Saturday, June 28, 2014

World Cup Update -- 15 games to go

(I'm not counting the third-place game).

Four South American sides will be in action today.  At 11 A.M. Central, Brazil will take on Chile.  At 3 P.M. Central, Colombia will host Uruguay.

Here's some background on today's Brazil/Chile match:

BRAZIL:
Population:  201 million (5th in the world)
2014 GDP (est.):  $2.17 trillion (7th in the world)
Per Capita GDP:  $10,773 (63d in the world)

CHILE:
Population:  17.8 million (62nd in the world)
2014 GDP (est.):  $277.2 billion (38th in the world)
Per Capita GDP:  $15,791 (49th in the world)

Here are the teams:

BRAZIL:
Goalkeeper:  Julio Cesar (Toronto F.C.) (MLS)

Defender:  Dani Alves (Barcelona) (Spain)
Defender:  Thiago Silva (Captain) (Paris-Saint German) (France)
Defender:  David Luiz (Paris-Saint German) (France)
Defender:  Marcelo (Real Madrid) (Spain)

Midfielder:  Fernandinho (Manchester City) (England)
Midfielder:  Luis Gustavo (Wolfsburg) (Germany)
Midfielder:  Oscar (Chelsea) (England)

Forward:  Hulk (Zenit Saint Petersburg) (Russia)
Forward:  Neymar (Barcelona) (Spain)
Forward:  Fred (Fluminense) (Brazil)

CHILE:
Goalkeeper:  Claudio Bravo (Captain) (Barcelona) (Spain)

Defender:  Eugenio Mena (Santos) (Brazil)
Defender:  Mauricio Isla (Juventus) (Italy)
Defender:  Gary Medel (Cardiff City) (England)
Defender:  Gonzolo Jara (Nottingham Forest) (England)

Midfielder:  Francisco Silva (Osasuna) (Spain)
Midfielder:  Arturo Vidal (Juventus) (Italy)
Midfielder:  Charles Aranguiz (Internacional) (Brazil)
Midfielder:  Marcelo Diaz (Basel) (Switzerland)

Forward:  Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona) (Spain)
Forward:  Eduardo Vargas (Valencia) (Spain)

28 comments:

  1. After 18 minutes, Brazil took the lead when David Luiz scored off of a corner. But in the 32d minute, Chile responded with a strike from Eduardo Vargas.

    Now we're in the 37th minute, all tied at 1-1, and the crowd in Belo Horizante is going nuts.

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  2. In the 54th minute, Hulk appeared to score for Brazil, but his effort was disallowed for a handball. Make your own Hulk Smash jokes here. With whistles ringing around the stadium, the score remains 1-1.

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  3. Chile is basically playing a full-court press, harassing Brazil all over the field. They got their goal by stealing a pass deep in Brazil territory and banging it home. One big question is how much longer Chile can play at this pace.

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  4. Are we really going to have penalty kicks in the very first knockout game? Come on, guys!

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  5. 80 minutes:

    Brazil 1 - 1 Chile

    Brazil has had several good chances, but their finishing has not been good enough.

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  6. 90 minutes:

    Brazil 1 - 1 Chile

    Three minutes of stoppage time.

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  7. The Guardian reports that "Chile are knackered, and Brazil aren't very good." That pretty much sums up the last 30 minutes or so.

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  8. 100 minutes:

    Brazil 1 - 1 Chile

    Brazil is keeping the ball, but they're not doing much with it.

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  9. 110 minutes:

    Brazil 1 - 1 Chile

    Getting close to the end now.

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  10. Now if my rules were in effect, when a game ends in a tie the victory would go to the team with the most corner kicks. I'm pretty sure that would be Brazil: they led 6-5 in corner kicks through the first 90 minutes.

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  11. By the way, this has been a great day for uniforms. Brazil's home uniform -- featuring the legendary yellow jerseys with green numerals -- is probably the best soccer jersey in the world, and Chile look very sharp in red jerseys and blue shorts.

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  12. 115 minutes:

    Brazil 1 - 1 Chile

    Brazil is dominating play, but they lack the quality needed to get a goal.

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  13. 120 minutes:

    Brazil 1 - 1 Chile

    Two minutes of stoppage time.

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  14. Chile has a great shot to win the game, but hit the crossbar!

    Brazil fights back and wins another corner, but it leads to nothing.

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  15. And that's it. After 120 minutes:

    Brazil 1 - 1 Chile

    Penalty kicks!

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  16. Brazil wins the penalty kick shootout 3-2. They were all tied up 2-2 going into the last round, but Neymar made a brilliant kick to put Brazil on top, and then Gonzolo Jara of Chile saw his kick tipped off the goal post. Brazil's goalkeeper saved three penalty kicks during the shootout, and saved the day for the home team.

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  17. Brazil moves on to face the winner of Colombia and Uruguay.

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  18. OK, these reports are great. I hope you keep them coming. Programming question: You're listing the professional team in the first parentheses after each name; is country in the second parentheses the home country of that player or the national league in which he competes?

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