A Football Report Eric Beard

All good things must come to an end, even heart-stopping endlessly entertaining World Cups. It’s time for the pod to sign-off for the summer too. We’ve recorded over 45 shows this season and few will be sweeter than this – the chance to reflect on a tense, emotionally draining but ultimately fulfilling World Cup final.

There’s a stream of praise for Mario Götze’s sumptuous winner, André Schürrle’s super-sub antics and, above all, the humble team ethic and youth development system that underpinned a richly deserved night of glory for Joachim Löw’s „Jungs“.

On the flip side, we mourn an evening of missed opportunities for an Argentinian side who were so nearly dragged over the line by their talisman of the tournament...and it’s not Lionel Messi.

As we turned the final audio page on the tournament we reflected on the World Cup as a whole – the goals, the games, the personalities, the shocks, the atmosphere and the Tim Howard memes that have made us weak at the knees and besotted with Brazil for the past four weeks.

Added to that list of golden memories will be a trip to the World Cup Panini Sticker Exhibition at the Proud Archivist in London. On the eve of the big game, we took the opportunity to see every World Cup sticker produced from the 1970 World Cup to present day – the perfect way to get a last hit of the global adhesive game and witness the mesmerising evolution of facial hair.

We’re off for a few weeks – mainly to source some referee spray paint from the black market – but you’ll hear from us again soon to hear the pod’s plans for the new season. Until then, we would like to say a huge thanks to everyone who has strapped their ears around our show over the last 10 months, and all the wonderful guests who have shared some hugely insightful football thought and culture from every continent and corner of the globe – from Afghanistan to Mongolia, Colombia to Germany.

Remember, you can get in touch with the team by emailing afrvoice@gmail.com, or on Twitter @AFRvoice. You can also find us on iTunes here.

And then there were two. With two equally compelling semi-finals from the opposite ends of the footballing spectrum now complete, we now know that it’ll be either Germany or Argentina taking a 6.1kg, 36.8cm high World Cup souvenir back home with them.

One side that most certainly won’t be in the Maracana on Sunday is the tournament’s generous hosts. Join the pod as they discuss how things went so horribly wrong for Brazil, the ruthlessness of a German side of have tasted big game defeats so frequently of late, and where the game in Brazil goes from here.

It may have not had all of the drama of the other semi, but nevertheless Argentina did just enough to make their way to the tournament’s final hurdle, and end Louis van Gaal's reign as Dutch coach on a bittersweet note. With the world's attention turning to Lionel Messi and the bizarre scenario of the little man being forced to forge his own legacy at the ripe old age of 27, the guys weigh up Argentina's chances against Germany, and give some very much less than convincing predictions for Sunday's showpiece event.

Remember, you can get in touch with the team by emailing afrvoice@gmail.com, or on Twitter @AFRvoice. You can also find us on iTunes here.

And then there were eight.

It may have got a whole lot tighter in the second round – six matches hit a 0-0 stalemate at half-time – but the drama in every dying minute of both regulation and extra time, or every game, was truly breathtaking.

Exhibit A was the Unites States against Belgium – a match which put USMNT fans through the full gambit of emotions. They came up just short but put in a courageous performance that will live long in the memory of all football fans, no matter their affiliations, or indeed their location.

To break down the game and the colossal swell of support that lifted it to seminal heights, AFR contributor Nathen McVittie joins the pod. Fresh from a trip to Brazil for AFR, he also shares his experiences from the eye of the tournament's storm, with tales of entire neighbourhoods coming alive for the greatest show on earth. With Nathen's Atlantic-straddling background, there's a discussion on quite how powerfully the USMNT's heroic World Cup campaign can impact upon the American sporting public's psyche, as well as another dose of late night viewing with the London chapter of the American Outlaws.

With the Tim Howard eulogising finally coming to an end, the guys cast a broad eye over the tournament – assessing the major headlines to come out of the last-16 fixtures, and make their predictions for some mouth-watering quarter-finals.

Amidst heat maps that looked fit for an avant-garde art exhibition, they tackle a flurry of ensuing questions - Will James Rodriguez put Neymar in his shadow? Will Messi continue to drag Argentina one step closer to glory? Will Miroslav Klose bag that record? And most importantly of all - will Costa Rica’s fairy-tale journey continue against a hot-and-bothered Holland?

Remember, you can get in touch with the team by emailing afrvoice@gmail.com, or on Twitter @AFRvoice. You can also find us on iTunes here.