2014fwc_tsg_report_15082014_neutral

Story of the tournament 11
came through an extremely difficult test:
having lost their opening match and suffered
the set-back of a 0-0 draw with Japan, they
faced a crucial match against the Africans in
which only a converted penalty, won in the
dying seconds, took them into the round of
16. Having been on the verge of qualifying
from the group, Côte d’Ivoire had only
themselves to blame for giving away that
penalty, while the Blue Samurai also had
reason to feel disappointed, earning only a
solitary point in the tournament.
Group D: Costa Rica surprise the world
With three former world champions in the
group, Costa Rica stunned the footballing
world by coming out on top, beating Uruguay
3-1, toppling Italy 1-0 and holding England
to a goalless draw. Uruguay faced Italy in
their final game, with striker Luis Suárez’s (9)
double having overcome England 2-1. Skipper
Diego Godín (3) was the hero this time as he
headed home late on to defeat Italy and take
his side through to join Los Ticos in the next
round. England lost their first two matches
and Italy also went home early having earned
just three points.
Group E: France show their superiority
France showed their quality by comfortably
winning their first two matches, 3-0 against
Honduras and 5-2 against Switzerland, to
confirm their early progress. Switzerland, on
the other hand, could not rely on the points
from a 2-1 win against Ecuador to be enough to
advance, and fought hard in their final group
game to defeat Honduras 3-0 and go through
to the second stage in second position. Ecuador
finished with four points from a win and a
draw while Honduras lost all their matches.
Group F: Argentina collect full points
Messi (10) was on the score sheet in all three
victories, contributing four goals. Argentina
overcame Bosnia 2-1 and Iran 1-0 before
beating Nigeria 3-2, when both teams had
already qualified ahead of the last group
match. The Super Eagles edged Bosnia and
Herzegovina 1-0 and a draw against Iran was
enough to see them advance to the knockout
stage. Iran lost their final match against
Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-1, confirming their
position at the bottom of the group.
Group G: going down to the wire
Germany had the best possible start with a
convincing 4-0 win against Portugal while
the USA edged Ghana 2-1. The Americans
could have advanced early but dropped
points in the last minute of a thrilling 2-2
draw with Portugal as Die Mannschaft also
tied against Ghana with the same scoreline.
The final round of matches was crucial to all
teams. Germany’s Müller (13) scored the only
goal in the game against the USA, who still
managed to pip Portugal on goal difference,
even though Portugal beat Ghana 2-1. Both