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Show notes:
When I last left you, we were preparing for the United
States’ crucial match against Germany. Well things didn’t turn out the way we
had hoped, with Ze Germans defeating the United States 1-0 thanks to a Thomas
Muller blast off of a corner kick. Although we suffered defeat in this match,
we were rescued from our doom by Cristiano Ronaldo, who broke a 1-1 deadlock
with Ghana by blasting in a shot in the 83rd minute to give Portugal
a 2-1 win. That result meant both Portugal and Ghana would crash out of the
World Cup.
They were soon joined in the ranks of the eliminated teams
by Russia and South Korea, who were knocked out in Thursday’s 4pm matches. Belgium
managed to steal a 1-0 win thanks to a late goal from Jan Vertonghen. Once
again, Belgium did not look their best, and never made it out of second gear,
but have earned three wins in their World Cup matches. Russia and Algeria drew
1-1, with Algeria getting a goal from Islam Slimani to get them the result that
sends them to the knockout stages for the first time in the history of their
footballing nation. They also became the second African team to move to the
knockout stages in this tournament.
Friday was mercifully an off day, but on Saturday the drama
continued with Brazil squeaking by Chile on penalties. David Luiz pounced on a
ball in the box in the 18th minute and sent in the game’s opening
goal, while Twitter critics around the world clamored for it to be ruled an own
goal. Their lead only lasted 14 minutes before Eduardo Vargas pounced on a
turnover by Hulk, passed to Alexis Sanchez who made no mistake with the finish.
The match then settled into a contentious affair, which lasted through the rest
of regulation and extra time, sending the match to penalties. It was then when
Julio Cesar showed up with two spectacular saves, making up for some questionable
penalty taking from Willian and Hulk. His performance gave Brazil the 3-2 win
on penalties and sent them through to the quarterfinals.
Later that afternoon, two spectacular goals from James
Rodriguez earned Colombia a 2-0 win over a Luis Suarez-less Uruguay. His first
goal was really a thing of beauty, he chested the ball and smashed a left
footed volley off the underside of the crossbar and into the goal. It was the
goal of the tournament, I’ve watched it hundreds of time and I will probably be
trying to replicate that goal for the rest of my life. His second goal was a
simpler smash from the center of the penalty area. Colombia really is a team to
watch in this tournament and James Rodriguez is becoming one of the most
searched men in the world.
Yesterday in the early match, the Netherlands snatched a
victory away from Mexico in the final moments of the match. Mexico jumped out
to a lead thanks to a beautiful goal from Giovanni Dos Santos, who muscled
through Dutch defenders before smashing a left footed finish across his body
and into the net. Wesley Sneijder equalized in the 88th minute after
El Tri grew increasingly defensive through the second half. He smashed in a
shot off a corner kick to level things up, really spoiling another spectacular
performance from Guillermo Ochoa, who became a free agent today. The
Netherlands then snatched a victory before the end of regular time, thanks to a
bit of a flop from Arjen Robben who capitalized on a stupid, stupid foul by
Mexico captain Rafa Marquez. Klaas Jan Huntelaar, the Hunter, then smashed in
the penalty, karate kicked the corner flag and sent all of Holland into
babymaking mode as they advanced to the quarterfinals.
In yesterday’s final match, Costa Rica managed to escape in
penalties after falling to 10 men and conceding to the Greeks in the 91st
minute. In the 52nd minute, Bryan Ruiz rolled a perfectly placed
shot into the right side of the net. The Ticos then dropped to 10 men after
Oscar Duarte earned his second yellow card of the match, I must say that both
of them were deserved, but the referees were truly awful in this match. Missing
a crucial handball in the box among other dubious decisions. Then in second
half stoppage time in the 91st minute, Sokratis Papastathopoulos
smashed home the crucial tying goal for the Greeks. I kept thinking throughout
extra time that the Greeks were going to steal another result, but their
offensive efforts in extra time were absolutely awful. They didn’t capitalize
on their advantage and the match went to penalties, where Costa Rica were
perfect. They smashed in five consecutive penalties and goalkeeper Keylor Navas
continued his spectacular performances in this tournament with a crucial save
on Theofanis Gekas to earn the Ticos their spot in the quarterfinal. Giorgios
Karagounis retired from international football following the match.
Trivia segment:
Before we get to our results from the weekend and upcoming
matches for tonight, here’s a new trivia segment sponsored by Ruffneck Scarves
and Who Are Ya Designs. They make a tons of great shirts and scarves and sent
me their #Murica shirt, so you should check them out at www.ruffneckscarves.com orwww.whoareyadesigns.com . That brings us to our trivia question for the
day which is: Who is the most capped player in USMNT history? If you think you
know the answer, Tweet me @IamSchaffer, respond on the Full Time Football
Facebook Page, or comment on the blog. We’ll select the winner from the correct
responses and send them a gift card so they can pick up some new gear. If you
don’t know the answer, still go to ruffneckscarves.com or whoareyadesigns.com and buy a shirt for yourself or the football
fan in your life.
I promise that we will get to the restart of MLS action and
NWSL results from the weekend during tomorrow’s episode, but here are our
headlines from over the weekend:
Adam
Lallana has completed a medical examination and will complete a £25 million
move to Liverpool later this week.
Southampton will also have to deal with the departure of
Luke Shaw, who completed a £30 million move to
Manchester United over the weekend.
I will be really interested to see how Southampton spend this transfer money after
issuing hands off warnings for their young talents. It looks like they really
only meant, you better meet our asking prices. In my Southampton Football Manager
save, I bought Axel Witsel and Andre Ayew with the proceeds from Lallana, I am
curious to see what happens at St. Mary’s.
Kevin Prince Boateng has taken his dismissal from the Ghana
squad by calling the FA, shambolic. He claims that he was dismissed from the
squad for asking where the money went. They were forced to fly economy, making
multiple stops in their preparation for the World Cup. Forced to fly from Miami
to Washington DC for 24 hours before returning to Miami, just to shake the
hands of “important people.” Their flight to Brazil was 12 hours, with players
sitting in economy class. The airport also lost his bags which contained his
football boots. Then the squad stayed in a motel in Natal, which flooded.
Chicharito has submitted a transfer request to Manchester
United.