High lines, pointless possession

The World Cup shocks and upsets won't let up: Spain are out, Costa Rica are through, Chile too, while England are out in the group stage for the first time since 1958. Although that last one's perhaps not so much of a shock, if the truth be told.

But how are the 32 teams in Brazil managing to throw the form book so completely on its head? We've sought out three tactical trends that were particularly visible on the ninth day of the competition.

Underdogs profiting from defending high

Normally, teams that are overmatched on paper try to frustrate opponents by sitting back deep and parking the bus in front of goal. Think of it as Jose-Mourinho mode. But in this World Cup, the minnows have shown they have teeth, aggressively pushing their back lines up the pitch.

Costa Rica's 1-0 upset win over Italy was a paradigm example of that, and aside from a few chances created by Pirlo passes in the first half, the relatively slow-footed Azzurri had no answer to the idea.

Italy is one of the European teams that have tried to conserve energy in the Brazilian heat. Pressuring them further up the pitch paid off handsomely for Los Ticos. Uruguay also used it to good effect against England, and it's one reason why the teams from the Americas are doing so well.

Possession does not always pay

This last point might help explain what Jupp Heynckes' Bayern Munich taught Barcelona in the Champions League in 2013, only for Pep Guardiola to learn it anew at Bayern last season: having more of the ball does not guarantee victory.

Brazil's climate prompted many pundits to point to the importance of possession, of forcing your opponents to chase the ball for extended periods while taking your foot off the gas. This certainly did nothing for Switzerland against France on Friday, as they lost 5-2 with 57 percent possession.

Playing a kind of low-energy keep-ball worked a treat for Italy against England - but 58 percent of the ball didn't help the Azzurri against Costa Rica on day 9. Similarly, England's 62 percent possession against Uruguay was undone by Luis Suarez's double-dose of brilliance. Ghana had six tenths of possession losing 2-1 against the US, while it should go without saying that even a Spain side with a goal difference of minus-six after two matches still enjoyed the lion's share of the ball in both defeats.

Consider crossing that dead ball

Swiss substitute Blerim Dzemaili's goal was one for the statisticians against France. Making the score 5-1 in the 81st minute, Dzemaili surely never expected his strike to start a magical comeback. An odd direct free kick, Dzemaili went through the wall - Karim Benzema's legs, to be more precise - to fire a daisy-cutter into the bottom corner.

Yet more noteworthy: Dzemaili's goal was the first successful direct free kick of the World Cup so far. Cristiano Ronaldo, Pirlo, Neymar, Rooney, Baines, Drogba, Yaya Toure, Messi - dozens have tried, none succeeded.

The implementation of the magic vanishing spray - guaranteeing players a wall that really is 10 meters away, albeit at the cost of a little time and some distracting foam molehills on the pitch - has done nothing to improve players' effectiveness going for goal with a dead ball.

Considering all the goals scored so far from either corners or free kicks swirling into the box - that's how France opened their account on Friday - perhaps the direct free kick should vanish, not that funky foam.