Live coverage on day three of the World Cup in Brazil Counting down towards England v Italy in Manaus Also: Colombia v Greece and Uruguay v Costa Rica Ivory Coast take on Japan in the late, late match And feel free to email ames.nick@gmail.com
10.52am BST
Who can argue with this?
You know you watched something special when you wake up the next day still smiling about it. #brilliantorange
10.48am BST
You've seen the Spanish papers now here's the Dutch reaction:
10.42am BST
Interesting comment from Below The Line by your no doubt euphoric friend and mine, 'OpiumEater', about the transformation of Arjen Robben:
The Dutch were astonishing. In particular, Robben who is a complete player. His agility, power, and his personality make him the complete player. The latter point is worth reflecting on: as a 20 year old at Chelsea he was petulant, he dived, and behaved like a spoilt kid. Since then, he's been subject to criticism and he has taken much of that onboard. He is utterly gracious in defeat now, plays in the spirit of the game, smiles, chats to opponents, and - moreover - gets stronger after defeats (many players would have disappeared after his 2010-12 experiences). The same applies to van Persie, too.
10.37am BST
To whet the appetite for Colombia v Greece, it's worth casting your eye over our team guides. Learn here about replica gunslinger Teófilo Gutiérrez, then step this way and obsess over Greece's perennially meticulous attention to defensive detail.
I'm actually really looking forward to seeing the Colombians. Doesn't matter whether Falcao's out: their transitions (trendy word but that's what they are) from defence to attack are among the fastest I've ever seen, and opponents will be petrified of being caught on the counter. Not sure Greece are the best bet to get lured too far upfield, mind you.
10.30am BST
The last 25 minutes of Chile v Australia perhaps gave us a small glimpse of the future, mind. It was really, really hot in Cuiaba: upwards of 30 degrees at 9pm. After a basketball-like first 15 minutes of the second half, the pace dropped noticeably and until Beausejour's daisycutter there was very little to report in the latter stages. Brazil's a big country with accordingly diverse weather conditions, but it will be interesting to see whether this becomes a trend in certain locations.
10.25am BST
This is quite a nice graph from the Chile v Australia game a kind of footballing cardiogram, if you will. It confirms that, after being left almost for dead at 2-0 down, the Aussies pretty much ran with their opponents throughout the second half:
Match plot illustrates how quiet #CHI fell after their 2nd goal, and how close #AUS came after the break pic.twitter.com/R7ox0RmxrI
10.21am BST
Gianluigi Buffon is a doubt tonight. That seems to be what his manager is saying, anyway and some of the Italian media are taking a stronger line. That would be a big blow for the Azzurri, for whom added responsibility would then surely rest on the shoulders of little-known midfielder Andrea Pirlo.
10.15am BST
A Saturday morning update from Daniel Taylor, who is with the England camp in Manaus:
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is kicking a ball for the first time since picking up his knee injury in the Ecuador friendly. He has also stepped up his running. Previously he was restricted to jogging in straight lines to protect the knee joint. Now he is able to do light sprints as well as twists and turns. Almost certain now that he wont have to go home - very unlikely according to Roy Hodgson - and aiming to be available for the Uruguay game. If that is a bit ambitious, he seems on course for the final group match against Costa Rica.
10.14am BST
It's not long 10am and we're already being accused of hubris. I did say we hadn't set our stall out to mock the Spaniards, but it was enough to smoke out one 'José Arthur' who warns:
You are mocking the spanish, but you'll be the next. This journal raise a bad karma to the england, and break down your false proud will be necessary to clean your soul. So.... the way home will be short.
