Germany face Algeria in Round of 16's tie.

    Being the group topper in Group G Germany will face the runner up of Group H Algeria in the 6th Match of Round of 16's scheduled to start at 21:00 HRS local time (01:30 AM IST). Germany will be touted to win the match but remember the previous of 4 encounters only one was predictable mid way itself (URUGUAY vs COLUMBIA) but rest all went to the wire, So its better to expect the result by the end of 90 minutes or worst case by 120 minutes.

Facts:

Algeria vs Germany

Played: 2 

Germany win: 0 

Algeria win: 2 

In 2014 World cup

Germany: Played 3; Won: 2; Draw: 1; Lost: 0; GF: 7; GA: 2

Algeria: Played 3; Won: 1; Draw:1 Lost:1; GF: 6; GA:5 

match venue: Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

time: 2100 HRS local time (1:30 AM IST 01st July)

Germany last failed to reach last 8 was way back in 1978 and since then Germany has reached minimum reached the last 8. For Germany on the other has reached 3 consecutive last four appearance (The other team who has the same feat is Brazil) will try for the fourth time too. Also Germany has reached consecutive 3 semi finals in world cup in three different occasions (2002-2010; 1966-1974; 1982-1990). On the other hand Algeria will be entering the knock out waters for the first time in their history. Last they came close to reaching knock phase was in the year 1982 (ie. that was the world cup where Germany lost to Algeria) and that particular incident was known as shame-of-gijon. Algeria is also the sixth country to reach the knock out phases from Africa. Let this be a cracker contest hoping to see a win in 90 minutes.

TEAM NEWS:

Germany: Instead of Podolski (who is injured) Gotze will be back in the side rest all remains the same.

Algeria: No reported injury concerns and could be unchanged from the side that drew with Russia

Prediction:

Germany Win in 90 Minutes 

Possibility: 6/10

Germany Win in 120 Minutes

Possibility: 2/10

Algeria Win

Possibility: 2/10

Records:

Klose needs one more goal to beat Ronaldo (Brazil) record.

Mueller needs one or more goals to again go on top for the golden boot prize.

Hope that both teams play beautiful football with no injuries and make fans as well as themselves happy. All the best to both the teams and my Choice is Germany win

--

Venkats

Twitter: @vnktabi

Gmail: vnktabi@gmail.com

Brazil wins the first knock out match on penalties against Chile - Final score: PENALTIES 3 - 2 (1-1 at end of extra time)

 To everyone who thought that this match would be cake walk to Brazil will now realize the scare of the pain that Spain felt in the group stages. Today Brazil had to fight to their nerves to make sure they reach the quarters at the end of the day by beating Chile who for the first time entered the Knock out stages of the world cup.

So let us begin with the facts straight.

Brazil Vs Chile

Possession was almost equal with both teams trying to attack rather than sit back and defend

Attacks, Even though Brazil out number Chile on attacks on goal, Three out of six attempts by Chile outclassed Brazilian Defense completely which is a most worrying part for the Brazil team.

Defense, Well Chilean Defense was not expected to perform well against the Brazil attack but Brazil defense was seriously ripped apart. Thanks to Thiago Silva for saving the defense time and again for Brazil. 

In today's match it was the Mid field which was the battle field for both teams. Gustavo, fernandinho for Brazil and Vidal, Sanchez, Aranguiz for Chile were the ones who did the fighting in the middle of the park. By all means both teams gave the fans and pundits the best result and excellent game to watch.

Now going by the match, Right from the beginning Brazil was attacking with Neymar and Hulk coming in out to threaten the Chileans. 

18th Minute: David luiz scores from the set piece with an assist by thiago silva from the cross by Neymar.
Brazil 1 - 0 Chile.

But from the point of conceding the goal Chileans started to have more possession and tried to win mid field battles in order to advance. The Equalizer for Chile came just 12 minutes from the goal number one.

