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This World Cup belongs to the Americas. After a couple of tournaments dominated by European teams, the 2014 tournament in Brazil is all about the re-emergence of some regional heavyweights.
Not that anyone needed reminding, but the fickleness of football was plain for all to see when a red-hot Chile suffered the most agonising of World Cup exits.
Not once, but twice did the width of the woodwork come to host nation Brazil’s rescue, as Chilean substitute Mauricio Pinilla lashed a stupendous strike against the crossbar with barely seconds to play in extra-time.
It was an audacious strike worthy of winning any match, yet the Chileans must have felt their hearts sink at the sight of Pinilla’s piledriver crashing back off the bar.
It was a sign of things to come, as Brazil profited from some shaky nerves and the assured goalkeeping of Julio Cesar to book a place in the quarter-finals, as Chile defender Gonzalo Jara smashed his crucial spot-kick against the post.
It was harsh on Chile – though the host nation will point to a disallowed Hulk effort as proof of their superiority – and surely Colombia will fancy its chances of knocking Brazil out of the tournament next time around.
Much was made of Radamel Falcao missing the World Cup through injury, yet Colombian fans must have felt quietly confident of their team’s chances given the presence of his Monaco teammate James Rodriguez.
Given the obsession the English-language media has with English football, we sometimes discover that superstar players fly under our radar.
However, if anyone was unaware of the played commonly called ‘James’ before the tournament, they surely know who he is now.
The Colombian playmaker not only put his hand up for goal of the tournament – sorry Tim Cahill, but that 30-yard piledriver has got you covered – he has also almost single-handedly orchestrated Colombia’s place in the quarter-finals.
And surely in the form they’re in, Los Cafeteros will fancy their chances of knocking out a Brazil side which has loocked nervy to the point of inertia in each game it has played.
If Rodriguez has been a key man for Colombia, then what exactly has Luis Suarez been for Uruguay?
His two goals against England may have helped fire Uruguay into the knock-out phase, yet his stupidity against Italy cost his team its talisman.
That Suarez was absurdly feted as a national hero in some quarters of the Uruguayan public says much about the way football is regarded in that part of the world, but there’s no doubt that his biting antics hurt Uruguay’s chances as much as they did Giorgio Chiellini.
With most of the headlines focusing on Suarez, Neymar and Argentine star Lionel Messi, it’s nice to see a couple of Central American teams still kicking about.
Mexico has made a habit of exiting in the Round of 16, having done so in the last five tournaments, but they won’t exactly relish coming up against the in-form Netherlands.
Costa Rica, however, will surely fancy its chances of knocking out a defensive Greece after the Ticos stunned everyone to finish top of a group containing Uruguay, Italy and England.
Wouldn’t it be a sensational story to see Costa Rica advance to the quarter-finals, in a tournament in which several European heavyweights have struggled to cope?
Of course, the regional giant with perhaps the most realistic chance of reaching the final is Argentina.
Led by star man Messi – who is finally showing the sort of performances on the international stage which could one day see him crowned the greatest player of all time – the Argentines will be banking on a semi-final spot and a potential show-down with Brazil.
But whatever happens from here on in, it’s nice to see some teams from the Americas excelling on home turf.