England - Uruguay

Liverpool superstar Luis Suarez returned for South American outfit Uruguay. He faced club team mates Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling and Sturridge but who would come out on top was too difficult to call.

England found themselves under the cosh at the beginning. Joe Hart scrambled across his goal to keep out a cheeky corner from the genius Suarez while Uruguayan Rodriguez smashed a left footed effort just over the bar. England began to find their feet and Gerrard found Rooney’s head at the back post. Unbelievably to Manchester United striker was unable to find the back of the net when it was easier to score. The ball cannoned off his head onto the bar from just two yards out. Rooney remained goalless on the World Cup stage.  

And then, as many expected, Luis Suarez marked his return with a well-placed header over the head of England Lionheart - Joe Hart. The Liverpool hero ghosted in past England’s defenders and Cavani’s delicate chip found him in space from where he put Uruguay ahead in this crucial encounter. In a manner all too familiar to his opposition Luis Suarez rushed off to celebrate his opener.

Super Suarez shoots Uruguay ahead

Suarez again attempted to catch Joe Hart out by again attempting to score directly from a corner at the near post in an exact replica of the previous attempt. Joe Hart was equal to it and managed to claw it away. Suarez was at the heart of everything. He set Cavani through one-on-one with Joe Hart but the PSG forward put it wide and should have done a lot better.

Rooney continued to desperately search for his first ever world cup goal and he nearly got it when a Leighton Baines crossed found its way to the England talisman inside the area. His left footed shot was too close to the keeper who managed to palm it to safety as Rooney looked miserably on.

He finally came good with 15 minutes left to go. Rooney scored the equaliser when Glen Johnson’s cross found him free at the back post. Rooney made no mistake with the easy tap in and he levelled the score line. England looked good for another too.

However a long punt from Uruguay goalkeeper Muslera beat the English defence – like it did against Germany in South Africa 2010 -after coming of the head of England Captain Steven Gerrard. Luis Suarez had gambled and found himself behind the England defenders through one-on-one with Joe Hart. It was all too obvious what the outcome would be. The net bulged and the little magician wheeled away for the second time as Joe Hart lay helplessly in the dirt. Steven Gerrard picked up another assist for a Luis Suarez goal, although he won’t want it. Gerrard, who has had a fine season, must be cursing his luck after his slip against Chelsea, and now his accidental assist to arguably the best striker in the world at this time.

England were unable to find another equaliser and Uruguay held on for a vital victory. England know they are all but out, although can still qualify, on goal difference, if Italy win both their games, and England beat Costa Rica in their final game by 2 goals.

 England 1 – 2 Uruguay 

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Colombia - Ivory Coast

Colombia met Africans Ivory Coast in an exciting encounter for the fight for first place as both these teams were expected to progress from Group C. Colombia beat Greece convincingly in their first game, while Ivory Coast came from behind to beat Japan 2-1 in their opening game. Colombia-Ivory Coast was a highly anticipated game, with a lot of goals expected.

Colombia started brightest, and controlled the game. Ivory Coast struggled to get a foothold and could have found themselves a goal down after a quick flowing counter attack from the South Americans but Gutiérrez was unable to convert the cross from close range.

It wasn’t until the second half when the deadlock was broken by Monaco and Colombia superstar James Rodriguez. He got on the end of a corner to head into the Ivorian goal. It was his second goal of the tournament.

Rodriguez celebrates his opener. 

Soon Colombia doubled their lead. Ivorian midfielder Die, who had broken into tears during the national anthems, was caught in possession by Gutierrez with few defenders ahead of him. His perfect ball drew Zokora out of position and found substitute Quintero who finished was sublime.

Ivory Coast pulled one back just three minutes later. Gervinho’s magnificent jinking run saw him dance past three tackles before smashing home for The Elephants to set up a nervy finish. A stunning piece of individual skill; one of the best to have graced Brazil so far. Ivory Coast nearly got the equaliser but Drogba was unable to capitalise on veteran Mario Yepes’ mistake and David Ospina was on fine form to keep the ex-Chelsea forward at bay to give Colombia the victory.

Colombia have all but qualified while Ivory Coast probably need to beat Greece to progress past the group stages for the first time.

