By TIM FONTENAULT
Two more spots in the Round of 16 at the World Cup are up for grabs on Tuesday as groups C and D come to a close.
Group D begins the action on Tuesday. Costa Rica, the surprise of the group, already has a spot in the next round. With a win or draw against England, they will win the group. England, on the other hand, will have its miserable World Cup adventure come to a close on Tuesday. Losses to Italy and Uruguay have eliminated the Three Lions already, so the match against Costa Rica is merely for pride.
Italy and Uruguay will play for the other Round of 16 spot from the group. Wins over England but losses to Costa Rica have put both former champions in a tough position on Tuesday. A draw will put Italy through. Uruguay needs to win in order to advance.
In Group C, Colombia has already clinched a spot in the next round, but things can get tricky in a group where everyone is alive. If Colombia beats Japan, the scenario becomes simple, as the winner between the Ivory Coast and Greece will advance. However, Keisuke Honda and Japan are going to come at Colombia with everything they have. When Honda is at his best, he can take on anyone, which means Japan always has a chance.
Greece has looked uninspiring so far in this tournament, first getting kicked around by Colombia then playing to a miserable scoreless draw against Japan. On Tuesday they go up against an Ivory Coast team that, like Greece, is looking to reach the Round of 16 for the first time ever. The Ivory Coast has struggled to find goals early in the match, usually only becoming dangerous when Didier Drogba takes to the pitch, so that will have to change if they want to easily secure their spot in the Round of 16.
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
12 p.m. — Costa Rica vs. England — ESPN2
12 p.m. — Italy vs. Uruguay — ESPN
4 p.m. — Greece vs. Ivory Coast — ESPN2
4 p.m. — Japan vs. Colombia — ESPN
Greece advance with -2 GD. Has that ever happened before?
Oh, and maybe even more interestingly, they only scored 2 goals in the group stages.
in 1986 Uruguay advanced with -5 and 2 points, although back then 2 points were awarded per win and the 4 best 3rd placed teams advanced.
I am both impressed and intimidated by your encyclopedic knowledge or football arcana.
Had the 3-point per win rule been implemented, Hungary would have advanced with -7 cause they won one game (Canada) while Uruguay just had two draws 😀
Ivorians can only blame themselves…they had a 5 on 2… break in the 89th min… simple execution wins the game… then 2 of them did not get back and allowed Greece to move the ball down the field with ease… cheeky penalty call but it probably was the right call… he clipped his foot whether intentionally or not..
Awesome!!!!!!
I’ve got Cpsta Rica beating Greece
Wow, Greece advance at the death.
No penalty that was soft I feel like FIFA wanted the Europeans to go thru.
If you really believe this is rigged, why are you watching any of it?
this is true
Unbelievable!! I can’t believe the Ivorians blew it like that. WOW. Great, my picks have failed me.You think you can pick the knockout round usually, but not in this world cup.
If Alexi Lalas says it’s a penalty, then it’s a penalty.
Wow, Gk dude stubbed his own foot.
Life without a true Number 9 has been cruel to Japan the Wc
the coach is to blame for ignoring Havenaar
James: Star of this Cup
Anyone following whats going on in the Ghana camp? Some reports are the refused to train this morning and then refused to get on a bus to take them to the airport. The President had to step in and get the players the bonus money they were demanding.
I thought that was Cameroon…
Actually, that was Ghana. Doubt they would refuse to train ahead of a potential advancement game because of that though.
http://www.enca.com/ghana-president-steps-prevent-black-stars-boycott
i don’t know tho, there were similar reports before as well and nothing happened