Pierre Boisrond has followed soccer and the World Cup
closely for many years and also writes for other websites. We at PWC are proud to have him as
a columnist. He will share his views about the past, present and future of
the World Cup.
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Colombia, Costa Rica, Greece and Uruguay through; Suarez in limbo
Day 13 started with Italy vs Uruguay and England vs Costa Rica. Both games
played simultaneously. I predicted Uruguay to beat Italy 2-0. Uruguay won the game 1-0. It was a controversial game between two teams
that like to play hard defensive type football. It was a game that was hard-fought among the players of both teams. Uruguay knew they
needed a win to move to the knock out so they kept pressing. There was quite a bit of drama in this game starting with Balotelli passing
thru Marchisio and finishing with Suarez. Both teams created scoring opportunities. However the Italians have to play with ten men after
the referee correctly ejected Marchisio for going after the leg of Rios of Uruguay. In the 66th minute, Suarez tested Buffon who
prevented the 1st goal for Uruguay.
The last ten minutes were very heated. In the 80th minute, it seems that Suarez got entangled with Chiellini
and appeared to bite the Italian defender. FIFA is currently investigating this situation and Suarez can be banned to play further in
this World Cup and a decision must be reached by 4:00 PM US Eastern Standard Time. Uruguay knew they must go for the win to earn their
ticket to the round of 16. In the 81st minute, the talented defender, Diego Godin who scored in the Champions League Final, La Liga to
give Athletico the trophy, did it again for Uruguay in the World Cup with a vicious header that left Gianluigi Buffon, the Azurri’s
goalie, helpless. Uruguay controlled the game until the end and eliminated Italy. Unfortunately, Suarez, a controversial figure in
whole football is in total limbo and therefore is grabbing all their headlines for allegedly biting the Italian defender, Chiellini.
It is appropriate that I choose the word “Limbo” to paint a picture of Suarez current and delicate situation.
The word “Limbo” is derived from the Latin word, “Limbus, Limbi, and Limbum” and it is also associated with the theology of the Catholic
Church and it means that being on the border, or on the edge of hell. I think Suarez is on the border of hell at this moment. I think
FIFA should call Pope Francis who is from South America and resides in the Vatican to render the judgment on Suarez. And, the questions
that the Pope would have to answer should simply be whether or not Suarez should be forgiven for committing the same sins over and over
again.
The other game was between Costa Rica vs England. I predicted England to win 1-0, but the game ended up 0-0. I
thought England would have at least earn some honoring points. England ended up last in their group. They have had many scoring
opportunities but they could not capitalize on them. However, Costa Rica have to be praised for what they have accomplished in this
World Cup. They have won their group. They will face Greece on Saturday in the Round of 16.
The other two games were Ivory Coast vs Greece and Colombia vs Japan. I predicted Ivory Coast to win the
game 2-0 but Greece won it 2-1. One has to congratulate Greece for their hard work. They did not give up even when Ivory Coast tied
the game to put it 1-1 and started to think about the round of 16. It seems this World Cup is not too friendly to the African Nations.
Somehow, the referee awarded a penalty kick to Greece and Samaras gave Greece the lead 2-1 and a spot in the round of 16 to face Costa
Rica.
Concerning Colombia vs Japan, I predicted Colombia to win 2-0. Colombia destroyed Japan 4-1. The Colombian
national team played exciting football and scored some beautiful goals. I am not too surprised because they are being coached by Jose
Nestor Pekerman who produced beautiful football with Argentina in Germany 2006. On top of that, Pekerman also has the talented James
Rodriguez who is the conductor of the Colombian Symphony Orchestra. Colombia will face Uruguay in the round of 16. They have been
playing well and I do not think they are ready to go to Bogota yet.
Japan on the other end had a tough World Cup, they have always play with great determination. They have some
great players and I think they will take this 2014 WC as a great experience to prepare themselves for Russia 2018.
In terms of prediction for day 13, I was 50% right. Here are my predictions for Day 14:
Argentina 3- Nigeria 1
Bosnia-Herzegovina 2- Iran 0
France 1- Ecuador 1
Switzerland 2- Honduras 1
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