Chile vs. Australia in a Trans-Pacific Faceoff

By Andrew Palczewski   |
here

Chile vs. Australia.

Chile’s Jorge Valdivia (front) celebrates his goal against Australia with his teammates during their 2014 World Cup Group B soccer match at the Pantanal arena. Eric Gaillard | Reuters

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 unparalleled multilingual, multinational analysis.

On one side of the Pacific Ocean, Australia. On the other, Chile. Today at 6 PM ET (10 PM UTC), the two teams face off in Brazil.

Click here to follow the action live.

And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.

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Spain-Netherlands Cold Revenge

¿Como Se Dice Humiliation?

By Mike Eckel   |

From 2010:

APTOPIX South Africa Soccer WCup Final Netherlands Spain

From 2014:

Robin van Persie

There are alot of people in Madrid, Barcelona and much of the Iberian peninsula (heck, much of the football world for that matter) scratching their heads over how a defending World Cup champion with a powerhouse roster can be so abjectly routed and humiliated.

The Dutch did just that today to Spain.

¿Como se dice The Return of Total Football?

 

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Rematch: Spain vs. Netherlands

By Andrew Palczewski   |
here

Spain vs. Netherlands.

Daniel Ochoa de Olza | AP

In 2010, Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta banged home a goal in the 116th minute of the World Cup’s final match, lifting Spain to victory over the relentless and creative attacks of Arjen Robben and the Dutch national team. The victory gave Spain its first World Cup title.

Robben and his teammates get a chance to redeem themselves when they take on the Spaniards in the two teams’ opening match of the 2014 World Cup, which kicks off at 3 p.m. USEDT (7 p.m. GMT) today.

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 unparalleled multilingual, multinational analysis.

Click here to follow the match as it happens.

And for even more exclusive VOA coverage with a special focus on Africa’s national teams, check out VOA’s Francophone blog.

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From Sao Paolo to Brooklyn

Os fãs do futebol de Seleção em Brooklyn

By Mike Eckel   |

Brazil wins and they go crazy in… Brooklyn?!

New York City has one of the largest populations of Brazilians and Brazilian-Americans in the United States (eastern Massachusetts has the largest). So no surprises that they were going bonkers in one neighborhood in Brooklyn Thursday when the Seleção opened their World Cup bid with a 3-1 victory over Croatia.

Check out the scene at this VOA photo gallery from photographer Adam Phillips.

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Croatian Player: Just Give the Trophy to Brazil

By Andrew Palczewski   |
Croatian players were outraged over what they thought was an unjustified penalty.

Thanassis Stavrakis | AP

The 2014 World Cup kicked off yesterday with Brazil beating Croatia 3-1. But the game was not without controversy: Croatia alleges an early penalty that gave Brazil the lead shouldn’t have been called.

Speaking to the UK’s Guardian newspaper, Croatia’s players could hardly hide their anger:

Dejan Lovren was judged to have fouled the Brazil striker Fred, resulting in a penalty. The Southampton defender was the most furious among Croatia players. “I can hardly hold back the tears,” he said. “Why don’t they just hand out the trophy to Brazil right away? Everything is going their way, everyone is saying they must win it, so why do we play then?

“The ref didn’t even speak English. I asked him why did he give the penalty and he just mumbled something. My team-mates tell me the same thing – how can you have an international ref who is officiating the opening match, but he doesn’t speak English and you can’t even speak to him?”

Was the ref’s call justified? Or are the claims of favoritism for Brazil true? Tell us below, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

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