The Underachievers

Though I'm still a bit hesitant to say it (there's nothing like tempting fate and inviting a sudden avalanche of bore draws), this tournament really is shaping up to be one of the all-time great World Cups. Aside from the caution-to-the-wind attacking mentality which makes it seem as if South Africa 2010 was all just a terrible dream, we've got upsets galore and new heroes emerging every day, such as American centre-back John Brooks who scored a late winner against Ghana in his first ever competitive match, and Costa Rican Joel Campbell who single-handedly turned his country's match against Uruguay on its head.

But what of these fellas, the superstars? We've yet to see any of them firing on all cylinders. Apart from one moment of stunning inspiration - which admittedly resulted in a great goal - Messi was anonymous against Bosnia; Ronaldo was powerless to stop Portugal being steamrollered by Germany; Neymar's lacklustre form was neatly summed up in Brazil's goalless draw against Mexico; and the less said about Steven Gerrard in general, the better.

It can still be a magnificent tournament even without fireworks from the greats, but a little bit of magic wouldn't go amiss.