Group A came to an end with Neymar scoring a superb double against Cameroon to seal Brazil’s top spot, whilst Mexico overcame Croatia to qualify and set up a game against Netherlands. The World Cup hosts approached the tournament in good spirits but an opening day victory over Croatia was followed by a draw with Mexico, leading to some doubts about their title credentials. But, there final game against Cameroon saw Barcelona’s Neymar produce a superb display and net two superb goals as the hosts ran out 4-1 winners. Neymar’s 18th minute goal was followed by an equaliser by the…
Author: Staff Writer
Group B came to an end on Monday evening in Brazil as both Netherlands and Chile qualified for the next round, leaving Australia and World champions Spain to return home. It was sealed after the second round of group games that Netherlands and Chile would be advancing to the knock-out stages, meaning the winner of their match on Monday would avoid Brazil and goals from Leroy Fer and Memphis Depay secured a 2-0 win for the Dutch. The game, played in Sao Paulo, started well with both sides battling hard and it took until the deadlock was broken by Fer,…
Croatia International striker Ante Rebic is expected to leave his Italian club Fiorentina, with a possible move to Southampton on the cards. Reports today in Italian press have revealed that the south coasters have their watchful eye on the young Serie A forward, who is said to be worth in the region of £4M. Southampton will be looking to make urgent reinforcements to their attacking force for the start of their 2014/2015 Premier League campaign, as a result of them proving to be victims of their own success. With this past season having been their golden opportunity to demonstrate they…
Titan Bet’s Brazil World Cup reporter Ollie Silverton takes a segway tour of Copacabana beach and during his travels, spots the England players’ tour bus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDZPW0V2DFs&feature=youtu.be
Fuel has been added to the fireball of speculation surrounding a summer exit for AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli, by club Vice-President Barbara Berlusconi. It was reported on Fox News earlier today that the 23-year-old Italian star, who is featuring in the national team’s World Cup campaign in Brazil, has not been ruled out a possible move away from the Serie A giants. AC Milan club VP Barbara Berlusconi has spoken about the forward in a manner that did little to serve as confirmation that the club wishes him to see out the remainder of his four year contract. She dubbed…
With a brand new week of World Cup fixtures kicking off today, Football Express News take a look at which players are not certain to feature in their next instalment of international campaign owing to injury and illness. Cameroon captain and striker Samuel Eto’o, whose recovery from a knee operation left him out of last week’s 4-0 defeat against Croatia, will likely be unfortunate to further-diminish Cameroon’s chances of survival in the tournament today. Eto’o is sure to be disappointed to skip the clash against Brazil, a fixture tipped to be tough for the Africans. Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal is…
Chelsea’s budding on-loan starlet Thorgan Hazard, younger brother of first team favourite Eden, is set to bid farewell to his Belgian on-loan club Zulte Waregem this summer. The 21-year-old attacking midfielder has a similar playing style to his elder sibling Eden and is looking to raise the bar by joining a bigger club following two years with the Juliper Pro Ligue side and proving himself a big fish in a small pond. Hazard won the prestigious Belgian Golden Boot award at the beginning of this year which saw him crowned best player in the Belgian league and capture the attention…
The second round of group fixtures saw 16 games played with 45 goals scored. Our writer Declan Olley (@declanolley) looks at some of the best and worst moments of the second group phase and gives his team of the round… Best match: Germany 2-2 Ghana A game that epitomises this World Cup, it had goals, lightning counter-attacks and carefree football providing the world with thrilling Saturday night entertainment. It will always be remembered too for Miroslav Klose’s equalling Brazilian Ronaldo’s World Cup scoring record of 15 goals. Honourable mention: Australia 2-3 Netherlands Worst match: Japan 0-0 Greece Once Greece had…
Portugal are on the verge of elimination from the World Cup after USA held them to a 2-2 draw on Sunday evening. Portugal’s opening group game defeat to Germany saw them in desperate need to beat United States on Sunday or face the chances of not reaching the knock out stages of the World Cup and they got off to a perfect start when Manchester United winger Nani found space inside the six-yard box, before firing his country in front. Jurgen Klinsmann’s side then came close as Clint Dempsey struck a sublime free-kick but his effort was just too high and…
Algeria produced a superb display to win their first even World Cup match against Korea Republic on Sunday evening. Vahid Halihodzic’s side were superb from the off and they raced into a three-goal lead in the first half, prompting a victory that now puts them in pole position to qualify from Group H. Sofiane Feghouli continues his brilliant form by striking inside the box in the opening minute, although his effort went just wide but his effort was followed by Islam Slimani, who got himself on the scoresheet after 27 minutes. Algeria’s perfect first half was then completed by Rafik…