 Colombia 2 – 1 Ivory Coast 

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Cameroon - Croatia

A must win game for both sides if they are to progress beyond the group stage. Brazil’s earlier draw with Mexico showed that they weren’t the irresistible force people may have thought before the beginning of the tournament. Cameroon are the real underdogs of the group, the unfavoured, and they were missing star man, ex-Barcelona striker, Samuel Eto’o. Croatia knew that a win against Cameroon and Mexico is a must having been defeated by Brazil in their opening game as Mexico picked up four points in their two games.

Croatia were boosted by the return of Bayern Munich forward Mario Mandzukic who missed the opening game against Brazil through suspension. But it was former Munich striker that grabbed the opening goal. Ivica Olic sneaked in at the back post to latch onto Perisic’s through ball after just 11 minutes. It was all downhill from there for the Africans.

Alexander Song let his country down when he through an elbow into Mandzukic’s back as the Croatia tried to start a counter attack. Unfortunately for the fiery Barcelona midfielder the referee saw his off-the-ball antics and reduced the Indomitable Lions to 10 men just minutes before half time.

Song elbows Mandzukic before receiving a red card

With Song off, Croatia found their voice and their star midfielders, Modric and Rakitic were able to control proceeding in the space left vacant by Song. Within 3 minutes of the restart Croatia had double their lead.

Perisic collected a poor clearance from ex-Liverpool stopper Charles Itandje and broke down the left wing leaving defender, and half time substitute Dany Nounkeo in his wake before smashing past the vulnerable Itandje at his near post.

Mandzukic then got off the mark, and put himself in the shop window with many believing his time in Munich is up. An outswinging corner from Pranjic was met powerfully by the big Croat forward, leaving Itandje picking the ball out of his net for the third time. The three goal lead allowed Croatia to freshen things up and rest a few key players, such as the inspiring Perisic who was a threat all night, as was Olic, who was replaced by Eduardo, once of Arsenal.

Mandzukic finished off proceedings reacting first to Eduardo’s shot that was spilled by Itandje to the feet of Croatia’s number 17. He happily slotted it home. Itandje should really have been doing better with that effort though.

The drama was not over for Cameroon as the pineapple-haired Assou Ekotto threw a head butt at team mate Moukandjo in the closing moments to round things off. Eto’o was seen calming Assou Ekotto in the tunnel at the end of the game to prevent a major World Cup inter squad fall-out.  

 Cameroon 0 – 4 Croatia 

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Australia - Holland

On form Holland lined up against lowly Australia. Many expecting a heavy defeat for the men from down under, especially after the drubbing Spain received from the Dutch.

Holland took an early lead. Robben, who had been magnificent against Spain, opened the scoring. The Bayern Munich attacker picked the ball up on the half way line and sped his way into the Australian box. His low, hard left footed drive nestled nicely into the Aussies net past the helpless Ryan. It would be the opening of the floodgates, though many people. But they were wrong.

Immediately after, Australia pegged the Dutch back. Tim Cahill scored his second of the tournament, and he won’t score a better. Comparisons were made to that famous goal by Dutch legend Marco Van Basten. A long ball over the head of de Vrij, found Cahill, who first time on the volley, with his weaker, left foot smashed it off the bar and in, past the flailing Cillessen. Easily goal of the tournament, so far.

Cahill strikes against Holland to equalise

A short time later, Cahill received a booking that rules the talismanic Aussie out of their final group game against Spain. Van Persie joined him in the book, and he too will miss Holland’s final game, against South Americans, Chile.

The Socceroos fought on. Bresciano and Spiranovic missed good opportunities to take the lead before Leckie had a goal disallowed for a foul on Daley Blind.

Australia continued piling forward and it finally paid off. Substitute Bozanic’s cross came off the hand of Daryl Janmaat who was unlucky to see the incident awarded as a penalty. Mile Jedinak of Crystal Palace put the ball in the net from 12 yards.

Like the Dutch lead, Australia’s lead didn't last long either. Van Persie, not to be outdone on the scoring charts by compatriot Robben, found himself in space in the box and leathered the ball into the roof of Ryan’s net to equalise. The Dutch upped the tempo, but Australia continued to get forward looking for a win.

It was Memphis Depay that found the breakthrough though. His long range strike bounced awkwardly in front of Aussie ‘keeper Ryan and slipped through his hands into the goal. Australia found themselves behind.

There was still plenty of time for another goal, but neither team were able to make the breakthrough. The Dutch couldn't increase their lead, nor could Australia find the equaliser.

