2014.06.22 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group G

00:00 -- United States of America - Portugal 2-2     goal 1   goal 2   goal 3   goal 4
[0-1]  5' Nani
[1-1]  64' Jermaine Jones
[2-1]  81' Clint Dempsey
[2-2]  90' + 5' Silvestre Varela

Current standings:
1 Germany  2 1 1 0 6-2 +4  4p
2 U.S.A.  2 1 1 0 4-3 +1  4p
3 Ghana  2 0 1 1 3-4 -1  1p
4 Portugal  2 0 1 1 2-6 -4  1p


WORLD CUP 2014: Group H

18:00 -- Belgium - Russia 1-0     highlights
88' Divock Origi
21:00 -- South Korea - Algeria 2-4     highlights
[0-1]  26' Islam Slimani
[0-2]  28' Rafik Halliche
[0-3]  38' Abdelmoumen Djabou
[1-3]  50' Son Heung-Min
[1-4]  62' Yacine Brahimi
[2-4]  72' Koo Ja-Cheol

Current standings:
1 Belgium  2 2 0 0 3-1 +2  6p
2 Algeria  2 1 0 1 5-4 +1  3p
3 Russia  2 0 1 1 1-2 -1  1p
4 Korea Republic  2 0 1 1 3-5 -2  1p

2014.06.21 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group F

18:00 -- Argentina - Iran 1-0     highlight
90' + 1' Lionel Andres Messi
00:00 -- nigeria - bosnia-herzegovina 1-0     highlights
29' Peter Odemwingie

Current standings:
1 Argentina  2 2 0 0 3-1 +2  6p
2 Nigeria  2 1 1 0 1-0 +1  4p
3 Iran  2 0 1 1 0-1 -1  1p
4 Bosnia-Herzegovina  2 0 0 2 1-3 -2  0p

WORLD CUP 2014: Group G

21:00 -- Germany - Ghana 2-2     highlights
[1-0]  51' Mario Gotze
[1-1]  54' Andre Ayew
[1-2]  63' Asamoah Gyan
[2-2]  71' Miroslav Klose

Current standings:
1 Germany  2 1 1 0 6-2 +4  4p
2 U.S.A.  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
3 Ghana  2 0 1 1 3-4 -1  1p
4 Portugal  1 0 0 1 0-4 -4  0p

2014.06.20 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group D

18:00 -- Italy - Costa Rica 0-1     highlight
44' Bryan Ruiz

Current standings:
1 Costa Rica  2 2 0 0 4-1 +3  6p
2 Italy  2 1 0 1 2-2 0  3p
3 Uruguay  2 1 0 1 3-4 -1  3p
4 England  2 0 0 2 2-4 -2  0p

WORLD CUP 2014: Group E

21:00 -- Switzerland - France 2-5     highlights
[0-1]  17' Olivier Giroud
[0-2]  18' Blaise Matuidi
x - 32' Karim Benzema (m. pen.) - x
[0-3]  40' Matthieu Valbuena
[0-4]  67' Karim Benzema
[0-5]  73' Moussa Sissoko
[1-5]  81' Blerim Dzemaili
[2-5]  87' Granit Xhaka
00:00 -- Honduras - Ecuador 1-2     highlights
[1-0]  31' Carlos Costly
[1-1]  34'  Enner Valencia
[1-2]  65' Enner Valencia

Current standings:
1 France  2 2 0 0 8-2 +6  6p
2 Ecuador  2 1 0 1 3-3 0  3p
3 Switzerland  2 1 0 1 4-6 -2  3p
4 Honduras  2 0 0 2 1-5 -4  0p

2014.06.19 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group C

18:00 -- Colombia - Ivory Coast 2-1     highlights
[1-0]  64' James Rodriguez
[2-0]  70' Juan Quintero
[2-1]  74' Gervinho
00:00 -- Japan - Greece 0-0

Current standings:
1 Colombia  2 2 0 0 5-1 +4  6p
2 Ivory Coast  2 1 0 1 3-3 0  3p
3 Japan  2 0 1 1 1-2 -1  1p
4 Greece  2 0 1 1 0-3 -3  1p

