GROUP G
There was a lot to look forward to from the 2 matches taking place here on Friday. Aside from the obvious allure of a Brazil vs. Portugal matchup, there was the situation I wrote about earlier this week where Ivory Coast could still advance if they went completely bonkers on North Korea and beat them like 7 or 8 to nothing or something. Turns out I was pretty much looking forward to nothing, because Brazil/Portugal was a 0-0 kickabout with Brazil playing with the goal of not expending too much energy, and Portugal playing to avoid a disastrous blowout loss which would have opened the door for Ivory Coast. Portugal opened things up a bit at the end, getting a few scoring chances once it became evident that Ivory Coast was only going to manage a pedestrian 3-0 win over North Korea. Brazil and Portugal advance out of what was tagged as the G.O.D. before the tournament.
GROUP G MATCH SUMMARY
Brazil - W N. Korea 2-1, W Ivory Coast 3-1, D Portugal 0-0
Portugal - D Ivory Coast 0-0, W N. Korea 7-0, D Brazil 0-0
Ivory Coast - D Portugal 0-0, L Brazil 1-3, W N. Korea 3-0
N. Korea - L Brazil 1-2, L Portugal 0-7, L Ivory Coast 0-3
GROUP H
The day started with the very real possiblity that Spain could join Italy and France as first round disasters failing to advance. All that it would take would be a Switzerland win over weak sisters Honduras, and Spain failing to get a victory over a very tough Chile side for that to possibly happen. Spain avoided the fate of the 06 finalists though, surviving a 2-1 match against a Chile side that played like ill tempered sea bass who shot frickin laser beams out of their foreheads. David Villa scored one goal from waaaay downtown when the Chile keeper was feeling a little too frisky, and set up Iniesta for the second Spain goal. Chile goes thru despite the loss thanks to Honduras, who neutralized Switzerland in a 0-0 draw.
GROUP H MATCH SUMMARY
Spain - L Switzerland 0-1, W Honduras 2-0, W Chile 2-1
Chile - W Honduras 1-0, W Switzerland 1-0, L Spain 1-2
Switzerland W Spain 1-0, L Chile 0-1, D Honduras 0-0
Honduras - L Chile 0-1, L Spain 0-2, D Switzerland 0-0
ROUND OF 16 MATCHUPS
Brazil v. Chile
Spain v. Portugal
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