32nd Minute: Like a similar Olic moment, Edu Vargas caught the brazilian defense of gaurd and passed to Sanchez who finished in a cool manner to give the chileans teh equalizer.
Brazil 1 - 1 Chile

From this point of time Chile had mote possession and won the mid field battles. Even though Chile was able to win the ball from Brazilians, Chilean attack seemed to be quite weak inside Brazil D. At 54th Minute Hulk matches to get the ball and send it into the net, but Howard webb  rightfully disallowed the goal as Hulk controlled the ball with his hands and thus at the end Hulk was awarded an Yellow card.At 66th Minute Isla shot was blocked well by Cesar. At 74th Minute Jo missed a sitter which could have been the winner for Brazil. The last ten minutes Brazil had maximum possession but yet they were unable to breach the defense of Chileans.

In the Extra time, it was completely Brazils possession as Chileans wanted to take the match to penalties but at the same time Chileans did counter attack in few places in order to score. At stroke of the second extra time finish, Pinila takes the ball form Sanchez  and shoots but it hits the cross bar and returns back. At teh end the match went to the Penalty shootouts.

Brazil took the penalty first with Bravo gets ready to stop the penalty.

David luiz scores for Brazil - score 1:0

Mauricio Pinilla misses for Chile - score 1-0

William takes and misses for Brazil - Score 1-0

Alexis Sánchez takes and misses the penalty for Chile - Score 1-0 

At this moment Cesar stopped two penalties giving confidence to Brazil.

Marcelo steps in for Brazil and scores - Score 2-0

Aránguiz steps in for Chile and scores - Score 2-1

Hulk Steps in for Brazil and his shot is saved - Score 2-1

Marcelo Díaz for Chile scores - Score 2-2

neymar steps in for Brazil and Scores - 3-2

Gonzalo Jara steps for Chile and hits the cross bar. Score 3-2

With 3-2 Brazil won the match and enters the quarter finals.

The Bad news for Brazil now is Luis Gustavo is suspended for next match and Neymar, Thiago Silva, Hulk and Dani Alves are have one yello which means if they get one more yellow then they will be suspended.

Good news is Brazil has entered the Quarter Finals of the tournament.

Overall Performance

Brazil gets 3/5
Chile gets 2.5/5

So good night to all Brazil fans and remember if anyone tells Brazil is weak tell them that they are stronger than 2 previous champions.

--
Venkats

Knock out Phase in world cup - Round of 16 Starts Today

                  Round of 16 starts today with the group toppers will work hard to make it to the finals. In other words, every team will try to out beat the opponent to reach the ultimate destination. Moreover the teams played 3 matches to reach knockout phase and now they will require 3 more wins to reach the Finals. So all teams and fans will hope and pray to make their teams win the ultimate competition.

With the European big guns Italy, Spain, Portugal and England out of the tournament the onus is left on the Germany, Netherlands and France. But not to mention Belgium being the dark horse can create an upset will also train the guns to man it against the opponents.

But the disappointment lies in the largest continent Asia form which none of the teams made it to the knock out phases. From Africa Nigeria and Algeria will have to face the European giants France and Germany in round of 16’s.The teams that have qualified already are mentioned in below table.

Group	Winner	Runner
A	Brazil	Mexico
B	Netherlands	Chile
C	Columbia	Greece
D	Costa Rica	Uruguay
E	France	Switzerland
F	Argentina	Nigeria
G	Germany	USA
H	Belgium	Algeria

With the above teams qualified the matches are line up as mentioned in the below table.

Round of 16
Team 1	Team 2	Venue	Time line in IST
Brazil	Chile	Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte	9:30 PM IST, 28th June Saturday
Colombia	Uruguay	Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro	1:30 AM IST, 29th June Sunday
Netherlands	Mexico	Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza	9:30 PM IST, 29th June Sunday
Costa Rica	Greece	Arena Pernambuco, Recife	1:30 AM IST, 30th June Monday
France	Nigeria	Estadio Nacional, Brasilia	9:30 PM IST, 30th June Monday
Germany	Algeria	Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre	1:30 AM IST, 1st July Tuesday
Argentina	Switzerland	Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo	9:30 PM IST, 1st July Tuesday
Belgium	United States	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador	1:30 AM IST, 2nd July Wednesday

Current Golden Boot position is mentioned in the below table.

