Brazil 2014: Day 16

Day 16. No games tonight, but the group stages were completed last night so we have the full set of games known for the 2nd round, the round of 16.

Results for Thursday 26th June 2014

Group G
Portugal                                      2-1     Ghana
Boye 30′ (og) Ronaldo 80′                Gyan 57′
Ref: Nawaf Shukralla
Att: 67,540

USA                                             0-1      Germany
Müller 55′
Ref: Ravshan Irmatov
Att: 41,876

Group H
Algeria                                      1-1        Russia
Slimani 60′                                             Kokorin 6′
Ref: Cüneyt Çakir
Att: 39,311

South Korea                             0-1     Belgium
Vertonghen 77′
Ref: Ben Williams
Att: 61,397

Review of the Group Stages by Ollie Heptinstall – http://www.exeweb.com/2014/06/27/brazil-2014-group-stage-review/

TV Schedule for the round of 16m plus referee appointments for June 28 http://www.exeweb.com/2014/06/27/brazil-2014-round-of-16-tv-schedule/

2nd Round Games

Brazil v Chile.     Match 49
Colombia v Uruguay.     Match 50
Netherlands v Mexico.     Match 51
Costa Rica v Greece.     Match 52
France v Nigeria.     Match 53
Germany v Algeria.     Match 54
Argentina v Switzerland. Match 55
Belgium v USA.         Match 56

QUOTES

Algeria v Russia Quotes
Vahid Halilhodzic, Algeria coach
I am very proud, we played a heroic match and we deserved to qualify. We’re very, very proud. We’ve progressed so much over the past three years and this is a real gift for us. We’ve received support from all over the Arabic world – and that has been wonderful. The people here in Brazil also appreciate our sincerity and enthusiasm and I’m proud of that. But more than that, I’m proud of the way the team has played. Everyone will now talk about 1982 when Algeria beat Germany, but 32 years ago is a long time!

Fabio Capello, Russia coach
In my career, I’ve never seen a World Cup at this level. The quality is absolutely incredible, the pace is so intense. This is a great tournament. If you make the slightest mistake, you pay for it. We made minor mistakes which we’ve paid for. I never look for excuses, I accept defeat. At this World Cup, I was playing for the present – not for 2018. We could have won it, but we conceded. I thought we played well, the Algeria goalkeeper saved well on a few occasions. This Algerian squad is an excellent team, they have power and quality. They deserve respect – but I’ve said that ever since the draw was made.

Islam Slimani, Algeria forward and Man of the Match
It’s a dream come true for me, but it’s not just me – it’s the group that should be praised. We’ve played well and we deserve to qualify. This award is a real bonus, I love to play with this team.

USA v Germany Quotes
Joachim Low, Germany coach
We were well organised today and dominated the match. We didn’t let USA have a chance on our goal right up to the final whistle. We were strong in midfield and that’s where we put them under pressure. Bastian Schweinsteiger was excellent until he ran out of steam. It was a good opportunity to give Sami Khedira a rest. Even during our preparations Thomas Muller was in great shape both physically and mentally. He’s a very intelligent player and it’s very difficult to defend against him. He makes everything look so easy and he’s very valuable for us. Now we’re in the Round of 16 and it’s a different kind of situation. It’s all or nothing and that brings with it a completely different dynamic and a different kind of tension.

Thomas Muller, Germany forward and Man of the Match
We started strongly and showed who was boss straight away. Four goals in three games? It feels good because it means you can rely on your own ability. I’m enjoying it a lot. I hope I can contribute to us going as far as possible and maybe even going all the way.

Jurgen Klinsmann, USA coach
It’s a great achievement to get out of this group and into the knockout rounds. It was a difficult game, both physically and mentally, because the knowledge that a draw would be enough was always at the back of our minds. We were a bit too nervous and showed them too much respect at the start but we calmed down as the match wore on. We’ve got a great team and we put in a superb performance. We could have created a few more chances but overall I’m satisfied. It was one of the most difficult groups at the tournament. Ghana and Portugal are good teams and Germany are one of the favourites to win the title. We’re still learning and growing as a team. Now everything starts from scratch again because the knockout rounds are very different.

Korea Republic v Belgium
Marc Wilmots, Belgium coach
Yet again our patient approach paid off. I knew that the Koreans would leave us with a lot of space to play with. My young team had a tendency to push forwards too much at times, so I tried to get them to relax a little. It’s no easy task to finish the group stage with nine points. It’s a truly historic achievement for Belgium, and I’d like to congratulate the staff and all the players. We’re here to win, not to play beautiful football, and we’ve accomplished our mission.

Jan Vertonghen, Belgium defender and Man of the Match
After scoring, I wanted to share my indescribable joy with our supporters. We feel like they’re really behind us, and that’s important for the squad. Finishing top of the group and pulling off a late win with ten men is also a real source of satisfaction.

Hong Myungbo, Korea Republic coach
My players gave everything they had. They made some mistakes, but also produced a lot of good things. We played pretty well overall, creating chances on the counter-attack. The nature of the match changed after Belgium had a man sent off. We probably held onto the ball for too long in midfield. I take responsibility for the result. I’ve done my best – my World Cup objective was to not have any regrets at the end. I’m going to take a little bit more time before deciding on my future.

Portugal v Ghana
Paulo Bento, Portugal coach
Our first match [the 4-0 defeat versus Germany] was crucial, due to the impact it had on us on every level – both on our morale and because it was a very heavy defeat, which meant we had a significant goal-difference handicap. It’s true that we had chances against United States, when we were the better team, but we didn’t put them all away. That forced us into a situation where we’d have to score a lot of goals [to qualify for the Round of 16], which is very difficult to do. Even in today’s game we had the chances to have racked up a bigger score. But it was what happened in the first game that proved decisive and which left its mark on us, even in terms of our preparations.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal captain and Man of the Match
We tried to do our best at this tournament, but we weren’t able to. Today was a must-win game and we won it. We created a lot of chances. We knew that if Germany were to win by a goal [versus USA] we needed to score four, and we created enough to have done that. The feeling we’re left with is that it could have been done, because we created enough chances. We leave here with our heads held high.

James Kwesi Appiah, Ghana coach
The disciplinary incidents of the past few days didn’t have any impact on our performance. I think that, if you compare it with the team we had at the 2010 World Cup, this side is quite a lot younger – in that team we’d had players who’d been preparing for years. But we’re growing in confidence and we’re building a nice team for the future.4