This is where things get interesting. The last batch of group games. 16 teams will be playing their last games at the World Cup. For them it's better luck next time 4 years from now in Russia. Even though 3 of the 4 eliminated teams were known after their 2nd games, we'll go over where the 4 teams that qualified from their groups stand and who joined Australia, Cameroon, and Spain in the loser's circle today.
Group B: Australia vs. Spain
Result: 3-0 win for Spain that couldn't come soon enough
Goalscorers: 36' David Villa (Atletico Madrid), 69' Fernando Torres (Chelsea), 82' Juan Mata (Manchester United)
Bookings: 62' Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), 88' Matthew Spiranovic (Western Sydney Wanderers), Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace)
Significance of bookings: None; both teams would be eliminated after this game regardless of the result.
Lineups
Australia (4-3-3)
Mathew Ryan (Club Brugge); Ryan McGowan (Shandong Luneng Taishan), Matthew Spiranovic (Western Sydney Wanderers), Alex Wilkinson (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Jason Davidson (Heracles Almelo); Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar), Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace, captain), Oliver Bozanic (Luzern); Mathew Leckie (Frankfurt), Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets), Tommy Oar (Utrecht)
Changes from last match
Change from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 formation. Tim Cahill is suspended from this game from yellow card accumulation and Mark Bresciano was left off the starting lineup as well, allowing Bozanic and Taggart (who appearance in the last game as subs) to fill in those vacancies
Subs:
Ben Halloran (Fortuna Dusseldorf) 46' for Adam Taggart
James Troisi (Melbourne Victory) 61' for Tommy Oar
Mark Bresciano (Al-Gharafa) 72' for Oliver Bozanic
Spain (4-2-3-1)
Pepe Reina (Napoli); Juanfran (Atletico Madrid), Raul Albiol (Napoli), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, captain), Jordi Alba (Barcelona); Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Koke (Atletico Madrid); Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Arsenal), David Villa (Atletico Madrid); Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Changes from last match
Iker Casillas, Cesar Azpilicueta, Javi Martinez, Sergio Busquets, David Silva, Pedro, and Diego Costa (7 of the 11 that started against Chile) were left on the bench for Reina, Juanfran, Albiol, Koke, Cazorla, Villa, and Torres respectively. (Torres, Koke, and Cazorla made substitute appearances in previous matches while the others were making their debut in this tournament). Ramos was named captain instead of Casillas.
Subs:
Juan Mata (Manchester United) 56' for David Villa
Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona) 68' for Santi Cazorla
David Silva (Manchester City) 83' for Xabi Alonso
All this talk about Spain's golden generation coming to a close after 6 years has over shadowed the fact that Australia are going through the same thing, by their standards. You could see it in their lineup. Both of Australia's remnants of their golden generation (which included Australian soccer legends such as Harry Kewell, Lucas Neill, and Mark Schwarzer) Tim Cahill and Mark Bresciano were not in the starting lineups, the only player in Australia's starting 11 that was in the last World Cup was Mile Jedinak, who along with Cahill, Bresciano, and Mark Milligan are the only survivors from the class of 2010 South Africa. Vicente Del Bosque also made numerous changes to his side (something he doesn't normally do, as we remember from the Spain/Chile match). Both these teams, even though one is a former World Cup champion and the other is still a growing soccer/football nation, will be looking for new players and new ideas to lead them to greater journeys in the future, and the future has the potential to be bright for both teams. Enough about the future talk, in today's match Spain finally got a win by beating Australia 3-0. None of Spain's goalscorers in this game started in either of Spain's first two matches. Spain is a very stacked nation. They have 40+ decent soccer players, many of which didn't make it to Brazil (Jesus Navas, Roberto Soldado, Fernando Llorente, Gabi, to name a few). When you have that much talent at your disposal and one result goes horrible wrong like Netherlands beating Spain 5-1, you can't be afraid to shuffle the deck and try something new. Coulda woulda shouda. But it was a remarkable day for David Villa: who else to open the scoring for the Spanish? He scored in what would be his final match for Spain, 97 appearances and 59 goals later from making his debut in 2005 in a 5-0 victory over San Marino in a 2006 World Cup qualifier. I doubt on that day he'd foresee the succeed he would have playing for Spain. Despite Australia holding its own against eventual group winners the Netherlands better than Spain did, Australia couldn't get much going without Tim Cahill but despite the loss, Australian fans will be proud of their team for not being a dormat. They still didn't get a single point but the 3 points each of their Group B rivals earned from those matches were far from automatic.
