2014 World Cup   Brasil
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GROUP C	GROUP D
Colombia GREECE Côte d' Ivoire Japan	Uruguay Costa Rica England ITALIA

Greece squad Orestis Karnezis (Granada) Panagiotis Glykos (PAOK) Stefanos Kapino (Panathinaikos) Vassilis Torosidis (Roma) Loukas Vyntra (Levante) Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund) Costas Manolas (Olympiakos) Vangelis Moras (Hellas Verona) Jose Holebas (Olympiakos) Giorgos Tzavellas (PAOK) Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos) Alexandros Tziolis (Kayserispor) Costas Katsouranis (PAOK) Giorgos Karagounis (Fulham) Andreas Samaris (Olympiakos) Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Torino) Panagiotis Kone (Bologna) Yiannis Fetfatzidis (Genoa) Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Bologna) Georgios Samaras (Celtic) Kostas Mitroglou (Fulham) Fanis Gekas (Konyaspor) Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK).

Italy squad Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) Mattia Perin (Genoa) Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain) Ignazio Abate (AC Milan) Andrea Barzagli (Juventus) Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus) Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus) Matteo Darmian (Torino) Mattia De Sciglio (AC Milan) Gabriel Paletta (Parma) Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina) Antonio Candreva (Lazio) Daniele De Rossi (Roma) Claudio Marchisio (Juventus) Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain) Marco Parolo (Parma) Andrea Pirlo (Juventus) Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain) Mario Balotelli (AC Milan) Antonio Cassano (Parma) Alessio Cerci (Torino) Ciro Immobile (Torino) Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli).

The Brasilian sage advised crossing the big ocean to learn the beautiful game.
But do not be fooled and stop at the first land you find, he said. Continue the
exciting journey, the one full of anticipation. Reach the lands where character,
ethos, beauty and strength were born and where talent abounds... There, in
these lands, you will be able to learn the game and penetrate its secrets and
become yourself a master. So the story went and the story starts again today.

In 1909, les Ballets Russes a Paris...
         
In 2014, les Ballets Italiens a Brasil...
                     


 

Candidates for Best Goals So Far: 1. Tim Cahill's aristotechnic shot 2. James ``Don't call me James" Rodríguez' aristotechnic shot 3. Lionel Messi's clinical shot 4. Thomas Müller's clinical shot 5. Robie Van Persie's calculated header 6. David ``the 4WD" Luiz's ustoppable free kick

A Word About the Best Keepers: The Best Three (Overall): 1. Manuel Neuer 2. Keylor ``no abre la puerta a descnocidos" Navas 3. Jasper Cillessen The Following Three (Games): 4. Memo Ochoa 5. Tim Howard 6. Tim Krull

We are almost there: At the Temple of Football...
At the Great Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro...

THANK YOU, BRASIL!!!!!!


 

Germany 1 - 0 Argentina

Götze controlled and executed like a Messi...
Heartfelt congratulations to both teams, both for a
game well-played, but, also, and very importantly,
for a show of impeccable sportsmanship and respect.










Brasil 0 - 3 Netherlands






Don't you cry, kiddo! In your lifetime, this Great Footballing
Nation will resurrect and will win again, but, surely, it will
have to be under a different coach and with a different, better
organized, more focused, talented and determined team.

Netherlands (2) 0 - 0 (4) Argentina
Last evening, the realization hit as a brick that Argentina
is mostly Ángel di María and Lionel Messi and that the
Netherlands are mostly Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben.
With Ángel out and Lionel under extreme pressure, and with
Wesley and Arjen very tightly supervised, the two teams
could not inspire themselves, challenge their opponents,
or, frankly, rise up high enough to their acquired reputations
so as to enchant or captivate the spectators. In the end, at
the phase of the ultimate of sentences, both literally and
metaphorically speaking, the Dutch, this time around, were
unable to either put them in or keep them out, and, thus,
gave up another opportunity to contend for that most
prized of all trophies, the golden supported globe...
 
