THE group stage of the World Cup proved record-breaking in terms of the number of goals scored.

And that has certainly impressed FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

“I’m impressed,” Blatter said in a short video interview on the FIFA website on Friday.

“What has changed from previous World Cups is that in the first matches of the group phase everybody played to win.”

“The 16 remaining teams will give us a great spectacle.”

Four years ago, Blatter complained of the poor entertainment offered at the World Cup in South Africa.

The whole World Cup yielded 145 goals but this year, the group stage has already seen the back of the net ruffled 136 times.

That broke the record for the most goals scored during a 32-team World Cup. In the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, 130 goals were scored in the group stage.

Blatter also threw light on Europe’s dismal return at the World Cup. Of the 13 European teams, only six managed to get past the group stage.

He said they were punished for attacking too late in the game. “One of them is Italy. They are out because they waited and waited,” Blatter said. “You can’t wait, you have to score.”

Italy were ousted after a 1-0 loss to Uruguay in their final Group ‘D’ game on Tuesday but the game was overshadowed with Luis Suarez biting Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder.

The Uruguay striker was banned for nine matches and was handed a four-month suspension from all football-related activity.

“It is not fair what he has done,” Blatter said, before adding it was not for him to comment on the severity of Suarez’s punishment.

“The decision was taken by a panel of seven judges on FIFA’s disciplinary committee,” the Swiss added. “Obviously they have taken into consideration the antecedents of this player.”

The Liverpool striker was banned for seven and 10 matches in the Netherlands and England, respectively.

The FIFA supremo also thanked Brazilians for a largely peaceful World Cup.

The buildup to the World Cup was marred by protests by the locals over government over poor public services while investing heavily on hosting the World Cup.

“The population of Brazil is now in the game,” Blatter said. “They are more in the game than in the streets. They are more in the fan fests than the demonstrations.”

Blatter also said that goal-line technology would be introduced at the 2016 European Championships.

The technology was used at the World Cup for the first time and helped determine a goal for France in a group stage game against Honduras.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2014