Group D - URU | CRC | ENG | ITA

yes Mario

Sterling it was

I saw a miracle today. There was contact in a tackle against Italy and the Italian player stayed on his feet. I couldn't believe my eyes. Sure it was minimal but a big improvement on last world cups

England played pretty well despite losing to Italy, I reckon they will beat Uruguay, but then again, If Suarez plays, he is a genuine match winner. 

Interested to see if Rooney is moved back into the middle, still hasn't scored a world cup goal. appears to be under some serve pressure, albeit from the media.

Not sure what result to hope for Italy-Costa Rica from and England perspective. That Costa Rica win over Uruguary has really opened things up! Whatever the result, we really have to win tomorrow. Draw still gives us a chance but I don't fancy going into the last game needing to win.

I guess either team winning and then hope to go through 2nd is probably best for England. Italy win will mean Costa Rica have to go for the win in the last game which may leave them more open at the back, whereas a Costa Rica win puts them through, but that may see them attack more to try and finish top. Italy-Costa Rica draw probably fucks us as Costa Rica (and Italy) would then park the bus in the last game as they'll only need a draw.

Hoping for an Italy Costa Rica draw now. Then I'm going to read the England thread from start to finish for lols

What a half of footy from Costa Rica. Scum 0-1 Costa Rica.

England won't beat Costa Rica at this rate. Don't deserve to either.

Great game. Well worth getting up for (how many times have I had to say that so far this WC!).

Best part about this is that the ref saw right through Italy's shit from start to finish. Not a single simulated flop awarded all night.

<p>Couldn't agree more AJ. </p><p>Top effort from CR!! They got a good bit of luck and they got there tactics right. Great game</p>

CR deserved to win this. Italy were awful and Balotelli was the worst player on the pitch. Have never seen him play so poorly. Missed a sitter.

Not sure why (or whether?) Italy were trying to get a late equaliser and/or go for the win (their substitutions seemed to indicate attacking intent).  The fact was, unless they won comfortably, they would always need a draw against Uruguay to qualify* as long as they didn't lose by 2 goals or more.

Therefore important thing for Italy was to not lose by 2 goals.  Mission accomplished. Don't write 'em off just yet.

*Edit: Jumped the gun.  Not quite right, could have survived a 1-goal loss had they snatched a 1-goal win v Costa Rica - But the point remains that  the critical "tipping point" was to not lose by 2 goals.

Oh well. It' actually a relief to have it confirmed today instead of going through the hope in the next week and then losing to Costa Rica anyway. Like I said yesterday, it's good to get the hope out of the way early and have a tournament off the penalties for once. Can now enjoy the rest of the games with no vested interest and no worries about who is going play who and all that. Always do enjoy these things more after England are out.

Hard to see us not losing to Costa Rica regardless of the situation, unless they play a complete reserve team in party mode. May aswell give the likes of Shaw, Wilshere, Lallana etc some time.

Presumably Italy will pass the ball around and cruise to a 0-0 draw with Uruguay. They are masters of that.

This Cup has been so unpredictable that it will probably turn out to be a topsy-turvy goalfest.

Any Indian bookies around that hate England? A few envelopes here and there and a 0-0 is a give me.

omg suarez just bit again, that guy is f*cked in the head

world cup over? will they ban him right away?

ref didnt see it, surely will be reviewed after the game

Italian Bench Guy did, he was apoplectic and got sent off. Life is not fair, let alone football.

Should be banned for life. He is an absolute disgrace

saurez is the biggest human shit

Its just what he does. he bit someone to get a move from Ajax, He bit someone to get a move from Liverpool, Arsenal bid, triggered his release clause (that his agent told us about) but Henry denied it existed and forced him to stay unless Arsenal went to court over it. Now Real Madrid have been sniffing around, he needed another biting victim to ensure the move.

I'm actually Suarez's dentist, his headbutts automatically comes with bite marks.

Yes, he should get banned. But that is not why Italy is out, they played pants and deserved it.

He will surely cop a suspension and a lengthy one at that.  Do FIFA have the power or the balls to make the ban from all football or just internationals?

Group of Teeth

Come on guys, Suarez was just horsing around. He actually likes the guy. He said to him to hurry up and get a tattooist to make it a permanent mark. "I went to Brazil for the world cup and all I got was a lousey set of teeth marks"

How would this affect any transfer fee? Surely Liverpool would have to fight tooth and nail to get it above 40 million now?

Chose the England game so haven't seen the Suarez incident but not surprised he's done it again. Further proves why I didn't want him at my club last year and still don't. Anything won with him would be always be tainted by something like this that happens along the way and I personally would find it difficult to support a team with this lowest of the lowest piece of scum in it. Victory comes with harmony.

FIFA have announced they will investigate and apparently they can issue a band of up to 2 years. Not sure whether that's from all football or just international. With his previous, anything less than an immediate 2 year ban would be a travesty. I can't think of another biting incident in football from any era that didn't involve Suarez.

As for England, it was a poxy game and we were dire. We still wouldn't have scored if the game was still going now. Hopefully now Gerrard retires as well as Lampard so we can properly start a new era instead of still being held back by someone who is long past it.

Really surprised to hear the Uruguary result. Expected Italy to cruise to the 0-0 they needed and looks like they were close to doing so. And of course the goal was scored by the guy who should have been sent off in the previous game and suspended.

1) That yarpie on Fitzpatrick in the 90s.

2) Mike Tyson on Holyfield.

Fair enough, should have actually said football. Will edit.

I've heard from a friend of a friend of a neighbour of a friend that the Italian defender told Suarez just prior to the incident that the Uruguian teams attack lacked a bit of bite so he proved him wrong.

This will be FIFA's worst nightmare. Suarez is a recidivist offender so its not like he can say 'I'm sorry' or 'I didn't mean it'. Considering whats happened, FIFA can't really afford to take the soft option (although you can guarantee his WC is over). If they choose the soft option, they will look weak in dealing with a player that has a history of doing this so their whole 'Fair Play' mantra gets tossed out the window.

I would be interested if UEFA and the EPL do anything about it if FIFA chose not to. Either way, regardless of what happens, this will be messy cause FIFA will not want to be seen to be setting a precedent that then has to be followed in the future/

Liverpool also have a PR nightmare and a big decision on their hands now. At least Uruguay wont get past the round of 16 and nothing to worry about.

Yeah certainly can't remember it in football.

On that Fitzy incident, the bloke got 18 months for it. That is how heavy the punshiment was in rugby, and it was a one time offence.

Not sure how I got dragged in to this...

Having watched all but 3 games in full of this entire world cup (and highlights of the other 3), I have to say this has been the group with the poorest quality football and the most boring in general. 

A shame really, I had targeted this group to be one of the most entertaining prior to the world cup. 

Disagree. Group F and Group H have been horrendous. To the point where someone fell asleep at the Belgium-Russia game.

Absolutely. It's not a first time offence, or even a second time. They have to throw the book at him and anything less than the maximum would be a travesty for me. If you or I had bitten 3 people we'd be in prison.

Pretty clear cut.

I am with Buffon II on this. 

I watched Russia play South Korea in the transit lounge in Singapore waiting for my flight.

That was the worst game I've seen in a long time. Dire, uninspiring, and with all the flare of a used parking ticket.

Italy lost because they did not manage to wring an undeserved penalty out of the ref, they way they did against Australia in 2006 and against the All Whites in 2010.