Team	Scorer	Goals	Assists
Germany	Thomas Mueller	4	1
Argentina	Lionel Messi	4	-
Brazil	Neymar	4	-
Columbia	James Rodriguez	3	2
France	Karim Benzema	3	2
Netherlands	Arjen Robben	3	1
Netherlands	Robin Van Persie	3	-
Switzerland	Xherdhan Shaqiri	3	-
Ecuador	Enner Valencia	3	-
Netherlands	Memphis Depay	2	1

So far Algeria, Nigeria, Costa Rica and Chile have been able to upset teams so let’s see how round of 16 will shape up. For sure except for few matches I see all other matches don’t have clear cut winners so upsets ar going to be there in Round of 16’s too and After all that is knock out phase is all about. From now on all teams needs to hold on to their nerves to make it to finals which is 3 matches away and to win the world cup they will need to win remaining 4 matches...

First thing All the best to all Teams and hope the best win the ultimate price...

--
Venkats

Match day 3: What Teams need to take it to the knock out stages.

With two match days completed, Just 7 teams out of possible 16 teams have qualified for the second round and out of which only Group B has the spots ready (Though winner and runner will be decided today). Most teams will want to press hard to get their team move to knockout stages and proceed further. In order to avoid the unfair advantage to the teams the final fixture of the group stages(of course last fixture of all football leagues) happen at same time. The fixtures will be Live at 9:30 PM IST and 01:30 AM IST in both Sony Six and Sony Pix in India.

With England, Spain Out of the tournament and Portugal, Uruguay, Italy, Brazil, Mexico to fight their hearts to make it to knock outs. Of Italy and Uruguay, One team has to be eliminated and  fans are all eager nervous to know what their teams are up to.

Let us begin with Each groups and discuss what teams require to make it to the Knock out stages.

Group A
======

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points	GD
Brazil	2	1	0	1	4	2
Mexico	2	1	0	1	4	1
Croatia	2	1	1	0	3	2
Cameroon	2	0	2	0	0	-5

Probably the most open group where 3 teams have chance to book the final 2 spots in order to enter the knock outs.

Cameroon vs Brazil at Estadio Nacional, Brasilia 1:30 AM IST on 24th June 2014.
Mexico vs Croatia at Arena Pernambuco, Recife 1:30 AM IST on 24th June 2014.

For Brazil into knock out stages:

For winner spot: Brazil win with +1 goal than Mexico or Croatia.
For runner spot: Brazil win with +1 goal than Mexico or Croatia or settle for draw.

For Mexico into Knock out stages:

For winner spot: Mexico win with higher goal margin than that of Brazil win. preferably +2 goal margin than Brazil.
For Runner spot: Mexico win with lesser goal margin than Brazil or a draw against Croatia.

For Croatia into knock out stages:

For winner spot: a win over Mexico and Brazil to draw or lose against Cameroon.
For runner spot: a win over mexico

Group B
======

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points	GD
Netherlands	2	2	0	0	6	5
Chile	2	2	0	0	6	4
Australia	2	0	2	0	0	-2
Spain	2	0	2	0	0	-6

In this group Netherlands and Chile have qualified already. If Netherlands win or draw then they will top the group. If Chile wins then Chile will top the group. The other match is a dead rubber.

Netherlands vs Chile at Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 9:30 PM IST on 23rd June 2014
Australia vs Spain at Arena da Baixada, Curitiba 9:30 PM IST on 23rd June 2014

Group C
======

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points	GD
Colombia	2	2	0	0	6	4
Côte d'Ivoire	2	1	1	0	3	0
Japan	2	0	1	1	1	-1
Greece	2	0	1	1	1	-3

Here Columbia has qualified already qualified and for second spot we have rest of the teams battling for it.

