury had won and Burton Albion had lost, then Shrewsbury would have been champions. This time round I had the spare seat in a sell-out stadium next to me, so Dave joined me for the second half. It's strange how these things work out. As we heard news that Burton were trailing, it looked like Shrewsbury were throwing away the title. But in the end Burton won 3-2 and Town's result was moot. Shrewsbury got presented with the runner’s up trophy instead. It was not a great way to end the season, with the heaviest home defeat of the year, but it was a good season over all, with Town amassing a record number of points. Result: 0-2

Caerau (Ely) AFC v Taff's Well FC              

15/05/2015, South Wales League Cup Final          

My friend Kieran did get to play in this game, held at Jenner Park in Barry, a ground I’d never been to before. Caerau had three very good chances in the first half, but somehow didn’t score. They got as close as hitting the inside of the post. Taff’s Well led 1-0 at half time having hit Caerau on the break with a very good cross finding a man in the box to strike home. Caerau equalised late in the second half to force extra time, by which time there were a lot of very tired players out there, particularly as both sides had been reduced to ten men. Extra time played out and it went to penalties. Caerau scored their first three, while Taff’s Well missed two of their first three. Leading 3-1, Caerau had the opportunity to win the cup for the first time in their history. They were already league champions. This would be a historic double. But it was not to be. They missed their next three penalties, including the first one in ‘sudden death’, and it was Taff’s Well who took home the trophy. It was the third time they had won it in four seasons. A penalty shoot-out was a very exciting way to end the last game of the season. Result: 1-1 (aet), Taff’s Well won 4-3 on penalties.

The big 2014 Christmas Card Audit

This is the third year I've done this (see 2013 and 2012), so I'm beginning to get observable trends. This year the big thing I noticed is that yet again religious-themed cards rarely featured the word Christmas. Small things that stuck out included a fund-raising card for a political cause (the Countryside Alliance), the emergence of Owls as a theme, and the return of dogs in Santa hats.

New categories are marked with an asterisk And here are the numbers...

Total number of cards: 91 (down from 97 in 2013 and 104 in 2012)
Hand-made / home-produced cards: 7 (no change)
Cards with magnets on: 0 (no change)
*Cards with detachable tree decorations: 1

Cards sold in aid of charity: 47 (up from 44 in 2013 and 42 in 2012)
Of which...
Traidcraft cards: 8 (up from 5 last year)
Oxfam cards: None (for the second year running)
Main charity represented: Traidcraft
Total number of charities represented: 40 (down from 62 in 2013 and the same as 2012)
Marks and Spencer cards: 6 (down from 12 in 2013)
*Notable newcomer: RNLI (3 cards)
*'Political' fund-raising cards: 1 (Countryside Alliance)

Themes
Religious-themed cards: 27 ( down from 33 in 2013 and 37 in 2012)
Cards featuring the Nativity: 18 (up from 15)
Christmas story 'characters':
Three kings: 2 (down from 5 in 2013 and 9 in 2012)
The shepherds: 3 (down from 4 in 2013 but one more than in 2012)
The star of Bethlehem: 0 (down from 2 in 2013)

Other themes 
'Peace': 2 (stays the same)
Santa: 7 (down from 10 in 2013, but up from 6 in 2012)
Penguins: 4 (up from 3 in 2013, but down from 5 in 2012)
Various cartoon bears: 4 (up from 2 in 2013 but way down from the 12 bear high point in 2012)
Dogs in Santa Hats: 1 (up from 0 last year)
Deer/reindeer: 4 (down from 6)
Christmas decorations: 5 (up from 4)
Christmas trees: 4 (down from 5)
Robins: 4 (up from 3)
Mistletoe: 0 (down from 2)
Winter scene/scenery: 14 (double the 2013 total of 7)
*Snowmen: 5
*Owls: 3

Messages
Cards that mention 'Christmas' on the front: 33 (down from 35 in 2013 and 45 in 2012)

Conclusions and trends
Despite fewer cards received, many of the categories stayed pretty constant. The big change was the number of cards featuring winter scenes and scenery. They ranged from country churches covered in snow, through to the cute dog character Boofle, out sledging. I was very pleased to see a return in the Dogs wearing Santa Hats category, as I feel it captures the essence of Christmas. Although the overall total was down, the number of cards we received that raised funds for charity went up and percentage wise the balance towards fund-raising cards was much higher.What nice people we know!

