No Matter Who You're Rooting For, It's a...
Fans from around the globe have congregated on the world-famous Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the 2014 World Cup tournament. VOA’s Brian Allen shows what it’s like to be a fan at the biggest soccer party of the year.
USA (2-1) Ghana
UPDATE: The third time was the charm for the US, who finally bested their World Cup rival Ghana. Although the United States’ Jozy Altidore was taken out early with a hamstring injury, the US was able to score in the opening and closing minutes of the match and win 2-1.
Original post:
To call United States vs. Ghana a grudge match is an understatement, at least as far as the US is concerned. In 2006, Ghana knocked the US out of the group stage. In 2010, the US made it to the round of 16, before being beaten…by Ghana. This year, the US is hoping that they can best their World Cup rival in their third meeting in as many World Cups. Ghana, meanwhile, looks to keep their win streak against the US going. See them face off at 6 PM ET (10 PM UDT).
For play-by-play, minute-by-minute coverage of every ball touch, throw-in, direct kick, indirect kick, yellow card, red card, corner kick, goal kick and every other possible football feat in every World Cup match, tap into VOA’s multilingual, multinational analysis.
Click here to follow the action live, or follow along on Facebook, or on Twitter with #WorldCupVOA.
And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.
Iran (0-0) Nigeria
UPDATE: And it’s a tie! Not only is this the first tie match of the 2014 World Cup, but it means Nigeria and Iran’s winless streaks at the World Cup continue.
Original post:
In our post on the Germany/Portugal match, we said that World Cup matches don’t get much more competitive (Edit: Germany ended up routing Portugal 4-0; hopefully Iran vs. Nigeria will be a more exciting match).
Well, how’s this for competitive: Iran and Nigeria are separated by just ONE POINT in the FIFA World Rankings (Iran is 43rd in the world with 641 points; Nigeria is 44th with 640). But Nigeria and Iran aren’t only playing win the match – they’re playing to break some unlucky streaks: Nigeria hasn’t won in its last eight World Cup matches, while Iran hasn’t won a World Cup match since 1998. With two teams this close, with so much on the line, there’s no doubt that this match should make for some must-watch football when they meet at 3 PM ET (7 PM UDT).
For play-by-play, minute-by-minute coverage of every ball touch, throw-in, direct kick, indirect kick, yellow card, red card, corner kick, goal kick and every other possible football feat in every World Cup match, tap into VOA’s multilingual, multinational analysis.
Click here to follow the action live, or follow along on Facebook, or on Twitter with #WorldCupVOA.
And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.
Germany (4-0) Portugal
UPDATE: As it turns out, the “marquee matchup” between Germany and Portugal never materialized. The Germans scored four unanswered goals – including a hat trick from Thomas Muller – in a surprising rout of Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates, the worst defeat by a Portuguese World Cup team at the World Cup.
Original post:
World Cup matches don’t get much more competitive than this one – especially in group play. Today at 12 pm ET (4 PM UTC), Group G – the dreaded “Group of Death” – kicks off between football powerhouses Germany and Portugal. Based on the FIFA world rankings, Germany (ranked 2nd best team in the world) is the slight favorite (Portugal is ranked 4th), but Portugal has the football power (and star power) of Cristiano Ronaldo on their side. No wonder many experts consider this to be the marquee matchup in this year’s group play.
For play-by-play, minute-by-minute coverage of every ball touch, throw-in, direct kick, indirect kick, yellow card, red card, corner kick, goal kick and every other possible football feat in every World Cup match, tap into VOA’s multilingual, multinational analysis.
Click here to follow the action live, or follow along on Facebook, or on Twitter with #WorldCupVOA.
And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.
Reuters
Brazil’s 3-1 win over Croatia in the World Cup opener on Thursday generated 58 million posts on Facebook, almost five times more than this year’s Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood, the social media company said on Friday.
The most commented play on Facebook was Neymar’s first goal, which leveled the match after Brazil fell behind early with an embarrassing own goal. The second most talked-about play was the controversial penalty that led to Neymar’s second goal, putting Brazil ahead for the first time.
With 16 million posts, Brazil was the most active country on Facebook during the game, followed by the United States and England.
“That number represents more than 20 times the capacity of all the stadiums of the World Cup,” Facebook said in a statement.
The World Cup is a big business opportunity for companies like Facebook as fans around the world turn to social media to comment on live events.
The most active demographic group during the opening match was men between 18 and 24 years old, Facebook said.