Brazil 2014: Day 13

Day 13 in the Brazilian 2014 World Cup.  The first set of groups have been completed, so we now know the first 4 teams through to the knock-out stages. Brazil will play Chile, and Mexico will be playing Holland in the next stage. Those games will take place on Saturday 28th June and Sunday 29th June. Croatia, Cameroon, Spain and Australia are now out.

Results for Monday 23 June
Group A
Cameroon         1-4         Brazil
Matip 26′                            Neymar 17′, 34′ Fred 49′ Fernandinho 84′
Ref: Jonas Eriksson
Att: 69,112

Croatia         1-3         Mexico
Perisic 87′                    Márquez 72′ Guardado 75′ Hernández 82′
Ref: Ravshan Irmatov
Att: 41,212

Group B
Australia         0-3         Spain
Villa 36′ Torres 69′ Mata 82′
Ref: Nawaf Shukralla
Att: 39,375

Holland            2-0         Chile
Fer 77′ Depay 90′
Ref: Bakary Gassama
Att: 62,996

Finals tables for groups A and B:

Group A						Group B
Pos	Team	Played	GD	Points		Pos	Team	Played	GD	Points
1	Brazil	3	5	7		1	Holland	3	7	9
2	Mexico	3	3	7		2	Chile	3	2	6
3	Croatia	3	0	3		3	Spain	3	-3	3
4	Cameroon	3	-8	0		4	Australia	3	-6	0

Fixtures for Tuesday 24 June

• Italy v Uruguay. Match 39, group D, kick off at 5pm BST and live on ITV4 at the Estadio das Dunas, Natal.
• Costa Rica v England. Match 40, group D, kick off at 5pm BST live on ITV at the Estadio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte
• Japan v Colombia. Match 37, group C kick off at 9pm BST live on BBC 1 at the Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba
• Greece v Ivory Coast. Match 38, group C, kick off at 9pm BST, live on BBC 3 at the Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza

Referee Appointments
Today – http://www.exeweb.com/2014/06/22/brazil-2014-referee-appointments-for-june-24/
Wednesday – http://www.exeweb.com/2014/06/23/brazil-2014-referee-appointments-for-25-june/

Quotes

Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum speaking to FIFA.com  said “People usually just look at the star players and don’t consider the team as a whole. Plenty of teams have more famous, perhaps even better players than us. But what everybody forgets is that this is a team game. We’re playing well, and we’re playing as a team”

Brazilian striker Fred has not had an easy World Cup campaign so far, but it all came good yesterday with a goal for Brazil. Talking to FIFA.com he said . “I’m thrilled to have scored. I’ve been getting a lot of criticism, but it hasn’t upset me too much, because I know the other players in the squad are right behind me, and that has really encouraged me. They’ve seen the way I’ve been playing, and how I perform in training every day. Thanks to God, everything worked out. Now we can continue to grow together as a team. It’s a vital moment for us. I want to make sure I keep scoring, and help the team progress”

Mexico v Croatia comments
Miguel Herrera, Mexico coach
“I’ll have a few more great days yet. The s still room for improvement. We stayed calm and maintained our focus, that was the key to success.”

Niko Kovac, Croatia coach
“We stayed in the game for a long time but two set-pieces were decisive today. We weren’t that bad but Mexico were better than us. The final score makes it looks worse than it really was though. Mexico were very compact at the back and we couldn’t find a way through them. We have to go home now but life goes on. It’s been a very positive World Cup for us, it gave us new impetus and we played well.”

Rafael Marquez, Budweiser Man of the Match, Mexico
“The Netherlands are a great side. After such a tight game we need to recover now. We had to fight hard but we performed as a team once again.”

England‘s line-up against Costa Rica, according to manager Roy Hodgson, is likely to be:-
Ben Foster in goal, Defenders: Phil Jones, Cahill, Chris Smalling, and Luke Shaw.  Midfield will be James Milner, Frank Lampard, Jack Wilshere, Ross Barkley and Adam Lallana. Sturridge will be the lone striker.

Spain v Australia comments
Vicente del Bosque, Spain coach
“We rounded off our campaign in the best possible way, the players did great. They put us under the cosh in the opening minutes but we recovered and then took control. We were the better team. There are a lot of players in this group who can play a part in the future, there’s no need to go ruling anyone out. My future? We’ll have a look over the next few days and weeks. There’s no rush.”

Ange Postecoglou, Australia coach
“It was disappointing. We started well but Spain’s quality came through and they ended up imposing their style and taking control. To be honest, we were tired and we gave the ball away far too easily. At this World Cup we’ve shown positive things that we can work on, though we’re still a bit short of matching the world’s best. We’ll work hard to get back here within four years and hit a higher standard. Del Bosque came over to me and congratulated us on our performance at the competition, which was very nice of him. I really admire how the Spanish play football, they always try and play the right way and that, for me, deserves a great deal of respect.”

Cameroon v Brazil quotes
Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil coach
“We’re making progress day by day, game by game, despite running into a few difficulties
and ups and downs. Maybe we tried to hurry things a bit too much early on, when we scored our first goal and let anxiety get to us. We need to show more calm and composure. Fortunately we ironed out some flaws at half-time and after the break we used the ball better again. I’ve come up against Chile twice before and remember how difficult it was for us. They’re a typical South American side: they’re cunning, organised and have quality. If I could, I’d pick a different team for us to face.”

Volker Finke, Cameroon coach
“It’s hard to put your finger on everything right after a game. In the first half we did well, despite conceding two goals. You’ve got to give to credit to Brazil, as they managed to create a lot of chances thanks to the quality they have. For that reason I’d say they deserved the win. Now’s the moment to take some time out and analyse the reasons behind the campaign we’ve had. I think that, along with the first-half performance against Croatia, the first half today was the best we’ve played in this World Cup.”

Neymar, Brazil forward and Budweiser Man of the Match
“When you’re living a dream and achieving a goal you’ve had since you were a child, you don’t feel any pressure. I’m doing what I’ve dreamed of, so I want to help my team-mates by scoring goals, defending, challenging for the ball, whatever’s needed to get us the win. I think that yes, it was our best performance, not just due to the scoreline but because of what we showed out there. The way we put them under pressure was vital. It was a big scoreline but we deserved it. We’re on the right track and getting better all the time.”