World Cup 2014: The United States And Belgium Could Provide Fireworks At The Arena Fonte Nova

Be prepared for some early 4^th of July fireworks on Tuesday when the United States take on Belgium in the knockout round. Thus far the first six games of the round of 16 have been relatively low scoring. But if World Cup statistics mean anything to you, expect lots of scoring in Salvador.

Salvador’s Arena Fonte Nova has seen a surge in scoring so far in the World Cup. Over the course of four games, the arena has seen over 21 goals scored. The last time a World Cup venue surrendered twenty or more goals was in 1958. Despite scoring being up in this World Cup compared to its predecessors, soccer experts are speechless at the action that has been coming from Salvador.

“It’s quite unprecedented in modern times,” said John Ley a statistics expert for the Daily Telegraph. “Football was very different going back half a century or more and there was a high number of goals in general. For there to be so many in Salvador is remarkable.”

The epicenter of scoring started in the opening round match between the Netherlands and Spain. If you don’t remember that match, the defending World Cup champions Spain were absolutely throttled by the Oranje 5-1 sending the holders home and the Netherlands on to the semifinals. That victory was so lopsided, that Holland’s Robin Van Persie told the media after the game “we could have scored eight.”

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The next game at the epicenter of scoring was Germany’s 4-0 slaughter of Portugal. The match saw a hat trick for Thomas Mueller, and Portugal have to play with 10 men after Pepe saw red. The bevy of goals did not stop there however; the third match in the Arena Fonte Nova witnessed the slug fest that was Switzerland and France. France scored five unanswered goals before Switzerland finally got on the scoreboard with a couple n the final ten minutes. The 5-2 finish, secured Salvador’s seat at the most scoring venue of the tournament.

The final game at the epicenter of scoring was a group F match between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran. The game finished in an underwhelming 3-1 finish for Bosnia, but when you take into consideration that both sides had previously only scored one single tally before that match, the fortuitous Arena Fonte Nova had struck again.

So why have there been so many goals scored in Salvador? Many reasons have given for the scoring anomaly, from the new ball, to the influx of fans at the game to the weather conditions in Brazil. The latter is most likely the culprit as statistics have thus far proven that there have been more goals scored at the hotter humid venues throughout Brazil than the colder ones.

"When teams get fatigued mistakes creep in," Ley said. "Mistakes lead to goals and that is part of it. With Salvador it is obviously hot and then you have had high-quality teams, strongly motivated to prove a point."

In another twist of fate, a Brazilian government campaign called “Gol Verde”or “Green Goal” pledged before the World Cup that they would plant over 1,000 trees for every goal that was scored in Salvador. The campaign was in response to the widespread global concern that Brazil is involved in severe deforestation in the Atlantic Forest. While our hat’s are off to the Brazilian government for starting the campaign, the problem “Gol Verde” faces now is that there have been so many goals scored at the Salvador venue they no long have any money to purchase the trees!

So what is the significance of all this scoring ahead of the United States clash with Belgium on Tuesday? Well, the two sides are no stranger to high scoring games. In May of last year, the United States battled Belgium in a friendly in Cleveland, OH. The match saw four second half goals scored in way to a 4-2 Belgium route over Team USA.

A high scoring game does not bode well for the Stars and Stripes, as Belgium possesses the more potent offensive players. Additionally, the United States offense has been anemic as of late as they only had a combined nine shots on goal during group play.

However, another shootout at Salvador could be precisely what Belgian strikers Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku need to restore their confidence and send them on to the quarterfinals.

Let’s hope that the epicenter of scoring is dormant at the Arena Fonte Nova and the United States are able to prevail in a tight low scoring affair. If however, the soccer gods of Salvador want another shootout at the now infamous venue, let’s hope they are smiling down on the United States come Tuesday.