WORLD CUP 2014: Group D

21:00 -- Uruguay - England 2-1     highlights   goal 1   goal 2   (alternate) highlights
[1-0]  39' Luis Suarez
[1-1]  75' Wayne Rooney
[2-1]  85' Luis Suarez

Current standings:
1 Costa Rica  1 1 0 0 3-1 +2  3p
2 Italy  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
3 Uruguay  2 1 0 1 3-4 -1  3p
4 England  2 0 0 2 2-4 -2  0p

2014.06.18 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group A

00:00 -- Cameroon - Croatia 0-4     highlights
11' Ivica Olic
48' Ivan Perisic
61' Mario Mandzukic
73' Mario Mandzukic

Current standings:
1 Brazil  2 1 1 0 3-1 +2  4p
2 Mexico  2 1 1 0 1-0 +1  4p
3 Croatia  2 1 0 1 5-3 +2  3p
4 Cameroon  2 0 0 2 0-5 -4  0p


WORLD CUP 2014: Group B

18:00 -- Australia - Netherlands 2-3     highlights
[0-1]  20' Arjen Robben
[1-1]  21' Tim Cahill
[2-1]  55' Mile Jedinak (pen.)
[2-2]  58' Robin van Persie
[2-3]  68' Memphis Depay
21:00 -- spain - Chile 0-2     highlights
20' Eduardo Vargas
43' Charles Aranguiz

Current standings:
1 Netherlands  2 2 0 0 8-3 +5  6p
2 Chile  2 2 0 0 5-1 +4  6p
3 Australia  2 0 0 2 3-6 -3  0p
4 Spain  2 0 0 2 1-7 -6  0p

This, The Best Match!

The match between Netherlands and Australia was, to put it mildly, a cracker of a match.

Perhaps the Dutch were a little hung-over from too much celebration after the beating they administered the Spanish, or perhaps Australia's game was elevated enormously due to fear of going out if they lose this one, or both, but there were many twists and turns in this match.

No sooner than the very next attack, after a Robben lightning-quick incursion into the Australian penalty area resulting in the first goal of the match, the Australians struck back. And Tim Cahill's goal was, I would say, the most spectacular goal scored thus far at this World Cup. A perfect volley, which struck the underside of the bar, and then went in for the equalizer.

After half-time, the Aussies made it 2, through Mile Jedinak, when they were given a dubious, to say the least, penalty for supposed handball by defender Janmaat.
Yet another case of a European team being tormented by FIFA referees, this time Algerian Djamel Haimoudi and his team.

But Holland was just too good.

And Australia tried to take the easy way out, played the offside trap against Depay and van Persie, and lost right away. Not later than four minutes after Jedinak's PK, the Man. U. forward found himself with a clear goal-scoring opportunity and took it emphatically. It was tied again.

Maybe both teams would have settled for the tie. Maybe. Just maybe.
But PSV's Memphis Depay was the only guy who actually did something big to win the tie.

In the 68th minute, with a little bit of space, 20-year-old Depay took initiative, and struck an extremely powerful ball, from probably over 25 metres, which stopped in the net, on Ryan's left side.

And neither team could muster any additional goals after that.

Australia will be out, unless Spain beats Chile. (Their only chance is to have three teams on three points, and for them to beat Spain in the last match.)
Netherlands will be in the last 16, with a match to spare, if Spain fails to beat Chile. (In such a case, neither Spain nor Australia could catch up with Netherlands' points total, no matter what they do.)

Highlights from this spectacular match:

[HD] Australia vs. Netherlands 2 - 3

Akinfeev, ha, ha!

...Akinfeev, ha, ha!

(It was significantly worse than even Joe Hart's blunder, against The United States, on the first matchday of the group stage of World Cup 2010.)

Watch the highlights of the match against South Korea below:

HIGHLIGHTS - Russia vs Korea - 2014 World Cup...