Elimination Analysis: Spain
They didn't want to be a part of this trend, but Spain join 2002 France and 2010 Italy as the 3rd defending World Champions to go out in the group stage in the 21st century. It's always exciting stuff when champions are dethroned, like when the San Antonio Spurs prevented the Miami Heat from getting their threepeat, no one can take away what they did before coming to Brazil. Back to back European championships and winning their first ever World Cup in 2010 South Africa with a common core of players (Casillas, Alonso, Xavi, Iniesta, Ramos), it truly is incredible. And many will still argue that the Spanish team between the 2006 and 2014 World Cups is one of, if not the, best teams of all time in soccer/football. But now it's time for new chapters to be written and new stories to unfold. Whichever players and coach shows up for Euro 2016, they will not want to repeat what happened in 2014 Brazil.
Elimination Analysis: Australia
As soon as the draw Australia was doomed. I'm a firm believer of anything can happen, not anything WILL happen. Despite getting to the round of 16 before falling to eventual champions Italy in 2006 and getting edged out of the group stage by goal difference in 2010, it was very unlikely Australia could get 4 points again with this kind of group. But credit to them for giving it their best shot and actually losing with style. 3-1, 3-2, and 3-0 losses to go out of the World Cup sting but it probably could've gone so much worse for the Socceroos. This team was definitely in transition. Schwarzer and Neill are gone, Cahill and Bresciano soon will be too, hopefully Jedinak stays a while longer and some of Australia's younger players like Davidson, Ryan, Bozanic, McGowan, Leckie, and Taggart continue to grow and lead Australia to more incredible moments.
Group B: Netherlands vs. Chile
Result: Netherlands win 2-0
Goalscorers: 77' Leroy Fer (Norwich City), 90+2' Memphis Depay (PSV)
Bookings: 25' Francisco Silva (Osasuna), 64' Daley Blind (Ajax)
Lineups
Netherlands (4-3-1-2)
Jasper Cillessen (Ajax); Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord), Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord), Daley Blind (Ajax); Georginio Wijnauldum (PSV), Nigel de Jong (AC Milan), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce); Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray); Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich, captain), Jeremain Lens (Dynamo Kyiv)
Changes from last match
Change from a 5-3-2 to 4-3-1-2, likely partially due to Bruno Martins Indi being injured. Robin van Persie would also be absent due to yellow card accumulation. Those two along with Jonathan de Guzman would be replaced by Wijnauldum, Kuyt, and Lens in the starting lineup. Robben acts as captain in place of van Persie.
Subs:
Memphis Depay (PSV) 69' for Jeremain Lens
Leroy Fer (Norwich City) 75' for Wesley Sneijder
Terence Kongolo (Feyenoord) 89' for Dirk Kuyt
Chile (5-3-2)
Claudio Bravo (Real Sociedad, captain); Gary Medel (Cardiff City), Francisco Silva (Osasuna), Gonzalo Jara (Nottingham Forest), Mauricio Isla (Juventus), Eugenio Mena (Santos); Charles Aranguiz (Internacional), Marcelo Diaz (Basel), Felipe Gutierrez (Twente); Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona), Eduardo Vargas (Valencia)
Changes from last match
Only change is Gutierrez replacing the injured Arturo Vidal.
