Photo of the Day
Costa Rica soccer fans pose for a selfie before watching their team’s World Cup round of 16 match against Greece on a live telecast inside the FIFA Fan Fest area on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, June 29, 2014. Costa Rica won a penalty shootout 5-3 after the match ended 1-1 following extra time. (AP)
Costa Rica 1(5) - 1(3) Greece
UPDATE: Costa Rica’s improbable World Cup run continues with an improbable victory over Greece. Tied 1-1 after extra time, Costa Rica nailed all five of their penalty shots to give them the win over Greece, who only made three penalty shots. Costa Rica goes on to play Netherlands in the quarterfinals on Saturday, July 5.
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Few if any expected this Round of 16 match: Costa Rica was the surprise winner of Group B over favorites England and Italy, who were both eliminated. Greece was another surprise, emerging from group play ahead of powerful teams from Japan and Cote d’Ivoire. Both of these teams come into this match as tournament underdogs, but only one will emerge as a winner. See them face off at 4 PM ET (8 PM UTC).
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.
Netherlands (2-1) Mexico
UPDATE: Thanks to two late goals, Netherlands first snatched the lead, and then the win, from Mexico, extending their win streak at the 2014 World Cup to four. With their 2-1 victory, Netherlands continues to the quarterfinals, while Mexico is sent home.
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Netherlands and Mexico come into this match without a loss: while Netherlands has had a perfect World Cup so far, a strong Mexico team has two wins and one draw. By the end of 90 minutes, one team will have its streak grow by one – and one team will head home. Find out who at 12 PM ET (4 PM UTC).
comes into this match with a perfect World Cup record so far, and hopes to add another win on their march towards the final. But standing in their way is Mexico, a team that hasn
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.
He may be back home in Uruguay, but Luis Suarez is still having a huge impact in Brazil after his infamous biting incident.
Well, not Suarez himself. But rather, his face.
An Adidas advertisement along Rio’s Copacabana Beach prominently features Suarez, mouth agape, ready to chomp. As you can see in the images below, tourists have taken notice, and are using the ad to get some memorable souvenir pictures…without the feat of actually getting bitten (photos by AP and Reuters).
After Years of Puma and Adidas Dominance...
The 2014 World Cup has turned football on its head. Just have to look at the teams that have managed to qualify for the next phase of the competition: favorites like Spain, England, Italy, and Portugal are out; long shots like Greece, Algeria, and Costa Rica are in.
A similar trend may be happening with the team’s sponsors. Nike, Adidas, Puma and are the largest sponsors of teams participating in the World Cup. Puma outfitted eight teams at the World Cup, while Adidas sponsored nine.
Surprisingly, the winner is Nike, with 10 teams. Although they have a huge presence in other sports, Nike has struggled to stake their claim in the world of football, where powerhouses like Adidas and Puma rule.
But it looks like that’s going to chance based on their presence in Brazil. The official sponsor of the Brazilian national team, Nike could – thanks to the host country and its rising star Neymar – become the new leader in the footballing world.
Reinforcing this idea is the list of teams that Nike supports: in addition to Brazil, they outfit the United States, former champions France, and last year’s runner-up Netherlands.
However, regardless of which teams take the pitch and what they’re wearing, Adidas is sure to assert its football dominance in every match be part of the match: they’re sponsoring the official World Cup game ball.
(this post courtesy of VOA’s French World Cup blog. Check it out at http://football.lavoixdelamerique.com)