The third day of the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicked off with
many pundits’ dark horses for the tournament, Colombia, in action against a
solid but aging Greek unit.
From the off the South American’s seemed to have more about
them and it wasn’t long before Pablo Armero scored via a deflected strike to
put them one up.
The Greeks turned most of the rest of the 1st
half into a battle but as manfully as they tried they were second in most
departments. The two goal scoring threats that coach Fernando Santos chose to
lead the line are mis-firing at this level and aging. Georgios Samaras, now 29,
has only found the net 8 times in 76 appearances and Theofanis Gekas is now 34
and playing in a mid-table Turkish side
The 2nd half started much the way the 1st had,
with James Rodriguez pulling the strings from midfield for coach Jose Pekerman’s
Colombian side and Teo Guitierrez terrorising the Greek back four. Thirteen
minutes in and Guitierrez had made the weight of possession and chances count
to increase the lead to two.
Going further behind seemed to encourage Greece, not to
attack, but to limit the damage and they did that well until Rodriguez slotted
a deserved 3rd in injury time.
While Holland’s thrashing of Spain yesterday was a surprise
it wasn’t really an upset, the first of those came in today’s second game
between Concacaf qualifiers Costa Rica and two time former champions Uruguay.
Even without the recuperating Luis Suarez, Uruguay could
still boast a team of stars, from Athletico Madrid’s defensive rock Diego
Godin, to PSG’s Edison Cavani. The biggest names Costa Rica had on offer on the
other hand were former Fulham play maker Bryan Ruiz and Arsenal starlet Joel
Campbell.
Uruguay started well against a side that were expected to
battle in vain. All seemed to be going as most thought it would when Cavani
converted a penalty after 24 minutes but without Suarez’s inventiveness and guile
they seemed very one dimensional.
Unable to convert their possession into more goals the Costa
Ricans began to cause Uruguay real problems with their pace and determination.
Both virtues were at the fore early in the 2nd half as Costa Rica
stunned the group favourites with 2 goals in 3 minutes.
It perhaps says something of the frustration felt by the men
in sky blue that all cautions in the match were shown to them, including a red
card to Pereira for lashing out at Campbell in stoppage time, by which time
substitute Urena had made the game safe for the Chico’s with an 84th
minute winner.
The final game of the day was the much anticipated battle
between England and Italy. Played in Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon, it was
expected the heat and humidity would take its toll on the two European sides
and lead to a dull low energy draw.
That, however, was far from what unfolded. With England
manager Roy Hodgson electing to play young exciting players and the game at
pace it was they who dominated the early exchanges as Raheem Sterling, Daniel
Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Wayne Rooney went at the Italian back line with
passion and purpose.
England were unlucky not to be leading by at least one when
the Italians worked a move from a corner allowing Claudio Marchisio time and
space on the edge of the area to rifle home a shot into the bottom corner.
Hodgson’s men were not about to let falling behind change their attacking
intent and only 2 minutes later Rooney broke down the left and curled an exquisite
ball to Sturridge’s feet to tie the game up at 1 all.
The Italians picked up the pace following the equaliser and
Phil Jagielka had to act quickly to clear a Mario Balotelli chip off of the
line and Antonio Candreva hit a post.
The 2nd half saw both teams probing and looking
to create chances with the Italians being more measured than their counterparts.
That approach paid off when Candreva beat Leighton Baines on the right and
whipped in a great cross for Balotelli to nod in at the far post.
Steven Gerrard’s men upped the ante once again in response
with Rooney firing a good chance wide and Baines having a typically accurate
free kick tipped around the post by Salvatore Sirigu. It was the Italians
however who nearly added to the score when playmaker Andrea Pirlo hit Joe Hart’s
crossbar with a stunning free kick.
The final score line of 2-1 was enough though and the
Italians can cement their place in the second round with a win over the Costa
Ricans while it’ll be the dance of the desperate Friday morning with England
facing a deflated Uruguay.
Colombia 3
Greece 0
Costa Rica 3
Uruguay 1
Italy 2
England 1
No comments:
Post a Comment