A stern, noble effort from Australia who can be pleased with their performance in this game. It would take something of a miracle for Australia to progress mpw.

 Australia 2 – 3 Holland 

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Russia - Korea

Russia faced South Korea in what many expect to be the battle for second in Group H. Although the Russians are probably favourites, no one would rule out the plucky Koreans from sneaking into the last 16 with memories of their 2002 World Cup performances in mind.

Korea looked the more promising in the early stages but were unable to find a break through. The match turned into one could easily be compared to that of two boxers trading blows.

This match had 26 shots altogether which suggests that both teams had enough chances to win the game but that wasn’t the case. The majority of these shots came from 30, 40 yards out although both keepers seemed to have trouble dealing with these efforts. Russia’s Akinfeev dropped them on a few occasions but none to Korea’s advantage.

Not until the 68^th minute at least. A speculative 25 yard effort by Korean substitute Lee (one of three Lee’s in the squad) slipped through Akinfeev’s hands over his head and into the net. Fabio Capello cursed the Goalkeeper God’s again for the second tournament following Rob Green’s error against America during his time in charge of England.

Igor Akinfeev desperately tries to recover from his error

Going behind seemed to give Russia the shake-up they needed. The introduction of Alan Dzagoev and Russian domestic football record goal scorer, Aleksandr Kerzhakov, increased the urgency of the Russians play. Capello’s substitutes had the desired effect.

Dzagoevs low shot was parried by the South Korean keeper. The ball cannoned around the six yard box in a goal mouth scramble before being bundled over the line by Kerzhakov. He could have arguably been ruled offside, but the assistant kept his flag down.

Russia continued to press for a winner, and missed two close headers, but the game fizzled out, and finished as a 1 – 1 draw, which was a fair result based on the performances of the sides. Anything other than a draw would have been a harsh injustice for the losing team.

 Russia 1 – 1 South Korea 

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Brazil - Mexico

The hosts Brazil starred in their second game, knowing victory would all but guarantee their progression into the last 16 of the competition. A progression that is highly expected. They faced fellow South Americans, Mexico in the Fortaleza cauldron. It was an emotional affair, with Neymar breaking into tears during a rousing rendition of the Brazil national anthem.

Brazil’s golden boy, Neymar was involved in the thick of the action, sambaing around Mexican defenders. He was also on the end of a few opportunities. Dani Alves found his Barcelona team mate but Ochoa threw himself across the goal to produce a famous save from Neymar’s goal bound header. It was a sign of things to come.

Mexican Goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa

Brazil continued to pepper the Mexicans goal but Ochoa, who is without a club having left French club Ajaccio, was more than a match for efforts from Paulinho, Neymar and David Luiz.

Mexico were not afraid to attack either though. Peralta, Hector Herrea and Vazquez all came close. Julio Cesar tipped one over the bar. Fred (yeah he was play) was soon replaced by ex-Manchester City striker after having an absolutely dreadful game. “The corner flag moved better than he did”. Jo provided a much better performance upon his entrance.

Neymar, and Brazil continued to threaten ‘El Tri’ after the break but they held firm. Ochoa made more fine saves, making good use of a rumoured extra finger on his right hand. This later turned out to be false. The Mexican made a point blank save from a thunderous header from Brazilian captain Thiago Silva. Either side and it would certainly have been a goal, but Ochoa still produced a fine save to thwart the powerful effort in the dying minutes of the second half.

Brazil found themselves with one more chance. Marcelo found himself in behind Aguilar in the penalty area but flung himself to the ground in the hope of winning a penalty, The referee waved play on and it was a wasted opportunity and disgraceful play by the Real Madrid man. It was behaviour that deserved a booking, at least.

The game ended in a stale 0 – 0, a result that won’t have pleased the Brazil nation.

 Brazil 0 - 0 Mexico 

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Belgium - Algeria

Belgium began their campaign against African side Algeria. Belgium were tipped as the dark horses for this tournament. Boasting a squad full of Premier League quality, from Kompany of Man City in defence alongside Spurs’ Jan Vertonghen, Thomas Vermaelan missed out on a starting 11 place. In midfield they have Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Tottenhams Moussa Dembele and Nacer Chadli while Man United’s only signing last summer, Maroune Fellaini found himself on the bench alongside Vermaelan. Lukaku leads the line while Benteke missed out on the tournament through injury. They also have highly rated goal keeper Thiburt Courtois just finished winning La Liga and runners up in the Champions League. On the other hand, Algeria possess err... Bentaleb of Spurs, Feghouli of Valencia and Madjid Bougherra, once of Rangers.

