None .. ..
Match 5: COLOMBIA v.
GREECE
Date: Saturday June 14, 2014
Venue: Estadio Mineiroa, BELO
HORIZONTE
PANDO! or GORDO? PANDO!
Didn't really
think about this match too much, but oh did JAMES RODRIGUEZ show he may be the
best player in the group .. .. And, USAs MARK GEIGER did a great job
marshalling the match .. ..
COL struck early
in the 5th minute when PABLO ARMERO rolled a stoppable shot in the L/Box
but the GRE marker whiffed on his clearance and that was the match really .. ..
GRE was careless with the pill the whole match and had 5+ unforced turnovers ..
.. GRE had nothing in the middle of the pitch and attacked mainly on the
flanks, pumping in 16 crosses, 11 from the R/Flank .. .. Their last gasp came
in the 63rd minute when GEKAS had a clear header that he put off the bar .. ..
JAMES RODRIGUEZ'
CK (58th minute) started the second goal when a flick-on from the CK got
through to TEOFILO GUTIERREZ who stayed with play after making his M/Box
run and volleyed home .. .. RODRIGUEZ topped the match in extra-time
when
a scramble in the box left the ball for his golden L/Foot and he slotted home > L/Left .. ..
a scramble in the box left the ball for his golden L/Foot and he slotted home > L/Left .. ..
COL MoM: JAMES RODRIGUEZ (club: AS Monaco)
22YO rising starlet dominated all over the pitch,
pulling all strings with his runs, CKs &FKs .. .. Sweet touch on the ball
and was dropping the rock across the pitch, or hitting teammates in stride ..
.. Almost scored early when his inside/out toe-poke almost made it 2-0 @ HT ..
.. 2013-14 French assist leader loves the GK (David Ospina) like a brother - He
should, he married Ospina's sister .. ..
GRE
MoM: PANAGIOTIS
KONE (club: Bologna)
Albanian-born
winger was the only threat for a toothless GRE side all day .. .. Good
close-control on runs trough traffic and will need to do the work for GRE .. ..
=================================================================
Match 6: URUGUAY v.
COSTA RICA
Date: Saturday June 14, 2014
Venue: Estadio Castelao,
FORTALEZA
PANDO! or GORDO? Gordo? (1st
half); Pando! (2nd half)
Cautious, probing
start in hot and humid conditions, CRC was able to keep an ageing URU from
being too dangerous throughout the first half .. .. CRC may actually have been
a bit more dangerous with their seven crosses and four set-pieces compared to
just one CK for URU .. .. The South Americans took a fortunate lead in the 24th
minute when JUNIOR DIAZ clearly held back DIEGO LUGANO on an URU set-piece
which EDINSON CAVANI R/Footed > L/Right to take an 1-0 lead @ HT ..
..
CRC GK KEYLOR
NAVAS kept another URU score off the board when a defelcted DIEGO FORLAN shot
was headed into the U/Right when NAVAS turned, got back and acrobatically
punched the ball over the bar - BRILLIANT .. ..
CRC danger man JOEL
CAMPBELL equalized in the 54th minute when left alone in the L/Box and
crushed his L/Footer > U/Right .. .. Another FK from CRCs CHRISTIAN BOLANOS
saw OSCAR DUARTE time his run perfectly and headed > L/Right to take
the lead in the 57th minute .. .. CAMPBELL started the sequence to the third
goal when he sent a perfect release-ball to an onrushing MARCOS URENA
into the R/Box and his R/Footed roller found the net .. ..
Of CRCs 12 shots,
9 came in the box and 3 were bombs that didn't miss by much .. .. CRC had 4
dangerous set-pieces in the second half before URU earned their first .. ..
The
legs and ideas, have left URU since 2010 > I reckon we could have seen it
coming as URU had to go to a playoff just to get to BRA .. .. And, you can add
discipline to that when MAXI PEREIRA got sent off for a needless kick ..
..
URU MoM: EDINSON CAVANI (club: Paris Saint-Germain)
Ran and ran today to no avail but at least bagged
his well-taken PK .. .. Nice first-touch and is quality .. ..
CRC
MoM: JOEL
CAMPBELL (club: Arsenal)
21YO skyrocketing
star who's been in Greece after he was denied an UK work permit .. .. Fabulous
first-touch, close-control with the ability to turn in traffic and sprint away
.. .. And, that L/Foot is a threat from anywhere 40Y and in .. .. Lots of clubs
hope he gets his UK work permit denied again!
=================================================================
Match 7: ENGLAND v.
ITALY
Date: Saturday June 14, 2014
Venue: Estadio Amazonia, MANAUS
PANDO! or GORDO? Gordo?
Even before the
match, the drama began when ITA GK GIANLUIGI BUFFON tweeted that he would not
be starting .. .. That fell to GK SALVATORE SIRIGU (just 8 caps), who combined
with starting DEFs MATTEO DARMIAN (1 cap) and GABRIEL PALETTA (2 caps) make an
ITA back-three with a combined 11 caps!