Japan vs Columbia at Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba 1:30 AM IST on 25th June 2014.
Côte d'Ivoire vs Greece at Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza 1:30 AM IST on 25th June 2014.

For Côte d'Ivoire into knock out stages:

For Winner spot: win against Greece with 5 goal margin and Columbia to lose or draw against Japan.
For Runner spot: win against Greece and Japan to lose or draw against Columbia

For Japan into knock out stages:

For Winner spot: NOT POSSIBLE
For runner Spot: A win against Columbia with +2 goal difference and Ivory coast to lose or draw.

For Greece into knock out stages:

For Winner spot: NOT POSSIBLE
For runner Spot: A win against Côte d'Ivoire with +4 goal difference and Japan to lose or draw.

Group D
======

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points	GD
Costa Rica	2	2	0	0	6	3
Italy	2	1	1	0	3	0
Uruguay	2	1	1	0	3	-1
England	2	0	2	0	0	-2

Here we go two big guns Italy and Uruguay will lock on the most expected match of the group stages and its going to be winners take all. Costa Rica has already qualified and they just need to draw against England to confirm final spot.

Italy vs Uruguay at Estadio das Dunas, Natal 9:30 PM IST on 24th June 2014
England vs Costa Rica at Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte 9:30 PM IST on 24th June 2014

For Italy into Knock out stages:

For Winner spot: Win against Uruguay with +4 goal margin and costa rica to lose against England
For runner Spot: a win or a draw against Uruguay.

For Uruguay into Knock out stages:

For Winner spot: Win against Italy with +5 goal margin and costa rica to lose against England
For runner Spot: a win against Italy.

Group E
======

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points	GD
France	2	2	0	0	6	6
Ecuador	2	1	1	0	3	0
Switzerland	2	1	1	0	3	-2
Honduras	2	0	2	0	0	-4

In this group France, Ecuador and Swiss will battle for two spots. Honduras is already eliminated in this group.

Honduras vs Switzerland at Arena Amazonia, Manaus 1:30 AM IST on 26th June 2014
Ecuador vs France at Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro 1:30 AM IST on 26th June 2014

For France into knock out stages:

For winner spot: A win or a Draw against Ecuador
For Runner Spot: If France loses and either Swiss or Ecuador win (one of hem with lesser goal difference)
Crash out:  If France loses and both Swiss or Ecuador win with higher goal margin than France.

For Switzerland into knock out stages:

For winner spot: Win against Honduras with Goal margin of +6
For runner spot: Win against Honduras with +3 goal difference and Ecuador to lose or draw against France.

For Ecuador into knock out stages:

For winner spot: Win against France with Goal margin of +7
For runner spot: Win or draw against France and Swiss to lose or draw against Honduras.

Group F
======

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points	GD
Argentina	2	2	0	0	6	2
Nigeria	2	1	0	1	4	1
Iran	2	0	1	1	1	-1
Bosnia-Herzegovina	2	0	2	0	0	-2

In this group Argentina has already qualified leaving Nigeria also in pole position to take the second spot. But If Iran can win over Bosnia with 2 goal margin and Nigeria loses then Nigeria will be out and Iran will go through. But if Nigeria can win over Argentina then Nigeria will take winner spot in the group.

Argentina vs Nigeria at Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre 9:30 PM IST on 25th June 2014
Iran vs Bosnia-Herzegovina at Arena Fonte Nova, Salvado 9:30 PM IST on 25th june 2014.

Group G
======

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points	GD
Germany	2	1	0	1	4	4
United States	2	1	0	1	4	1
Ghana	2	0	1	1	1	-1
Portugal	2	0	1	1	1	-4

Tactically all four teams have to fight for the final two spots in this group.

