We’ve concluded the second round of matches in group C as Colombia secure a historic qualification to the round of 16 thanks to a big win over the Ivory Coast while Japan and Greece bored everyone with a dull, goalless draw. Uruguay, with Luis Suarez in the vanguard, came away with a big win over England, probably ending the tournament for the English side in the difficult Group D.
Colombia 2 Ivory Coast 1: A very good match in which the Ivory Coast were the more dominant team for most of the time but Colombia the more dangerous with some fantastic counter attacking football. After a sluggish and tense first half, things opened up in the second one, as James Rodriguez and Juan Fernando Quintero scored within six minutes of each other. A brilliant dribble from Gervinho put the Ivorian side back in the match, but couldn’t really create something dangerous in the final 17 minutes of the match. Due to the draw between Japan and Greece, Colombia make it into the next stage for the first time since 1990.
Uruguay 2 England 1: Luiz Suarez came back after missing the first match and scored twice to put Uruguay back in contention while England are all but out of the tournament unless some things start going their way. Suarez scored with a header in the first half to give Uruguay the lead, but a close range Wayne Rooney goal in the 75th minute seemed to be giving us a draw. However, Suarez was on the prowl, making the most of another mistake, scoring his second of the match and giving Uruguay their first points of the tournament.
Japan 0 Greece 0: Greece finished the match with 10 men after Kostas Katsouranis was sent off in the first half with a second booking. Despite the quality advantage and having one more player on the pitch, Japan had a bad time trying to contend with the physical and determined Greek team, which had fewer chances but were the more dangerous side, as both teams keep their chances of making it into the next round alive.
So how are we doing on goals? Six goals in three matches and we’re up to 66 goals on 23, meaning our average has dropped to 2.86 per match, which is still very good. We had ourselves the fourth red card of the tournament to Katsouranis of Greece.
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Colombia |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 |
 Ivory Coast |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
 Japan |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 1 |
 Greece |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 1 |
Group D
| 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 |
 Uruguay |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 |
 England |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0 |
Top Scorers
1. Thomas Muller (Germany), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Robin van Persie (Netherlands) – 3 goals
2. Neymar (Brazil), Karim Benzema (France), Tim Cahill (Australia), Mario Mandzukic (Croatia), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Luis Suarez (Uruguay) – 2 goals
3. Oscar (Brazil), Oribe Peralta (Mexico), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Stefan de Vrij (Netherlands), Alexis Sanchez (Chile), Jorge Valdivia (Chile), Jean Beausejour (Chile), Pablo Armero (Colombia), Teofilo Gutierrez (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), Enner Valencia (Ecuador), Admir Mehmedi (Switzerland), Haris Seferovic (Switzerland), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Vedad Ibisevic (Bosnia), Mats Hummels (Germany), Clint Dempsey (United States), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Josh Brooks (United States), Sofiane Feghouli (Algeria), Marouane Fellaini (Belgium), Dries Mertens (Belgium), Mile Jedinak (Australia), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Eduardo Vargas (Chile), Charles Aranguiz (Chile), Ivica Olic (Croatia), Ivan Perisic (Croatia), Juan Fernando Quintero (Colombia), Wayne Rooney (England) – 1 goal
Tomorrow
Italy vs Costa Rica
Switzerland vs France
Honduras vs Ecuador