![]() The South Americans are arguably two of the best in the world, and while the home pressure is on Neymar to succeed, Messi has his own demons to overcome as he tries to win the trophy for Argentina on hostile ground. Level with him are two men who continue to save their underperforming sides: Neymar and Argentina's Lionel Messi. ![]() A good game against France and the gap could close even further. Currently, the Bayern man has nine goals in his World Cup career - five in 2010 - and is rapidly closing on the record of teammate Miroslav Klose, who recently equaled Ronaldo's record in the competition by netting his 15th goal. However, they did manage to stop Thomas Muller (four) from scoring, which is quite a feat given his record at World Cups. A landslide victory was predicted, but Les Fennecs pulled off something of a shock to force the game to extra time at 0-0, and were only beaten 2-1 as tired legs were unable to keep out the German charge. Germany had arguably the best draw of the round of 16 as they were paired with African minnows Algeria. With Brazil up next, it gives the Monaco man a chance to go head-to-head with his continental adversary. ![]() Showcasing his heading skills as well as his technical gift in the group stage, he bagged three goals before a double in the round of 16 - which included one of the goals of the tournament against Uruguay - putting him one ahead of the chasing pack. Not so: Colombia's young star James Rodriguez (five) has stepped up to become one of the players of the tournament. If you had said before the tournament that a 22-year-old South American was going to be topping the goal charts by this stage, you probably would have meant Brazil's Neymar. As we enter the quarterfinal stage in Brazil, we already have three players with four goals, and one outstanding star with five. Since 1978, the winner has scored an average of six goals. Sometimes, as with Just Fontaine in 1958 or Gerd Muller in 1970, it is a runaway, but 2014 has a number of the world's top stars vying for contention. Ever since Argentina's Guillermo Stabile netted eight goals in 1930, the prize for the tournament's top goal getter is something that fans simply love to discuss. The race for the Golden Boot - the top scorer at the World Cup - is something that dominates headlines and column inches every four years.
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