It didn’t take long to be reminded of why so many prayers were said in Uruguay these past few weeks; why so many column inches have been dedicated to the state of one man’s knee; why Europe’s richest clubs will vie to tempt Liverpool’s prize asset away from Merseyside this summer.
Luis Suarez may have only been 70% fit, but his guile, cunning and speed of thought were enough to deliver England’s World Cup aspirations a mortal blow.
It was more difficult than expected, but the Netherlands came back to defeat Australia 3-2 before a raucous crowd of Aussies, who outnumbered their Dutch counterparts in the stands by about five to one - though the Dutch royal family was also in attendance. The victory clinches a spot in the knockout round for the blue shirt-wearing le Oranje as they head into the final group match level on points with their next opponent, Chile.
Chile continues to impress at World Cup 2014 by defeating defending champion Spain 2-0, which shockingly eliminates the Spanish from the competition. Entering the tournament not only as the defending World Cup champion, but also the two-time defending European Champion, Spain was expected to be a serious contender for the title. Instead, after getting outscored 7-1 in its first two matches, Spain's last match against Australia will be for pride only.
Soccer and hip-hop fans, rejoice! Clint Dempsey, or should we say “Deuce,” will be coming out with a 13-track rap album after the World Cup. Deuce isn’t completely new to the rap game. The U.S. Captain already has a single out called, “Don’t Tread.” Here it is, for those who haven’t seen it.
Match Day 1 of World Cup 2014 wrapped up with two nail biters, as Belgium came back from an early one-point defecit against Algeria to win 2-1 and Russia made up for a botched save from goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev to draw 1-1 with South Korea.
Belgium-Algeria
This was purely an advertisement for football. There are fans and critics alike who decry the fact that 90 minutes can end “nil-nil,” but we’d happily watch football of this caliber for hours and hours – let alone on a stage such as this. Almost everything the beautiful game has to offer was captured in Fortaleza between the home side and a Mexican team that is peaking at precisely the right time.
Did you miss highlights from the World Cup this weekend? Sure, you probably watched England take on Italy, but we're guessing there's a few matches you missed. Here at The18, we want to make sure you stay up-to-date on all things World Cup. Here's our recap of the action from Group C over the weekend.
Ivory Coast and Japan: 2-1 Ivory Coast
The backlash against Jurgen Klinsmann for leaving U.S. all-time leading goal scorer Landon Donovan off the World Cup 2014 squad has been massive (although, after the win versus Ghana, perhaps some of the pressure will ease up).
Take a breath U.S. fans, we made it. Now we can turn our focus to Portugal.
After an unreal start, which included a Clint Dempsey goal in the first 30 seconds, the USA really didn’t show much. Let’s cut to the chase and take a look at the American captain's goal which was the fifth fastest goal in World Cup history.
Don't worry.
You're not in the middle of a bank or train robbery. You haven't stepped onto the set of a Western movie remake. There hasn't been an outbreak of that SARS thing.
If you happen to see more than the normal amount of American Flag bandanas today (and by "normal amount" we do mean "zero") - you've just had the good fortune to cross paths with a member of the American Outlaws on a World Cup game day for the USMNT.