Germany vs united States at Arena Pernambuco, Recife 9:30 PM IST 26th June 2014
Ghana vs Portugal at Estadio Nacional, Brasilia 9:30 PM IST 26th June 2014

For Germany into Knock out stages:

For Winner spot: A win or Draw against United states.
For Runner spot: Not losing the match by too many goals and hope Ghana does not win with high goal difference than Germany or Portugal does not win with high goal difference than Germany

For United states into Knock out stages:

For Winner Spot: win over Germany
For runner spot: a draw. If USA lose against Germany then USA must hope Ghana does not win with high goal difference than USA or Portugal does not win with high goal difference than USA.

For Ghana and Portugal into Knock out stages:

For runner spot: Win with goal margin higher than the loser of the match between USA and Germany. If the other match ends with draw then Ghana and Portugal gets eliminated.

Group H
======

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points	GD
Belgium	2	2	0	0	6	2
Algeria	2	1	1	0	3	1
Russia	2	0	1	1	1	-1
Korea Republic	2	0	1	1	1	-2

In the final Group H Belgium has already qualified and its for other three teams that fight for the final spot.

South Korea vs Belgium at Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 1:30 AM IST on 27th June 2014
Russia vs Algeria at Arena da Baixada, Curitiba 1:30 AM IST on 27th June 2014

For Algeria into Knock out stages:

For winner spot: Algeria win and Belgium to lose against Korea
For Runner spot: just a win. In case of draw then South Korea should have not higher goal difference than Algeria.

For Russia into Knock out stages:

For Runner spot: A win. In case of draw then with South Korea (if South Korea wins over Belgium) not having higher goal difference than Russia.

For South Korea into Knock out stages:

For Runner spot: a win with higher goal difference than Algeria and Russia and also Algeria to Lose or Draw.

With all Said lets wait and watch how this week turns out to be for football fans and players across the globe. Brazil is so far exciting and it will be so for rest of the tournament.

--
Venkats

Klose, Ronaldo and 15 goals in world cup

At first My Congratulations to Miroslav klose for equaling the long standing Ronaldo Luiz record of 15 goals in world cups. In fact Ronaldo himself beat the long standing 14 goals in world cup record in the year 2006 that was set by Gerd Mueller way back in 1974. Both Ronaldo and Klose were legend of their own kind who met Face to Face in 2002 World cup in which Ronaldo scored 2 goals that eventually led to the victory in 2002 finals. Post that Heart break Klose helped his team Germany to reach Semi finals and 3rd place finish in both 2006 and 2010 world cups.

Please find the Goals scored by Ronaldo and Klose in the below table.

Ronaldo Goals in world cup.

Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	World Cup	Round
16-Jun-98	Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France	Morocco	1 – 0	1998	Group stage
27-Jun-98	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	Chile	3 – 0		Round of 16
			4 – 1
7-Jul-98	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France	Netherlands	1 – 0
3-Jun-02	Munsu Cup Stadium, Ulsan, Korea Republic	Turkey	1 – 1	2002	Group stage
8-Jun-02	Jeju World Cup Stadium, Seogwipo, Korea Republic	China PR	4 – 0
13-Jun-02	Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon, Korea Republic	Costa Rica	0 – 1
			0 – 2
17-Jun-02	Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe, Japan	Belgium	2 – 0	2002	Round of 16
26-Jun-02	Saitama Stadium, Saitama, Japan	Turkey	1 – 0		Semi-final
30-Jun-02	International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan	Germany	0 – 1		Final
			0 – 2
22-Jun-06	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany	Japan	1 – 1	2006	Group stage
			1 – 4
27-Jun-06		Ghana	1 – 0		Round of 16

