2 South American, 3 European, and 1 North American team played their first matches of the World Cup today. And the winners and losers were....you'll see.
Group E: Switzerland vs. Ecuador
Final Score: Switzerland win 2-1
Goalscorers: 22' E.Valencia (Pachuca), 48' Admir Mehmedi (SC Freiburg), 90+3' Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad)
Bookings: 53' Juan Carlos Paredes (Barcelona, Ecuador), 84' Johan Djourou (Hamburg)
Lineups
Switzerland (4-2-3-1)
Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg); Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Johan Djourou (Hamburg), Steve von Bergen (Young Boys), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg); Valon Behrami (Napoli), Gokham Inler (Napoli, captain); Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich), Granit Xhaka (Bor.M'gladbach), Valentin Stocker (Basel); Josip Drmic (Nurnberg)
Subs:
Admir Mehmedi (SC Freiburg) 46' for Valentin Stocker
Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad) 75' for Josip Drmic
Ecuador (4-4-2)
Alexander Dominguez (LDU Quito); Juan Carlos Paredes (Barcelona, ECU), Frickson Erazo (Flamengo), Jorge Guagua (Emelec), Walter Ayovi (Pachuca); Antonio Valencia (Manchester United, captain), Carlos Gruezo (Stuttgart), Christian Noboa (Dynamo Moscow), Jefferson Montero (Morelia); Felipe Caicedo (Al-Jazira), Enner Valencia (Pachuca)
Subs:
Michael Arroyo (Atlante) 70' for Felipe Caicedo
Joao Rojas (Cruz Azul) 77' for Jefferson Montero
This group has been called the "group of life" because of how easy this group apparently is for France to dominate and how predictable the rest of the dominoes shall fall. The cookie cutter prediction being France 1st, Switzerland 2nd, Ecuador 3rd, and Honduras 4th. When you look at Ecuador, who only have 4 European based players in their squad (3 of them play for Barcelona, the club in Ecuador, not Spain), and then compare them to Switzerland when you see a higher frequency of strong or above average European clubs like Juventus and Napoli within the players' resumes, you think Switzerland have to win this. They may be the most undeserving seeded team (no offense), but they're still a good team. Well Ecuador won the battle of the first half with a goal from the lesser known of their Valencias, but Switzerland's subs saved the day, with Seferovic scoring 20 seconds before the final whistle to nab the 3 points for the Swiss and make us wait even longer for the first draw of the tournament. Ecuador join Croatia, Spain, Japan, and Uruguay on the list of teams who lost their opening game despite scoring first. They will surely be kicking themselves for that last minute goal that could be the death of their chances of making it out of the group, especially if Group E continues to follow the script with Switzerland beating Honduras and France beating both Switzerland and Ecuador.
Group E: France vs. Honduras
Final score: 3-0 win for France
Goalscorers: 45' Karim Benzema penalty (Real Madrid), 48' Noel Valladares own goal (Olimpia), 72' Karim Benzema
Bookings: 7' Patrice Evra (Manchester United), 28' Wilson Palacios (Stoke City), 28' Paul Pogba (Juventus), 43' Wilson Palacios (2nd yellow, sent off), 45+2' Yohan Cabaye (PSG), 53' Oscar Boniek Garcia (Houston Dynamo), 83' Luis Garrido (Olimpia)
Lineups
France (4-3-3)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, captain); Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle United), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Patrice Evra (Manchester United); Yohan Cabaye (PSG), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Paul Pogba (Juventus); Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad)
Subs:
Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United) 57' for Paul Pogba
Rio Mavuba (Lille) 65' for Yohan Cabaye
Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) 78' for Mathieu Valbuena
Honduras (4-4-2)
Noel Valladares (Olimpia, captain); Maynor Figueroa (Hull City), Bryan Beckeles (Olimpia), Victor Bernardez (San Jose Earthquakes), Emilio Izaguirre (Celtic); Andy Najar (Anderlecht), Luis Garrido (Olimpia), Wilson Palacios (Stoke City), Roger Espinoza (Wigan Athletic); Carlo Costly (Real Espana), Jerry Bengtson (New England Revolution)
Subs:
Oscar Boniek Garcia (Houston Dynamo) 46' for Jerry Bengtson
Osman Chavez (Qingdao Jonoon) 46' for Victor Bernardez
Jorge Claros (Montagua) 58' for Andy Najar
The biggest question going into this match was "could Honduras pull a Costa Rica?". It's very tempting to assume another similar upset to happen just because one did happen. They're called upsets for a reason. They aren't expected or common. And unfortunately it just wasn't on the cards for Honduras today. They started off alright playing great defensively, because they had to with France dominating possession, who were unlucky to hit the crossbar twice early on. Honduran players were making some dangerous, untimely tackles that their CONCACAF rivals know all about which were concerning as Honduras conceded free kicks and got players booked. But then Wilson Palacios tackled Karim Benzema in the box, not only earning France a penalty but earning Palacios a 2nd yellow, which as we all know is a red and Honduras were reduced to 10 men in a game where they could've had 15 and still been declared the underdogs. Benzema successfully converting the penalty, giving France the lead at long last. France were starting to get worried until that goal came, which took the pressure off them and allowed them to play even better the 2nd half.
