England GK Joe Hart reacts to Italy scoring

World Cup Roundup – Day 3

Throughout the World Cup, we at 32 Flags will be giving you a complete recap of the action at the end of the day in our World Cup Roundup.  Not only will we run down the biggest winners and losers, but the highlights and most talked about moments of each day and a look ahead to tomorrow.

1) Biggest Winner – Costa Rica

In a group with 3 former World Cup winners Costa Rica was given no chance to compete. After the greatest day in their football history, a 3-1 win over Uruguay, Los Ticos are poised to send some shock waves through Brazil.

After conceding an early penalty and falling behind 1-0, Costa Rica stormed back with 3 second half goals to land the biggest upset so far of the 2014 tournament. Uruguay looked lost without star talisman Luis Suarez and their shocking loss puts them in a very precarious situation going forward.

2) Standout Performer – Joel Campbell – Costa Rica

Mario Balotelli and Andrea Pirlo had a great case to be featured here but the 21 year old Costa Rican takes the top spot. Campbell impressed not only with his thumping volley for Los Ticos’ opening goal but also his pace and work rate. He had a few other shots who came close, showing his confidence. Campbell turns 22 this month and Arsenal fans will be eager to see him play at the Emirates next season after spending 3 seasons on loan away from London.

3) Biggest Loser – England and Uruguay

The 2 teams many saw advancing out of Group D both sit on 0 points after their first matches. We talked briefly about Uruguay’s loss but England was in the same boat. The English players looked completely gassed by the end of the game and outside his assist, Wayne Rooney looked borderline awful. Rooney authored up this corner kick in the second half that summed up his, and England’s, day.

4) Best Tweet

Players falling in nets is always funny.

5) Biggest Surprise – No Draws

We are 8 matches in and there has yet to be a draw in Brazil. Most non-soccer fans point to a tie scores as being boring and one of the big reasons they don’t watch soccer. So far, those people have nothing to complain about.

6) Best Moment – Andrea Pirlo’s Magic

Pirlo is not from this planet, he can’t be. His free kick in the second half was not something normal people can do. His dummy that led to Italy’s opening goal was a thing of pure beauty. One day we’ll all tell our grandchildren about Andrea Pirlo and how he played the game.

7) Best Goal – Keisuke Honda 

Honda opened the scoring for Japan with a spectacular strike to beat Ivory Coast goalkeeper Boubacar Barry top shelf.

8) Extra Time –  Referee Mark Geiger

Mark Geiger is an American referee who referees in Major League Soccer. Geiger was in charge of today’s Colombia-Greece match and he was exceptional. MLS referees get a lot of negative comments from fans and sometimes they are well deserved. It was refreshing to see a good performance from an American, MLS referee on the world’s stage. If Geiger continues with top performances he will be in line to take charge of games in the knockout rounds.

Sunday Preview:

*all times Eastern

Switzerland v Ecuador 12PM, ABC

Switzerland rolled through their UEFA qualifying and were seeded for this World Cup. Even though the Swiss are seeded they are underdogs in their group. This match against Ecuador could go a long way in determining both teams’ fates with France being a heavy favorite in the group.

France v Honduras 3PM, ABC

I have talked up France a lot in the lead up to this tournament and it is time to see if the hype is real. On paper the French should have no problems with Honduras but we saw a CONCACAF side with an upset today so don’t count out Los Catrachos just yet. Look for young star Paul Pogba to shine for Les Bleus.

Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina 6PM, ESPN

Messi makes his way to the big stage to make his awaited debut in Brazil. Bosnia-Herzegovina make their World Cup debut. The Argentine firepower will be on display but Bosnia-Herzegovina have some goal scorers of their own in Edin Dzeko and Vedad Ibesevic. This is the match I am most looking forward to on Sunday, a nice wrap up to the World Cup weekend.

About Dustyn Richardson

Managing editor and Houston Dynamo writer for Total-MLS. Fan of all Houston sports teams and Manchester United supporter. Still angry at Bud Selig for moving the Astros to the American League.

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