World Cup 2014 through the eyes of César Cernuda

Dennis Bergkamp’s sublime goal against Argentina in 98, Diego Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God”, and Zinedine Zidane’s controversial head butt in the 06 final. These are the types of moments that define the World Cup experience and are forever immortalized in the minds of all football fans.

The 2014 World Cup has been tremendously entertaining so far, with a total of 154 goals scored to date, and needless to say unpredictable – who would have predicted such early exits for Spain and Italy? Of course, I’m pretty disappointed with Spain’s elimination, but I am sure that La Roja will bounce back stronger and better in the next edition.

Despite Spain leaving the competition early, I am still keen to see how the rest of the matches play out. It hasn’t been easy to for me to follow the matches because of the time difference and my hectic work and travel schedules but I keep up with the match updates by relying on Xbox One’s “Destination Brazil” feature. The app provides me with all the updates regardless of which time zone I might be in, provides live statistics during matches, and even better, gives me easy access to game statistics while I debate match tactics with my children (shh… it’s our little secret).

Football has come a long way thanks to the technological evolution the game has seen. In today’s games, we rely on goal-line technology – the ball’s position is continuously and automatically captured in 3D and the indication of whether a goal has been scored is immediately confirmed within one second through a watch worn by all the match officials.

Similarly, for those of us living the game off the pitch, watching football is also no longer just about sitting around the television and shouting at the screen when the referee calls a “dubious” foul. With the pervasiveness of mobility today every goal, every pass, in fact every moment of the competition is captured and shared around the world through both traditional and social media platforms – tweets, photos, videos, emails, GIFs, live updates – that make the World Cup experience that much richer through all the other sources that we have come to rely upon as part of life today. Technology has not just changed the way the sport is being played but it has transformed the entire experience of the competition for both the players and the viewers alike.

As we embark on the quarter finals, I am sure the technological advancements we have in place will allow us to enjoy the competition in all its fun and glory and not leave us with too many missed moments. Here’s wishing everyone a very exciting World Cup 2014 and may the best team win!

Xbox One’s Destination Brazil”

  • “Brazil Now” app – Stats, scores, goal alerts, polls, live Twitter feed
  • Simultaneously use the app with Skype/movie/video game
  • Original series “Every Street United”, new episodes weekly until Aug 3

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