Germany 4-0 Portugal (Prediction 3-1)
So Germany looked very decent but are still an injury or a suspension away from being in trouble if you ask me although Müller looks very much in the mood. Thought his reaction to Pepe's arm was a bit out of order, but then I remembered it was Pepe involved, so sod him basically. Coentrão out and Ronaldo not fit means Portugal's involvement in the later stages hangs in the balance, although playing USA next who didn't exactly look ultra-threatening going forward.
Iran 0-0 Nigeria (Prediction 0-1)
Pure shite, I know as an Irishman I can't really complain about a team who set up to defend and get a draw but I will. Then again, as annoying as Iran were, Nigeria did absolutely nothing to deserve a win, very poor with the ball which they had a lot of. Still, interested to see how Bosnia and Argentina go about beating both of them.
Ghana 1-2 USA (Prediction 1-1)
Entertaining match, but Ghana's discipline was all over the place, shots were wild all the time apart from the well worked goal. USA lost two players to hamstrings so the physio might need to look at himself but Besler going off led to the match winner Brooks coming on and doing that strange celebration which made me think it was ruled out, looked ecstatic but then put his head in his hands. USA looked in good shape but their attack could be a bit more fluid or adventurous, great bit of skill from Dempsey for the first goal but needed a set piece to get the winner. P.S. Bedoya is my new favourite name for a footballer.
Tuesday 17th June
Belguim 2-1 Algeria (Prediction 2-1!!)
Belguim 2-1 Algeria (Prediction 2-1!!)
A struggle in the end for the fancied Belgians, Wilmots starting lineup didn't do much but a change in personnel and a more direct approach got the the win, also nice to see Fellaini get a bit of joy, been a tough year for him. Algeria looked decent by the way, maybe too defensive in the second half but could easily give South Korea and Russia a run for their money.
Brazil 0-0 Mexico (Prediction 4-0)
Missed this, was playing football believe it or not, only scanned through some highlights, believe Brazil looked poor but may feel a bit unlucky with some of the saves the Mexican keeper was pulling off, seemed to not know about a couple of them.
Russia 1-1 South Korea (Prediction 3-1)
Russia were as boring as you'd expect under Capello but not in any shape or form as functional or effective as you'd hope. South Korea were good on the ball but still seem a little lightweight up front.
Wednesday 18th June
Australia 2-3 Netherlands (Prediction 1-3)
Wednesday 18th June
Australia 2-3 Netherlands (Prediction 1-3)
Australia gave as good as they got for most of this game but in fairness after a great volley by Cahill they got a really soft/dodgy penalty to take the lead but the Dutch looked good again and had just enough to come back at Australia and get the win.
Spain 0-2 Chile (Prediction 1-0)
End of an era and all that but Spain were very very poor for the players at their disposal, but it just shows you have very little time to sort yourself out in a tournament like this and how tough it can be for a manager to choose between players who have done well in the past but have a bad first game in the group. Chile seem to be better off against better teams oddly enough, and could sneak past the last 16 still, my bet for them reaching the semis is just about looking ok still.
Cameroon 0-4 Croatia (Prediction 0-2)
Good riddance Cameroon, played really poorly, no cohesion at all and then even headbutting each other. Croatia looked slick again, Perisic looking particularly good, his pass for the first goal was a particular highlight. Their decider against Mexico looks particularly tasty now with Mexcio defending well, but just think Croatia have too much for them.
I've tweaked a few of my pre-tournament predictions after seeing a few games.
Thursday 19th June
Colombia 1-1 Ivory Coast
England 2-1 Uruguay (originally had a draw but after seeing both teams...)
Japan 2-0 Greece
Friday 20th June
Italy 2-0 Costa Rica
Switzerland 1-2 France
Honduras 1-1 Ecuador
Saturday 21st June
Argentina 4-1 Iran
Nigeria 1-2 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Germany 3-1 Ghana (originally had 2-1 but Ghana looked more ropey than I thought)
Sunday 22nd June
Belgium 1-1 Russia
South Korea 1-1 Algeria (originally had a South Korea win)
USA 1-1 Portugal (originally had a narrow win for Portugal but surely not gonna happen...)