The 2014 World Cup has turned out to be more exciting than expected with a barrage of goals, underdogs winning and goalkeepers stopping goals like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix! However, inspite of all this, we still find ourselves with a tally of goals which is much higher than the 2010 version. Lets look at some interesting facts comparing the two tournaments at the current stage.
Goals:
The group stages of the 2014 World Cup has seen an astounding 136 goals, which is 35 more than the 2010 group stages. This is mainly associated with the huge number of draws (28) in 2010, many of which were goalless. In comparison, only 18 draws occurred in the group stages of the current tournament.
The Round of 16 has seen almost the same number of goals in both versions though, mainly associated with the fact that the teams with a better discipline at the back have made it through the first stage. Teams like USA have held Belgium, which has enjoyed the best attack figures of 81 shots with 55 on target. Howard made 15 saves in that one match itself which is testament to this fact.
Discipline:
The discipline in the 2014 edition of the World Cup has been much better than the previous one. A whopping 225 yellow cards were awarded upto this point last time, while only 166 have been required this time. The number of direct red cards remains the same at 7 each.
Referees have been more careful with their decisions this time, but of course, being a tournament at such a high level, controversial decisions cannot be avoided.
No doubt the World Cup is always an exciting proposition, but we might be in for some more big surprises along the way!
Take a look at all 136 goals of the Group Stages till now:
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