The morning after. It’s been a wild month-long World Cup sprint, but Mario Gotze’s extra-time goal gave Germany the trophy over Argentina – and now we won’t get any more World Cup action for four years. Before we pack it in (Premier League starts in just 33 days!), though, there’s still time to take a quick look back at what transpired in Brazil.
The five members of the Eye on World Cup team got together (or exchanged one email each, in reality) and voted on four awards and a Best XI from the World Cup.
Up next, the biggest Breakout Star.
This one was easy. James Rodriguez opened his World Cup with a 90th minute goal against Greece and never slowed down, finishing with six goals in five matches – scoring at least one goal in every match. James also notched two assists, clinching the coveted Golden Boot award.
James would have likely won the Golden Ball award for best player had Colombia advanced past the quarterfinal stage, but they were bounced by Brazil a couple matches short. While he was on the pitch, though, no one was better than James – pronounced “Hames,” and don’t call him “James.” His creativity in the attacking third was second to none, and he put up highlight-reel goal after highlight-reel goal.
It’s not like Rodriguez was an unknown heading into the World Cup, either. This is a player who was sold by Porto to Monaco last summer for 45 million euros, although he scored just nine goals in 34 matches for his Ligue 1 club. After his performance over the past month, the transfer rumors have ramped up significantly, with clubs from Real Madrid to Manchester United and everyone in between supposedly interested in the 23-year old attacker.
This was a clean sweep, too, as no other players received a vote.
