World Cup 2014: End of First Round

I’ve been watching World Cup since 1986 and this has been the best one yet. Other than Spain crashing and burning most of the major powers trooped on through to second round without much trouble, but the traditional second tier squads of the world were upended...

World Cup 2014: An update

I’ve stopped blogging game by game. I simply couldn’t keep pace, and my priority is to enjoy the experience rather than create color commentary for a web site. Yet I’m not without things to say (ever), so I thought I’d collect a few of them...

World Cup 2014: Costa Rica v. Uruguay

The Ticos of Costa Rica have to my knowledge never won a World Cup game, and I don’t think anyone will be predicting that streak stopping today. Uruguay comes off a third place finish in 2010 and brings last time’s Golden Boot winner Diego Forlan in for...

World Cup 2014: Netherlands v. Spain

A repeat of the last World Cup final. Netherlands looked very strong in warm-up matches prior while the ongoing question for Spain is simply are they too old. Van Persie up top makes Netherlands a threat to score at any time. Well, that was a questionable penalty, but...

World Cup 2014: Mexico v. Cameroon

It’s not rained since May at the stadium location, but it’s raining now and has been for the previous 4 hours. That is distinctly bad news for Mexico’s possession game and plays to the heart of Cameroon’s more physical style. Both teams need a...

World Cup 2014: Brazil v. Croatia

Good luck to Croatia, who most pundits (myself included) think have little prayer of winning this one. Still, a few of us remember the scrappy Croat side that finished 3rd in 1998 and would like nothing better than to see them do well this time around. Good chance for...