The Belgium team line up at kick off.

Despite the obvious gulf in quality, Algeria were not easily overrun and were able to hold their own against the Europeans. In fact, Algeria took an early lead when spurs defender clumsily hauled down his opposition in the box and the referee awarded a penalty to the African nation.

Feghouli calmly dispatched the spot kick, and Belgium now faced a real test. Up to this point they had looked lethargic and uncreative but if they were to win this game something was going to need to change. They persisted until half time before Wilmots made a change, replacing Chadli with speedster Dries Mertens.

With no goals for the chocolate eating Europeans, they took off Chelsea forward, Lukaku and brought on virtually unknown youngster Origi. Wilmots also brought on Fellaini of Manchester United to add a different dimension to their attack. It paid off. Fellaini had his best game of the season, and connected with De Bruyne’s cross and scored with a looping header shortly after coming on. Moyes could be seen seething with anger and lambasting the Belgian in broken, drunken Glaswegian slurs.

Algeria was clearly tiring from their stubborn efforts to keep the Belgian’s at bay, but they could hold out no longer. Premier League’s PFA Young Player of the Year, Eden Hazard collected the ball on the half way line and began to run at the defence. His dribbling and Origi’s off the ball movement sucked two defenders out of position giving Mertens space to break into. Hazard was able to find him and Mertens fired home the winner on 80 minutes. Credit has to go to the Belgian coach who made inspired substitutions who all had positive impacts on the result. Fellaini and Mertens both grabbed a goal while Origi’s pace was a constant threat and a thorn in the Algerian side that Lukaku just didn’t offer. It will be interesting if Origi keeps his place for their next game. His contribution certainly warrants it

Belgium gained a valuable three points and the win will have boosted their confidence even if it did come with an early scare. They will have harder games than this, against stronger sides, but this game gives them the knowledge that they have a good enough squad to make changes if things aren’t going to plan, and the ability and patience to turn things around if they go behind.

 Belgium 2 – 1 Algeria 

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Germany - Portugal

Germany, Portugal. Probably one of the most anticipated matches of the group stages. The German Machine against The Cristiano Ronaldo Show.

Portugal started with the exact same team that ended the Euros in 2013 and they made the better start with Ronaldo to the fore, the superstar made one early chance for Hugo Almeida before drawing a save from Neuer himself. It wasn't long before the favourites gathered themselves together. A poor clearance from Portuguese goalkeeper fell at the feet of Sami Khedira who was unable to place the ball into the empty goal from 30 yards.

Minutes later Gotze broke into the box and tried to wriggle free to get his shot away only to be upended by Portugal defender Joao Pereira. The referee awarded a penalty to the Germans and booked Pereira who could've easily seen red on another day. The Golden Boot Winner of South Africa 2010, Thomas Muller, stepped up and opened his account for Brazil 2014. From then on, it was all Germany with rare flashes of poor Portuguese counters.

Mario Gotze nearly doubled his side’s lead but his shot was deflected wide for a corner that Toni Kroos trotted over to hit. His out-swinging corner exploited the poor zonal marking of the Portuguese defence and Hummels was able to rise above anyone else to nod home a German second.

Things went from bad to worse for Portugal as Pepe was dismissed for an attempted head-butt on the goal scorer, Muller, after just 37 minutes. Typical Pepe. Germany wrapped it up with a third in injury time of the first half. Muller claimed his second.

Portugal rarely threatened in the second half. Ronaldo was lost. He attempted a few long range free kick spectaculars but on one occasion was even unable to be the one man wall. Nani was abysmal and substitute Eder was horrendous for the Portuguese.

A frustrated Ronaldo

Muller completed the rout and his hat trick after bundling the ball over the line from close range following Rui Patricio's inability to hold onto Schurrle's shot.

Ronaldo finally done something of mention when in the 91^st minute he hit a fierce 35 yard free kick that stung the hands of Neuer who beat it away for a corner. Unfortunately unlike Messi he doesn't have a team of super stars surrounding him. He has a squad of mediocre team mates that he is expected to carry. Messi can breeze through a game and allow his compatriots to take control to win the game if need be.