Once I've done this for 2015 I will have four years worth of data and by then I can start creating graphs and stuff. So roll on January 2016!

My review of 2014 (movies, TV, music, books)

I didn’t blog much in 2014, but a lot happened and I want to post some kind of review of various ‘art’ highlights. So, here goes, my ‘Review of 2014’ blog post. First up, movies:

Best movie

Easily, Guardians of the Galaxy. It was unexpectedly funny. It was action-packed. It had a cracking musical soundtrack. The film was so good it even got me into buying comics for the first time since I was about 11. I like Rocket Racoon. Cathy likes Groot. It about sums us up.

Most unexpectedly good movie

The Book of Life. This was gorgeous animation, exploring themes of love and death and conquering your fears and atoning for wrongs. Easily the best animated film I’ve seen for ages, made with sumptuous rich colours that made it lovely.

Most disappointing movie

The Boxtrolls. Not enough about the trolls and a bit too much time spent with ghastly humans. The film was called the Boxtrolls and they were barely in it.  If I wanted a film with ghastly humans I’m sure I could find a better one.

Best scene in a movie

I’m going for Jennifer Lawrence’s meltdown in American Hustle when she screamed at Christian Bale that all she wanted was for him to love her. My heart ached at that scene. It’s just fantastic.

Now we’ve wrapped movies up, how about TV?

Best TV viewing of 2014

Brooklyn Nine Nine. I laughed out loud (literally out loud) at every single episode. Even Modern Family hasn’t managed that. The Thanksgiving episode just kept on getting funnier and funnier although my absolute favourite scene was when Jake Peralta was looking for a flat and saw one that was just a toilet in the middle of a bare expanse of concrete. And that wasn’t the worst thing about the flat.

Running Brooklyn Nine Nine a close second was Elementary. Johnny Lee Miller is just captivating. There was one episode where all he did was lean against a wall, but it was a lean of menace and disappointment and ennui and pensiveness. The man exudes the character just when he is leaning. The show is a belter too and it’s great fun trying to predict which of the people who have innocuously been presented to the viewer in the first ten minutes will turn out to be the murderer.

Most disappointing TV of 2014

Dr Who. The first episode had the Doctor claim he could “speak dinosaur” and somehow appear in a locked and sealed room. He is basically magic now. The second episode contained one of the most callous scenes I’ve ever seen in any TV show. The third episode was a dire spoof of Robin Hood films. I gave up then. I did see two episodes later on, but frankly the gubbins of the relationship triangle between the Doctor, Clara and whoever her boyfriend was, just got in the way of both the story and my will to live. I didn’t bother with the Christmas episode. My love for the show has waned that far.

Ok, so that’s TV, now for some music.

Best new sounds of 2014

Ward Thomas – From Where We Stand. The idea of Country music-singing twins from Hampshire sounds like a disaster but their music is great. I heard the single ‘Push for the Stride’ on Radio 2 and had to look it up straight away when I got home. Even better they are coming to Cardiff next year, playing The Globe on my birthday and we have tickets!

Best gig

Hard to choose this as we made it to six gigs this year, including Tony Wright at the cleanest rock club I have ever been to. (A guy came round putting people’s drinks on beermats as if they were coasters!) But probably the best gig was Darius Rucker on Cathy’s birthday. We travelled to Wolverhampton to see him and he was excellent, playing several old Hootie & the Blowfish tunes as well as his solo material. He finished with a cover of Champagne Supernova that was simply epic.

Best support act

I’m going to give this to Ariana and the Rose, who supported the Hoosiers at The Globe in Cardiff back in April. It’s a tough gig being a support act, but they were great, sounding a little bit like Garbage although not as grungy.

Best album I discovered in 2014

Bad Blood by Bastille. I kept hearing Pompeii on the music channels so put the album on my Amazon wish-list. Someone got it me for my birthday and I really liked the whole album. I was surprised to find Cathy did too. I came home one day and found she had put it on while washing up. It’s great driving music too. They are songs you can belt out at the top of your lungs if you want to.

One thing left, books...

