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Yesterday recap
Colombia 2 Ivory Coast 1
Colombia has taken advantage of a heavy South American crowd and moved their way atop of Group C with six points. James Rodriguez and crowd-favorite Juan Quintero contributed the two goals for Colombia while Gervinho netted an impressive dribble and finish combination to score Ivory Coasts only goal. Ivory Coast has three points.
Uruguay 2 England 1
Suarez is back! After undergoing knee surgery just four and a half weeks ago, Suarez was clutch for Uruguay and scored both of their goals including the go ahead goal and eventual game winner in the 85th minute. Wayne Rooney finally ended his drought and scored on the big stage but England will likely be packing their bags early, as they've dropped their first two matches.
Japan 0 Greece 0
Japan and Greece tied last night even after Greece played shorthanded for more than half of the match after midfielder Kostantinos received his second yellow. The Blue Samarais had their plethora of chances but were outmanned by Greek keeper Karnezis who managed six saves on Japan's 11 shots on target.
Today's matchups
Italy and Costa Rica headline the noon game in Brazil. Behind outspoken star Balotelli, Italy defeated England 2-1 in their first outing while Costa Rica shocked the world with a 3-1 win over Suarez-less Uruguay. If Costa Rica plays half as well as they did against Uruguay, this one could be interesting in settling the victors of Group D.
Switzerland and France square off at 3 p.m. ET for the best game of the day. The Swiss just barely squeezed out an opening game win over Equador, winning in the 93rd minute. France handily defeated Hondurus 3-0 due in large part to Karim Benzema's two goals and a third goal almost single handily caused by him (own goal, badly mishandled by keeper).
Ecuador and Hondurus meet for the 13th time in a long history between the two clubs. Both teams are looking for their first wins in the tournament. If either squad wants a chance to advance past group stage, they must win this game, settling for a tie would dig them into a deep hole.
Players to watch
Italy: #9 Mario Balotelli, forward
Costa Rica: #9 Joel Campbell, forward
Switzerland: #23 Xherdan Shaqiri, midfielder
France: #10 Karim Benzema, forward
Ecuador: #16 Antonio Valencia, midfielder
Hondurus: #15 Roger Espinoza, midfielder
Date, time and location
June 20th, 12:00 p.m., Arena Pernambuco, Recife (Italy v. Costa Rica) Group D, ESPN
June 20th, 3:00 p.m., Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador (Switzerland v. France) Group E, ESPN
June 20th, 6:00 p.m., Arena da Baixada, Curitiba (Ecuador v. Hondurus) Group E, ESPN