2014fwc_tsg_report_15082014_neutral

12
Story of the tournament
Germany and the USA advanced to the
knockout stage while Portugal and Ghana cut
short their stay in Brazil.
Group H: Algeria and Belgium show their
potential
Belgium came from behind to defeat Algeria
2-1 in their opening match and continued
with a 1-0 victory over Russia. Having already
guaranteed their passage to the next round,
they beat Korea Republic 1-0 in the final
group game, leaving the latter at the foot of
the group. Belgium joined the Netherlands,
Colombia and Argentina in the exclusive
group of teams who won all their matches
in the group stage. Algeria got over their
opening-match defeat with a 4-2 win over
Korea Republic and fought hard to hold Russia
to a 1-1 draw and advance. Korea Republic
returned home early with only one point.
Round of 16
Brazil v. Chile 1-1 a.e.t. (1-1, 1-1), 3-2 PSO
Brazil took on neighbours Chile in a hightempo
match in Belo Horizonte. The hosts
took an 18 th -minute lead when David Luiz (4)
converted a goalmouth tap-in from a corner
before Chilean forward Sánchez (7) replied
just quarter of an hour later. The second half
was a closely contested affair as the two teams
struggled to maintain the high tempo of
the first period. Chile took the initiative and
created a number of dangerous attacks and
forced the Seleção to drop back to defend,
leaving only the two attackers Fred (9) and
Neymar (10) forward. Despite their solo
efforts, Brazil came nowhere near to scoring.
Chilean forward Pinilla (9) crashed a shot
against the crossbar in extra time but Brazil
held out and went on to win 3-2 on spot kicks.
Colombia v. Uruguay 2-0 (1-0)
Having topped Group C, Colombia came up
against a Uruguay team that was without
their suspended striker Luis Suárez and went
all out to attack. Uruguay added another
defensive midfielder, leaving only Diego
Forlán (10) and Edinson Cavani (21) up front,
and broke up the game with some muscular
tackling as the game struggled to ignite.
Colombian striker James Rodríguez (10)
picked his moment to shine when he hit a
magnificent volley home from outside the
penalty area to give his side a 28 th -minute
lead. The second goal came after some
excellent combination play by Colombia, with
Rodríguez pouncing to complete the scoring
and send his side through.
Netherlands v. Mexico 2-1 (0-0)
The Oranje took on Mexico in a match with a
quick tempo from the start. Dutchman Arjen
Robben (11) and el Tri’s Giovani dos Santos
(10) provided the main goal threat for each