2014.06.17 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group H

18:00 -- Belgium - Algeria 2-1     highlights
[0-1]  25' Sofiane Feghouli (pen.)
[1-1]  70' Marouane Fellaini
[2-1]  80' Dries Mertens
00:00 -- russia - South Korea 1-1     highlights
[0-1]  69' Lee Keun-Ho
[1-1]  74' Alexandr Kerzhakov

Current standings:
1 Belgium  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
2-3 Korea Republic  1 0 1 0 1-1 0  1p
2-3 Russia  1 0 1 0 1-1 0  1p
4 Algeria  1 0 0 1 1-2 -1  0p

WORLD CUP 2014: Group A

21:00 -- Brazil - Mexico 0-0

Current standings:
1 Brazil  2 1 1 0 3-1 +2  4p
2 Mexico  2 1 1 0 1-0 +1  4p
3 Cameroon  1 0 0 1 0-1 -1  0p
4 Croatia  1 0 0 1 1-3 -2  0p

Yeah, Gordon Banks!... Big Deal!

In my opinion, commentators and analysts from so many networks are committing somewhat of a fallacy in comparing Guillermo Ochoa's saves against Brazil today, and particularly his save on Neymar's header, in the 26th, if I'm not mistaken, minute of Brazil - Mexico 0-0, with Gordon Banks' performance in Brazil - England 1-0, also on the second matchday of the group stage, at the 1970 World Cup.

Yeah, sure, the saves are similar, and they both happened against Brazilian headers bound to go into the net, originating from overhyped players, but I'd say I've seen a save, just as good, from Algerian goalkeeper M'Bolhi, against Belgium, just one match before, at this very World Cup.
Nobody praised that one as much, though, maybe because Algeria lost, or just maybe because it was Algeria (and Belgium) playing.

So, cool it, people, with the superlatives. It's not just the Brazilian forwards that can execute good headers.
As a matter of fact, Neymar's header wasn't that good of a header, to begin with.
A good (as in perfectly executed) header, from the distance from which Neymar executed his, is always unbeatable, given the enormous size of the goal.

I'm not saying Ochoa did not do extremely well. But it's almost like a penalty, when a dangerous header goes on target. When such a strike is taken really well, the goalkeeper can do practically nothing to prevent it from going in.

Thinking about this in different terms, I would say Ochoa did, actually, a lot better than Banks.
Mexico did not lose said match, whereas England sadly did.
Ochoa did not let in one single goal during this match, whereas Gordon Banks sadly did.

So, there, that was, pardon my English, a quite silly, and totally unnecessary, comparison, that most very likely not even Ochoa would appreciate too much!

Patience Victorious

Before Algeria's first match at this World Cup, pundits were saying how, if Algeria goes more than 36 minutes in this tie without scoring, they would beat the record for most consecutive minutes by a football national team without scoring at World Cups.

Either with that in mind, or perhaps just lucky, Algeria showed some serious balls at the start of the match. They were going forward with purpose, and then they got a (correct) PK.
Valencia's Sofiane Feghouli made it count, in the 25th minute. And, with 11 minutes to spare, the Algerians broke free from the spell of the curse that could have taken hold of their campaign (if they were to have broken that negative record).

But after that Algeria was content to just defend and showed very little else in attack.

The Belgians kept coming, but their attacks were quite sterile too.

Coach Marc Wilmots was very inspired on this day, though, and he made two substitutions that would each pay off, big-time. First, at half time, he introduced Mertens in Chadli's place. Then, in minute 65, he substituted Dembele with Fellaini. Not even five minutes later, Fellaini tied it all up with an unblockable header that even unbeatable-till-then M'Bolhi could do nothing to block.
M'Bolhi, who really played well in this match, was unable to parry Mertens powerful shot either, on the counter-attack, ten minutes later.

And thus, clear favourites Belgium, from this group of life (as opposed to "group of death", which so many commentators like to call so many difficult-to-navigate groups in so many tournaments), started on the right foot, but not without serious problems.

