After arousing the whole world to enthusiasm, the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil ended with Germany’s fourth triumph.

The final, held at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on 13th July, went into extra time after a scoreless 90 minutes. Germany finally showed their quality when Mario Gotze scored from Andre Schurrle’s cross on 113 minutes to lead the team to a 1-0 victory.



Prior to the final, the Netherlands beat hosts Brazil 3-0 in the third-place play-off. Japanese official Yuichi Nishimura served as fourth referee in the match.

Japan failed to gather momentum after losing the first game

From Asia, Iran and Australia as well as Japan and Korea Republic participated in the tournament in Brazil. There were high expectations that the two East Asian Football Federation members would advance beyond the group stage for the second tournament running after both reached the last 16 at the previous World Cup.



In their first match of Group C on 14th June, Japan took the lead against Ivory Coast on 16 minutes with a left-foot shot by Keisuke Honda.

Then, the game saw a rather unspectacular period, but after 60 minutes, Ivory Coast started to get a grip. With Didier Drogba taking to the field, Japan couldn’t stave off the African team’s elevated pressure and conceded two goals in succession on the 64th and 66th minutes, slipping to a bitter 2-1 defeat.

Japan finished the second game against Greece scoreless on 19th June after failing to find the net through the tight defence of the European team, who lost a player to a red card in the first half.

With only one point secured after two games, Japan were desperate to win the last group game against Columbia. They fell behind, but Shinji Okazaki’s header leveled the scores just before half time and rekindled Japan’s hope.

However, the Asian champions conceded three goals in the second half to lose 4-1. As Greece also went into the match with one point and edged past Ivory Coast, Japan could have finished as runners-up if they had defeated Columbia…

At a press conference on 25th June, the day after the game, their coach Alberto Zaccheroni announced his intention to leave, saying as a goodbye message: “I think it’s time for a new coach to come in with a new culture and make this team even better.”

Korea Republic failed to win in the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998

On 26th June, Korea Republic faced Belgium in their final group stage game. After letting slip a lead against Russia to be held to a 1-1-draw and then losing 2-4 against Algeria, they needed to defeat the European giants who had won their first two games.



On 45 minutes, Belgium lost Steven Defour to a red card as the first half was about to end scoreless. To make the most of their numerical advantage, Korea Republic brought on forward Lee Keun-Ho for midfielder Han Kook-Young after the break. With the striking duo of Lee, having scored against Russia, and Kim Shin-Wook, they aimed to break the deadlock.

Korea Republic kept the pressure on as coach Hong Myong-Bo introduced Kim Bo-Kyung on 66 minutes and Ji Dong-Won on 73 minutes. In the 78th minute, however, Jan Vertonghen scored a decisive goal for Belgium. The East Asian team fought back, only to hear the final whistle goalless.

Korea exited the tournament without a win for the first time since 1998, causing Hong to resign on 10th July. The Korea Football Association had announced Hong would stay, but the coach left the team, saying: “We have disappointed our people. I must take responsibility for the result.”

The four Asian teams finished their adventure in Brazil without winning a game. This result arguably highlighted the fact that, while Asian teams are growing, the world’s top teams are also growing.