FIFA World Cup 2014: England sunk by Luiz Suarez

  10. The news of the day is that Iran coach Carlos Queiroz will leave Iran after the World Cup. As the Portuguese coach explains, he does not have full support from the political forces in the country.

 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Official Book

 9. Colombia – Ivory Coast 2-1: The tactical first half was followed by a more open and aggressive second, where both of the teams weren’t necessarily ought to go forward and score. They had already earned three points in their previous matches. Both of the teams began creating chances and Colombians scored first. Especially
Cuadrado was active, and it was his cross from a corner, that found James Rodrigiez’s header. Drogba’s appearance had to put the Ivorian accent on attacking actions. The South Americans were awake, though, so as soon as Ivory Coast’s Dei Serey made a mistake, a quick counterattack made the score 2-0. Gervinho’s classy goal followed immediately, but the score remained unchanged afterwards. Colombia has got six points now, but the team performance is not as brilliant as it might sound. And again Ivory Coast woke up after Drogba’s appearance half an hour before the final whistle, but Colombia conceded only once, compared to Japan. Overall, both of the teams are pretty lucky with their group.

 Defence: 1 – 1
 Midfield: 1 - 1
 Attack: 0,5 – 0,5
 Interplay: 1 -  0,5
 TOTAL:  3,5 – 3

 11. Cuadrado (COL) – 1
 10. Gervinho (CIV) – 0,5
 19. Y. Toure (CIV) – 0,5
 17. Aurier (CIV) – 0,5

 8. Uruguay – England 2-1: Uruguay is back in the World Cup. Surprisingly losing to Costa Rica, getting Luiz Suarez back and losing Maxi Pereira, Oscar Tabarez made 5 changes in the starting line-up. Liverpool’s five players had to face Suarez. In the end of the day the striker was good enough to cheat all of them and score twice. Edinson Cavani, getting his partner back on the pitch, showed what he is made of. The defence was all right, too. Commanded by captain Godin and goalkeeper Muslera, the Uruguayan defenders fought until the end, even in a situation, where the team doctors refused them to remain in the pitch. Roy Hodgson’s team deserves credit for equalizing and keeping the intrigue alive for a short period of time. Wayne Rooney’s first goal in the World Cups was in fact a more or less standard goal. England lost its second match due to lack of creativity – the same problem they had two years ago at Euro 2012. Apparently Roy Hodgson is a way too cautious coach for England. They have to be really lucky to end up in the Play-offs in this World Cup.

 Defence: 1,5 – 1,5
 Midfield: 1,5 – 1,5
 Attack: 2 – 1,5
 Interplay: 2 – 1,5
 TOTAL: 7 – 6

 9. Suarez (URU) – 1,5
 10. Rooney (ENG) – 1,5
 1. Muslera (URU) – 1,5
 6. Cahill (ENG) – 1
 17. Arevalo Rios (URU) - 1
 9. Sturridge (ENG) – 1
 3. Godin (URU) – 1
 22. Caceres (URU) – 1
 21. Cavani (URU) – 1
 14. Lodeiro (URU) – 1
 6. A. Pereira (URU) – 0,5

  7. Japan – Greece 0-0: Both of the teams had to do their best to earn points in this match, as they had already lost one in this World Cup. None of them won the match, but the teams had different reasons for not doing so. Greece never took the risk, as they lost two players in the first half, one of which was not meant to be substituted by another player. It was one of the European champions of 2004 Kostas Katsouranis, who got his second yellow card in the match. Giorgos Karagounis was thrown in to help his team defend the 0-0 score. They are not famous for attacking much even when they have eleven players on the pitch, so scoring a goal was not the priority number one in the list of Fernando Santos. But it is not only his players, who defended the score, but also the opponent. Alberto Zaccheroni’s team, after missing the one-goal advantage in the first match, was now unable to score to a team having a man less for about an hour of play. The team leaders Honda, Uchida and Kagawa didn’t know what to do during the whole match. The ball was crossed towards the penalty box all the time, where the Greek defenders were the masters. The match would have ended 0-0 even if it lasted for another 90 minutes. And the biggest blame has to go to Zaccheroni, for not injecting any idea into the talented creative players, playing in German, Italian and English top clubs. Japan is surely capable of much more than this. The first tie for Greece in the World Cups, after winning one and losing six, and Colombia is the only winner of this match, becoming the first Play-off participant from this group.

 Defence: 1 – 1
 Midfield: 0,5 – 0,5
 Attack: 0 – 0
 Interplay: 0,5 – 0,5
 TOTAL: 2 – 2

 4. Manolas (GRE) – 1
 10. Karagounis (GRE) – 0,5

 6. The most important match in the group stage went well for Italians. It is difficult to imagine how Cesare Prandelli’s team can lose the first place before the Play-offs. Although Sirigu played well, Buffon’s return is expected to be the biggest news for the Azzurri. On the other hand, Barzagli is injured and will not play against Costa Rica.

 5. One of the biggest surprises of the first round was Costa Rica’s performance against Uruguay. Joel Campbell playeda great match, and will now try to elaborate on it and impress against Italy. A point can be a great achievement in that match.

 4. Switzerland is still in a superb morale conditions after grabbing the late win in their opening match. Their play will have to improve, or else they might not be able to compete with France in their second match. The talented youngsters in the midfield of Switzerland weren’t as good as expected against Ecuador.

 3. One of the most solid performances in the first round made France a candidate to go far in the Play-offs. Deschamps’s side will meet a much better team than a ten-men Honduras in the second round, so they may concede their first goal here. Karim Benzema is on the spotlight.

 2. The expulsion in the first half doesn’t give a full picture of Honduras’s capabilities, but they were pretty weak in the circumstances their appeared in their first match. Ecuador is a team they must beat, if the Central Americans have any plans to surprise the world in this World Cup.

 1. Conceding a last-minute goal just 30 seconds after missing a great chance is what Ecuador’s players have been thinking about the last three days. Together with Uruguay, Reinaldo Rueda’s side was a rare South American team not to impress in the first round. Antonio Valencia and Co. will not have a better chance to earn three points in this World Cup than that of the match against Honduras.

  The Official 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Fact Files