So many European teams are having serious problems performing at their best at this World Cup. Belgium included.
Undoubtedly, a most powerful factor in their deficient performance must be, like I previously stated here, the weather conditions in which matches are played in Brazil, at this tournament, and during which absolutely no consideration was given for the civilized way to play matches.
It is to be added that FIFA also officially forbade stopping matches for re-hydration / cooling-off breaks, during the Brazilian World Cup, on top of everything.
Why? Why would they even go against that, too?
Who could be behind this whole thing?
(Or what? Money??... We'll probably never know for sure, or if we do it won't matter much at all when we do.)

Highlights:

Belgium vs Algeria 2-1 -- All Goals...

Revenge for Last Two World Cups

The United States national team finally got revenge on Ghana for putting them out of the last two World Cups.

In 2006, in Germany, The United States finished bottom in their group, with one point, after a 1-2 defeat against Ghana on the third matchday - Dempsey 43' / Dramani 22', Appiah 45' + 2'. Considering that Italy would go on to beat The Czech Republic, they needed to win that match to advance.

In 2010, in South Africa, United States qualified from the group stage, winning it even, but they encountered Ghana in the very next round, and they lost again by the same (overall - extra-time included -) scoreline - Donovan 62' (pen.) / Boateng 5', Gyan 93' [- E.T.]

So, they were probably really looking forward to give their best, if not in all matches at this World Cup, then particularly in the match against Ghana, above all.
(FIFA can really draw, them ties, so as to make the viewers' mouths water, sometimes, can they not? How the hell do they pick them so juicy, so often?)

This time, in 2014, The United States pressed right from the get-go, and went ahead through the earliest goal at this final. Again, Clint Dempsey got on the score-sheet. Minute: 1.

Then the match turned into a stalemate, but just when it was looking desperate for the Ghanaians, with less than ten minutes left to go, a defensive hole appeared for once in the American defense, and Marseille's Andre Ayew made it 1-1, following a quick counter move.

But the U.S.A. team, some might say lucky on this particular day, got another one extremely quickly, after less than 4 minutes following Ayew's equalizer. John Brooks scores, with a header, on his World Cup debut, and punished Ghanaian carelessness.

Nothing more to report after that.

Highlights:

(Group G) Ghana 1-2 USA

2014.06.16 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group F

21:00 -- Iran - Nigeria 0-0

Current standings:
1 Argentina  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
2-3 Iran  1 0 1 0 0-0 0  1p
2-3 Nigeria  1 0 1 0 0-0 0  1p
4 Bosnia-Herzegovina  1 0 0 1 1-2 -1  0p

WORLD CUP 2014: Group G

18:00 -- Germany - Portugal 4-0     highlights
12' Thomas Muller (pen.)
32' Mats Hummels
45 + 1' Thomas Muller
78' Thomas Muller
00:00 -- Ghana - United States of America 1-2     highlights
[0-1]  1' Clint Dempsey
[1-1]  82' Andre Ayew
[1-2]  86' John Brooks

Current standings:
1 Germany  1 1 0 0 4-0 +4  3p
2 U.S.A.  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
3 Ghana  1 0 0 1 1-2 -1  0p
4 Portugal  1 0 0 1 0-4 -4  0p

Not Like in 2012

In 2012, Germany - Portugal was truly the derby of that European Championship group of death (also including Netherlands and Denmark). It was quite intense, and Portugal performed very well.

But this time, at World Cup 2014, only Germany seemed to have showed up.
And that awful defender pepe, who apparently did not have enough ruining Real Madrid efforts, now started ruining his national team's matches too.

The best thing for Portugal is that they won't have to use such a trojan-horse-of-a-player in their second match, thanks to the red card pepe got from referee Mazic.

It will be better for Portugal without him, I'm sure.

And Portugal, completely ridiculed here by the German overly-persistent way of playing, topped with three goals from pragmatic striker Thomas Muller, will have to get at least four points from the U.S.A. and Ghana matches (and possibly hope for other results to go their way) in order to be sure of advancing from this group.

Why such a contrast from Euro 2012, when Portugal reached the semifinals?

