Day 2 matches
Group A: Mexico vs. Cameroon
Final Score: 1-0 win for Mexico
Goalscorers: 61' by Oribe Peralta (Santos Laguna)
Bookings: 57' Hector Moreno (Espanyol), 77' Danny Nounkeu (Besiktas)
Lineups
Mexico (5-3-2)
Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio); Francisco Rodriguez (Club America), Rafael Marquez (Club Leon, captain), Hector Moreno (Espanyol), Paul Aguilar(Club America), Miguel Layun (Club America); Jose Juan Velazquez (Club Leon), Hector Herrera (Porto), Andres Guardado (Bayer Leverkusen); Giovani Dos Santos (Villarreal), Oribe Peralta (Santos Laguna)
Subs:
Marco Fabian (Cruz Azul) 69' for Guardado
Javier Hernandez (Manchester United) 74' for Peralta
Carlos Salcido (UANL) 90+1' for Herrera
Cameroon (4-3-3)
Charles Itandje (Konyaspor); Cedric Djeugoue(Coton Sport), Aurelien Chedjou (Galatasaray), Nicolas N'Koulou (Marseille), Benoit Assou-Ekotto(Queens Park Rangers); Alex Song (Barcelona), Stephane Mbia (Sevilla), Eyong Enoh (Antalyaspor); Benjamin Moukandjo (Nancy), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Mainz 05), Samuel Eto'o (Chelsea, captain)
Subs:
Danny Nounkeu (Besiktas) 46' for Djeugoue
Pierre Webo (Fenerbahce) 79' for Song
While Mexico's lineup mostly consists of players from their domestic league, Djeugoue was the only one of the 2 Cameroonian league players that were called up to see playing time in this match (the other one being one of the backup goalies). Aguilar, Rodriguez, Marquez, and Dos Santos also started in Mexico's first World Cup match in South Africa (Guardado and Hernandez appeared as subs in that game, while Salcido started in that game). MBia(as a defender), N'Koulou, Assou-Ekotto, Enoh, Eto'o, and Choupo-Moting started Cameroon's opening match in South Africa plus Webo, who made a sub appearance in this match. The Turkish league had the most representation from the Cameroon players in this match. Props to Ochoa for being starting keeper for Mexico in this match despite Jose Corona seeing more action in qualifying matches. Ochoa and Peralta starting instead of Corona and Hernandez respectively might've been shocking to some but those decisions paid off with Ochoa playing well to seal the victory and Peralta scoring the decisive goal. Dos Santos probably should've had a goal of his own but it was called offside for some reason. Thankfully the offsides didn't prevent Mexico from deservedly winning this match but could it come back to bite them in the ass if goal difference decides who goes through? Maybe. Well with this match out of the way Mexico and Cameroon will have trickier tasks ahead of them with Mexico the next opponent for hosts Brazil and Cameroon going against Croatia. It's a must win scenario for Cameroon and Croatia if they want a chance to qualify for the next round and for Mexico, if they can managed to hold Brazil to at least a draw it could mean all the difference in how the group plays out. Even if Brazil looked unconvincing against Croatia, Mexico were the definition of unconvincing in the last year or so so that remains a big if.
Group B: Spain vs. Netherlands
Final Score: Netherlands owning Spain 5-1
Goalscorers: Spain: Xabi Alonso 27' pen (Real Madrid)
Netherlands: Robin Van Persie 44', 72' (Manchester United), Arjen Robben 53', 80' (Bayern Munich), Stefan De Vrij 65' (Feyenoord)
Bookings: Jonathan de Guzman 25' (Swansea City), Stefan De Vrij 41', Iker Casillas 65' (Real Madrid), Robin Van Persie 66'
Lineups
Spain (4-3-3)
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid, captain); Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Jordi Alba (Barcelona); Xavi (Barcelona), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid); David Silva (Manchester City), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid)
Subs:
Fernando Torres (Chelsea) 62' for Diego Costa
Pedro (Barcelona) 62' for Xabi Alonso
Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona) 78' for David Silva
Netherlands (5-3-2)
Jasper Cillessen (Ajax); Ron Vlaar (Aston Villa), Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord), Daley Blind (Ajax), Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord); Nigel de Jong (AC Milan), Jonathan de Guzman (Swansea City), Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray); Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), Robin van Persie (Manchester United, captain)
Subs:
Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV) 62' for de Guzman
Joel Veltman (Ajax) 77' for de Vrij
Jeremain Lens (Dynamo Kyiv) 79' for van Persie
One of the most anticipated group games going into the World Cup, few anticipated Netherlands to win, even fewer, probably only steadfast and/or drunk Dutch fans expected Netherlands to crush Spain 5-1. But that's exactly what happened. Despite being without Kevin Strootman and Rafael Van Der Vaart, despite a lot of these players playing for less prestigious clubs than the Spanish players play for, they played a fantastic game and got a fantastic result because of it. From Robin van Persie "The Flying Dutchman"'s goal to open the scoring to youngster Stefan de Vrij impressing, all around a good performance. With a high scoring game like this it's easy to forget about Jasper Cillessen. In one of the closest races for 1st keeper heading into the World Cup, you'd think a Premier League keeper like Swansea's Vorm or Newcastle's Krul would be higher on the pecking order than Ajax's Cillessen, but Cillessen was chosen to start and he justified his start with a great performance as well. It's very tough to look at the positives in Spain's performance in this match other than Xabi Alonso ending his scoring drought, albeit through a controversial penalty. The only Spanish players that could be happy are the players that didn't get playing time, especially David De Gea and Pepe Reina who could start in goal in the next match after a less than decent performance by Casillas. Only 3 of the 14 Spanish players that played in this match didn't play for either Real Madrid or Barcelona, neglecting all but 1 of the Atletico Madrid players. With the wealth of talent at Vicente Del Bosque's disposal, it's worth considering changing things up. This result gives Netherlands control over Group B's destiny and they look to be in a good position to win the group. Next up Netherlands face Australia and Spain take on Chile. Diego Costa, David Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, and Jordi Alba were the only players Spain used in this match that didn't participate in the 2010 World Cup Final (3 of them weren't even in the squad during that tournament), while Nigel de Jong, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, and Robin van Persie were the only Dutch players to compete in this match and the 2010 Final. Hint hint Spain. Hint hint.
