With no live football during the coronavirus pandemic, we've decided to reflect on the FIFA World Cup down through the years on Off the Ball every Saturday.
The 2014 World Cup was staged in Brazil, and won by Germany.
It was the first World Cup to be held in Brazil since 1950 and there were huge expectations they would win the trophy for a sixth time.
The 200 million people in the South American country were almost gripped by a religious zeal in attempting to lift the 'selecao' to the promised land.
However, Brazil were over reliant on Neymar, had no recognised striker and were suspect defensively.
Squeezing past Chile on penalties was a hint of things to come and when Neymar was on the receiving end of an awful Juan Zuniga challenge in the quarter-final victory over Colombia, it robbed Brazil of their talisman.
Germany had whipped Portugal and beaten France to progress to the semi-final, but their performance against Algeria wasn't top class. So it wasn't a clear cut encounter for the prognosticators.
The Germans had been knocking on the door in major tournaments, reaching the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil were big players in a decent midfield, Manuel Neuer was a strong goalkeeper, Mats Hummels a rock in defence and Philipp Lahm a good captain.
Thiago Silva's suspension denied Brazil their best defender, but the 7-1 Belo Horizonte defeat was a national humiliation when it came to football.
Germany ran riot, scoring four times in six minutes midway through the first half. It was a sorry sight to witness Brazil capitulate the way they did.
Earlier in the tournament, holders Spain failed to emerge from their Group, thumped 5-1 by Holland in their opening game. The Dutch would reach the last four, assisted by goalkeeper Tim Krul's penalty heroics against Costa Rica.
Other early casualties were England and Italy, with Roy Hodgson's men failing to win a game. Luiz Suarez's moment of madness in biting Giorgio Chiellini damaged Uruguay's chances, but Colombia's James Rodriguez was a revelation, scoring six times and winning the golden boot.
So the Germans' opponents in the final at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on July 13th would be Argentina, in a repeat of the 1986 and 1990 finals. Argentina possessed the best player in the world in Lionel Messi, who shone earlier in the competition against Nigeria and Iran. Argentina edged past Belgium in the quarter-finals and saw off the Dutch via penalties in the semi-final.
However, Messi, possibly fatigued by the time the decider came around, couldn't find the net and after Gonzalo Higuain missed an early chance, it was Germany that broke through in extra time.
Andre Schurrle, then at Chelsea, had a great tournament. He had scored three goals off the bench by the time he fed substitute Mario Gotze for a 113th minute winner. It was a goal worthy of winning any final and the final score was Germany 1 Argentina 0.
Germany were world champions for a fourth time and became the first European nation to win the competition on South American soil.
It was tough on Messi, who may never get the chance to emulate Maradona and win a World Cup. He probably has one last chance in Qatar.
You can watch the full chat and enjoy some unique memories of World Cup 2014 with John Duggan, Daniel McDonnell and Johnny Ward below.
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