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World Cup Day 3: Your Running Commentary

pirlo - Zimbio

By RYAN TOLMICH

Groups C and D will get their chance to shine Saturday, with a slate of four games headlining World Cup action.

A matchup between Colombia and Greece will kick things off, with the Colombians entering this year’s tournament with their most talented team since they’re famous 1994 squad. However, Greece is no stranger to deep tournament runs as underdogs, as evidenced by their famed Euro 2004 triumph. The highly publicized absence of Colombian striker Falcao will certainly level the playing field.

The day’s second contest will feature a Luis Suarez-less Uruguay taking on Costa Rica in what looks like the days biggest mismatch on paper. Even without Suarez, the Uruguayans boast an attacking lineup featuring Edinson Cavani and 2010 Golden Boot winner Diego Forlan. They will be heavily favored to kickoff the tournament with three points.

Saturday’s headliner comes next, as a pair of European powerhouses collide when Italy takes on England. Longtime Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is doubtful for today’s action, leaving Italy without their first-choice goalkeeper and their first-choice left back, due to the injury to Mattia de Sciglio. The two sides faced off just two years ago in Euro 2012, with Italy prevailing on penalties after a perfectly taken Panenka from Andrea Pirlo.

Finally, Didier Drogba and the Ivory Coast round out today’s action when they take on Keisuke Honda and Japan. Both sides are a part of a wide-open race to emerge from Group C with Colombia and Greece, so a hot start will be crucial to a possible knockout stage run.

If you will be watching today’s matches, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (TV listings after the jump):

TODAY’S WORLD CUP SOCCER ON TV

11:30am – Colombia vs. Greece – ABC

2:30am – Uruguay vs. Costa Rica – ABC

5:30pm – England vs. Italy – ESPN

8:30pm – Ivory Coast vs. Japan – ESPN

 

Comments

  1. I love how Japan plays. Last WC vs Denmark it was like watching an episode of Captain Tsubasa. What a shame that they lost 🙁

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  2. Irritating to see CIV’s time-wasting fake injury antics work at the end of the game. They killed a good minute of the 4 stoppage time minutes with that crap. Hint: when you allow people to run down the clock with fake injuries, you encourage more fake injuries.

    It’s really not that hard to actually time the length a guy spends rolling around in mock agony and then add that much — or better yet, twice as much — to the clock.

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    • Well, CIV won the match by scoring two goals. So after 90 mins they could control the ball however they wanted. Time wasting, true. But Japan was lifeless. Both teams were gassed. Unfortunately for JP, they were done after 60 mins. Fun game, how the tide can change, right? CIV owned JP. Amazing how Drogba coming on changed things for CIV.

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  3. So… Ivory Coast is behind and looking pretty short on ideas with a half hour left. Then… for some reason, they bring on this aging talismanic player and, even though neither goal comes from him, suddenly they’re all super inspired and score two goals in two minutes.

    If only we had some sort of aging talismanic player. …

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  4. Man, African teams love you run at you and that kind of aggression is hard to deal with. Japan collapsed into their box so quickly there but at the same time it seemed like there were no defenders in there. I hope Japan wins though. I love the way they play.

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  5. Okay, so anyone else notice just how good the Japanese are?

    They are fast, technical, sharp, team-orienated, athletic and have excellent players.

    Why aren’t we considering them contenders again? Really, I am very impressed with them.

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    • They had a rough time last summer in the confed cup. They looked good but no more likely to be a “contender” than Mexico is.

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      • Well, their GK just proved one reason.

        It seems they don’t have enough “muscle” to push themselves around.

        They actually did well in the Confederations Cup. They were very unlucky to have not beaten Italy.

  6. That was a nice goal by Honda. But, there is a ton of sweet, smart, quick passing by Ivory Coast. It’s a pleasure to watch.

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  7. Are my American Futbol noobs watching Japan vs Ivory??? This gm is a clear example that height isn’t a big deal in Futbol! … Technical ability is the most important element of the gm. Enough said

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  8. Is there something in the water in Brazil? I thought Brazilians knew how to score now I’m starting to think it has something to do with the country. I’ve never seen so many goals this early in a WC.

    Reply

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