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England finishes winless as Costa Rica tops Group D in scoreless draw

Bryan Ruiz of Costa Rica and Adam Lallana of England

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By CARL SETTERLUND

An unprecedented failure of a World Cup for England ended with a whimper Tuesday in Belo Horizonte as the Three Lions played to a 0-0 tie against unlikely Group D champion Costa Rica, which clinched the group with the draw.

CONCACAF continued to represent well in Brazil as Costa Rica went 2-0-1 to become the region’s second team to go undefeated in the Group Stage, along with Mexico. The United States could do so as well, pending the Germany game.

Los Ticos advance to play the Group C runner up Sunday at 4 p.m. at Arena Pernambuco in Recife. Their opponent has not been determined, but would be the Ivory Coast if the current Group C standings hold.

After falling to both Italy and Uruguay, the English finished winless in the World Cup for the first time since 1958. It’s also the first time since 1994 (when they didn’t qualify) that the Three Lions will be absent from the Round of 16.

In the World Cup finale for a pair of England legends, 36-year-old Frank Lampard wore the captain’s armband initially, before passing it over to 34-year-old Steven Gerrard when the latter subbed on for Jack Wilshere in the 73rd minute.

Also notably starting on the bench for England was Wayne Rooney, who came on in the 76th minute and provided some impact, notably sending a shot on frame in the 80th minute.

Daniel Sturridge was again active up top with a game-high four shots and several appeals for a penalty kick that were denied by referee Haimoudi Djamel.

Costa Rica’s five-man back line was able to stifle an England squad that had the better of possession, but nonetheless came up goalless on just three shots on goal. Keylor Navas notched his second straight shutout after picking up a clean sheet against Italy last Friday.

Comments

  1. Good job by the Ticos coming on top the real group of death (despite espn and national media trying too hard to shove the group of death tag on everyone for ratings sake).
    I wouldn’t put it past them to move into the round of 8, but they’ll have to adjust their system; Greece is not of the attacking kind so they won’t be able to hold back like they did against Italy and Uruguay.

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  2. Why are England so awful and talent-less at football?

    It’s a rhetorical question…

    At least there’s The Sun to tell us who is Rooney sleeping with, and that he is the best player in the world. What a deluded bunch.

    And a great comment above regarding the soccer camps being ran by frauds with British accents…spot on!

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    • Yeah this one “Ivan” doesn’t work at all. Do some more homework on Russian names before the next stage. Also, repeatedly complimenting yourself does tend to give it away a bit… might want to get away from this.

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  3. I wonder how this is going to damage the camp/soccer training business of 5,000 fraud Brit coaches who are over here making a living (and not making the game better) off of their accent.

    Ever notice how they are ALL ex professional players who happened to have career ending injuries?

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    • You know that is how almost all professional careers for any player end (in their minds, at least, anyway). Not just Brits. Not just soccer. Most all athletes who have ever been pros do not get to ride into the sunset, fully healthy, and set for life in another career.

      As for the camp/soccer business, it will do nothing either way. As long as they speak good English, they will do just fine.

      Lastly, “Desmond” is one of your most embarrassing attempts at a “covert” identity, expat. Stick with “usaalltheway” and “baptista” for now. “Vlad” was a good one too. “usaalltheway” really got everybody working against him huh?

      fayle.

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  4. The article is on England failing to advance when Italy didn’t advance from the same group…are you kidding me ?

    I am not going to look it up…it is too late here…but if I did some of the highlights back thru the years would include them winning it, finishing second in 1994 when England didn’t even make it, winning it again….I didn’t even consider England getting out of that group. They are not a top 16 team.

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      • The match is in Fortaleza, meaning it could be hot and might play into Mexico’s favor. However Holland has looked really strong. I wouldn’t be shocked by anything at this point.

      • I was say Holland is a slight favorite, however, the weather will be in Mexico’s favor. Also, Mexico will have many more fans at the game. The last game against Croatia was a very indimidating environment to play in.

      • I would not be surprised if Mexico one, but I would not pick them outright against Holland right now.

      • The Ticos have played themselves into one of the best positions for the round of 16, facing the second team from group C. If they don’t tighten up they can take any of Ivory Coast, Greece, or Japan.

  5. Does anybody know what the odds of Costa Rica winning the “Other” Group of Death were? They had to be astronomical. This is truly an amazing accomplishment and my hats off to them.

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  6. Gerrard and Lampard should never have made this team. They are far too old and slow for a world cup played in the heat of Brazil.

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