Brazil 2014 - Italy vs Costa Rica
.
Football Index:
World Cup Finals:
Brazil 2014: Italy vs Costa Rica.
1st Round Matches at Brazil 2014.
Friday, 20th June
Group Match - Costa Rica Through
Italy vs 
Costa
Rica in Recife.
Match Preview
Italy and Costa Rica have never met in a World Cup finals.
Italy did beat Costa Rica (1:0) in New Haven friendly match, prior to USA 1994.
The Match
This is the
second game that the Chilean, Enrique Osses, has refereed in Recife.
All of England will be supporting Italy tonight. Anything other than an Italian victory and England will be out.
It's hot and humid in the Arena Pernambuco at kick-off.
Costa Rica started the better of the two teams.
In the thirty-first minute, Mario Balotelli had a great chance to chip Keylor Navas but missed it; not good for Roy Hodgson's ticker.
A minute later, Balotelli had another chance; but hit the ball straight at the goalkeeper. Italy seemed to have saved their energy for the first thirty minutes.
Joel Campbell
was denied a penalty in the 43rd minute.
0:1
A minute later, Bryan Ruiz made up for it with a far post header in off the crossbar.
Costa Rica deserved to be in front at the break, and if it means England go home, so be it; they had their chance.
A win for Costa Rica and the Ticas would qualify for the second round.
Half-time: Italy 0 - Costa Rica 1
Whether an Italy win would help England or not, an Italian loss could cost the Azzuri a place in the knockout stage if they were to later lose to Uruguay. The Italians needed to respond in the second-half.
Costa Rica played the high defensive line; catching Italy offside on numerous occasions.
Italy were a disappointment but credit to Costa Rica who became the first team from Group D to qualify for the Second Round. England are out and Italy will join them on the plane home, if they lose to Suarez and Cavani.
Final Score: Italy 0 - Costa Rica 1
Goalscorers:
0:1 - Bryan Ruiz (44 mins)
Teams
Italy:
1-Gianluigi Buffon; 4-Matteo Darmian, 15-Andrea Barzagli, 3-Giorgio Chiellini, 7-Ignazio
Abate; 5-Thiago Motta, 16-Daniele De Rossi, 6-Antonio Candreva, 21-Andrea Pirlo; 8-Claudio
Marchisio, 9-Mario Balotelli.
Costa Rica:
1-Keylor Navas; 16-Cristian Gamboa, 4-Michael Umana, 6-Oscar Duarte, 15-Junior Diaz;
3-Giancarlo Gonzalez, 10-Bryan Ruiz, 5-Celso Borges, 17-Yeltsin Tejeda, 7-Christian
Bolanos; 9-Joel Campbell.
Referee: Enrique Osses - Chile 
2 yellow cards:
69 mins - Mario Balotelli (Italy)
71 mins - Jose Cubero (Costa Rica)
The Road to Rio
First Round
Thursday, 12th June
Brazil vs Croatia
Friday, 13th June
Chile vs Australia
Mexico vs Cameroon
Spain vs Netherlands
Saturday, 14th June
Colombia vs Greece
Côte d'Ivoire vs Japan
England vs Italy
Uruguay vs Costa Rica
Sunday, 15th June
Argentina vs Bosnia
France vs Honduras
Switzerland vs Ecuador
Monday, 16th June
Germany vs Portugal
Ghana vs USA
Iran vs Nigeria
Tuesday, 17th June
Belgium vs Algeria
Brazil vs Mexico
Russia vs South Korea
Wednesday, 18th June
Australia vs Netherlands
Cameroon vs Croatia
Spain vs Chile
Thursday, 19th June
Colombia vs Côte d'Ivoire
Japan vs Greece
Uruguay vs England
Friday, 20th June
Honduras vs Ecuador
Italy vs Costa Rica
Switzerland vs France
Saturday, 21st June
Argentina vs Iran
Germany vs Ghana
Nigeria vs Bosnia
Sunday, 22nd June
Belgium vs Russia
South Korea vs Algeria
USA vs Portugal
Monday, 23rd June
Australia vs Spain
Cameroon vs Brazil
Croatia vs Mexico
Netherlands vs Chile
Tuesday, 24th June
Costa Rica vs England
Greece vs Côte d'Ivoire
Italy vs Uruguay
Japan vs Colombia
Wednesday, 25th June
Bosnia vs Iran
Ecuador vs France
Honduras vs Switzerland
Nigeria vs Argentina
Thursday, 26th June
Algeria vs Russia
Portugal vs Ghana
South Korea vs Belgium
USA vs Germany
2014 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
World Cup Finals
Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2)
on July 30th, 1930.
Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy
for the home fans.
France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.
Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.
Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.
Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.
Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.
England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.
W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.
Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany,
they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.
Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.
Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.
Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.
USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.
France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.
Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.
Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening
match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the
semi-finals.
South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.
Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.
Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.
Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.
United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico
and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of
Morocco.
More From Travel Notes
Travel Notes Online Guide to Travel
Africa - Asia - Caribbean - Europe - Middle East - North America - Oceania - South America.
The Travel Notes Online Guide to Travel helps visitors plan their trip with country and city travel guides, local tourist information, reviewed web sites, and inspiring travel content.