 
 
 
 

Brasil 1 - 7 Germany
My Goodness! My Goodness!! My Goodness!!! My PANZERS
Jogi Löw booked tickets at ActionNotWords.com
Felipão booked tickets at OnlyBraggadocio.com
From the European side: Pure Exhilaration! Uplifting of Spirit and of Heart...


                                 
From the Brazilian Side:
At the beginning of the second,
with pants already down, they kept falling to the ground,
exposing bare skin, still trying to fool the referee,
but, under Jogi, the Mannschaft, used only to the highest of class,
justifiably resisted the Seleção's temptations to harass.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Before the semi-finals, it is only appropriate to pause to wish
FAST and FULL RECOVERY, Neymar!
to one of the biggest stars and one of the best players in the
tournament. I wish, as I am sure Juan Zúñiga also does, that
the incident had not happened, but football is a physical sport
and, like in all others, unfortunately, these things occasionally
occur and we can only hope for the best for the athletes involved.


Netherlands (4) 0 - 0 (3) Costa Rica
The Dutch won the match, but one has to keep in mind that,
despite Louis van Gaal's inspired choice and, goalkeeper
Krul's, a posteriori, justification of the decision, the limelight
has been stolen by the 120' Keepers Jasper Cillessen and,
even more so, Keylor ``no abre la puerta a desconocidos" Navas.
The second and his teammates, in conjunction with their
performance in the second half and in overtime versus the
Greeks, have honorably earned for ``los ticos" the new
nickname (without prejudice to the tourist industry of this
beautiful country and to the hospitality and kindness of its
people) Costa ``keep a-knocking, but you can't come in"
Rica.
 
Frankly, I am all for the message and its value, but FIFA
should take drastic measures to eradicate lack of respect
and wipe out tolerance to discrimination and violation of
principles. Having players and referees hold posters and
say a few words before important games is not enough.







The Oranje Kids and the Oranje Girls at Copacabana
made the night even more memorable...

Argentina 1 - 0 Belgium


Brasil 2 - 1 Colombia
The Brasil-Colombia quarterfinal had everything for everyone.
1. Impeccable free kick execution, aiming and finishing by David Luiz.
2. Extremely poor refereeing (as expected by observing the Uruguay-
    England game) by the Spanish Carlos Velasco Carballo.
3. Coaching contrast between Jose Pekerman and Luiz Felipe Scolari.
4. Keeper contrast by David Ospina and Julio Cesar.
5. Brazilian destructiveness versus Colombian worthy, but fanciful, effort.
6. Finally, Brazilian superficiality and perfidiousness versus the
    Colombian passion, stubbornness and fastidiousness...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

France 0 - 1 Germany



As the sportscaster said ``the tumble not commensurate
with the amount of physical contact"...
 
 

Belgium 2 - 1 U.S.A.
Jürgen set up the United States with hardly half a player in front of
the center line for the best part of the second half; one could argue
even more defensively than Greece usually plays. No wonder that,
under these conditions, and ensuing circumstances, Tim Howard
was forced to do a Lev Yashin or Nikos Pentzaropoulos for survival...
 







Germany 2 - 1 Algeria
The Panzers did not perform as sharply as expected, but what
an impressive, memorable performance by both the Algerian
and the German keepers! And the Holy Roman Empire girls
made the Porto literally Alegre!

  
   
 
 
 
 
 

Poor Yacine Brahimi suffered this fate owing to Philipp Lahm...
As the sportscaster said ``the medium has just become extra large"...

Photos of Les Bleus and the Super Eagles before their game
at the Nacional in Brasilia, the host Nation's Capital City.
 

Costa Rica (5) 1 - 1 (3) Ελλάδα


 
 
 

Netherlands 2 - 1 Mexico




Colombia 2 - 0 Uruguay
It turns out that in Colombia-Uruguay 2-0, there was Divine
Justice that had not come from human refereeing. Uruguay
could do well with teeth-biting, but not so well with foot-
balling. Also, Godín had been saved from suspension in the
game with England by the incompetence and timidity of
the referee, but was unable to intervene defensively with
any degree of success to prevent the second Colombian goal.