Group B: Chile vs. Australia
Final Score: A 3-1 victory for Chile
Goalscorers: Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona) 12', Jorge Valdivia 14' (Palmeiras), Tim Cahill 35' (New York Red Bulls), Jean Beausejour 90+2' (Wigan Athletic)
Bookings: Tim Cahill 44', Mile Jedinak 58' (Crystal Palace), Mark Milligan 67' (Melbourne Victory), Charles Aranguiz (Internacional, Brazil)
Lineups
Chile (4-3-3)
Claudio Bravo (Real Sociedad); Mauricio Isla (Juventus), Gary Medel (Cardiff City), Gonzalo Jara (Nottingham Forest), Eugenio Mena (Santos); Charles Aranguiz (Internacional), Marcelo Diaz (Basel), Arturo Videl (Juventus); Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona), Jorge Valdivia (Palmeiras), Eduardo Vargas(Valencia)
Subs:
Felipe Gutierrez (Twente) 60' for Arturo Vidal
Jean Beausejour (Wigan Athletic) 68' for Jorge Valdivia
Mauricio Pinilla (Cagliari) 88' for Eduardo Vargas
Australia (4-2-3-1)
Mathew Ryan (Club Brugge); Ivan Franjic (Brisbane Roar), Alex Wilkinson (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors), Matthew Spiranovic (Western Sydney Wanderers), Jason Davidson (Heracles Almelo); Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace, captain), Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory); Matthew Leckie (FSV Frankfurt), Mark Bresciano (Al-Gharafa), Tommy Oar (Utrecht); Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls)
Subs:
Ryan McGowan (Shandong Luneng Taishan) 49' for Ivan Franjic
Ben Halloran (Fortuna Dusseldorf) 68' for Tommy Oar
James Troisi (Melbourne Victory) for Mark Bresciano
The Group B underdogs had a tough act to follow after an entertaining and nervy signal sending Spain-Netherlands match. Netherlands will look to repeat their performance against their other Group B rivals so Chile and Australia should be worried. Nonetheless this was still a good match with a reasonable outcome of Chile coming out on top 3-1. Thankfully Vidal was fit to start which is a good sign for Chile who won't have to go without one of, if not their best player. This young and unexperienced Australian team looked very inexperienced against a more composed Chilean team that wasted no time getting on the score sheet, scoring 2 of their 3 goals in the 1st 15 minutes but being made to wait for their last one until the end. Tim Cahill represented his nation, club, and league (Go MLS!) proud with a great goal but it wasn't enough to rescue a point for the Socceroos despite a great effort. Chile took care of business and got 3 points, and now they hope to get a similar result against the Spanish. Australia's next opponent is the Netherlands. Australia had an ok performance but against a team like Netherlands, it surely can't end well for them.
Coming up next
Group C and Group D will have their opening matches. Colombia vs. Greece, Japan vs. Cote D'Ivoire, Uruguay vs. Costa Rica, and England vs. Italy. In the most evenly matched group of the tournament, we'll see a bit more about the Group C teams after their first match. Colombia and Cote D'Ivoire are favorites, but not by much as Greece and Japan are decent teams as well. In a very tight group, Uruguay will hope to obtain 3 points against Costa Rica, while 1 point for this CONCACAF nation would make them happy. A lot is on the line for England and Italy who will compete in a rematch of the 2012 UEFA Euro Quarterfinal which ended 0-0 after 90 minutes and was eventually decided by penalties (which England shockingly lost). Which teams will rise to the occasion? I look forward to finding out and then telling you about it!
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