 Germany 4 – 0 Portugal 

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Argentina - Bosnia

The Bosnians began their first ever world cup campaign at the legendary Maracana stadium against a squad considered to be on the favourites for the tournament, South American’s Argentina.

La Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue) squad oozes talent playing for the top clubs in Europe. Zabaleta, Demichellis and Sergio Aguero of Man City, Angel Di Maria of Real Madrid, ex-madrid forward Gonzalo Higuain now of Napoli as well as Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano and world superstar Lionel Messi. The world watched as they anticipated a master class performance from the little Argentine. A good World Cup is the only thing missing from his honours list.

Within three minutes Bosnia were behind. Unfortunate defender Sead Kolasinac saw the ball deflect off him into his own goal whilst defending a dangerous free kick that flicked off Marco Rojo onto the Bosnian defender.

Messi was almost anonymous and many maybe wondered if he would have any impact in this game or in this tournament at all.

Argentina rarely looked like adding to their lead regularly giving the ball away while the Bosnian defence stayed solid and disciplined. Bosnia slowly settled into the game after their early set back. Roma playmaker Miralem Pjanic began to fashion chances for his side but the Baltic side found Sergio Romero in fine form between the Argentine posts.

A tactical shuffle at the break improved La Albiceleste to no ends injecting a sense of urgency and purpose to their play. The change in formation, from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3, also improved the form and fortune of the magician everyone had come to see.

Messi jinked past two Bosnian defenders after a quick one – two with Higuain. The four-time World Player of the Year steadied himself and smashed home a superb solo effort from 18 yards to put the South American’s 2-0 ahead. It was his first World Cup goal since 2006. His excellent display after the goal showed a real pressure had been lifted off the captain’s shoulders. He laid a baton down for rival Cristiano Ronaldo to perform to.

The Bosnians were in no mood to lose their first game without some sort of a struggle. After numerous shots on and off target and multiple corners they finally made their efforts count when Lulic sent Vedad Ibisevic through on goal. He scored Bosnia’s first ever World Cup goal as his left-footed drive slipped through the legs of Romero and bobbled into the goal with 5 minutes remaining, but they were unable to find the equaliser in the remaining time.

Bosnia portrayed a good account of themselves in this first game and Eden Dzeko didn’t even get a mention. If they can get a good performance out of him they could get into the last 16 and with a bit of luck maybe even the Quarter finals. Argentina are expected to go all the way, and if they can perform like they did in the second half, with Lionel Messi firing on all cylinders then they have a real chance of taking the much-acclaimed prize home.

Argentina 2 – 1 Bosnia 

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France - Honduras

In one of the most mismatched games of the 2014 World Cup 1998 world champions France faced lowly Honduras. France are able to boast names such as Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane, Manchester United’’s Patrice Evra and glouriously haired Oliver Giroud. They can even afford to leave stars such as Mancehester City’s Samir Nasri at home. Meanwhile Honduras’ best players play for Wigan, Stoke and Hull City. They are Roger Espinoza, Wilson Palacios and Maynor Figueroa respectively.

Just Oliver Giroud being Oliver Giroud. That hair though...

Despite the gulf in class, France struggled to make the breakthrough. The Honduran’s fought for their lives for every ball. Their aggressive approach upsetting and frustrating the French stars. None more so than Juve’s Paul Pogba who got into a tangle with Wilson Palacios. Both players received a booking when it would not have been too harsh if both were dismissed from the game.

Despite chance after chance falling for France they were unable to open the scoring until a stroke before half time. Tenacious midfielder Palacios was judged to have fouled Pogba, this time in the penalty area. The referee awarded the French a penalty and Palacios received his second booking. Benzema was charged with the responsibility of slotting home the spot kick beyond the Honduran keeper’s grasp to put his side ahead at the break.

France added a second 3 minutes into the second half when Benzema’s left-footed volley cannoned off the post before the Honduran keeper fumbled it over the line. Although he clawed it back and claimed he’d kept it out. The officials went to the video technology for the first time in the tournament. After some confusion, caused mainly by BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce who made a mountain out of a molehill, it was declared a goal, an own goal to be precise, albeit a truly excellent finish from Benzema beforehand. It was now a case of how many would France rack up. This goal was a signal to the Hondurans to step up their physical approach to a more dominant thugish approach. Each tackle crunched the bones of the French stars and Didier Deschamps began to withdraw his key players to protect them from the onslaught.  After the game Honduras Manager Luis Fernando Suárez insisted that his players were not guilty of being ‘too aggressive’ despite accumulating 14 fouls.