Subs:
Jean Beausejour (Wigan Athletic) 46' for Felipe Gutierrez
Jorge Valdivia (Palmeiras) 70' for Francisco Silva
Mauricio Pinilla (Cagliari) 81' for Eduardo Varges
2 games, 2 wins and 2 impressive showings of entertaining soccer are what Netherlands and Chile have brought to the table so far in this World Cup. And now they go head to head to determine who will finish in 1st in Group B. It was quite the chess match as both sides tried to get at the other but had a response for everything thrown at them in the first half. Then the subs came in and that's when the dice started rolling. Even though Louis van Gaal put in Memphis Depay, he made a defensive minded substitution in bringing in Leroy Fer, who is sort of like Netherlands's Jermaine Jones or Kyle Beckerman. After all, Netherlands only needed a point to win the group while Chile needed 3. Looks like Fer believes in "the best defense is a strong offense", as he scored for Netherlands late on to all but certainly seal the top spot for the Oranje. And Memphis Depay keeps his goal scoring streak alive as Netherlands's subs get the job done. Although Jorge Valdivia got a warm welcome from Brazilians who are used to seeing him play in the club he captains in Brazil, that's about as close to an impact Chile's subs made in this game. But regardless both Netherlands and Chile deservedly go through to the next round and will definitely be a handful for Mexico and Brazil respectively.
Group A: Cameroon vs. Brazil
Result: Brazil winning 4-1
Goalscorers: 17', 35' Neymar (Barcelona), 26' Joel Matip (Schalke), 49' Fred (Fluminense), 84' Fernandinho (Manchester City)
Bookings: 11' Eyong Enoh (Antalyaspor), 76' Edgar Salli (Lens), 80' Stephane Mbia (Sevilla)
Lineups
Cameroon (4-5-1)
Charles Itandje (Konyaspor); Allan Nyom (Granada), Nicolas N'Koulou (Marseille, captain), Joel Matip (Schalke), Henri Bedimo (Lyon); Landry N'Guemo (Bordeaux), Stephane Mbia (Sevilla), Eyong Enoh (Antalyaspor), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Mainz 05), Benjamin Moukandjo (Nancy); Vincent Aboubakar (Lorient)
Changes from last match
Mbia and Matip play in different positions than in the previous match. Aurelien Chedjou, Assou-Ekotto (likely due to his behavior against Croatia), and Alex Song (red card against Croatia) do not appear in the starting 11 with Nyom, Bedimo, and N'Guemo filling in the vacancies.
Subs:
Edgar Salli (Lens) 58' for Benjamin Moukandjo
Pierre Webo (Fenerbahce) 72' Vincent Aboubakar
Jean Makoun (Rennes) 81' for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting
Brazil (4-3-3)
Julio Cesar (Toronto FC), Dani Alves (Barcelona), Thiago Silva (PSG, captain), David Luiz (Chelsea), Marcelo (Real Madrid); Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Paulinho (Tottenham), Oscar (Chelsea); Hulk (Zenit), Neymar (Barcelona), Fred (Fluminense)
Changes from last match
Hulk back in the mix after recovering from injury to force Ramires back onto the bench, change from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3.
Subs:
Fernandinho (Manchester City) 46' for Paulinho
Ramires (Chelsea) 63' for Hulk
Willian (Chelsea) 71' for Neymar
Cameroon certainly looked like a team that couldn't wait to get this game over with. They were already eliminated, arguably their best player Alex Song couldn't play because he foolishly got himself a red card against Croatia, and there was a very unlikely chance of Brazil not beating them. Mexico would've loved Cameroon to at least draw against Brazil though, and it looked like that when Joel Matip's goal cancelled out Neymar's earlier skillful effort. That lasted nine minutes before lightning, excuse me Neymar, struck twice and brought his tally up to 4 goals in this tournament, currently ahead of everyone else (closest to him are the following players tied with 3 goals: Karim Benzema (FRA), Thomas Muller (GER), Arjen Robben (NED), Enner Valencia (ECU), Robin van Persie (NED)). Even though Fred looked offside, he piled it on the Indomitable (I really need to start calling them just the lions, do these guys look indomitable to you?) Lions, and then Fernandinho, the Manchester City star, makes it 4. So realistically this kind of a dominating performance over Cameroon prevented any chance Mexico had of winning this group. Brazilian fans love it when their team not only wins but scores a crap ton of goals and Scolari's side did exactly that to go to the knockout stage in style. But they want to see A Selecao play 4 more games at the World Cup, and if they thought the Group Stage was tougher than they initially anticipated (Croatian fans will not remember their game against Brazil fondly after going out in the group stage, and Ochoa was a beast against Brazil), wait until the group stage, starting with a new and improved Chile side looking for more 2010 revenge. They got Spain, can they get Brazil back too?