Best fiction read this year

Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland. It’s a toss up between this and Microserfs, also by Coupland, which actually made me cry at the end. But Eleanor Rigby edges it simply because it’s the only book I’ve ever read that is searingly honest about loneliness and how no one ever warns you how hard it is to live with feeling lonely. I love Douglas Coupland’s books. I have to put them down every few pages to let the ideas sink in.

Best non-fiction read this year

Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski. This is a ‘freakonomics’ style exploration of footballs looking at certain assumptions, like do managers make much of a difference and do England under-achieve at World Cups. The exploration of how poverty prevents developing nations from being genuine global competitors is fascinating.

Ok, there you go, that was my year. How was yours.

The team I wanted to win the World Cup final won!

So, Germany won. It was a tense game, settled by a flash of brilliance from the youngest player on the field deep in extra time.

I'd wanted Germany to win from the outset. England were uninspiring from the off and, apart from the USA, there was no one else I really wanted to root for. In any given game I'd go for the underdog - which was tough when Germany went up against Algeria, a genuine underdog that divided my loyalties slightly.

But generally the best team won, playing the consistently best football of the tournament. They scored the most goals (helped by the crazy 7-1 thrashing of Brazil). Their totemic oldest striker broke the record for goals scored in finals. Their goalkeeper won the tacky-looking Golden Glove award. All round they performed at a level worthy of world champions.

They also have a young team that is still growing and maturing together. They have got to be favourites to win the European Championships in France in two years time, and I think they have every chance of retaining the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

But for now the World Cup is over and normality resumes. What will we watch now?

Sad times as Cathy takes down the World Cup wallchart!

Brazil 1 – Germany 7: Watching history being made in a World Cup semi-final

Previously I’ve blogged about how I wanted Germany to win the World Cup and about my antipathy towards Brazil. So, the semi-final had an edge for me, mainly because this was the test whether Germany were going to have their fragilities exposed in a harsh, partisan arena.

The general reaction to the result and the manner in which it was achieved has been a semi-stunned ‘Wow’. A lot of people thought Brazil were poor (for Brazil), and that Germany were good, but this was the kind of epic walloping nobody ever thought possible.

The sequence of the German second to fifth goals was so fast the TV replays couldn’t keep up. They would cut from the slow motion to real-time and the Germans were passing it into the net again. It reached a point where the Germans seemed to stop celebrating. It felt awkward; embarrassing even.

So, what went so ballistically wrong for Brazil. Here are my thoughts:

1.  They weren’t very good. This sounds simplistic, but you can achieve quite a bit in football without being particularly skilful as long as you are well-organised and calm (see the USA in this World Cup for an example of that). Brazil weren’t a very good team, but they didn’t know that. So they were poorly organised and hot-headed, particularly David Luiz, who has to be one of the most wayward defenders ever.
2.  Brazil let the emotion get to them. From the way they held up a shirt as a tribute to the injured Neymar in a way that looked like they were mourning the fallen war dead, through to the bellowing of the national anthem’s second verse once the music had stopped, the team were being governed by their emotions. The game-plan, if they had one, went south early on, people forgot what they were meant to be doing, and they couldn’t compose themselves once the Germans started tapping the goals in.
3. They couldn’t regain their balance. Losing five goals in the first 30 minutes is terrible. But the reason Brazil let in so many is that after the third goal – a wonder strike from Toni Kroos – they didn’t get their heads together. They looked to be in shock, uncoordinated, almost in denial of what was happening.
4. Germany were ruthless. Although it has subsequently emerged that the German players decided not to push too hard in the second half, there was no hesitation in the way they took advantage of Brazil’s multiple failings before the break. Some teams might have eased up earlier, but Germany weren’t screwing up in the semi-finals again.

This match was historic. Brazil’s biggest ever defeat. It was the biggest ever victory in a World Cup semi-final. Someone said that it was Brazil’s first home defeat for 25 years. Miroslav Klose’s goal made him the all-time top scorer in World Cups, overtaking the Brazilian legend, Ronaldo – just to add extra despondency to the Brazilian defeat.

