Coming in to the tournament, Uruguay was expected to mirror the success of their 2010 semi-final run, maybe even go one step further. Only this time around, they were considered more of a favorite compared to their also-ran status in South Africa.
Their plans have been put on hold at the hands of Costa Rica, however. In what most people, myself included, thought would be a simple Uruguayan victory, Los Ticos shocked everyone. The only goal they allowed came from a justified penalty in the 24th minute.
Costa Rica's attack still didn't look extremely threatening for the remainder of the half, even after falling behind. It wasn't until shortly before Joel Campbell's equalizer that they looked capable. Three minutes after nearly scoring on a header, the Arsenal kid found himself on the receiving end of a cross in space. He had the time to take a first touch to set his shot before drilling it past a clueless Fernando Musera.
The tie score would last no more than three minutes when Christian Bolanos headed in a free kick to give Costa Rica the 2-1 lead. Just for fun, they decided to add a third in the 84th minute to finish the upset.
Uruguay certainly look a little weak in the back and seem to have an issue finding goals without Luis Suarez, who rode the bench while still recovering from knee surgery. At first, I figured they didn't want to risk their best player against the perceived weaker opponent. Instead they wanted him healthy for the more important matches against England and Italy. I thought that after the first goal went in Suarez would at least make an appearance. And certainly after Los Ticos took the lead. But the Manchester City star striker stayed seated, and Uruguay stayed behind.
The tournament is hardly over for Uruguay. They can still beat England and Italy and find themselves in the knockout stage, but they have quite a bit of work to do if they hope to make it that far.
Elsewhere, Columbia scored a little more than expected against Greece, earning a well deserved 3-0 victory. Greece staged a few assaults on the Colombian goal, but never really threatened at all. Columbia rode their 1-0 halftime lead to two more goals in the second.
England and Italy was all the match we had hoped for. After an injury in warmups, the Azzurri were without star keeper Gianluigi Buffon, forcing me to change my prediction of a 1-0 Italian win to a 1-1 draw. That scoreline held after Antonio Candreva opened the scoring and Daniel Sturridge equalizing for England. Mario Ballotelli made sure I was wrong with a wonderful strike in the second half to give Italy the full three points.
Finally, Ivory Coast converted two headers in the second half to come back from an early goal from Japan to take em' all in their Group C opener.
Goal scoring continues to be on the rise in the 2014 World Cup. We have had 28 goals through eight matches, up from 13 in 2010. More than double the goal scoring has led to quite a bit of fun from the first three days. Many teams have emphasized attacking football and I feel that will continue. Defensive teams like Japan and Greece both fell because they were overwhelmed with strong attacks and not countering at all. Japan, in particular, turtled heavily after taking an early lead allowing Ivory Coast to run their offense. The Samurai Blues dared them to breakdown their defense and when you dare a skilled team to do something, they almost always will do it. Look for more attacking minded play going forward.
Also of strange note, there has not been a single draw in the first three days of action. This, for some reason, comes as a surprise to me. Especially considering we have had a matchup like England-Italy, two high profile teams that might not have much between them. I'm sure the tie games will come, but I won't complain with having a winner to every game.
Today's games should certainly bring more offense. At noon, Switzerland and Ecuador open the action in a key Group E mathcup. The Swiss are slight favorites, but I am thinking Ecuador plays them to a 1-1 draw. At 3pm, France and Honduras finish Group E's first day. Unless France does something very... well... French, they should handle the CONCACAF minnows. I am thinking a 3-0 score. Tournament giants Argentina get their campaign started at 6pm in an intriguing game against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Argentina are expected to take group F, so I expect them to win this game, but not without a strong showing from the Bosnians. I am predicting a 2-1 win for Argentina.
Enjoy the games everyone, hopefully the goals and upsets keep on flowing.
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