World Cup, Brazil 2014: Day 4 Open Thread

So then, day 3 was pretty, pretty good wasn't it, Starting off with a very entertaining game between Colombia and Greece. Colombian fans packed the stadium and brought the atmosphere, then the early Colombian goal was exactly what the game needed. Greece were forced to be less defensive than the stereotype suggests they'd like to be and played their part in an absorbing match just as much as the Colombians did. Alas for the Greeks they hit the bar with their best chance and it ended 3-0, South American teams record moving to 3-0 for the tournament.

That run came to a surprising crash as group D got going. Uruguay seemed to be cruising to a victory after a first half penalty, it was a foul for sure, but boy did the Uruguayan make sure the ref knew about it. The second half though it all went wrong for them as presumed group whipping boys Costa Rica provided the first big upset (the margin of victory for the Dutch notwithstanding) coming back to score 3 very nice goals and coast home to a comfortable win punctuated by a red card to Maximiliano Pereira for a petulant tackle in injury time. Concacaf now stands proudly alone as the only undefeated continent, well Oceania as well I guess, but you know.

Then it was off to the Amazon for Italy vs England, and while there maybe wasn't the same pace we've seen in other games, it was still much better than I'd anticipated, 3 goals, some good skill, with Raheem Sterling and Andrea Pirlo standing out, though it did fizzle out a bit towards the end, understandable perhaps given the heat.

The marathon continued with the final game of the day, the Japanese taking a 1-0 lead over Cote d'Ivoire before the Elephants brought Drogba off the bench which just seemed to change everything as they (though not he) scored two goals very shortly after his arrival and that was all they needed for a 2-1 win.

Exhale, trudge off to bed, then up again today for more of the same, though only 3 games today.

First up, Switzerland vs Ecuador at 12 Eastern and the first chance for the Swiss to justify their number 6 world ranking. I don't know a lot about either side really going into this, so instead I'll fall back on some lazy analysis and suggest Ecuador's familiarity with South American conditions should be enough to balance out the skill gap and we could well see out first draw.

After that, Canadian fans finally get some good villainy to properly cheer against. France vs Honduras at 3pm. As I said in the Vocal Minority's excellent, impartial and thorough preview - Fuck Honduras. I hope they lose all their games 8-1. I hope they have to take an actual rowboat back to Honduras, and I hope the entire country collapses into a football civil war due to just how ashamed of the team they are. Fuckers. So, though it pains me to say it, vive le France in that one.

Then at 6pm, it's Argentina vs Bosnia and Herzegovina, a chance for the Argentinians to show they can figure out how to play and get the best out of all their talented forwards at the same time. If they get it right, they could be very very good, and though it again pains me to say it, they're the team I've picked to win it all.  Prove me wrong kids, prove me wrong.

Just over an hour to the first kick off now, here we go again.