There’s a sense when you watch an event like this unfold, that you get the feeling you are watching something a bit special. It’s a moment that will become iconic in the history of the World Cup and maybe football itself. I can’t remember the last game that felt this way – maybe the England semi-final against West Germany in 1990, the one with Gazza’s tears. Like that, this game has now been burned into my memory. A historical moment I was lucky enough to see.

World Cup secret confession: I'm supporting Germany

It started in South Africa in 2010. The team of the tournament for me weren't the Spanish game-stranglers with their tiki-taka yawn-off brand of non-football. It was Germany.

They played with verve and vim, bursting forward with pace to hit teams on the break. They hammered England. They stuffed Argentina. Then they were stifled by Spain, who won with a header at a corner from a defender coming from deep. I was gutted.

So this time around, I wanted Germany to do well. Even though this left me very conflicted in the second round when they faced genuine underdogs Algeria. I have that compulsion to support the little guys against the behemoth. But anyway, they won.

How did this happen? When I was a kid I, along with everyone else, regarded the Germans as the ultimate villains. (Argentina threatened their position as most hated international opponents for a while. Maradona's hand of God and all that. But it always came back to the Germans.)

There was the penalty shoot-out in Italia 90 and at Euro 96. There was Jurgen Klinnsman who was your typical continental diving cheat in the late 80s and early 90s although he has redeemed himself in later life. There was just the boring, automatic progression to final after final. The moment of respite that we all enjoyed was the defeat to Bulgaria in USA 94.

Funny story, that game took place on a Sunday when we had an evening service at our church. Like many others I was a few minutes late to the service because I stayed to watch the last few minutes of Bulgaria's win. As others sheepishly drifted in after us, I remember making eye contact and mouthing 'Bulgaria?' to them, receiving nods and smiles in return. Everyone was happy to see Germany lose. Twenty years later, "Letchkov!" still brings a smile to my brother's face.

I guess my change of heart is a sign of the way Germany changed their game. Although with the forward-running gameplan, they no longer look invincible at the back. In fact, against Algeria, a team prepared to run directly at them, they looked distinctly vulnerable. They have swapped that stereotypical German rigidity for resourcefulness, cheerless grit for exciting guile. Above all the tag 'efficient' no longer applies as it did for several decades. It's not about being efficient - the German trait that makes every BMW look like a lurking Decepticon - it's about entertaining.

So maybe that's it. Maybe it's because they now look beatable. When they were titans they were our enemies. But now we can see they are human and flawed they are easy to love. #

I don't think they will win this World Cup. Someone will exploit their tendency to go forward and punish them for their forwards not tracking back and protecting the defence. But I would love to be proved wrong.

World Cup controversial viewpoint: Brazil are over-rated

I'm not sure when I first realised how much I disagreed with the mainstream view that Brazil are the kings of world football, playing the game beautifully in a 'samba style'. Brazil is everybody's 'second team', we are told by the media and the football pundits.

But they aren't my second team. In fact, I was gutted Chile didn't knock them out a couple of nights ago.

So, why am I less than enamoured with Brazil. Here's a few reasons.

The sense of entitlement bugs me. I know it's being played in Brazil but the way the commentators talk about Brazil playing in 'their World Cup' irks me. It's the sense that Brazil somehow has a greater claim on the World Cup than any other nation. It's as annoying as the Arsenal fans bleating on about 8 years without a trophy (thank the maker that's over!) or Manchester United fans carrying on about finishing seventh.

The entitlement overflows in the way they get treated by referees. The opening game of this world cup was notable for the blatant favoritism shown to the host nation. Croatia were unjustly denied the chance to compete on an equal footing with Brazil because the refs were over-awed by the occasion.

I'm annoyed at the way the cloggers get overlooked. Yes, Brazil often have flair players who they give free rein to and that can be excting, but for every genuine world star they always have a colleciton of cloggers backing them up. Ramires is the same sneaky thug for Brazil as he is for Chelsea. David Luiz wouldn't look out of place hacking people down as part of a Uruguay team. Even Neymar got away with a blatant elbow to an opponent's face in the game against Croatia. (Which goes back to the referee's reluctance to take action against Brazil.)

