Ivory coast vs Columbia!

The game that it was- Ivory coast vs Columbia!

The match was a mixed bag of attacking intent, aggression and even a hint of emotions bought in by Ivorian player Serey Rodríguez’s who collapsed in floods of tears because of his deceased father’s memories whom he lost in 2004.

IVORY COAST versus COLUMBIA. Like a lot of other games Columbia’s start to the FIFA world cup 2014 was laced with an attacking intent. Winning their first match with a score of 3 nil, they were gleaming with confidence. This game against Ivory coast was expected to be a much closer battle than that of the Greeks. Columbia hardly faced any big challenge due to Greece’s lack of confidence in the game. However, the ride for Columbia in this match wasn’t expected to be easy. 

 
Another feature of this year’s world cup is the pattern of many teams falling behind but coming back with a bang as a result of their good game. That’s where ivory coast comes in. It was a quintessential game for Ivory Coast after having fallen at the group stage in the last two world cup tournaments. After a strong game against Japan in their first match they were in a strong position to qualify for the second round for the first time in their nation’s history. This was the fist time they were head to head with Columbia.

After their first World Cup victory in 16 years last Saturday, Colombia fans expressed their appreciation by giving Coach José Pékerman more than 400,000 write-in votes in Sunday’s presidential election. That  had already made him a hero!

Columbia held on strong to win the game against Ivory Coast by 2-1. It was an enthralling wide opening Group C match, and the stadium saw enthusiastic Columbian fans wearing yellow t shirts. This victory pushed Columbia into the second round of the world cup since the last time in 1990.

After beating a talented Ivory Coast team in a harrowing 90 minutes of forward-minded soccer, Colombia is in a better position than some of the most renowned soccer-playing countries, including Spain, which has been eliminated, and England, which lost Thursday in crushing fashion to Uruguay, 2-1.

Columbia’s ability and mettle to score in this match was highly questionable due to the absence of their premier player Radamel Falcao, who was down with a knee injury. But the team showed great spirit and was much more than one player. After winning their first match against Greece by 3-1 where one goal was scored by James Rodríguez, the man yet against gave the team a headstart by scoring their first goal with a phenomenal header and then doing the a celebratory move with his team mates. The roaring sea of Columbian fans made the whole scene even better!

The players of Ivory Coast however, were not so easy to lose hope. They did show signs of carelessness when trying to bring the ball out of its own end. The ball was played forward to Teófilo Gutiérrez on a quick counterattack, and he pushed it forward on the right wing to Juan Quintero, who slotted into the goal with his left foot, initiating another dance.

However, With 20 minutes left to the game when the situation seemed directionless for Ivory Coast, 3 minutes later Gervinho with his spectacular solo stunner scored a goal for the team. The former rsenal winger dangled past multiple defenders and thronged the ball in the target.

There were several more opportunities for Ivory Coast later in the game but it was Columbia which emerged the unprecedented winner of this match. It happened for them. Something which could not happen for the last 24 years.  Their coach José Pékerman  sounded absolutely proud an lionized in declaring their team’s win in the press.

Argentina versus Iran

Battle of the Odds- Argentina versus Iran

There was no need to spend much time analysing this group F match. With the likes of Lionel Messi, Aguero, Pablo Zabaleta and Angel DiMaria to name a few, Argentina was expected to  be a World Cup powerhouse. They started a bit slowly, but beat Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2-1, in their first match.

Iran too did astonishingly well, permeating their way to a 0-0 draw against Nigeria, even though the Iranians spent a lot more time chasing the ball than possessing it. Hence they were mostly expected to sit back and defend in this one as well.

Against Argentina, Iran was seen as a team going for the offensiveand not for the defensive. Argentina knew  that a win in this one would preserve their place in the final 16. Iran on the other hand weren’t expected to win this match. The two sides in their first meeting against each other in the history of FIFA, tried their best to outdo each other.