Well, Paulo Bento, their coach, is most definitely doing a bad job coaching this team.
Portugal had an easy qualifying group, but they could not beat russia for top spot. Even with Fabio Capello coaching the team with most of its landmass in Asia, that is just really disappointing for the Portuguese fans.
They did succeed in eliminating Sweden in the play-off tie, yes, but they should not have been in that position in the first place.
Besides pepe, Rui Patricio is another disaster player that Bento insists on using, still. Patricio is the one whom Portuguese supporters might hate for allowing Israel to score a goal, in Portugal, that caused his national team to drop two points that could have theoretically seen Portugal overtake russia in the end.
(I guess Bento did not see the Spain-Netherlands catastrophe, with Casillas at the forefront.)

Oh, and, finally, let's not forget Ronaldo. He did not play too well, either. But he probably has extenuating circumstances, being slightly injured still.

Portugal really needs to shape up from now on. Or they will really and truly ship out, and back home, very soon.

Unconvincing

Argentina always starts World Cups with high expectations.
Even more so now, when they have arguably the best player in the world, Lionel Messi.

But Argentina, as a cohesive team unit, did not impress against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Despite scoring an own goal on themselves within three minutes, Bosnia probably impressed more than Argentina, overall.
That is because they were going forward, challenging their more prestigious opponent, and kept going forward even at 0-2. And they scored.

So, the Bosnians might be entitled to feel okay with their performance.
Argentina, however, won only thanks to an own goal by the opposition and a brilliant individual effort by Messi in the 65th minute. (And they conceded a goal late, too, against an accessible opponent, or so many will consider newcomers Bosnia-Herzegovina.)

Maybe the Argentinians thought their group was way too easy for them to consider playing at maximum pace. And maybe it is. Their fans will want better performances, though.

Highlights:

2014.06.15 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group E

18:00 -- Switzerland - Ecuador 2-1     highlights
[0-1]  22' Enner Valencia
[1-1]  48' Admir Mehmedi
[2-1]  90' + 3' Haris Seferovic
21:00 -- France - Honduras 3-0     highlights
45' Karim Benzema (pen.)
48' Noel Valladares (o.-g.)
72' Karim Benzema

Current standings:
1 France  1 1 0 0 3-0 +3  3p
2 Switzerland  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
3 Ecuador  1 0 0 1 1-2 -1  0p
4 Honduras  1 0 0 1 0-3 -3  0p

WORLD CUP 2014: Group F

00:00 -- Argentina - Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1     highlights
[1-0]  3' Sead Kolasinac (o.-g.)
[2-0]  65' Lionel Andres Messi
[2-1]  84' Vedad Ibisevic

Current standings:
1 Argentina  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
2-3 Iran  0 0 0 0 0-0 0  0p
2-3 Nigeria  0 0 0 0 0-0 0  0p
4 Bosnia-Herzegovina  1 0 0 1 1-2 -1  0p

No Ribery, no Nasri... No Problem!

A lot of people, French, too, doubted - and probably still doubt - Didier Deschamps' side. It's a side that is without star player Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri, also out, dropped by the French manager.

But so far so good for the French squad, who made quick work of their CONCACAF opponents.

Karim Benzema was a one-man wrecking crew today, and the Hondurans had no response for his quality strikes.
The second goal, attributed as an own goal to goalkeeper Valladares, was actually more great work by Benzema.

And Deschamps truly proved that he had Honduras all pegged. Right down to their overly-physical style of playing, which Wilson Palacios alone proved time and time again up to his red card sending-off.

So far, this is the only group in which all European teams involved have gotten a positive start.

Highlights:

France vs Honduras 3-0 All Goals and Highlights...

Playing Until the Finish

One team played until the very end, one team did not.

That summarizes very well what happened in the 90+3 minute of the Switzerland - Ecuador encounter, in Brasilia, today.

1-1 looked to be like the equitable scoreline, nearing the end of the match.
Enner Valencia had put the South Americans ahead in the 22nd minute, and Admir Mehmedi had equalized for the Swiss, three minutes after the half-time interval. Both goals headers. Both goals following weak defensive performance by the opposite team.