People also overlook the play-acting. Hulk is one of the most guilty of the current crop of players. He seems to be wearing the slippiest boots on the planet given how many times he ends up on the floor. Athough the classic bit of Brazillian cheating was Rivaldo playing against Turkey in the 2002 World Cup. A Turkish player kicked the ball at him. It bounced off Rivaldo's knee and he went down clutching his face, getting the Turkey player red carded as a result. What a toe-rag. (He also made history as the first ever player to be fined by FIFA for simulation - yes, that's right, the first official diving cheat was a Brazilian.)

And finally, there's the simple fact that often Brazil are incredibly boring to watch. The 1994 World Cup Final in the USA is the prime example of this. I remember being told it was going to be the best game ever as Brazil faced Italy. Instead it was a turgid defensive affair that ended 0-0 after 120 minutes. One of those five stars on the Brazil badge is down to Roberto Baggio missing a penalty in the shoot out, not because Brazil were any great shakes.

So, there you go. They win with dodgy penalties gifted by awe-struck referees. They kick and elbow and dive their way to narrow wins and no one cares because of the stars on the shirt above the badge. After all, they are Brazil.

My 21 favourite things about the FIFA World Cup 2014 so far

We are into the knockout rounds of the World Cup and I've yet to blog about it, so here's a quick round-up of my favourite bits so far up to and including the second round game between Holland and Mexico.

1) Robin van Persie's equaliser against Spain. Quite simply one of the best diving headers I've ever seen and if you watch it in slow motion you can see he watches the ball into the net until his face hits the grass. When he scored his second he then ran around celebrating with his tongue out like a loon. I'm not a huge fan of RVP, but he is definitely growing on me.

2) Spray-foam at free kicks. It's simple. Ref marks where the ball should be. Then he draws a line on the pitch in front of the wall and they can't move beyond it. It comes in a neat hip holster and is simply a genius idea. One of the first games the ref sprayed it over a Holland player's boots and he was quite clearly protesting saying "My shoes!!" We laughed at that a lot.

3) James Rodriguez's first goal against Uruguay. Taken on the chest, back to goal, thirty yards out, he spun and hit it so sweetly it was untrue.

4) Spain being rubbish. Hopefully this is the death-knell for soul-destroying tiki-taka.

5) Mario Balotelli posting a picture of the Italy page in the Panini World Cup album filled with pictures just of him. That was a step beyond his normal hijinks into ironic subversion art.

6) FIFA stepping up and banning Luis Suarez.

7) Holland 5 Spain 1. What a game that was.

8) Pepe versus Muller in Portugal versus Germany. I have no idea what Pepe was thinking, but he basically threw the game Germany's way there.

9) Chile almost putting Brazil out in the second round. I was gutted they didn't manage to do it. They were the width of the crossbar away in extra time and then failed in the shoot-out. Also the Chile manager looked like Louie Spence, especially the way he prowled the edge of the technical area with one arm held rigid behind him.

10) Speaking of lookalikes, Cathy pointed out that the Mexico manager looked like Nathan Fillion in a fat-suit. She's not wrong.

11) Tim Cahill's goal against Holland. A moment of beauty.

12) The red, white and blue shirts worn by the USA against Ghana. Even nicer than the German white shirts with the red V.

13) Finding out the Mexican goalie has six fingers on one hand and had to have his gloves specially made.

14) The Columbian team's funky dance moves when they score. Play as a team. Dance as a team.

15) Alan Shearer losing it and finally showing some passion as a pundit, after England's pathetic showing. Gary Lineker said "We didn't expect much..." and Alan practically shouted "We expected more than that!" He looked seriously miffed.

16) But Daniel Sturridge's goal against Italy was one of the best England goals at a World Cup Finals that I remember.

17) Wesley Sneijder's goal for Holland against Mexico. Superb control to keep his team in the game with two minutes to go. Then Klaas van Huntelaar kept his cool under pressure to net a penalty in injury time to send Mexico out. An action-packed last few minutes that kept us on the edge of our seat.

18) The TV shot of a player taking a throw-in where 'WORLD CUP BRAZIL' on the advertising hoardings was cropped down to 'D CUP BRA'.

19) Gabby Logan and Phil Neville's in-ground discussion of the England game while the sprinklers soaked them. Twice.

20) Cathy referring to Adam Lallana as Adam the Llama. It would be a much cooler name.

21) Thierry Henry in his role as studio pundit talking about how a player was "really smelling the game." What?