The match was perceived to be reap expected results. Which it did by the way. However, for Argentina to win it was a long drawn effort. Courtesy, Iran’s strong defence. The goalkeeper of Iran, did a brilliant job. There were surprising moments in the match. The 14^th minute of the match saw  Higuain receiving  a pass in the box , the first real chance for Argentina, but Iran’s keeper came  out and met him, trapping the ball between his legs.  It was an exceptional show. The 17^th minute saw Iran exploring a new terrain with a corner kick taken by Dejagah, which couldn’t however, be converted to a goal. The 21^st minute saw Higuain leaving a ball for Aguero which he hit hard toward the corner, but the Iranian keeper made a diving save. There were many such jaw gripping moments in the match.

The first half of the match saw Argentina struggling to score and ended up missing almost half a dozen chances of scoring a goal for the team. Argentina dominated possession and Iran defended. The biggest question mark for Argentina was its defense. The drama to the match was added by the towering pressure mounted on by a sea of Argentine fans. Also present in the stands was Argentine legend Diego Maradonna.

The second half of the match saw a drastic change in Iran which was a bit more confident after curbing goals from Argentina in the first half. Key players like Messi and Aguero could not show much.

 The second half saw enough action. One such moment came about  in the 68^th minute where Dejagah received a perfect cross and hit a perfect header, it was however fingertipped by Argentina’s GK Romero, pushing it over the goal post.  Aguero and Higuain were replaced by Palacio and Lavezzi in the 76^th minute in hopes of bringing about better luck.

The argentine side was losing hope when Messi played his magic and scored a beautiful goal.

He found a crevice just outside the box and curled it right into the corner. It was the penultimate strike. That’s why he’s MESSI!

The game was the father of all upsets. Poor Iran fought incredibly hard till almost the end but couldn’t fight Messi. Iran did a commendable job in diluting some of the world’s finest players . Their defence proved to be a complete nightmare for Argentina. Hats off to Iran!. It indeed was a battle of the odds.  And guessing the odd one isn’t a difficult task!

Argentina makes it to the final 16! Lucky them.

Italy versus Costa Rica

ITALY versus COSTA RICA- A dreaded English dream

The 2-1 win over England in the first round of Group D matches has put Italy in a very strong position to qualify the second round of the world cup. Italy will not take Costa Rica lightly and succeed to qualify to the next round if England avoid a loss in their game against Uruguay and also if Italy win this game. Italy broke their 7 year long jinx of not winning a game by beating England on Saturday.

 On the other hand was Costa Rica. Considered to be the underdogs of the tournament, they made their mark with their commendable win over Uruguay, where they beat them by 3-1. Italians defeated Costa Rica only 1-0 only once in a game that came ahead of the World cup in United States in 1994. Seems like Costa Rica took sweet revenge in today’s match.

Costa Rica didnt have much to lose in their next 2 games. They know a win in either pretty much takes them through, and a draw here would eliminate England – their next opponent.  They upset the odds, beating the Italians 1-0 after a 44th minute header by captain Bryan Ruiz.

After the goal Italy strugged and slogged hard through out the match. But could definitely not catch up. It was more of a wild goose chase. And in the end it was a shocking result. Costa Rica emerged out to be the winner, surprising millions of fans all over the world.

England looked  likely to be eliminated early after last night's defeat due to a double whammy  by Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.  It is  the first time since 1958 that England have been knocked out in the tournament's group stage.  Around the country, gathered fans watched in horror as Uruguay all but ended England's dream with a 2-1 win. Millions of football fans, viewers, and audiences came to a stand still. England were now dependant on Italy to to them a favour and direct chances of them qualifying further.

It’s over too soon for England. A 2-1 loss to Uruguay in Sao Paolo coupled with Costa Rica’s win over Italy led to England being out of the world cup even before they could make it to the third round of the tournament.

England was pulled back with a shaky defense, a soft midfield underbelly and lack of team decisiveness. The opposition was too good. England will try to analyze the problem as to what went wrong against Italy, and mostly Uruguay, but the story in Sao Paolo begins and ends with that man named Suarez. The game between Uruguay and England was a one man’s game. Suarez spread his magic and there was no stopping him

Also the shocking result of Costa Rica’s win over Italy, England’s last hope diminished. It was a sad state for them. Rooney’s first every world cup goal couldn’t come into much use and also Steven Gerrard’s last world cup could not reap happy results for the phenomenal player and his team.

Costa Rica’s glorious win was a dream shattering experience for England.