Monday, June 16, 2014

World Cup Update, June 16

Yesterday's Results:
Switzerland 2, Ecuador 1
France 3, Honduras 0
Argentina 2, Bosnia-Herzegovina 1

Three thoughts on the games
- For a team that was seeded (and thus deemed one of the top 7 in the world by FIFA's rankings), Switzerland had much more trouble with Ecuador than they should have. Their sloppy defending on a first half free kick was going to have cost them 2 points until sub Haris Seferovic knocked home the game winner 2 minutes and 40+ seconds into 3 minutes of second half stoppage time.

- France, on the other hand, dominated a clearly overmatched Honduras side. And, as a bonus, goal-line technology works! It confirmed France's second goal, a play I'm not sure any official (whether on the goal-line or not) would have been able to confirm with just the naked eye.

- I thought Bosnia acquitted themselves very well in their game against Argentina. Yes, the Argentines won, and Messi was his usual brilliant self (culminated in a beautiful goal), but Bosnia showed skill and imagination in their attacks. I do have to add they they clearly wore down with about 9-10 minutes to play (right after they scored their first goal), as their attack attempts turned incredibly sloppy and half-hearted at that point. This has been a bit of a theme so far, presumably in large part due to the conditions.

Today's Games: 
Germany vs Portugal (12:00 PM, ESPN)
Iran vs Nigeria (3:00 PM, ESPN)
Ghana vs United States (6:00 PM, ESPN)
note, all games are available streaming on ESPN3/the WatchESPN app

Updated Tables

GROUP E
TEAM
GP
W
D
L
GD
GF
GA
PTS
France (17)
1
1
0
0
3
3
0
3
Switzerland (6)
1
1
0
0
1
2
1
3
Ecuador (26)
1
0
0
1
-1
1
2
0
Honduras (33)
1
0
0
1
-3
0
3
0
GROUP F
TEAM
GP
W
D
L
GD
GF
GA
PTS
Argentina (5)
1
1
0
0
1
2
1
3
Iran (43)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Nigeria (44)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Bosnia-Herzegovina (21)
1
0
0
1
-1
1
2
0

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