To also state some positives, I would like to commend the
coaching pair of Colombia's Jose Pekerman and of Uruguay's
Oscar Tabarez for their impeccable demeanor and behavior
on the sidelines. These are coaches that inspire calmness
and respect for the game, especially as opposed to the
restlessness and meanness of Chile's Jorge Sampaoli and,
of course, the hosts' Luiz Felipe Scolari, who seems, even
at his age, unable to comprehend, that it is not only a
matter of getting there (which you can do the Maradona
way), but what you show on the way of getting there...
 
Also, kudos to James ``do not call me James" Rodríguez
for one of the top quality goals scored so far in the tournament.
 
 

Suitable fans in the suitable Mineirao at Belo Horizonte...
just before the hosts faced Chile.
... Aayaayaayaayaaa!! Beautiful Horizon!! ...


U.S.A. 0 - 1 Germany
 
 

Ελλάδα 2 - 1 Côte d'Ivoire
I wish the Greek side would have advanced without refereeing
gimmicks and interference as they were indeed the better and
most productive side last night at Castelao in Fortaleza. But,
alas, it was not to be. Samaras won an undeserved penalty in
the closing moments with a move that, instead warranted a
yellow card for Samaras by the Ecuadorian Carlos Vera...
 
 
 
 

Italia  0 - 1  Uruguay
The team has delivered ultimate pleasure before... But this time,
with no apologies, let the masters of the game go directly for the
I-spot inside the turf where this has never happened before, in
an experience where pain and pleasure mix for an exquisite and
memorable journey...


Under the circumstances, the best possible was accomplished.
You cannot have a referee sending an Italian out for very little
and not sending a cannibal out for biting one of his opponents...
I am not sure what Marco Rodriguez was thinking or what he
had been given...


The Stars and Stripes and Portugal held one another at a very suspenseful
tie in the Arena Amazonia at Manaus last night...
 
 
 
 

Mon Dieu! Pas d' Emmental, seulement de Camembert...


Italia 0 - 1 Costa Rica





Japan 0 - 0 Ελλάδα
An extremely poor showing from Fernando Santos' side has prepared the
Greek fans for the worst contigencies in the last remaining game facing a
more adept and skillful side, the Elephants of the Ivorian Coast.
 

And a beautiful team photo of Croatia before their game with Cameroon.
But, I never understood the move by such an experienced player to elbow
his opponent out of play and, thus, almost ensuring that his team would
not be able to withstand...
 

A beautiful team photo of the hosts before their game against Mexico...

...But the spotlight on this Day 6 of the Tournament was stolen by one
of the most memorable and one of the most awkward goalkeeping per-
formances in recent game history.
 

Jogi Löw's Nationalmannschaft is entering competition today.
At the same Group G, Jürgen Klinsmann's Stars and Stripes
are also entering the quest for the big dream today...
 
My Goodness My PANZERS
Germany 4 - 0 Portugal





England 1 - 2 Italia

(G) S. Sirigu 12 (D) Chiellini 3 (D) Matteo Darmian 4 (M) Candreva 6 (M) Marchisio 8 (F) Balotelli 9 (D) Barzagli 15 (M) De Rossi 16 (D) Gabriel Paletta 20 (M) A. Pirlo 21 (M) Verratti 23

(M) Aquilani 14 (F) A. Cassano 10 (M) T. Motta 5 (F) A. Cerci 11 (D) I. Abate 7 (D) L. Bonucci 19 (F) Ciro Immobile 17 (G) Mattia Perin 13 (M) Marco Parolo 18 (F) L. Insigne 22 (D) De Sciglio 2

 
 
 


Colombia 3 - 0 Ελλάδα
 
 
 
 


The Match Schedule

the big final
germany 1 - 0 argentina

semifinals
brasil 1 - 7 germany
NETHERLANDS (2) 0 - 0 (4) argentina

quarterfinals
france 0 - 1 germany
brasil 2 - 1 colombia
argentina 1 - 0 belgium
NETHERLANDS (4) 0 - 0 (3) Costa rica

ROUND of 16
BRASIL (3) 1 - 1 (2) CHILE
Colombia 2 - 0 URUGUAY (the biters)
NETHERLANDS 2 - 1 MEXICO
CoSTA rica (5) 1 - 1 (3) ελλαδα
france 2 - 0 nigeria
germany 2 - 1 algeria
Argentina 1 - 0 switzerland
belgium 2 - 1 u.s.a.

