The opening eight games have been more than enjoyable, a spectacle of goals, attacking play and thrilling comebacks. In short, everything a Brazilian World Cup should be. These games have featured a number of Serie A based players, aside from those playing in the Azzurri of Italy, who are showing their talents to a global stage.

The starting line-ups in the opening game featured two Serie A based players, both for Croatia: Inter’s Mateo Kovačić and Genoa’s Šime Vrsaljko. Inter’s Hernanes came on in the second half in Brazil’s 3-1 victory.

Vrsaljko, who usually plays at right-back for Genoa, started on the left of defence for Croatia in the tournament curtain raiser against Brazil. He very rarely had the opportunity to show some of his forward running power as he had to stay immensely disciplined. Was beaten very easily by Brazil’s Neymar, who then created a shot for Oscar.

Kovačić started in perhaps the most elegant midfield trio in the tournament, with Real Madrid’s Modrić and the Barcelona-bound Rakitić He was unable to shine, however, as perhaps the occasion got to him. Brazil’s midfield never dominated the game, but Kovačić didn’t make his mark and was taken off after 61 minutes.

Hernanes doubled Inter’s participation in the opener, as he came in the 63rd minute with Brazil still searching for the lead. Lost the ball in a very dangerous area at least twice and was not involved in the Brazilian goals.

Nigel De Jong is Serie A and Milan’s only representative in the Netherlands squad, although Roma’s Strootman is only missing out through injury. De Jong will be delighted with his opening game, as the Netherlands thrashed the reigning world champions Spain 5-1. De Jong anchored the midfield expertly from the start, allowing their creative forwards to roam in tranquillity. De Jong once again escaped sanction for an act of violence against a Spaniard; he elbowed Sergio Busquets early in the game. He will have to check his reckless side to avoid a needless suspension.

Talented Chile have four Serie A based players (five if you include Edu Vargas, on loan to Valencia from Napoli): Juve’s Arturo Vidal and Mauricio Isla, Atalanta midfielder Carlos Carmona and veteran Cagliari forward Mauricio Pinilla.

The two Juve men started the game, but Vidal was noticeably short of full fitness and did not impose himself on the game like we know he can; he was taken off in the 60th minute and will hopefully regain some match fitness before Chile’s next encounter. Isla gave the assured performance at full back that he used to do for Udinese and has only recently shown for Juve. Pinilla came on in the 88th minute and managed to be involved in the build up to Chile’s third goal.

World Cup dark horses Colombia are packed with Serie A talent with seven Italian-based players (including Pablo Armero, who was on loan to West Ham from Napoli), while Greece are equally stacked with Serie A talent with six players in Serie A. They clashed in the Group C opener, a 3-0 win for Colombia.

Colombia’s centre back pairing of Zapata (Milan) and Yepes (Atalanta) both play in Italy, and barring a golden chance that Gekas spurned for Greece, they were solid at the back and kept a clean sheet, a rarity in this tournament so far. The midfield was equally ‘Italian’, with both of Napoli’s Colombian wide players having a strong impact on the game; Armero scored the opener, which was created by great work on the right by Fiorentina’s Cuadrado, and duly gave us the best celebration of the tournament so far with his teammates. Cagliari’s Ibarbo had a busy game, while not scoring, contributing to all the attacking phases of play. Napoli’s Zúñiga completed the tournament’s most artful nutmeg so far, which gave the ball to Cuadrado, who brushed a backheel for Monaco’s Rodriguez to tuck away.

Greece did not enjoy their opening game as much as Colombia, but Serie A fans will have enjoyed seeing Bologna’s technical forward Panagiotis Kone, and Roma full back Vasilis Torosidis. Neither had games to remember, with Kone contributing little to the attacking phases of play. Genoa’s mazy winger Ioannis Fetfatzidis came on as an early sub and duly delivered a goal on a plate for his friend Gekas, but he hit the crossbar.

Italy’s Group D rivals Uruguay are another South American team packed with ‘Italians’, they have five Serie A based players. Starting against Costa Rica were Parma’s Walter Gargano and Juve’s Martín Cáceres. Neither gave a good performance, as Costa Rica came back from 1-0 down to win 3-1. Gargano frequently lost the midfielder that he should have been tracking, which directly resulted in Costa Rica’s second goal. Lazio’s Álvaro González in midfield and Palermo’s Abel Hernández in attack both came on in the second half but could not stem the tide.

Finally from the first four groups came Ivory Coast versus Japan, who may only have three Serie A based players between them, but they are vital players. AS Roma’s pacy Ivorian forward Gervinho, and Japan had Milan’s attacking midfielder Keisuke Honda and Inter’s full back Yuto Nagatamo: all three started. Both Honda and Gervinho were protagonists. Honda scored a sensational opening goal, beating his marker with a slick drag-back and then blasting a rocket past the Ivorian keeper, however his influence on the game waned from that moment on. Gervinho scored the winning goal, scoring a copy of Bony’s header two minutes prior.