Can the Defending Champs Stay Alive?
Defending champion Spain looks to bounce back from a blowout loss in its opening World Cup game in Brazil as it takes on Chile in a key matchup Wednesday in Group B.
Another loss would leave Spain with little chance of advancing to the knockout stage.
Read more here at VOAnews.com.
Spain-Netherlands Cold Revenge
From 2010:
From 2014:
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?
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.
It’s finally here – today marks the start of the 2014 World Cup! The tournament kicks off with the opening ceremony at 6 PM UTC, followed by the first match at 8 PM UTC: Croatia against the host nation, Brazil.
All eyes will be on Brazil in the coming weeks, but not just the country. Brazil’s national team is considered a favorite to win it all – after all, they are on their home turf (literally). But there are many other good teams that could make a run at the title: Germany, Argentina, Portugal, and Spain, the 2010 World Cup winners. Or perhaps an underdog like Nigeria or Ghana will make it out of the group stage and have a chance at advancing.
Who’s your favorite to win the World Cup? Comment below to tell us who you want to win, who you think will win, and which matches you’re looking forward to. And of course, keep up with all the latest World Cup news here at VOAFootball.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.