GROUP A

Match	Date - Time	Venue			Results
1	12/06 17:00	Sao Paulo		Brazil	3-1	Croatia
2	13/06 13:00	Natal		Mexico	1-0	Cameroon
17	17/06 16:00	Fortaleza		Brazil	0-0	Mexico
18	18/06 15:00	Manaus		Cameroon	0-4	Croatia
33	23/06 17:00	Brasilia		Cameroon	1-4	Brazil
34	23/06 17:00	Recife		Croatia	1-3	Mexico

GROUP B

Match	Date - Time	Venue			Results
3	13/06 16:00	Salvador		Spain	1-5	Netherlands
4	13/06 18:00	Cuiaba		Chile	3-1	Australia
19	18/06 19:00	Rio De Janeiro		Spain	0-2	Chile
20	18/06 13:00	Porto Alegre		Australia	2-3	Netherlands
35	23/06 13:00	Curitiba		Australia	0-3	Spain
36	23/06 13:00	Sao Paulo		Netherlands	2-0	Chile

GROUP C

Match	Date - Time	Venue			Results
5	14/06 13:00	Belo Horizonte		Colombia	3-0	Greece
6	14/06 19:00	Recife		Côte d'Ivoire	2-1	Japan
21	19/06 13:00	Brasilia		Colombia	2-1	Côte d'Ivoire
22	19/06 19:00	Natal		Japan	0-0	Greece
37	24/06 16:00	Cuiaba		Japan	1-4	Colombia
38	24/06 17:00	Fortaleza		Greece	2-1	Côte d'Ivoire

GROUP D

Match	Date - Time	Venue			Results
7	14/06 16:00	Fortaleza		Uruguay	1-3	Costa Rica
8	14/06 21:00	Manaus		England	1-2	Italy
23	19/06 16:00	Sao Paulo		Uruguay	2-1	England
24	20/06 13:00	Recife		Italy	0-1	Costa Rica
39	24/06 13:00	Natal		Italy	0-1	Uruguay
40	24/06 13:00	Belo Horizonte		Costa Rica	0-0	England

GROUP E

Match	Date - Time	Venue			Results
9	15/06 13:00	Brasilia		Switzerland	2-1	Ecuador
10	15/06 16:00	Porto Alegre		France	3-0	Honduras
25	20/06 16:00	Salvador		Switzerland	2-5	France
26	20/06 19:00	Curitiba		Honduras	1-2	Ecuador
41	25/06 16:00	Manaus		Honduras	0-3	Switzerland
42	25/06 17:00	Rio De Janeiro		Ecuador	0-0	France

GROUP F

Match	Date - Time	Venue			Results
11	15/06 19:00	Rio De Janeiro		Argentina	2-1	Bosnia-Herzegovina
12	16/06 16:00	Curitiba		Iran	0-0	Nigeria
27	21/06 13:00	Belo Horizonte		Argentina	1-0	Iran
28	21/06 18:00	Cuiaba		Nigeria	1-0	Bosnia-Herzegovina
43	25/06 13:00	Porto Alegre		Nigeria	2-3	Argentina
44	25/06 13:00	Salvador		Bosnia-Herzegovina	3-1	Iran

GROUP G

Match	Date - Time	Venue			Results
13	16/06 13:00	Salvador		Germany	4-0	Portugal
14	16/06 19:00	Natal		Ghana	1-2	USA
29	21/06 16:00	Fortaleza		Germany	2-2	Ghana
30	22/06 15:00	Manaus		USA	2-2	Portugal
45	26/06 13:00	Recife		USA	0-1	Germany
46	26/06 13:00	Brasilia		Portugal	2-1	Ghana