France had a number of chances to add to their score line but failed to capitalise. They finally notched another to make it 3 – 0. Benzema the scorer again. A free kick from Valbuena cut back to outside the penalty area found Patrice Evra. His first time long range effort pinballed off a number of players before resting at the feet of the on-form French forward who duly smashed it into the goal.

Oliver Giroud was introduced and added glamour to the occasion with his fantastic hair, but neither he, nor any of the rest of the French team could increase their lead. They will be relieved to have been able to evade any injuries however. A red card for Honduras in any of their two remaining games looks a certainty. This was France’s biggest World Cup win since the France 1998 World Cup Final against Brazil.

 France 3 – 0 Honduras 

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Brazil - Croatia

How dull was that opening ceremony? So, so dull. For a country with such a carnival atmosphere it was disappointing. Anyway, I'm here to talk about the football. Brazil v Croatia; the opening game of the 2014 World Cup.

It was clear from kick off that Croatia were not going to go all out attack. They sat off the Brazilians, and allowed them to have the ball. Going toe-to-toe with the hosts was not going to have the outcome they desired. Niko Kovac opted to play on the counter, drawing in the Brazilians and then releasing Olic and Perisic on the gung-ho minded Brazil defence. Their two centre midfielders, Modric and Rakitic are their star men and play at the very highest level. Modric for Real Madrid and Rakitic just signed for rivals Barcelona. They had the quality to pick out the spaces left behind by Marcelo, David Luiz and Dani Alves, all who love to maraud forward. It worked to great success in the beginning, as the Croats broke down the left with Olic numerous times and this is also where their goal came from. Rakitic laid it off to Olic, he broke down the left wing and his low cross found Jelavic whose weak shot went through the legs of David Luiz and bounced off the unlucky Marcelo into Julio Cesar’s net. Defeat for the hosts and favourites on opening day? Surely not.

The rigidity of the Croatian tactics and formation required Brazil to be patient. David Luiz and Thiago Silva patiently played the ball along the half way line while Croatia stationed all 11 men inside their own half, and rarely pressed. Despite Niko Kovac’s pre-match press conference stating that ‘Croatia won’t park the bus’, he did.

Unfortunately the Croatian bus wasn't locked and the Brazilians got in. Neymar, the host’s poster boy and shining light, repeatedly found space despite the tight Croatian set-up and eventually he popped up with the equaliser. Although he was lucky to still be on the pitch after an elbow on the baby-faced Modric. Neymar danced in to the space between Croatia’s midfield and defence. He skipped away from Perisic and let fly. His left footed drive bobbled awkwardly before glancing off Pletikosa’s post and into the net. The stadium exploded, the fans went mad and the players let out a huge sigh of relief after opening their account. Neymar stepped up when his country needed him, and the carnival began.

Neymar, Brazil's saviour

He stepped up again, this time to hit a controversially awarded penalty after Lovren was punished for allegedly bundling the burly Fred to the ground in the penalty area. At this stage the game was a bit more open which suited the Brazilians. Neymar slotted the spot kick to his left. Pletikosa guessed right and got a hand to it, but it still ended up in his net. He should have done a lot better, but his chocolate wrists melted in the pressure.

Croatia scored again! But the Japanese official ruled it out for a foul by Olic on Cesar. It was soft, it was wrong. The referee bottled it. The Croats had every right to feel aggrieved but they continued to pile on the pressure firing men forward. Brazil sent on Ramirez for Neymar to help weather the storm, and it proved effective.

Ramirez nicked the ball off Modric in the dying minutes and set free young Oscar who toe-poked it in to make it 3 – 1 to the home country. The samba was in full flow. Pletikosa should maybe have been expected to do better with that too, he must of had his eye on a busty Brazilian beauty. 

The referee ended it soon after. A final score of 3 – 1 seems harsh on Croatia as the game was much tighter than it suggests, Brazil escaped unscathed, but there were some worrying signs that could be exploited by better teams. Especially if the referee doesn't have a Brazil shirt on too. 

Brazil 3 - 1 Croatia 

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