Day 12; Group A and B conclude, in non-alphabetical order

The final round of group games have arrived, and qualifications and plane tickets home are set to all be confirmed. Whilst minnows such as Englamd and Spain may already know their doomed fate, and heavyweights like Costa Rica already have one eye on the knock-outs, day 12 saw three teams play who are yet to confirm a top two finish in group A. Group B's matters had already been settled, with Holland and Chile qualifying ahead of Australia and Spain as they end their golden era, fittingly dressed in all black. (Ignore the fluorescent trimmings.) However the final placing of the two qualifiers was yet to be confirmed, and depending on who finished top, the chances of meeting Brazil, should they qualify, hung.

This meant the colourful-fan-derby between Netherlands and Chile, was key to the final group B standings, with a draw for the Oranje being enough to keep them above the Football Hipster's pick. The match itself was a "tactical" encounter, an adjective used by those in a studio who don't want to admit that a game has been dull. Chile possessed a large majority of the ball, but left enough men back to survive the expected counter-attacks that were so effective for the Dutch when they conquered Spain. Yet, on the counter Holland were still a threat, via the everlasting and always increasing pace of Arjen Robben, who predictably flew across the pitch diagonally from right to left, to angle a shot on his favoured foot, which he dragged just wide.

Colourful.

Meanwhile, Spain versus Australia had a testimonial feel to it, with David Villa, Spain's record goalscorer and general legend, playing his last game for his country, and fittingly marked it with another goal, stretching him another strike ahead of any other legendary Spanish striker or Fernando Torres. Also making their international bow, was the elegant Xabi Alonso, as the pass master mastered his last pass, on the international stage at least. The holders actually finally put in a champions-ish performance, albeit against a somewhat second-string Australia side, arguably the weakest of second-strings available in Brazil, likely to tear under any great pressure. On 69 minutes, Torres pulled the strings apart further, adding a second Spanish goal with a neat finish, sparking exclamations of; "He's back to his best," few seriously and hopefully mainly in irony.

Villa and Alonso, standing back upright after making their 'international bow.'

Back in São Paulo, Netherlands and Chile's deadlock had finally been broken, via an unlikely source considering his employers, Norwich City's Leroy Fer. The substitute leapt above the factually tiny Chile tea,, and power a header into the extreme-right hand side of the net. Yet another #SuperSub in this tournament, possible evidence of the humid conditions tiring those outfield all game long, emphasising the fresh-legged and in this case, fresh headed, substitutes effects on the outcome of the match. This goal on 77 minutes, all but secured Holland's position as group leaders, before Robben's outstanding pace yet again flung him through, this time to provide an assit for yet again a substitute, to score. Memphis Depay was the man apply the tap-in, his second of the tournament which hit the back of the net ten minutes after Juan Mata had added a third Spain goal in their simultaneously played match.

Then it was time for 'Everything to play for Group A,' incidently taking place after group B had concluded, the alphabet is said to be furious. Cameroon had experienced an awful World Cup so far, including no goals scored, a terribly stupendous red card for Alex Song and fighting between teammates on the field. Forgiveness could be issue to those who assume the scenes inside the dressing room are even worse. However, after ruining their own tournament, they still had the ability to ruin everyone else's by causing a shock defeat to Brazil which could not only knock the hosts out, but trigger a rise in riots and general national uproar already situated in the country. At times it looked like that was possible, the team with only the abstract noun, pride, to play for, caused Brazil's defence a few problems, out-pacing the paciest defence.

Mr. World Cup 2014, Neymar, put Brazil ahead with a composed finish with the most text book of text book side-foot finishes. But after Thiago Silva hit his own cross bar, and along with other chances created, Cameroon pulled back to severely panic everyone. Whilst all this was happening, there was still a stalemate between Mexico and Croatia in their decider, the winner would guarantee a place in the next round, but more interestingly for us neutrals was the effect that fixture could have on Brazil's qualification, especially as both games were finely poised in the balance.

But, Neymar, with all the pressure on bis team but let's be honest, mainly him, continued to run this tournament. Some said he wasn't that great despite his two goals against Croatia, prbably the same people who say he was poor against Mexico, but surely no-one can dispute just how good he was here. He skipped through and applied a goalkeeper-deceiving finish to put Brazil back in control, and put him as the front runner to try on the Golden Boot. On the confidence of this, he produced a section of skilful play, 'YouTube search: Neymar Skills and Goals' worthy, controlling a high ball well, flicking over and opponents head afterwards, then charismatically over his own head to pass to another yellow shirt, before making an off the ball run which ensured him possession again, which he welcomed with feint touch off the outside of his foot to complete another pass, spinning full circle whilst doing so, arguably the move of the World Cup so far. All that was missing was another return to the number 10, and the net bulging.

To execute such skill, whilst apparently holding the weight of the world on his shoulders, or at least that of Brazil

The hosts went on to dominate, punishing Cameroon who dropped back into their bad habits of poor defending and simply poor football-ing. A Brazil-esque move after Mbia squandered possession rounded the game off, securing their place in the last 16 against Chile. Back in Arena Pernambuco (named after Juninho possibly? The guy with the free-kicks?), Mexico's World Cup veteran Rafa Marquez headed them into the lead, to delight his neckless, extravagant manager, Miguel Herrera. Then, with their World Cup very much on the slide, Croatia crumbled. Mexico went 3-nil up in a matter of ten minutes after scoring the opener, and although Perisic pulled a goal back for the Croats, their campaign still finished on a down note as Rebic was given a classic 'red card out of frustration' before the final whistle blew.