GROUP H

Match	Date - Time	Venue			Results
15	17/06 13:00	Belo Horizonte		Belgium	2-1	Algeria
16	17/06 18:00	Cuiaba		Russia	1-1	Korea Republic
31	22/06 19:00	Rio De Janeiro		Belgium	1-0	Russia
32	22/06 13:00	Porto Alegre		Korea Republic	2-4	Algeria
47	26/06 17:00	Sao Paulo		Korea Republic	0-1	Belgium
48	26/06 17:00	Curitiba		Algeria	1-1	Russia

Unfortunately, from what happened already in the opener of the tournament,
I got a cue that a list of disgraceful refereeing decisions will be again needed
in 2014. I do hope that they will not, in the end, decide the winner nation, but
I wish a younger FIFA executive had been at the helm and made wiser decisions
on using available technology to decisively offer a helping hand to referees.

REFEREEING DISGRACEFUL DECISIONS
1. In the opening day, Yuichi Nishimura offered Brasil an undeserved advantage in their game
    against Croatia. It is high time Scolari and his squad tried to win games fairly and squarely,
    and honestly admitted unfortunate decisions helping them win on paper rather than on the
    pitch. The issue here is not who was better. After all Greece was outperformed and overwhelmed
    in practically every single game in 2004, but went on to win a stunning Euro competition fairly
    and squarely by tactical decisions and Herculean patience and effort; not by undue refereeing
    gimcks. Also, unlike what Blatter will probably claim, this is NOT A MATTER OF RACISM...
2. A real mess by Wilmar Roldan in Mexico - Cameroon: nonexistent offside calls, unnoticed
    penalty offenses, and nonexistent dangerous foul kicks. What a mess...
3. Carlos Velasco Carballo not giving a second yellow to Godín was a clear injustice for England...
4. Enrique Osses deprived Costa Rica of a penalty during their game against the Azzuri.
5. The Aussie Ben Williams showed selfishness and disrespect for the journalists and the
    fans during the game Honduras - Ecuador last night.
    a. Selfishness since, having had time for a clean shave himself, by overusing the
        foam on the pitch, he clearly did not care on whether any would be left for Blatter.
    b. Disrespect for the journalists and the fans, since, he did not take into account that,
        by not leaving enough foam for Blatter, he might force his technology challenged
        Boss to use photoshop, in which case a press release might end up looking like this:

6. If the Bosnians feel that they had a powerful 12th opponent on the field last night at
    the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba in the person of the New Zealander Peter O Leary, who
    could really blame them, with the unfairly offsided goal and the controversial no call
    of the offensive foul before the Nigerian goal... Unfortunately, where technology is
    needed the most, technology has been vehemently resisted... but it is heavily used, we
    often hear, in betting, in Macau, Hong Kong and, I am afraid, elsewhere...
7. Scandalous refereeing by Marco Rodriguez in Italia versus Uruguay to unfairly
    send the World Champions out of the tournament and perpetuate biting in football...
8. Unfair refereeing by Carlos Vera awarding a non existent penalty to Greece that
    led to the elimination of the Ivorian side...
9. Pedro Proenca fooled by Robben in Netherlands - Mexico.
10. A big second mess, it looked and sounded like, by Velasco Carballo in Brasil-Colombia:
     ``Habemus spuma, no habemus charta"...
11. Not that the game mattered much, but Djamel Haimoudi gave a penalty and a
      yellow for an infraction that deserved a clear red, but only a free kick, since
      the grab of the shoulder occurred a clear couple of meters outside the box...
    
Following this fascinating World Cup from the Stadia in Brasil would
not have been possible without the Greatest Sports Channel, ESPN, that
carried it to the U.S. with great care. So a big THANK YOU to ESPN,
ESPN2 and WatchESPN!! In the spirit of the page, some positives and
some negatives on the coverage:
- Jon Champion, Stewart Robson and Ian Darke, Steve McManaman
  were exciting and their commentary sharp and to the point.
- On the other end, Kasey Keller and Alejandro Moreno were monotonous,
  with relatively boring casting styles, and their analysis, more often than
  not, verbose and unenlightening.