What this World Cup could really do with is a team to capture the imagination, says Brendan O’Brien.

It seems an age ago that Xavi walked into a press conference in Salvador before Spain began their defence of this trophy, full of hope and with earned dreams of further history.

Four years have passed since a wiry, awkward-looking Thierry Henry first impacted on the international scene, with Aime Jacquet unsure where, or whether, to include him in the France team.