It was meant to be a great game, Tuesday's match between Brazil [Images] and Croatia. The outcome, 1-0 in favour of the Samba Kings, makes them the first team to win eight consecutive matches in the World Cup finals, but yet, there is a lingering bad aftertaste.
For contrary to expectations the stars of the evening put in a pretty listless performance.
Another keenly awaited encounter -- between France [Images] and Switzerland [Images] -- didn't quite sizzle either. The 1998 world champions have now gone goalless in four World Cup games -- their last scoring game being the 1998 final, when they beat Brazil 3-0.
And in the third match of Tuesday, debutant Togo gave South Korea some nervous moments -- at half-time the two teams were 1-1 -- before substitute Ahn Jung-hwan scored the winner.
Football Fiesta: Complete Coverage
All the three fancied teams were made to struggle on Tuesday, showing that the World Cup final will not necessarily follow a script.
New, unlikely heroes may come out every day, and the giants may not have it easy against the Davids.
What do you think about Tuesday's encounters? Will Ronaldo [Images] find his fire again? Is Zidane finished? Can Henry revive his poor scoring record for France? Will Ronaldinho [Images] be truly this World Cup's star? What, in your opinion, were the electric moments of Tuesday's matches?