ITALY VS COSTA RICA
ITALY 0-1 COSTA RICA
Costa Rica does it again. With a gritty performance and a clear strategy that they executed for perfection, los Ticos have gone clear on top of one of the tournament’s most difficult groups and guaranteed themselves a spot in the knock-out rounds.
In a group with Italy, England and Uruguay, it would have been considered folly to predict that Costa Rica would be on top of the bracket after two matches, but there it is.
The Italian coach, Cesare Prandelli, said before the match that he expected his players to suffer, but he was referring to the weather, not their performance.
The Italians suffered from poor passing, lack of imagination and simply a lack of will. They were caught offside 11 times, evidence of their failure to adjust and adapt.
They came out flat and in the first 45 minutes there were only two clear chances on goal, both from Balotelli. He could not capitalize on either.
The first half ended with what appears to have been a blown call by the referee, who did not grant a penalty after the Costa Rican forward, Campbell, was taken down in the box. But only moments later, Ruiz rose to meet a lovely cross from Diaz to put his team ahead.
The Azzurri started the second half with a bit more energy but then faded once again.
The Costa Ricans were able to neutralize Pirlo in the midfield. The Italian playmaker was never given time or space to create and was essentially taken out of the match.
Balotelli’s only contribution was a fit of anger that earned him a yellow card.
And it was not just the Italians who suffered.
English fans around the world had been counting on Italy to keep their hopes alive. This was not the result they wanted but it was a deserved outcome for the Costa Rican squad, who continue to impress.
World Cup: Costa Rica Win Over Italy
Six months ago, this game looked like it would be a one-sided matchup between a heavily favored four-time World Cup champion and a perennial also-ran – in Concacaf. Now it has become a clash of Group D leaders.
- Adding to the oddity of the Italy-Costa Rica clash is that the Central Americans are the group leader. The Ticos’ 3-1 victory over Uruguay on Saturday likely won’t intimidate Italy, but it may make the Azzurri a little more wary, particularly of Joel Campbell.The 22-year-old striker, who scored eight goals for Olympiakos in Greece this past season, and has played in Spain and France, had a goal and assist against Uruguay.Italy already disposed of arguably its most difficult group opponent with a 2-1 victory over England on Saturday. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is back in the starting lineup after the veteran missed the England match because of a twisted ankle.Costa Rica may cause indigestion for Concacaf stalwarts Mexico and the United States, but it’s unlikely to really bother Italy. This is the Ticos’ fourth trip to the World Cup and only once have they advanced out of the group stage – and that was 24 years ago.They did allow the fewest goals in the final round of Concacaf World Cup qualifying (seven goals in 10 games). But again, it was Concacaf.The two nations have only played each other once before. Italy naturally won 1-0 in the United States right before the 1994 World Cup.Italy is probably just, if not more, concerned about the weather conditions. Several Italian players recall playing in Recife, Brazil, last year in the Confederations Cup, where they complained about the heat and humidity, despite a 4-3 victory over Japan in the quarterfinals.Weather forecasts have the game time temperature to reach about 83 degrees with 75 percent humidity.England fans also will be watching with intense curiosity, hoping for an Italy victory – a big Italy victory. That would give the English some hope that they can beat the Costa Ricans in their final group match on Tuesday and somehow squeak into the second round on goal difference. A draw, or Costa Rica victory, however, would end England’s chances.
England IS OUT OF THE WORLD CUP 2014
England 2014
England were eliminated at the group stage of the Fifa World Cup for the first time since 1958 as Italy lost 1-0 to Costa Rica in Recife.
It is the first time the national side have been knocked out after just two matches, with Roy Hodgson's side beaten by Group D rivals Italy andUruguay.
They needed Italy to win both of their remaining games to stand a chance of reaching the last 16.
But Costa Rica's defeat of the Azzurri ended England's involvement
The England team watched Friday's match from their hotel base in Rio.
Hodgson had picked a squad with an emphasis on youth, and was hopeful they would be able to progress out of a tough group.
Costa Rica were supposed to be the weakest team in a pool containing three former World Cup winners, but the Central American side were the first to secure their place in the last 16.
Despite England's campaign starting with a 2-1 defeat by Italy, a promising performance gave them confidence for Thursday's game against Uruguay, who lost their opening match to Costa Rica.
However, Luis Suarez's two goals gave Uruguay a 2-1 victory which left Hodgson's men relying on other results.
In the aftermath of the defeat, Hodgson insisted he would not resign, and Football Association chairman Greg Dyke said his job is not under threat.
"We are supportive of Roy - he came to do a four-year cycle. I already see people asking the question, 'Will he stay?' The answer is yes," said Dyke.
"He came to do a four-year cycle leading up to Euro 2016."
England finish their campaign against Costa Rica on Tuesday.
