Italy –
Uruguay 0-1: As expected, this becoame one of the most dramatic matches of the
whole group stage, and maybe the whole tournament, where one of the previous
World champions had to leave the World Cup as early as before the Round of 16.
Cesare Prandelli had to change the formation into 3-5-2, with the Juventus
defensive trio in front of Buffon. Immobile and Balotelli were situated in
front, Di Scilio and Veratti were back in the starting line-up. De Rossi was
out due to an injury. Uruguay’s
Oscar Tabarez introduced the same line-up as in the match against England. The
scenario had to be absolutely the same as the two matches the previous day,
where Netherlands and Mexico not only
masterfully implemented the defence of the favourable result, but also managed
to take the victory in the end of the match. But then controversy on the 59th
minute turned the game upside down. The referee decided to expulse the
Italian Marchisio in a situation, where the Italian fans would never agree with
him. In the next episode the referee decided not to pay attention to
Chiellini’s claims about Luiz Suarez’s old habit of
biting opponents. The goal
came after a corner kick. The 10-man Italy
was unable to equalize and Uruguay
made it to the 95th minute without
conceding a dangerous attack. Italy is shown
the exit door not even reaching the Play-offs for the second time in a row. The
reason is not the bad refereeing, but bad, slow, boring football. The team
didn’t organize a single dangerous attack, and you cannot defend forever in
football. Uruguay
will be glad to be one of the last 16, but the game has to be improved to reach
as far as they did last time. In such a tournament, where many underdogs reach
the Play-offs, opening up a tough defence is an important character to have. Suarez’s
possible disqualification is not going to make it easier.
Defence:
1,5 – 1,5
Midfield: 1
– 1
Attack: 0 –
0,5
Interplay:
1 - 1
TOTAL: 3,5-
4
3. Godin
(URU) – 1,5
23. Veratti
(ITA) – 1
1. Buffon (ITA) – 0,5
Costa Rica – England 0-0: The last match of the
English team in the World Cup turned to be another disappointment in terms of
the final result. Roy Hodgson decided to try the reserve. Costa Rica,
needing a point to win the group, in which they were supposed to be outsiders,
introduced almost the same line-up as in the first two victorious matches. The
midfield leader Bolanos was left on the bench, though. England looked livelier and dominated the play
during the whole match, as Wilshere, Lallana and Sturridge did their best to
send the ball into Costa
Rica’s net. This never happened, as Jorge Luis
Pinto’s men turned to be one of the strongest defensive forces in the
tournament. Defenders Duarte
and Gamboa looked quite comfortable in front of goalkeeper Navas during the
whole group stage. The Costa Ricans never bothered to go forward, though. They
won the group in which England
earned only a point, scoring only twice.
Defence:
1,5 – 1
Midfield: 1
– 1,5
Attack: 0 –
0,5
Interplay: 0,5
– 1
TOTAL: 4 -
4
9.
Sturridge (ENG) – 1
16. Gamboa
(CRC) - 1
6. Duarte (CRC) - 1
10. Ruiz
(CRC) – 0,5
Group D
1. Costa Rica 7
(+3)
2. Uruguay
6 (0)
--------------
3. Italy 3 (-1)
4. England 1 (-2)
Greece – Ivory Coast 2-1: In the group,
where no team had lost the chance to go further in the tournament, Greeks were
in the last position before the last matchday, with a terrible goal scoring
record of 0-3. However, a win here and a Japanese failure in the parallel match
would lead the team out of the deep trouble. The starting line-up saw the
legendary Karagounis substitute the red-carded Katsouranis. The Africans needed
a draw and a bad day for
Japan.
They had their own legend, too. Drogba captained the team out of the dressing
room. Despite the much unlucky start, where
Greece had to make two quick
substitutions, Fernando Santos’s side started actively, confusing the opponent.
Ivorian defenders were making mistake after mistake, and finally the score was
opened by the substitute Samaris. The Europeans defended accurately, until
another substitute in the match Wilfried Bony equalized 20 minutes before the
final whistle. Fairness is an utmost rare category in football, but it was
present at
Fortaleza
that evening. The team that attacked most and hit the woodwork three times
simply had to win that match. Dramatically enough, deep inside the injury time,
Georgios Samaras was fouled in the penalty area, and given a penalty. 2-1 and
Greece is
becoming one of the very few European participants of the Play-offs. Sabri
Lamouchi’s
Ivory Coast
was a favourite not only for this match to win, but also the group. Unorganized
and tired, the Ivorians could only win once, leaving the tournament so early
for their third consecutive participation.
Defend: 1 –
0,5
Midfield: 1
– 0,5
Attack: 1 –
0,5
Interplay:
1,5 – 0,5
TOTAL: 4,5
– 2
4. Manolas
(GRE) - 1
20. Holebas
(GRE) - 1
10.
Gervinho (CIV) - 1
16. Christidoulopoulos
(GRE) - 1
2. Maniatis
(GRE) – 0,5
Japan – Colombia
1-4: This was Japans best performance in the tournament, despite the convincing
victory of Colombia.
Alberto Zaccheroni had worked on improving the pace the team had shown
previously in the tournament. This created a lot of problems for Colombians;
however, the Colombian reserve was still quicker in passing and
counterattacking. The Japanese had a plan not to lift the ball in the first
half, but it turned to be the wrong tactics, as the few high balls towards the
Colombian penalty area created the biggest danger. 1-1 after the first half. The
second half started with another scoring by the South Americans. The Japanese,
lead by Hasebe, Honda and Kagawa, never gave up, but crossing in the final part
of their attacks was never complete. Jose Pekerman’s players, inspired by
Cuadrado in the first and James Rodriguez in the second half, managed to score
a couple of times more, to become one of the few teams with a 100% result in
the group stage. Another bright moment in Colombia’s great run took place 5
minutes before full time. The goalkeeper David Ospina was substituted by the
legendary Faryd Mondragon, 43, who became the oldest ever player to enter the
pitch in the World Cup history. Uruguay,
Colombia’s
next opponent, has got a lot of work to do to contain arguably the quickest
team in the tournament. It would be interesting to watch an encounter like
Colombia-Germany at some point.
Defence:
0,5 - 1
Midfield:
1,5 – 1,5
Attack: 1 –
1,5
Interplay:
1,5 – 2
TOTAL: 4,5
– 6
21. Martinez (COL)
– 1,5
19. Ramos (COL) - 1
4. Honda
(JAP) - 1
17. Hasebe
(JAP) – 1
16. Alvarez
(COL) – 1
10.
Rodriguez (COL)
- 1
13. Guarin
(COL) – 1
11.
Cuadrado (COL)
– 0,5
10. Kagawa
(JAP) – 0,5
20.
Quintero (COL)
– 0,5
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