Binge Media Sports: 2014 FIFA World Cup-Round of 16-Day 1
Halfway home. Welcome back to Binge Media Sports coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and what a tournament we’ve already had. The stars certainly came out to play in the group stage. Brazil’s Neymar has scored four goals as the hosts won Group A. Not to be outdone, Argentina’s Lionel Messi matched with four goals of his own, scoring in every match thus far. Ronaldo wasn’t at his best and we Americans hated him for a few days as his beautiful assist nearly dashed the U.S. hopes of advancing, but his late goal against Ghana guaranteed the U.S. a spot in the knockout stage. Captain Clint Dempsey scored two goals of his own to help the American cause. And let’s not forget about Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, who came in with a chance to change his image, but only worsened his case and his team’s chances of winning the World Cup with the bite seen around the world.
One thing we do know is that we will have a new World Cup champion, as defending champion Spain couldn’t make it through the group stage. It’s anybody’s tournament at this point, and there are certainly some surprises in the round of 16, most notably Costa Rica, the Netherlands, and Colombia, who each won their respective group. Most didn’t even expect the U.S. to get through the “group of death”, but they’re here and have more support at home than ever. We’ve seen games with a ton of goals scored and scored quickly and we’ve seen some very exciting 0-0 draws (think Brazil v. Mexico). And here we are. 32 has become 16 and it’s time to take a look at the games of the knockout stage. Over the next four days, I’ll give you a look at each day’s action, including the broadcast time, how each team got here, how you did in the poll, a match preview, and of course, another chance to vote on each game’s winner. So let’s get started with Day 1 of the Round of 16 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
TV BROADCAST: Saturday, June 28th-Noon Eastern/11:00 Central-ABC
Group Stage:
BRAZIL- def. Croatia 3-1, tied Mexico 0-0, def. Cameroon 4-1
CHILE- def. Australia 3-1, def. Spain 2-0, lost to Netherlands 0-2
Group Stage Poll Results:
100% voted for Brazil to advance
67% voted for Chile to advance
Match Preview: The host nation Brazil kicks off the knockout stage on Saturday morning. They haven’t been at their best, but were good enough to win Group A and their stars are coming up big. Neymar and Fred have led the way so far and will look to pressure their South American brethren, Chile. Chile is coming off of a defeat in their last match of group play against the surprising Netherlands, but Alexis Sanchez and company did pick up two impressive wins, including a 2-0 victory against defending champion Spain. Brazil is fast and will be the favorite in this match, but Chile is here for a reason and they’ll be looking to use their own quickness to spoil Brazil’s hopes of winning on home soil.
[yop_poll id=”127″]
TV BROADCAST: Saturday, June 28th-4:00 Eastern/3:00 Central-ABC
Group Stage:
COLOMBIA- def. Greece 3-0, def. Ivory Coast 2-1, def. Japan 4-1
URUGUAY- lost to Costa Rica 1-3, def. England 2-1, def. Italy 1-0
Group Stage Poll Results:
100% voted for Colombia to advance
67% voted for Uruguay to advance
Match Preview: The obvious story here will be the absence of Luis Suarez, who will not even be allowed in the stadium after FIFA banned him for four months after biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in Uruguay’s 1-0 win, which they needed to make it here. Without their main scoring threat, Uruguay faces a tough test against a Colombian squad that scored nine goals in three victories in group play. Uruguay has the experience of a semifinal run in South Africa four years ago, but Colombia will be looking to ride their momentum into the quarterfinals. James Rodriguez will look to add to his three goals and two assists for the Colombians as they’ll likely be a slight favorite heading into Saturday’s match.
[yop_poll id=”129″]
Check back tomorrow for a preview of Day 2 of the Round of 16 at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Tomorrow’s preview will feature Netherlands v. Mexico and Costa Rica v. Greece. Make sure to keep checking Binge Media Sports for all of your World Cup coverage. If you feel the need to justify your vote or just have an opinion on the tourney in general, feel free to use the comments section below or follow me and tweet @THElukenorris.