FIFA 2014
FIFA 14 is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released in September 2013 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Microsoft Windows.[1] It was released as a freemium, under the title FIFA 14 Mobile, for iOS and Android on 23 September 2013[2] and for Windows Phone 8 on 28 February 2014,[3] although much of the game is inaccessible without an in-app payment. It was a launch title for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2013.[4][5] The PlayStation 2 version was only released in PAL territories and Spanish-speaking markets,[6] and was the last game released for the system in the Americas. The PlayStation Portable version was only released as a digital download in North America.[7]
FIFA 2014
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2007. It was the second time that Brazil staged the competition, the first being in 1950, and the fifth time that it was held in South America.
In March 2013, FIFA published a list of 52 prospective referees, each paired, on the basis of nationality, with two assistant referees, from all six football confederations for the tournament. On 14 January 2014, the FIFA Referees Committee appointed 25 referee trios and eight support duos representing 43 countries for the tournament.[25][26]Yuichi Nishimura from Japan acted as referee in the opening match whereas Nicola Rizzoli from Italy acted as referee in the final.[27][28]
Base camps were used by the 32 national squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament. On 31 January 2014, FIFA announced the base camps for each participating team,[32] having earlier circulated a brochure of 84 prospective locations.[35] Most teams opted to stay in the Southeast Region of Brazil, with only eight teams choosing other regions; five teams (Croatia, Germany, Ghana, Greece and Switzerland) opted to stay in the Northeast Region and three teams (Ecuador, South Korea and Spain) opted to stay in the South Region. None opted to stay in the North Region or the Central-West Region.[36] Campo Bahia, the base camp of the eventual champion Germany, attracted much interest.[37]
For a third consecutive World Cup tournament, FIFA staged FIFA Fan Fests in each of the 12 host cities throughout the competition. Prominent examples were the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, which already held a Fan Fest in 2010, and São Paulo's Vale do Anhangabaú.[38][39] The first official event took place on Iracema Beach, in Fortaleza, on 8 June 2014.[40]
In order to avoid ghost goals, the 2014 World Cup introduced goal-line technology following successful trials at among others 2013 Confederations Cup. The chosen Goal Control system featured 14 high speed cameras, 7 directed to each of the goals. Data were sent to the central image-processing centre, where a virtual representation of the ball was output on a widescreen to confirm the goal. The referee was equipped with a watch which vibrated and displayed a signal upon a goal.[41][42][43] France's second goal in their group game against Honduras was the first time goal-line technology was needed to confirm that a goal should be given.[44]
The Adidas Brazuca was the official match ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup[46][47][48][49] and was supplied by Forward Sports of Sialkot, Pakistan.[46] Adidas created a new design of ball after criticisms of the Adidas Jabulani used in the previous World Cup. The number of panels was reduced to six, with the panels being thermally bonded. This created a ball with increased consistency and aerodynamics compared to its predecessor. Furthermore, Adidas underwent an extensive testing process lasting more than two years to produce a ball that would meet the approval of football professionals.
The biological passport was introduced in the FIFA World Cup starting in 2014. Blood and urine samples collected from all players before the competition, and from two players per team per match, were analysed by the Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analyses.[56] FIFA reported that 91.5% of the players taking part in the tournament were tested before the start of the competition and none tested positive.[57] However, FIFA was criticised for how it conducted doping tests.[58][59]
The group stage of the cup took place in Brazil from 12 June 2014 to 26 June 2014: each team played three games. The group stage was notable for a scarcity of draws and a large number of goals. The first drawn (and goalless) match did not occur until the 13th match of the tournament, between Iran and Nigeria: a drought longer than any World Cup since 1930.[67] The group stage produced a total of 136 goals (an average of 2.83 goals per match), nine fewer than were scored during the entire 2010 tournament.[68] This is the largest number of goals in the group stage since the 32-team system was implemented in 1998[69] and the largest average in a group stage since 1958.[70] World Cup holders Spain were eliminated after only two games, the quickest exit for the defending champions since Italy's from the 1950 tournament.[71] Spain also became the fourth nation to be eliminated in the first round while holding the World Cup crown, the first one being Italy in 1950 (and again in 2010), Brazil in 1966, and France in 2002.[72] For the first time, two teams from Africa advanced to the second round, a feat that would be repeated in the 2022 tournament.
