22.6.14 World Cup - Friday 20th & Saturday 21st June

Ecuador v Honduras

Despite there being every reason for both teams to play well, there was an emphasis on playing rough, with a relentless approach to 'strong' tackles and fouling on a monotonous basis.  Unfortunately for the Honduras team, [the ones with a big 'H' on their shirts, for anyone not sure who's who] there was insufficient ability to take them further in the competition.

The Ecuador team managed to show a bit more skill and speed, to win the match and consign their opponents to an exit from the competition.  The loss of the Honduras side to any competition is a victory for fair play and disappointing only to those who support dirty play!


France v Switzerland

It was all too easy for France, and despite the Swiss getting back two goals later in the game, there was never any doubt that.


Ghana v Germany

Congratulations to Ghana and to Germany for a fantastic display.  Okay, the first half was pretty crap, and I did fear that there would be a dreadful plodding towards an eventual win for Germany, but instead, we were treated to real entertainment.

Germany scored first, not unexpectedly, but to Ghana's great credit, they bounced back and drew level three minutes later.  When Ghana went 2-1 up, it was uplifting.  The end-to-end football in the second half was super, and there could have been fifty different outcomes, taking into account the various permutations from the numerous chances.  This was really good football, and the 2-2 outcome was perhaps a good result.


Nigeria v Bosnia-Herzegovina

What a farce.  A perfectly good goal by Bosnia-Herzegovina was disallowed for offside.  Then Nigeria scored the only (allowed) goal of the game, meaning B-H ejection from the World Cup.  Poor decisions by officials again cause some major grief.  All that being said, the Bosnian team was pretty awful, and there was a weird sort of justice, seeing Nigeria get the three points.  This doesn't resolve anything in what is a tight group, though, and whether Nigeria or Iran manages to gain second spot is up in the air.

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