Klose goals in World cup

Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	World Cup	Round
1-Jun-02	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan	Saudi Arabia	1-0	2002	Group stages
			2-0
			5-0
5-Jun-02	Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima, Japan	Republic of ireland	1-0
11-Jun-02	Shizuoka Stadium, Shizuoka, Japan	Cameroon	1-0
9-Jun-06	Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany	Costa Rica	2-1	2006	Group stages
			3-1
20-Jun-06	Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany	Ecuador	1-0
			2-0
30-Jun-06		Argentina	1-1		Quarter Finals
13-Jun-10	Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban, South Africa	Australia	2-0	2010	Group stages
27-Jun-10	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa	England	1-0		Round of 16
3-Jul-10	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa	Argentina	2-0		Quarter Finals
			4-0
21-Jun-14	Castelão (Ceará), Fortaleza, Brazil	Ghana	2-2	2014**	Group stages

With All due respect Both players did what they require to perform for their teams with highest degree of ethics and dedication. In particular Klose has always been a team man with no controversy, No arguing, No acting on pitch and more of a soft spoken team player. I would rate him as a glorifies constable who dedicated his football career for the team he played. He has always been known to be a man of integrity who famously went on to tell referee that he didn't get fouled and that is not a foul. I would advice if you are learning Football and wanted to be a striker please follow RONALDO LUIS and MIROSLAV KLOSE. No strikers can be better than these two for sure.

Klose is definitely a Legend but also an underrated striker who has proved more than the best strikers who are existing in football now. The fact remains that Klose is not yet done. Germany is most likely to qualify to knock out stages which means he at least has 2 matches remaining and at the max 5 matches remiang. he always deserved a Gold medal and hope he does the trick as he did today to win the world cup for Germany and Himself in this edition.

The moment Klose scored the goal today my eyes was flooded with tears and definitely i would see him getting the gold medal and world cup this year. 

Miroslav Klose - Tormenting Defense since 1998.

--
Venkats

Match day 2 - Group F & G teams in action Today. Argentina and Germany will try to win and seal the spot for knock out stages

With Surprises from underdogs all around the groups, today in the first match Argentina will try to win over Iran and try to seal the knock out spot. On the other hand Nigeria will take on Bosnia on the last fixture of the day. In Group F only one team has full 3 points and that is Argentina which won against Bosnia. Two teams Nigeria and Iran settled for a tame draw with one point each. Bosnia is yet to open its account in the group. Group F Table is shown below.

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points
Argentina	1	1	0	0	3
Nigeria	1	0	0	1	1
Iran	1	0	0	1	1
Bosnia-Herzegovina	1	0	1	0	0

My Prediction for Group F

Argentina vs Iran

Score line 2-0 with Argentina win.

Nigeria vs Bosnia

Tight fixture with Bosnia scoring first and win the match

The Second fixture of the day is the match between Germany and Ghana from Group G. Again in this match Germany will fight to win the game and seal the spot for the knock out stages and at the same time Ghana will also try to push hard for a win in order to open the account in this group.  current standings of group G is shown below.

Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points
Germany	1	1	0	0	3
United States	1	1	0	0	3
Ghana	1	0	1	0	0
Portugal	1	0	1	0	0

Prediction

Germany vs Ghana

Germany win with one goal margin.

Probable line up

Germany:

Neur (GK) ; Boateng - Mertesacker - Hummels - Howedes; Lahm;Ozil - Khedira - Kroos - Gotze; Mueller

Formation: 4-1-4-1

Ghana:

Khwarasey (GK); Asamoah - Mensah - Boye - Afful; Muntari - Essien; Ayew - Boateng kevin - Atsu; Gyan

Formation: 4-2-3-1

With Hummels back in side after injury scare the Germans will play unchanged side. Schewnsteiger and klose may come in as substitute in the game. Klose is just one goal short of equaling the all time highest goal scorers in the world cup and hence the focus will also remain on that case too.

Anyways its going to be a cracker contest and hope for the best results.

--
Venkats

Match day 2: Screw Tightens for the Group A & B teams.

