体坛英语新闻：Yearender: Latin American sports in 2014

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The year of 2014 was all about Brazil, as the legendary football nation hosted the world's most anticipated sporting event, the World Cup.

JANUARY

World soccer body FIFA's president, Sepp Blatter, blasted Brazil for lagging behind on the construction of World Cup venues, despite having had "seven years to prepare."

In response, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff pledged to host the mother of all World Cups, or as she calls it "the cup of cups", despite serious setbacks, including the tragic deaths of at least two workers in the rush to ready the stadiums in time for the summer event, and mass protests by Brazilians angered at government spending on soccer fields while many go homeless.

In neighboring Bolivia, President Evo Morales personally welcomed motorcycle and quad competitors in the Dakar Rally as they arrived for the seventh stage of the off-road race.

"We didn't qualify for the (2014 Brazil) World Cup, but we have a world-class race in the Dakar," said Morales, as he hugged Bolivian motocross competitor Juan Carlos Salvatierra, who was among the top 20 rally racers.

FEBRUARY

After an absence of more than five decades, Cuba once again competed in the Caribbean Series of baseball, only to become the first team to be eliminated from the competition.

Juventud Rebelde, the Communist Youth daily, called for "in-depth analysis of the current state of Cuban baseball."

Cuba participated in the first 12 editions of the Caribbean Series, between 1949 and 1960, and won the championship on seven occasions.

APRIL

The Florida Straits continued to exercise an inexplicable pull on athletes of all stripes, leading U.S. athlete Peter Crowley to launch his bid to become the first blind person to kayak across.

Wearing an inflatable life vest and a hat, the intrepid Crowley climbed into a red kayak and began his 145-kilometer journey from the Hemingway International Yacht Club west of Havana to the U.S. coast of Florida, accompanied by a nearby support team aboard a catamaran.

The straits represented Crowley's biggest challenge to date, after he became the first blind person to cross the English Channel separating France and Britain in 2003. Unfortunately, bad weather forced him to call off the attempt.

JUNE

The World Cup kicked off nervously, as the world waited with bated breath to see if protesters pull an upset, but quickly evolved into one of the most riveting sporting events ever.

Latin America, especially, seemed to experiencing one of its finest hours, with eight regional teams making it beyond the group stage to compete in the knockout rounds and give the traditional European football powerhouses a run for their money, including Uruguay, Chile and tiny Costa Rica.

FIFA even hailed Costa Rica as the revelation of the World Cup, after it bested former World Cup champions Uruguay, Italy and England to rank No. 1 in its group at the end of the initial round. It then went on to defeat Greece and the Netherlands in penalties to qualify for the quarterfinals, where, alas, it fell to the Dutch, but only after a grueling tied match that ended 4-3 in penalties.

Emotions were running so high that Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez bit Italian rival Giorgio Chiellini during a match, earning one of the severest punishments ever from FIFA: suspension from nine national team matches, a four-month ban from any football-related activity, and a 112,000 U.S.-dollar fine.

The serial biter (Suarez had sunk his teeth into opponents before) later apologized for letting the Italian footballer collide with his teeth, saying "my colleague Giorgio Chiellini suffered the physical result of a bite in the collision he suffered with me ... I'm sorry."

With the talented Suarez banished from the team, Uruguay lost 0-2 to Colombia and was booted from the cup.

JULY

Both Brazil and Argentina advanced to the semifinals, where host team Brazil not only failed to parlay its home advantage into a victory, but proceeded to have a meltdown, losing 7-1 to Germany, and the dream of a World Cup final match between two Latin American teams went up in smoke.

Argentina played Germany for the trophy, but lost 0-1 to take second place. Brazil, still reeling from its historic fail, played the Netherlands for third and fourth place, and lost 0-3.

Colombian forward James Rodriguez became the first Colombian to win the Golden Boot, awarded by FIFA to the top goal scorer of a World Cup. Thanks largely to Rodriguez's six goals, Colombia made it past the first two rounds of the World Cup for the first time in history, getting knocked out in the quarterfinals (1-2) by host Brazil.

DECEMBER

Mexico announced it would seek to host the 2026 World Cup. Mexican Football Federation (Femexfut) President Justino Compean said "we have the venues to give (bidders) the U.S. and Canada a good fight."

Costa Rica cleaned up at the second-annual Concacaf awards handed out by the regional Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association. The small Central American country was nominated in each of six categories, and won three, including top prize Player of the Year, Goal of the Year and Coach of the Year (by way of the national team's Colombian coach).

National team goalie Keylor Navas was named Player of the Year for being "the standout goalkeeper at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil;" Bryan Ruiz won the Goal of the Year for his 44th minute score against Italy, "a pivotal moment in the ... enthralling World Cup quarterfinal;" and Colombian-born coach Jorge Luis Pinto won the Coach of the Year award for the team's "exceptional quarterfinal run at the World Cup."