Day 3 was another fantastic one, although a long affair, with a total of 13 goals in four matches, as Colombia and the Ivory Coast took the early lead in Group C with convincing wins over Greece and Japan, while in Group D, the supposed Group of Death, Costa Rica stunned Uruguay and later were joined by Italy who came out as the winners from the battle of giants against England.
Colombia 3 Greece 0: An impressive performance from a very fun team to watch against a Greek side that once again looks like isn’t up to the challenge of impressing in the World Cup. Pablo Armero scored the opener after four minutes and although Greece had two big chances from Kone and Gekas, this was Colombia’s match, as Teo Gutierrez scored the second and James Rodriguez added a third in injury time.
Uruguay 1 Costa Rica 3: A big surprise that re-shuffles the cards of another Group of Death. Uruguay scored first from the penalty spot (Edinson Cavani) but stopped playing afterwards. Joel Campbell, Oscar Duarte and with the finish came Marco Urena showing that without Luis Suarez Uruguay aren’t that special of a team.
England 1 Italy 2: A very good match in Manaus despite the heat and humidity, as a winner from Mario Balotelli gave Italy a very important win to open the tournament. Claudio Marchisio scored first off a great corner kick piece of trickery, Daniel Sturridge gave England an equalizer three minutes later.
Ivory Coast 2 Japan 1: Japan were the better team in the first half and took the lead through a great shot from Keisuke Honda, but the Ivory Coast needed the same play to happen twice, with crosses from the right wing by Serge Aurier, connecting once with Wilfried Bony and again with Gervinho ti give the Ivorian side a very important win in a match they were the better team of.
Group C Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Colombia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 3 |
 Ivory Coast |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
 Japan |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0 |
 Greece |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0 |
Group D Table
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Costa Rica |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
 Italy |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
 England |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0 |
 Uruguay |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0 |
Top Scorers
1. Neymar (Brazil), Robin van Persie (Netherlands), Arjen Robben (Netherlands) – 2 goals
2. Oscar (Brazil), Oribe Peralta (Mexico), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Stefan de Vrij (Netherlands), Alexis Sanchez (Chile), Jorge Valdivia (Chile), Tim Cahill (Australia), Jean Beausejour (Chile), Pablo Armero (Colombia), Teofilo Gutierrez (Colombia), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Joel Campbell (Costa Rica), Oscar Duarte (Costa Rica), Marco Urena (Costa Rica), Claudio Marchisio (Italy), Mario Balotelli (Italy), Daniel Sturridge (England), Keisuke Honda (Japan), Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast), Gervinho (Ivory Coast) – 1 goal
Tomorrow
Switzerland vs Ecuador
France vs Honduras
Argentina vs Bosnia