Yesterday the match day 2 started with Brazil and Mexico which fought hard for a win but had to settle for a tame nil-nil draw. The Scoreline but suggest either of the team would have parked the bus in front of the goal but both the teams played sensibly and tried for scoring and not settling for a draw or parking the bus. But the stand out performer yesterday was the Mexican Custodian Guillermo Ochoa. He pulled up a string of saves and in particular 6 saves that would have resulted in goal in 70% cases. 

The best fact about the keeper was that "before the match he was a free agent looking for clubs and today there are top tier clubs which are looking for him". 

With a point a piece The group A table is topped by Brazil followed by Mexico both teams with 4 points. Today Cameroon will take on Croatia  Arena Amazonia, Manaus. Both teams will go for a win in order to stay alive to reach the knockout stages.

Group	Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points
A	Brazil	2	1	0	1	4
A	Mexico	2	1	0	1	4
A	Cameroon	1	0	1	0	0
A	Croatia	1	0	1	0	0

Cameroon Vs Croatia at Arena Amazonia, Manaus

Players to watch

Croatia: Mario Mandzukic and Luka Modric.
Cameroon: Samuel Eto'o (may start) and Alexander Song.

Prediction: Croatia win

Coming to Group B, its very clear in this group. Spain on all counts needs to win the match against Chile today in order to stay alive in the process to reach Knock out stages. Even a Draw would make Spain to be out of the tournament. On the other hand Netherlands just need a win to guarantee a spot in knock out phases.

Group	Teams	Played	Won	lost	Draw	points
B	Netherlands	1	1	0	0	3
B	Chile	1	1	0	0	3
B	Australia	1	0	1	0	0
B	Spain	1	0	1	0	0

Spain vs Chile at Estadio do Maracana, Rio de Janeiro

Prediction: Chile to put good fight, match is quite unpredictable.

Players to watch:

Spain: Xavi Hernandez, Andreas Iniesta

Chile:  Arthuro Vidal and Alexis Sanchez.

Netherlands vs Australia at Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

Prediction: Netherlands win

Players to Watch:

Netherlands: Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie

Australia: Tim Cahill

Lets see how the things shape and how the groups look like at the end of the day.

--

Venkats

Portugal succumb to German blitzkrieg

Final Score:

Germany: 4 - 0 :Portugal

Goal scores: Thomas Mueller (11(P), 45 and 70), Matt Hummels (31)

Yellow Card: J pereira
Red Card: Pepe

Best player of the match: Thomas Mueller
Worst Player of the match: Pepe

This German team is nothing but an engineering, a well crafted masterpiece.

Yet another sorry loss for Portugal. In normal terms, Portuguese team was completely flattened by Germany nail. Now to start off with right from the start both teams tried to attack with Germany had the pace for which Portugal had very little control. At 11th minute Patricio foolishness would have made portugal to concede a goal, but khedira shot was just steps away from the goal post. Four minutes later Gotze bought down inside the box by Jose pereira which earns Germany a penalty kick.

11th Minute: Thomas Mueller converts form the spot. Goal number one for Germany.

Post first goal Germans up the ante and pushed forward. The next blow came at 25th minute when Hugo Almeida pulled up an injury and was replaced with Defender Eder. From there on in regular intervals teh Germans regularly troubled the Portuguese defense. At 30th minute  Mario Gotze miss a chance to score which results in corner.

31st Minute: From Kroos corner Matt Hummels score a goal. The header simply went in like a lightning. Goal number 2 for Germany.

At 39th Minute there is a shocker from Pepe at first being the last defender and striker next to you, you cannot just bring the striker down adn the thing that should not have been done was done by Pepe. After that he head butt with Mueller which resulted in a Straight red card for Pepe. At this moment Portugal became 10 men.

45th Minute: Kroos shot is converted into goal by Muller, a simple yet precise goal. Goal number 3 for Germany.