Palacios's sending off forced a tactical substitution to fill in the gap in midfield by sacrificing a striker (Bengtson) for a midfielder (Garcia). France got off to a fast start in the 2nd half with Benzema nearly scoring but it wasn't a goal until it hit Valladares just enough for the ball to completely cross the line. It was the first real test of goal-line technology at this World Cup and it passed with flying colors. That unfortunate moment for Valladares resulted in another goal for France. A 2nd goal for Benzema in the closing 20 minutes sealed what was an impressive, but more expected than convincing victory from France. Nonetheless, they already obtained 2 more points than they did in 2010, and France look completely different from that tragic and catastrophic team from 4 years ago. Honduras did what they could but it simply wasn't enough, but do they have what it takes to earn their first ever World Cup victory against either Ecuador or Switzerland?
Group F: Argentina vs. Bosnia Herzegovina
Final score: A 2-1 victory for Argentina
Goalscorers: 3' Sead Kolasinac own goal (Schalke), 65' Lionel Messi (Barcelona), 85' Vedad Ibisevic (Stuttgart)
Bookings: 25' Marcos Rojo (Sporting CP), 63' Emir Spahic (Bayer Leverkusen)
Lineups
Argentina (5-3-2)
Sergio Romero (Monaco); Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Hugo Campagnaro (Inter), Federico Fernandez (Napoli), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica), Marco Rojo (Sporting CP); Maxi Rodriguez (Newell's Old Boys), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid); Lionel Messi (Barcelona, captain); Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Subs:
Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli) 46' for Maxi Rodriguez
Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors) 46' for Hugo Campagnaro
Lucas Biglia (Lazio) 87' for Sergio Aguero
Bosnia and Herzegovina (4-2-3-1)
Asmir Begovic (Stoke City); Mensur Mujdza (SC Freiburg), Ermin Bicakcic (Braunschweig), Emir Spahic (Bayer Leverkusen, captain), Sead Kolasinac (Schalke); Muhamed Besic (Ferencvaros), Izet Hajrovic (Galatasaray); Miralem Pjanic (Roma), Zvjezdan Misimovic (Guizhou Renhe), Senad Lulic (Lazio); Edin Dzeko (Manchester City)
Subs:
Vedad Ibisevic (Stuttgart) 69' for Mensur Mujdza
Edin Visca (Istanbul Basaksehir) 71' for Izet Hajrovic
Haris Medunjanin (Gaziantepspor) 74' for Zvjezdan Misimovic
Between Manchester City strike partners Aguero and Dzeko duking it out and the debut of superstar Lionel Messi, both of these teams rich in offensive talent were locked and loaded but a defender broke the scoring in the 3rd minute. Unfortunately it was in the wrong goal as Kolasinac scored an own goal to give Bosnia and Herzegovina a nightmare start to their first World Cup match ever (B+H are the only debutants at this World Cup) but they held their own and played rather well throughout this match. Despite Lionel Messi not having too many fond personal memories from his previous World Cup adventures, he got off to a good start scoring what turned out to be the decisive goal of this match, much to the delight of Argentina and Messi fans around the globe. Substitute Ibisevic scored to make the scoreline a bit more nicer, which was well deserved for the Bosnians. However it happened in part by a mistake courtesy of Sergio Romero, which reminded everyone why he is the backup keeper at Ligue 1 giants Monaco. Despite the victory, Argentina will need to improve by some distance if they want to claim their 3rd World Cup this summer. And newcomers Bosnia-Herzegovina leave the match with a chip on their shoulder as they are eager to get a win in each of their remaining group games.
Up next
Germany and Portugal have a tough group this time around but are expected to progress from it. But a rematch of the 2012 UEFA Euro group stage will certainly be an exciting encounter. Every game matters and if everything goes according to script, this match will decide who wins Group G. Germany are heavy favorites but no one individual player is admired as much as Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be fit to play against Germany after recovering from injury. Unfortunately Marco Reus had so such luck and had been ruled out of this tournament, much to the Germans' dismay, but they still have a wealth of talent to choose from.
Nigeria and Iran won't be the game most people are looking forward to but it will be both teams' best chance at picking up points, with Argentina and Bosnia Herzegovina looking very threatening. Nigeria, with such talents such as Victor Moses and Vicent Enyeama at their disposal, are very much favorites in this match but Iran will have nothing to lose and everything to prove.
USA's worst nightmare is coming back to haunt them: Ghana. Ghana are still a very powerful team, especially in midfield with players such as Sulley Muntari, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Michael Essien, and Kwadwo Asamoah, but even without Landon Donovan USA's midfield which has Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, Graham Zusi, and Jermaine Jones among others look up for the challenge. Both teams have less than stellar backlines which will both have their hands full at times, as will goalkeeper Tim Howard. USA would love nothing more than to blow away their demons and earn 3 points against the Black Stars. If either team will have a chance to progress, they'll need to win this match. Netherlands and Costa Rica managed to get their payback against Spain and Uruguay already, is it USA's turn? Or will Ghana inflict more pain on a nation where passion for football, or as we call it soccer, is ever growing?
Switzerland<3
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