There were changes to the voting procedure for awards for the 2014 edition: while in 2010 accredited media were allowed to vote for the Golden Ball award,[99] in 2014 only the Technical Study Group could select the outcome.[100]
The marketing of the 2014 FIFA World Cup included sale of tickets, support from sponsors and promotion through events that utilise the symbols and songs of the tournament. Popular merchandise included items featuring the official mascot as well as an official video game that has been developed by EA Sports.[118] As a partner of the German Football Association, part of German major airline Lufthansa's fleet was branded "Fanhansa" for the time being. Branded planes flew the Germany national team, media representatives and football fans to Brazil.[119]
Worldwide, several games qualified as the most-watched sporting events in their country in 2014, including 42.9 million people in Brazil for the opening game between Brazil and Croatia, the 34.1 million in Japan who saw their team play Ivory Coast, and 34.7 million in Germany who saw their national team win the World Cup against Argentina,[133] while the 24.7 million viewers during the game between the US and Portugal is joint with the 2010 final as the most-watched football game in the United States.[134] According to FIFA, over 1 billion people tuned in worldwide to watch the final between Germany and Argentina.[135]
Prior to the opening ceremony of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup staged in Brazil, demonstrations took place outside the venue, organised by people unhappy with the amount of public money spent to enable the hosting of the FIFA World Cup.[144] Both the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff and FIFA president Sepp Blatter were heavily booed as they were announced to give their speeches at the 2013 tournament's opening,[145] which resulted in FIFA announcing that the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony would not feature any speeches.[146] Further protests took place during the Confederations Cup as well as prior to and during the World Cup.[147][148][149][150][151]
On 3 July 2014, an overpass under construction in Belo Horizonte as part of the World Cup infrastructure projects collapsed onto a busy carriageway below, leaving two people dead and 22 others injured.[154][155]
Hummels has enjoyed a trophy-laden career that includes five Bundesliga titles across numerous spells at Bayern and Dortmund, plus the 2014 triumph in Brazil, where he was first-choice centre-back throughout and also scored the winning goal in the quarter-final against France. The last of his 76 caps came at UEFA Euro 2020, having made his senior debut a decade earlier. The 34-year-old is currently still going strong for BVB, now in his 17th Bundesliga campaign with well over 400 competitive appearances in black and yellow.
Third in Germany's all-time list of most-capped players, Podolski earned just two of his 130 caps in Brazil, in the group games against Portugal and USA. Famed for his thunderous left foot, the former Cologne and Bayern star was a highly valued (and popular) member of Germany's squad despite his limited minutes on the pitch, thanks to his experience and laid-back, jovial demeanour. 'Poldi' had a third and final season at Arsenal after Brazil 2014 and has had a nomadic career path ever since, taking in stints in Italy (Inter Milan), Turkey (Galatasaray, Antalyaspor), Japan (Vissel Kobe) and now Poland (Gornik Zabrze), where the now 37-year-old has been since summer 2021. But he still has strong links to his hometown of Cologne, including a popular kebab shop.
Zieler was - and still is - regarded as a reliable pair of hands in goal. The former Manchester United goalkeeper had been a regular in Germany's squads since making his debut in a friendly against Ukraine in 2011, but was an unused substitute throughout the 2014 World Cup. He had two more seasons at Hannover after Brazil before a short-lived spell in the Premier League with Leicester City. Zieler, who was last called up to the national team in 2015, returned to Germany in 2017 with Stuttgart. He his now back at Hannover and is the team's first-choice custodian in Bundesliga 2. 13. Thomas Müller
A German famed for his sense of humour and laid-back manner? Don't be fooled by Müller's off-field charisma, though; he's as ruthless as they come when he steps onto a football pitch. Müller scored five times at Brazil 2014, taking his career World Cup total to 10, and the one-club man is still going strong at Bayern. The Bundesliga's top assist provider in both of the past two seasons, Müller remains one of the most respected - and elusive - attackers in the game. 041b061a72