But then, very late in the match, while Ecuador was pushing forward, a ball was lost much too easily in what could have been an extremely dangerous situation for the Swiss, and the Europeans saw their chance. On the left flank, going forward, Rodriguez crossed the ball (- his second assist, following the one on Mehmedi's goal -) and substitute Haris Seferovic, of Real Sociedad, grabbed the win, and the three points, for his side.

This may well be seen as a genius move by coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, who introduced Seferovic in his team in the 75th minute. But more cynical analysts will chalk this off to bad preparation by the Ecuadorians who failed to play at the same maximum intensity all the way to the end of the match. And it cost them a lot. Switzerland now with the inside track to finish among the top two (- that is, assuming they are better than Honduras, as expected given both teams' FIFA rankings).

Highlights:

Switzerland vs Ecuador 2-1 All Goals & Full...

The Only Late Match

This match in Recife is the only match in this World Cup that starts later than 7:00 PM local time.

Absolutely ridiculous.

But I've already covered my thoughts about start times at the 2014 World Cup here, so I won't insist any more for now.

Regarding the match, Japan had a surprisingly excellent first half, which saw them take the lead through Keisuke Honda, in only the 16th minute. And it was a very good, powerful shot by the A.C. Milan player.

Ivory Coast woke up only after the introduction of their talismanic ex-Chelsea (currently Galatasaray) striker Didier Drogba, after the hour mark.
It was Bony and Gervinho, however, in minutes 64 and 66, respectively, who turned the tide in favour of the African team.

So, The Elephants will feel pretty good about their chances of advancing from this group now, having beaten one team already and seeing their likely opponent for second spot, Greece, fall to a three-goal deficit which may prove huge in a tournament where the main tiebreaker (for teams tied on points in the group stage) is overall goal difference.

Highlights:

Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan All goal's &Full...

Disappointing English Performance

English football has a ton of money, and even more prestige.

But what it doesn't have is good young talent.

Their best young prospect 10 years ago, Wayne Rooney, has proven in this match to have matured to be a forward who cannot hit the target from 10 metres out, with an open, gaping net. (Yes, I am referring to his chance to make it 2-2 in the 62nd minute.)

And their new young prospects, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge, look very crude and uneven.

Even though Sturridge scored, it was surely because of uncharacteristic Italian bad defending - after just going ahead, too, how unusual for an Italian squad! (- But this is a squad managed by cesare prandelli, so...) - rather than because of English prowess.

Italy played more attacking football than expected, particularly in the sweltering heat of Manaus, in the Amazonian area of Brazil, but England almost matched them. Except for scoring that second goal (- but they came close).

The only ray of sunshine for England after this defeat is the fact that Uruguay failed to get any points from the Costa Rica match, which may mean easy matches to come.

2014.06.14 - The Results

WORLD CUP 2014: Group C

18:00 -- Colombia - Greece 3-0     highlights
5' Pablo Armero
58' Teofilo Gutierrez
90' + 3' James Rodriguez
03:00 -- Ivory Coast - Japan 2-1     highlights
[0-1]  16' Keisuke Honda
[1-1]  64' Wilfried Bony
[2-1]  66' Gervinho

Current standings:
1 Colombia  1 1 0 0 3-0 +3  3p
2 Ivory Coast  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
3 Japan  1 0 0 1 1-2 -1  0p
4 Greece  1 0 0 1 0-3 -3  0p

WORLD CUP 2014: Group B

21:00 -- Uruguay - Costa Rica 1-3     highlights
[1-0]  24' Edinson Cavani (pen.)
[1-1]  54' Joel Campbell
[1-2]  57' Oscar Duarte
[1-3]  84' Marco Urena
00:00 -- England - Italy 1-2     highlights
[0-1]  35' Claudio Marchisio
[1-1]  37' Daniel Sturridge
[1-2]  50' Mario Balotelli

Current standings:
1 Costa Rica  1 1 0 0 3-1 +2  3p
2 Italy  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
3 England  1 0 0 1 1-2 -1  0p
4 Uruguay  1 0 0 1 1-3 -2  0p