"But the England players can take experience from the tournament. It is valuable, not just playing minutes but being around the hotel, how you prepare yourself, what it means to go to a World Cup and feeling that pressure at a tournament."
Ultimately, it always comes back to the same thing. When Roy Hodgson and his players arrived back in Rio de Janeiro it was to the best training facilities in the city. They have a 72-strong entourage from the Football Association including a psychiatrist, nutritionists, a turf specialist, a cook and at least one guy whose job seems to be to spray the players with water when they start overheating. They have industrial fans and heat chambers and individually tailored recovery drinks after inviting scientists from Loughborough University to study their sweat patterns.
rs arrived back in Rio de Janeiro it was to the best training facilities in the city. They have a 72-strong entourage from the Football Association including a psychiatrist, nutritionists, a turf specialist, a cook and at least one guy whose job seems to be to spray the players with water when they start overheating. They have industrial fans and heat chambers and individually tailored recovery drinks after inviting scientists from Loughborough University to study their sweat patterns.
Hodgson has talked to Sir Dave Brailsford and Lord Coe about how to co-ordinate a successful team and everyone is agreed: nothing more could have been done to create the right environment. “No excuses,” Wayne Rooney had said. Steven Gerrard described it as the most meticulously planned operation he had ever known. Hodgson could scarcely have sounded more confident. “Anyone who thinks we can’t win the World Cup has to be barking up the wrong tree,” he said, two days before landing in Brazil.
Yet here we are, embarking on the first inquest before half the teams have even played a second game. England were the team that wanted to play like Spain and, eventually, they managed it. Except the headline in Marca on Thursday was “The End”. England could conceivably have the same written about them later on Friday. They would be out before they have even finished their week-long course of malaria tablets.
And this is what it all comes back to: if everything was arranged so meticulously, every box ticked and everyone approving, there is only one place to begin and that is with the football, the old-fashioned way. England’s World Cup is not unravelling because of injuries, or fatigue, or mutinies, or disagreements, or logistical nightmares. It is purely an issue about how they have treated the ball and the now-familiar story that seems to crop up every time they encounter decent opposition. Or, in Uruguay’s case, half-decent opposition, bearing in mind Óscar Tabárez’s side finished fifth in their qualifying group, and required a play-off against Jordan just to be here. Uruguay, for all Luis Suárez’s gifts, really were no great shakes.
It is an unforgiving business and, barring an improbable act of escapology, a lot of people will inevitably campaign for Hodgson to go, including no doubt many of those who lapped up the performance against Italy and acclaimed his sense of adventure in doing exactly what had been asked of him and putting out a team of flair, skill and audacity.
That is just the way of the football world and, in fairness to Hodgson, he knows enough about his own industry and the impatience of modern-day life to understand that his suitability for the job is now a legitimate issue.Hodgson did not take offence at the questions. He just looked weary and sad, with his hands pressed into his pockets. Old, too. He always seems to put on a few years after a bad performance. If it were up to him, he said, he would still be in charge at the European Championship in 2016, as his contract stipulates. But he was talking like England were already condemned and, in that event, he did not pretend to be oblivious to the potential consequences. What happened at that point, he said, would not be his decision.
For now, the relevant people at the FA say sacking him is not in their thoughts, and they do have at least the basis of an argument to justify keeping him on. Yes, it is a strange contradiction when so many people can be uplifted by a defeat, but the performance against Italy was in many ways genuinely invigorating. Watching England had become such a joyless experience, with football as dreary and monotonous as the beat of the band’s drum. In Manaus they felt like a team of modern thinking and it was actually exciting to see. England played like a side that seemed to want the world to look at them in a new way.
Sir Trevor Brooking is leaving his position with the FA and that leaves Adrian Bevington and Alex Horne as the other decision-makers. Bevington is the former press officer who became so powerful he even helped Hodgson select one of the Under-21 squads before Southgate’s appointment. Horne is the general secretary who is probably very accomplished at parts of his job, but also seems not to have particularly high requirements for the national team.
In February, speaking to the Times, he was asked what he considered would be an acceptable performance for Hodgson this summer. “Pass mark?” he said. “For me, personally, he’s done it by getting through that group.” In other words, Hodgson was effectively on bonus time, just for getting through a qualifying group featuring unremarkable opposition in the shape of Poland, Ukraine, Montenegro, Moldova and San Marino. No matter that Montenegro, for a long time England’s rival for top spot, would have been the smallest nation to have reached a World Cup. Or that Ukraine, who eventually finished second, were eliminated in the play-offs.
Hodgson had other ambitions but his defence has been vulnerable,Gerrard has suffered and the front players, despite all the encouraging buildup play, have managed only a goal in each game. Rooney was right: there were no excuses. But Hodgson, a proud, patriotic man who took exception recently when one journalist referred to him as not seeming particularly passionate, was mistaken. Nobody should have thought, realistically, that England might actually win this tournament.
No comments:
Post a Comment