Posted on 06/14/2014 12:15:55 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Host Brazil kicked off the 2014 World Cup on Thursday with a 3-1 win over Croatia. Three more matches took place today (with four slated for Saturday, including Costa Rica vs. Uruguay at 1 p.m.). Here are the best shots from all of Friday’s games.
See the full schedule for the group stage of the World Cup here.
Group A: Mexico vs. Cameroon
After having their first two goals disallowed, Mexico finally got one that counted in the second half against Cameroon. El Tri then held on for the 1-0 victory.
Group B: Spain vs. Netherlands
The Netherlands got their revenge on Spain in this rematch of the 2010 World Cup final. While Spain struck first on a penalty, the Dutch responded with five unanswered goals to take the 5-1 victory. Netherlands’ first goal, an astounding diving header by Robin Van Persie, might be the best goal anyone will see all tournament.
Group B: Chile vs. Australia
Chile came out with two quick goals in the first half, but then the Chileans found themselves having to hang on against the lowest ranked team in the World Cup. Australia got one goal back, and missed a few chances to equalize before Chile broke through again late to finish off the Socceroos, 3-1.
Looking forward to Italy - England, a rumble-in-the-jungle.
Can Brazilian monkey Oliver predict outcome of England vs Italy
When we tasked him with picking a winner in England’s opening group match against Italy on Saturday, he sided with the Azzurri.
Striding onto the platform with confidence, it looked a sure bet he was going to pick Roy Hodgson’s young outfit.
He even had a quick sniff of the St George’s flag before deciding it best to sit down and give it some more thought.
Not one but two scratches of the backside later and there was a change of heart.
You could almost see the cogs of his mind twirling, thinking: “No, no. With Pirlo pulling the strings in midfield and Balotelli’s strength up front, they’ve got this in the bag. The boot-shaped country it is!”
And with his prediction of a win for the 2006 World Cup champions, he devoured his well-earned grape in reward.
▶ World Cup Team Profile: URUGUAY - YouTube
▶ World Cup Team Profile: COSTA RICA - YouTube
▶ World Cup Team Profile: ENGLAND - YouTube
▶ World Cup Team Profile: ITALY - YouTube
▶ World Cup Team Profile: CÔTE D'IVOIRE - YouTube
▶ World Cup Team Profile: JAPAN - YouTube
Didn't get to see much of yesterday's games. I keep catching the Cameroon/Mexico match, but haven't been able to see highlights of this game.
The Socceroos played a good game against Chile. I liked their attack. It was a closer game than the score indicated.
He called it a “lob” header...
I'm taking the family to the beach today. They have no idea how much I want to see this game. To them, it's like missing a mid-season baseball game. At least I can catch the replay, and the night game.
48 hours of play and 16 seconds of action.
If you don’t care about it, why even read this thread ... much less post on it. You’re like one of those anti-Christian atheists that’s always going on and on against something they don’t believe in anyway.
If you don’t like the game, go away.
So you relate soccer to abortion? Okay.
Grow up and let soccer fans discuss World Cup.
Grow up.
Colombia vs. Greece is on ABC this morning, they play in Belo Horizonte, that is where the USA defeated England in 1950; historically speaking.
http://www.gazzetta.it/?refresh_ce Gazzetta in Italian,
http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Coupe-du-monde/Saison-2014/ L’equipe in French, all of the major news outlets cover the sport. Every country practically. CBC, Canada is surely in on the act.
The thing with Spanish and Univision is that they are passionate about it.
Spanish-speaking countries in the World Cup would seem to be a good portion of them percentage-wise, 3 in yesterday’s 3 games, Mexico, Spain, Chile. Uruguay and Costa Rica square off today, both Spanish-speaking. Colombia obviously.
It looks like every group except the USA’s group G has a Spanish speaking nation.
And for Henry, in case people don’t know, the handball to deny Ireland a chance to go to the World Cup in 2010 along with the dive by Henry in 2006 vs. Spain. In other words, there is plenty of cheating to go around, some teams are much worse offenders, some are probably relatively clean such as Australia and hopefully our USA but at what price? Losing?
Aussies showed a lot of fight after getting down two early. As an Everton fan, it was great to see Cahill score.
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