2014fwc_tsg_report_15082014_neutral

Story of the tournament 11came through an extremely difficult test:having lost their opening match and sufferedthe set-back of a 0-0 draw with Japan, theyfaced a crucial match against the Africans inwhich only a converted penalty, won in thedying seconds, took them into the round of16. Having been on the verge of qualifyingfrom the group, Côte d’Ivoire had onlythemselves to blame for giving away thatpenalty, while the Blue Samurai also hadreason to feel disappointed, earning only asolitary point in the tournament.Group D: Costa Rica surprise the worldWith three former world champions in thegroup, Costa Rica stunned the footballingworld by coming out on top, beating Uruguay3-1, toppling Italy 1-0 and holding Englandto a goalless draw. Uruguay faced Italy intheir final game, with striker Luis Suárez’s (9)double having overcome England 2-1. SkipperDiego Godín (3) was the hero this time as heheaded home late on to defeat Italy and takehis side through to join Los Ticos in the nextround. England lost their first two matchesand Italy also went home early having earnedjust three points.Group E: France show their superiorityFrance showed their quality by comfortablywinning their first two matches, 3-0 againstHonduras and 5-2 against Switzerland, toconfirm their early progress. Switzerland, onthe other hand, could not rely on the pointsfrom a 2-1 win against Ecuador to be enough toadvance, and fought hard in their final groupgame to defeat Honduras 3-0 and go throughto the second stage in second position. Ecuadorfinished with four points from a win and adraw while Honduras lost all their matches.Group F: Argentina collect full pointsMessi (10) was on the score sheet in all threevictories, contributing four goals. Argentinaovercame Bosnia 2-1 and Iran 1-0 beforebeating Nigeria 3-2, when both teams hadalready qualified ahead of the last groupmatch. The Super Eagles edged Bosnia andHerzegovina 1-0 and a draw against Iran wasenough to see them advance to the knockoutstage. Iran lost their final match againstBosnia and Herzegovina 3-1, confirming theirposition at the bottom of the group.Group G: going down to the wireGermany had the best possible start with aconvincing 4-0 win against Portugal whilethe USA edged Ghana 2-1. The Americanscould have advanced early but droppedpoints in the last minute of a thrilling 2-2draw with Portugal as Die Mannschaft alsotied against Ghana with the same scoreline.The final round of matches was crucial to allteams. Germany’s Müller (13) scored the onlygoal in the game against the USA, who stillmanaged to pip Portugal on goal difference,even though Portugal beat Ghana 2-1. Both