Elimination Analysis: Cameroon
7 appearances at the World Cup, this makes Cameroon 6 for 7 in being eliminated in the group stage. Once again their inspiring 1990 Italy run to the quarterfinals remains the only time they got out of their group, and unfortunately 24 years later it hasn't been enough to inspire the future generations of Cameroonian football players to do better. Samuel Eto'o would like to be the next Roger Milla and be around for the next World Cup in a nation familiar to him when he played for Anzhi Makhachkala in the Russian Premier League, but his limited involvement in this World Cup could be the clock is ticking quite fast for the prolific and legendary player. Their fans would have hoped they at least performed a bit better in this group but it wasn't even close. Brazil, Croatia, and Mexico might've been a tougher trio collectively than Denmark, Japan, and Netherlands in 2010, but it still wasn't pretty for Cameroon. From being scored on 9 times in 3 games, an ugly red card for Alex Song, and Benoit Assou-Ekotto headbutting Benjamin Moukandjo, they were a mess, and there's major sorting out to do if they want to not only have a better showing at the next World Cup but even qualify for it. There will be plenty of other decent African nations like Egypt, South Africa, and Burkina Faso that would cherish a World Cup experience that Cameroon didn't make the most of, even given their realistic expectations.
Group A: Croatia vs. Mexico
Result: El Tri win by 3-1
Goalscorers: 72' Rafael Marquez (Leon), 75' Andres Guardado (Bayer Leverkusen), 82' Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez (Manchester United), 87' Ivan Perisic (Wolfsburg)
Bookings: 9' Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla), 39' Rafael Marquez (Leon), 66' Jose Vazquez (Leon), 89' red card Ante Rebic (Fiorentina)
Significance of Bookings: Jose Vazquez will miss Mexico's Round of 16 matchup against Netherlands
Lineups
Croatia (4-2-3-1)
Stipe Pletikosa (Rostov); Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk, captain), Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Dejan Lovren (Southampton), Sime Vrsaljko (Genoa); Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla), Danijel Pranjic (Panathinaikos); Ivan Perisic (Wolfsburg), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivica Olic (Wolfsburg); Mario Mandzukic (Bayern Munich)
Changes from last match
Pranjic moving from full back to central midfielder, Sammir left off the starting 11 with Vrsaljko returning as a starter
Subs:
Mateo Kovacic (Inter) 58' for Sime Vrsaljko
Ante Rebic (Fiorentina) 69' for Ivica Olic
Nikica Jelavic (Hull City) 74' for Danijel Pranjic
Mexico (5-3-2)
Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio); Francisco Rodriguez (America), Rafael Marquez (Leon, captain), Hector Moreno (Espanyol), Paul Aguilar (America), Miguel Layun (America); Jose Vazquez (Leon), Hector Herrera (Porto), Andres Guardado (Bayer Leverkusen); Giovani dos Santos (Villarreal), Oribe Peralta (Santos Laguna)
Changes from last match
Same formation and starting 11 that took on Brazil
Subs:
Javier Hernandez (Manchester United) 62' for Giovani dos Santos
Carlos Pena (Leon) 79' for Oribe Peralta
Marco Fabian (Cruz Azul) 84' for Andres Guardado
In their first two games, Mexico and Croatia have delighted the world with great football considering they were supposed to be OK teams but just stepping stones for Brazil. They were certainly anything but. Croatia gave Brazil a thrilling opening encounter and after a match full of controversial moments Croatia were unlucky not to get anything from that. Mexico did one better and succeeded in denying Brazil some points with an epic performance, especially by Guillermo Ochoa, who's most impressive save denied Thiago Silva a goal from point blank range. Now these two teams were ready to lock horns. Mexico needed a draw to advance, Croatia needed a win. Croatia started out strong with long spells of possession but without really testing Ochoa too much. Then the pendulum swung in favor of Mexico, then back and for, and believe it or not we went 70 minutes without a goal despite the offensive focuses and the desperation of both teams (Mexico needed a draw, but a goal would've been an excellent safety net). Well who better than Mexico's captain to lift the Mexicans to a victory, starting with his goal from an Andres Guardado corner kick. Then shortly afterwards Guardado and substitute Chicharito made it 3-0 for Mexico and all hope seemed lost for Croatia. Ivan Perisic did deny Ochoa a clean sheet, something Cameroon and Mexico both failed to do, but it was too little too late. And to add insult to injury, the rising star of Fiorentina Ante Rebic had a clumsy challenge on Carlos Pena and got a red card. It didn't mean much since Croatia were going out anyway but at least try to go out fighting respectfully. Ultimately Mexico kept pushing and pushing and got a victory they deserved, especially when the ref inexplicably didn't call a handball on Croatia twice, most notable the clear one from Darijo Srna in the box. Miguel Herrera, who was entertaining to watch as he joyously celebrated each Mexican goal, has certainly worked his magic and turned Mexico into a force to be reckoned with. But will they be able to withstand the Dutch in the next round?
