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Every day of the World Cup, we'll have a preview of the day's events. Feel free to chat about the day's matches in here as they unfold.
Two days into the World Cup, and we've already had some incredible matches to look back on, with the shock 5-1 drubbing of Spain laid on by the Netherlands being the top of the pile. After one match, Group A is in shambles with Spain at the bottom on goal differential and Holland looking ready to surprise a lot of people by going through at the top of the group. Still plenty to play, of course, but if you're not going to over-analyze early results, what are you going to over-analyze?
After a single game on the first day and three on the second, we're getting bombarded with four delectable matches today, with two of the most intriguing groups set to kick off.
Colombia vs. Greece - 10 am
With Falcao, Colombia was one of the favorite dark horses in the tournament, a better version of Portugal all around with a slightly less insanely talented superstar. Without Falcao, it's hard to say Colombia have much of a chance of taking the tournament, but they're still very talented. Hopefully they're talented enough to take down Greece, because even Gary Smith's 2010 Colorado Rapids would look at Greece and think, "Man, these guys play some stodgy-ass soccer".
Uruguay vs. Costa Rica - 1 pm
Diego Forlan plays for Cerezo Osaka in the J-League now, and is not the same man who single-handedly carried Uruguay on his back to fourth place in the 2010 World Cup. Fortunately for Uruguay, some guy named Luis Suarez has stepped up for them. Meanwhile, Costa Rica's best player going into the tournament was arguably Alvaro Saborio. He's injured now. Good night, Costa Rica.
England vs. Italy - 4 pm
Deep in the amazon jungles, where pretty much everything grows lush (except, if pictures are to be believed, the pitch) we'll see a game that might end up determining which of England and Italy are able to get out of their group, which is expected to be dominated by the Uruguayans. Can Wayne Rooney do a thing worth writing about at a World Cup? Probably not, but stay tuned anyway!
Japan vs. Ivory Coast - 7 pm
One of the reasons I love J-League is because the style of play reminds me of older MLS. Speed to burn, lots of pushing forward, defense that can be, at times, optional. J-League is basically Kosuke Kimura: The League. That pretty much carries to their national team, except with a few exceptional talents like Keisuke Honda keeping them extra dangerous. In other news, apparently Didier Drogba did not retire two years ago like I thought he did. Huh.