Interesting Facts of World Cup 2014

2014 FIFA World Cup logo via Wikimedia Common

World Cup is surely one of the biggest events in the world, second to the Olympics, that is absolutely anticipated by millions of sports fans around the globe. This year's World Cup has 32 country's national teams that will be battling out in a total of 64 matches that are going to be played across the 12 cities of Brazil. World Cup 2014 started last June 12 and is scheduled to end on July 13 this year. What's great about here is that there will be a lot of frantically exciting events that everyone should not miss about aside from those colorful and dramatic events that Brazil has given this year's World Cup. Another thing is that, who will make it to the finals and take place Spain's Championship spot in the tournament? This is really getting exciting and see here some interesting things about this World Cup 2014.

1. First Time To Have A Goal Line Technology - To avoid controversies whether a decision of a referee is fair enough, a goal-line technology has been set up for this World Cup 2014. 14 cameras have been set up around the rim of each stadium. Cameras are connected to a central mainframe computer which will analyze whether a shot is a goal. It will be monitored by a watch worn by the referee. The referee will feel the vibration on the watch if a goal is scored during the match. This is really cool! So by this, a referee's decision will have fewer mistakes.

2. The Most Expensive FIFA World Cup Ever - World Cup 2014 in Brazil is the most expensive in the history of FIFA World Cup ever recorded. What's interesting about this is that when you combined the last 2 World Cup's expenses held in 2006 and 2010 in Germany and South Africa, respectively, it is way too high. So far, according to worldcupbrazil.net the expenses incurred for this World Cup range from 14-16 billion US dollars. The costs include the building of infrastructures, stadiums and for the security of the World Cup fans and attendees of the event. Woah, this is really one of the reasons why Brazilians have tremendous protests in June of 2013.

3. First 2014 World Cup Kick Has Been Taken By a Paraplegic Teenager 

This is not just interesting, but also inspirational, for someone who is a paraplegic teenager (not the usually known person) has been the one who took the first kick in the tournament. The teenager wore a high-tech exoskeleton suit to do it. This marks a higher step in technology that is shown in the World Cup.

4. The Most Expensive Team is Brazil  

Brazil is the most expensive team in World Cup 2014 according to Pluri Consultoria. It is based on the calculated market value. Brazil's market value is 507 million euros. It is followed by Spain and Argentina which has 504 million euros and 475 million euros, respectively.

5. The Most Expensive Player is Leo Messi  

Lionel Messi is the most expensive player in World Cup 2014. Still, it is based on the calculated market value. Lionel Messi's market value is 105 million euros, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo with 88 million euros and Neymar with 52 million euros. (bleacherreport.com - June 12, 2014)

6. First Time That a Vanishing Spray Will Be Used To Mark Free Kicks  

For the first time in World Cup history that referees used vanishing sprays. The water-based spray is used to mark the position of the ball in a free-kick spot in the field. It is also used to draw a 10-yard line for the defending team during the free kick. The spray disappears in a minute after it's used.

7. First Time That 2 Consecutive World Cups are Not Hosted In Europe 

In a normal cycle of World Cup that it is conducted outside Europe, it is Europe which will host next. However, the previous World Cup is hosted in Africa. After this 2 World Cups which has been conducted in Brazil (2014) and South Africa (2010), that would be the time that it will go back to Europe for the next World Cup in Russia (2018).

Written by: Ken Guardian