The match was
even Gordo? early on as both sides probed but ITA was dangerous down the
R/Flank for the entire first-45 as they punched in 8 crosses all from the right
.. .. ITA finally punished ENG when CLAUDIO MARCHISIO had an hour at the
T/Box and then easily crushed his R/Footer > U/Left in the 34th minute .. ..
ENG countered
just two minutes later when teenager RAHEEM STERLING set WAYNE ROONEY free with
a brilliant release ball and ROONEY then crossed from the L/Flank to his only
target DANIEL STURRIDGE rampaging into the R/Box and he short-hopped the
cross and hit a first-time, R/Footer > U/Right .. .. PHIL JAGIELKA kept ENG
level just before the HT whistle when MARIO BALOTELLIs delicate chip was headed
off the line and over the bar .. ..
MARIO actually put the
match far out of reach in the 50th minute when he camped out at the far post
when ANTONIO CANDREVA hit an exquisite cross from the R/Flank (again) and MARIO
easily climbed and nodded it into L/Left .. ..
ENG had 9
set-pieces in the attacking-third in the second half, compared to just one for
ITA and only had three total shots in the ITA box the whole match .. .. Really,
ENG was easily kept at bay by a classier opponent and physically they just came
apart late in the match .. ..
ENG MoM: DANIEL STURRIDGE (club: Liverpool)
Hit a strikers goal when slotting home ROONEYs
cross in the first half .. .. Was live around the box and was afraid to look
for his shot .. .. A devout Christian, he was actually a late find for ENG as
he had to sit at Manchester City & Chelsea before settling @ Anfield .. ..
ITA
MoM: MARIO BALOTELLI (club: AC
Milan)
Did the best he
can as the lone striker up front and tried to create what he could early on ..
.. Terrific first-touch and close control and easily towered over an out-manned
ENG defense for his goal .. ..
=================================================================
Match 8: IVORY COAST
v. JAPAN
Date: Saturday June 14, 2014
Venue: Arena Pernambuco, RECIFE
PANDO! or GORDO? Gordo?
WE LOVE AFRICAN
FOOTBALL! You always can count on the same things in every match = Superior
athleticism accompanied by horrid set-piece discipline and link-up play .. ..
That, in itself,
put the IVORY COAST behind at the half .. .. All this despite terrible,
unforced giveaways (5+) by JAPAN throughout the first half .. .. Japans only
true world-class scorer, KEISUKE HONDA made IVC pay for their
indiscipline in the 16th minute when he created space in the L/Box and crushed
his L/Footer > U/Left .. ..
The second half
was just gobs of giveaways and bad play .. .. IVC finally made JPN pay for
their bad play when WILFRIED BONY headed home in the 64th minute after a
nice, hard cross from SERGE AURIER > L/Left .. .. IVC deserved their winning
goal 100 seconds later off another AURIER cross from the R/Flank when GERVINHO
headed from the R/Box through GK EIJI KAWASHIMA who let the ball go through
both hands - bad GKing .. ..
By far, JPN had
the most giveaways in any match so far > If JAPAN is never going to flirt
with the world elite, they are going to have to learn to hold the football
under pressure and relieve the pressure without just knocking the ball out of
bounds, or to the opponent .. ..
IVC MoM: WILFRIED BONY (club: Swansea City)
The 2013 Dutch Player of the Year was a nuisance
all night long and accounted for 4 shots in the Japan box himself .. ..
Athletic and quick, Swansea City paid a club record ₤12,000,000 for him and h has kept legendary DIDIER
DROGBA o the IVC bench .. ..
JAP
MoM: KEISUKE HONDA (club: AC
Milan)
Scored a nice
L/Footed goal, but his own game unraveled late as the rest of JPN wilted with
him .. .. Sub-par match for him, possible because of lack of minutes in ITA ..
..
=================================================================
WIN OR GO HOME?
What
happens when you get to the 2014 World Cup for your first match .. ..
If you LOST your last Friendly
before your first Group Match = 1W – 1L – 0D = 3 pts
If you WON your last Friendly
before your first Group Match = 5W – 6L – xD = 15 pts
If you DREW your last Friendly
before your first Group Match = 2W – xD – 1L = 6 pts
=================================================================
EXPERIENCE! Yeah, or neh?
How players do when they came to
BRA with 5 caps, or less .. ..
Diego Costa (ESP), Matteo Darmian
(ITA), Cedric Djeugoue (CMR), Gabriel Paletta (ITA), Raheem Sterling (ENG),
Jose Juan Vazquez (MEX), Alex Wilkinson (AUS)
3W -- 4L
-- 0D
=================================================================
PANDO! or GORDO? SIDE OF THE TOURNAMENT
GK:
Keylor NAVAS (CRC)
D: Daley BLIND (NED)
M: NEYMAR (BRA) -- OSCAR (BRA) -- Andrea PIRLO (ITA) --
Arjen ROBBEN (NED) --
James RODRIGUEZ (COL)
F: Joel
CAMPBELL (CRC) -- Alexis SANCHEZ (CHI) -- Robin VAN PERSIE (NED)
Bench: F Tim
CAHILL (AUS) -- M Luka MODRIC (CRO)
 |
Posts
