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Yesterday Recap
Netherlands 3 Australia 2
This match was much, much closer than what people had anticipated. To Australia's credit, they competed and fought hard against the Dutch, and just came up short to an upset. Netherland's winger Robben struck first with his breakaway speed and nice finish but the best goal of the match came from Australian Tim Cahill, who volleyed a ball off of his left foot from 15 yards out.
Chile 2 Spain 0
Wow. No one ever expected Spain to drop their first two games of the tourney and if you claim you did, I'm calling you a liar. The defending champs are officially dethroned and at the hands of Chile, a very good, very underrated club. Vargas and Aranguiz netted goals for the Chileans, who are moving on to the Round of 16 for their second straight year.
Croatia 4 Cameroon 0
Croatia's hopes of moving to the Round of 16 remain alive, while they eliminated Cameroon from contention with their crushing four goal victory. It was all Croatia in this one, and the return of Mandzukic proved to be huge as he contributed two goals. Croatia controls their own destiny in the final game of group stage against Mexico, but must manage a win or else they'll get the boot from Brazil.
Today's matchups
Colombia and Ivory Coast face off at noon today. Each of the teams were victors in their first game, Colombia beating Greece handily 3-0, and Ivory Coast defeated Japan 2-1. Although Colombian superstar Falcao is injured for the entire cup, this is a young, speedy team to watch. This is the first ever meeting between Ivory Coast and Colombia.
Uruguay and England are the afternoon game and each are on the brink of elimination after suffering losses in their first outing. Costa Rica shocked the world with a 3-1 route over powerhouse Uruguay while England lost a very tight game against Italy. Cavani vs. Rooney and Suarez (fingers crossed he's healthy) vs. Sturridge, oh my, this is a must-watch.
Japan and Greece star in the unspectacular night game. Both teams enter the game with zero points in the table as Greece lost to Colombia and Japan to Ivory Coast. Under the lights, both of these teams are must-win or they will be mathematically eliminated from making it out of the group.
Players to watch
Colombia: #10 James Rodriguez (name pronounced Ha-mez), midfielder
Ivory Coast: #19 Yaya Toure, midfielder
Uruguay: #21 Edinson Cavani, forward
England: #10 Wayne Rooney, forward
Japan: #10 Shinji Kagawa, midfielder
Greece: #7 Georgios Samaras, forward
Date, time and location
June 19th, 12:00 p.m., Estádio Nacional de Brasilia, Brasília (Colombia v. Ivory Coast) Group C, ESPN
June 19th, 3:00 p.m., Arena Corinthians, São Paulo (Uruguay v. England) Group D, ESPN
June 19th, 6:00 p.m., Estádio das Dunas, Natal (Japan v. Greece) Group C, ESPN