In second half both teams came up with attack but for Portugal the German defense and mid field was too good. the interception in critical points of the field was very clinical that not many fouls where called but once match was killed Portuguese began to be more physical. At 53rd minute when Nani comes to shoot, contrao interrupts which results in confusion, That was probably the worst moment for the Portuguese when the collusion hampered the attack. At 65th minute Contrao badly pulls up his thigh which results in groin injury and thus bringing contrao's world cup campaign to curtains.

77th Minute: Schurrle Pass is converted to a goal by Thomas Mueller. Goal number 3 for mueller and 4 for Germany. Mueller scores the first hat trick of the tournament.

Post 4th goal Christiano Ronaldo got 3 free kicks out of which 2 didn't even cross the intial defense wall and the third one was saved by neur. So what next for both teams, 6 days from now Germany will take on Ghana and Portugal will take on USA. With pepe, contrao and Almeida ruled out for next fixture Portugal needs to work on the basics in order to beat USA. For Germany its just keeping up the tempo thats it.

Lets move on to next match today which  is Iran vs Nigeria at Arena da Baixada, Curitiba.

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Venkats

Match day 4: Germany vs Portugal - Group H at Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador. preview

The match between Germany and Portugal will be the third high intensity big guns clash in this world cup. Germany and Portugal have met in the past and it was Germany which always had upper hand when it came to the duel. This Game will be the 100th game for Germany in world cup. No other country has ever played 100 games in world cup till date

In previous 3 meetings Germany had the upper hand.

Euro 2012 

Germany 1 - 0 Portugal

Euro 2008

Germany 3 - 2 Portugal

World cup 2006

Germany 3 - 1 Portugal

In all 3 games Christiano Ronaldo never had a impact in the game. Ronaldo also has some injury scares but has confirmed he will be playing today's game. Today's game will be a close contact where both the teams will try to start of with a flyer.

Possible Lineup

Germany:

Neur (GK) ; Boateng - Mertesacker - Hummels - Howedes; Lahm - Khedira; Mueller - Kroos - Gotze; Ozil

Coach Joechim Low

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Portugal:

Patricio (GK); perreira - alves - pepe - contrao; moutinho - veloso - meirless; nani - almeida - ronaldo

Coach Paulo Bento

Formation: 4-3-3

My take on this game will be even though both the squads look potent and equal, Germany will upper hand on the game. On the other hand, since scheiwnsteiger is missing the game Portugal can try to capitulate the midfield in order to regain control.

Prediction: Not sure. Germany may score first.

Portugal Win: 35%
Germany Win: 45%
Draw: 20%

enjoy the game and do give feedback.

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venkats

Match day 2: Group A & B in action

Match day 2: Group A & B in action.

First Match of the day is Group A fixture where Mexico take on Cameroon. the match will start at 1300 HRS local time (9:30 PM IST). Mexico will depend more on  Javier Hernandez, Rafael Marquez in order to register a win. On the other hand Cameroon have their veteran Eto'o in good form which will be a boost to them.

Stadium venue: Estadio das Dunas, Natal

My prediction

Mexico to score first

Mexico win - 40%
Cameroon win - 35%
Draw - 25%

The Second Fixture will be the red hot group B match where 2010 edition finalist will meet. No predictions as such let's watch the game with at most thrill and anxiety. Spain seem to be in better form to that of Netherlands but Netherlands have almost relied on their physical and uncompromising style which always gave them the positive result.the match will start at 1600 HRS local time (00:30 AM IST)

Watch out for Huntelaar, Robben and sneijder from Netherlands and From Spain its going to be Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas.

Stadium venue:Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

My prediction

possibly an one goal victory may be

Spain win - 40%
Netherlands win - 30%
Draw - 30%

The Final fixture of the day is a group B fixture between Chile and Australia which will start at 1800 HRS local time (03:30 AM IST). Chile has the upper hand in this game which has a formidable line up with Arthuro Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and Maurisio Isla. 

Stadium venue:Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba

My prediction

Chile should win by 2-0 Margin

Chile win - 65%
Australia win - 25%
Draw - 10%

-- 
Venkats