Elimination Analysis: Croatia
Croatia missed out on the 2010 World Cup after finishing in 3rd of their qualifying group behind England by 7 and Ukraine by 1 point, but they bounced back, and made it to Euro 2012 where they narrowly got eliminated in the group stage to Italy and Spain (the eventual finalists of that tournament). They couldn't overcome Belgium though and had to get past Iceland (which turned out to be harder than they anticipated) to get to Brazil. This team may not have too many superstars but you start with a UEFA Champions League winner like Luka Modric, a UEFA Europa League winner like Ivan Rakitic, an experienced captain like Darijo Srna, and suddenly more and more pieces fall into place. A run to 3rd place like in 1998 France was always wishful thinking but Croatia is a team more people should keep an eye on because they are closer to repeating a feat like that than you think. The match against Brazil, the goal that wasn't allowed, the bs penalty called on Dejan Lovren, it's going to haunt the Croatian fans and players for a while but they still had their chance to redeem themselves by beating Mexico. They certainly didn't lack confidence as head coach Niko Kovac and Luka Modric talked a little bit of crap about Mexico going into the game, and they got blindsided. If they learn their lesson from this experience, the next major tournament we see Croatia in (which hopefully is Euro 2016) we'll see them get out of their group and they'll go from there.
Eliminated: Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Croatia, England, Spain
Qualified: 1A Brazil, 2A Mexico, 1B Netherlands, 2B Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Belgium
Still in the hunt: Algeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Ecuador, France, Ghana, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Iran, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, United States, Uruguay
Up next
Group D Finale: Italy vs. Uruguay, Costa Rica vs. England
Group C Finale: Japan vs. Colombia, Greece vs. Cote D'Ivoire
For Italy, a draw will send them through to the KO Stage, while Uruguay need a win, and will likely, once again, turn to Luis Suarez to make it happen. For Italy, as always the experience of the likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, and Andrea Pirlo, plus the youth and talent of players like Mario Balotelli will be the key to their success.
Costa Rica are no longer underdogs. The way things have gone, they look more than likely to beat England, especially with Bryan Ruiz and Joel Campbell and the gang looking as threatening as ever. Can the Three Lions regain their roar for a lifting send off to this tournament or is more disappointment on the menu for the English players and fans?
Japan couldn't get the points they needed from other games, and face long odds to advance to the KO Stage, especially when one of the prerequisites now is to beat a Colombian team that's been unstoppable so far in this group. Colombia need just a point to grab hold of 1st place in Group C, and a performance identical to either their 3-0 win over Greece or 2-1 win over Cote D'Ivoire will surely do the trick. From Mario Yepes in defense to Teolifo Gutierrez in the front and everywhere in between, this looks like the best Colombian team we've seen in a long time.
It's a shield vs. spear encounter between a sturdy defensive team, Greece against a team with lots of attacking power, Cote D'Ivoire. Can the Elephants sink the Pirate Ship or will the Pirate Ship find 3 points hidden somewhere. If they don't, Greece will be out. As long as Japan don't beat Colombia, Cote D'Ivoire just need to not lose to Greece and they'll be fine.
2 teams already qualified! 6 teams looking to qualify! 2 will succeed, 4 will head out!
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