10.08am BST
I'm afraid I cannot find the words for this, but don't let that stop you having a go:
10.05am BST
From groans of despair when the draw was made, to general sub-radar apathy between the months of January and May, England seem to have engendered a tiny bit of cautious optimism in recent weeks. It's probably because, for some reason (did you see Sean Ingle's excellent piece last week?), the pressure seems to be off this year and we're all in danger of enjoying ourselves a little. It could be because England are working with pieces of genuine potential Raheem Sterling, Ross Barkley, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain...Daniel Sturridge probably still applies too whose limits we don't yet know. Either way, the country doesn't feel too tightly strung ahead of this one and it's rather nice. To get you in the mood, though, here are some very nice preview pieces from our crack team of reporters in Brazil:
9.54am BST
We're not going to spend all day mocking the Spanish and indeed, with thanks to De Telegraaf again, I'm not sure who comes out of this worse:
De Telegraaf have gone a little bit bonkers after the 5-1 Dutch win pic.twitter.com/3PgI9TOo7v
9.51am BST
Myrmecophobes, look away now! Luis Suárez has always seemed the fidgety type, but it seems England's Group D opponents do indeed have ants in their pants or whatever they sport in the sack as they prepare to face the Costa Ricans:
Buen diaaaaa!!! Miren quien nos despertó a las 2 am!!! Ajaja nada mejor que un buen anti alérgico!! pic.twitter.com/AJsV3wE5xl
9.44am BST
In yet more costly news for Spain, this graphic shows that they're in the World Cup's second most-expensive group by insurable value. Might be time to take out a new policy in time for Alexis Sanchez and chums:
A study has found that based on insurable value, #GER has the most expensive team competing in Brazil: pic.twitter.com/fLAQu8qIJt
9.40am BST
Let's not forget Mexico, even if their 1-0 win over Cameroon seems a long, long time ago now. They looked good at times, especially when their wing-backs bombed on. Here is Enrique Gomez's report of a game that wasn't without controversy itself, and herein lies Amy Lawrence's analysis of what were a very dubious couple of offside calls. Perhaps El Tri would have looked even sharper in this getup, as emailed in to us by David Wall.
9.33am BST
It must have been a long, dark night of the soul for Iker Casillas. Take a look at Sid Lowe's Spanish player reaction piece the sometime Real Madrid custodian believes it was the worst performance of his career. There was only one complete and utter howler in there, the heavy touch that let Van Persie in for the fourth, so maybe he's being a bit harsh on himself it seemed as if he was being fouled for De Vrij's bundled third. Could he have positioned himself better for RvP's header? You'd be a harsh critic.
Either way, deep in the bowels of YouTube somebody has troubled him or herself to compile a showreel of Iker's previous blunders which will make him feel a little better or a whole, whole lot worse:
9.25am BST
If you can't get enough Spanish media reaction to last night's ignominy, Dutch paper De Telegraaf has helpfully collated a few front (and back) pages. No idea why they'd want to do that, of course, but I think "Viernes 13" - Friday 13th - probably needs little explanation.
9.17am BST
I don't know about you, but I found the way Van Persie and Robben both hit crescendo at once last night incredibly satisfying. It rarely happens. They've both faced questions about their impacts in major international tournaments, and realistically neither is going to get this kind of chance at a World Cup again. Much more of this and they'll simply go down in history as the wonderful, world-class players they've been as opposed to the easily accessible "highly flawed genius" alternative.
9.13am BST
Want more of that header? Here's more of that Robin van Persie header. It's fast becoming something of an internet meme, so get it while it's still interesting:
Still can't believe that header pic.twitter.com/diuCPE6tIP
9.11am BST
It's probably worth running you through what's in store later. Encouraged to sip our pleasures as we are, four games in one night seems slightly extravagant but at present, and given what we've seen in the last 36 hours, every fixture seems like its own microcosmic world of plenty. So we begin with Greece v Colombia (who can do this without Falcao) at 5pm; next up, it's that Costa Rica v Uruguay ruckus at 8pm. After that we'll see England get their campaign going against Italy at 11pm. Then we've the cherry on the cake, Japan v Ivory Coast - 2am. Then you'll be woken by a concerned friend, sprawled on the floor surrounded by empty vessels of your tipple of choice, the embers of a failed relationship and other scattered ephemera.
9.01am BST
But at least we'll see rather more Corinthian spirit today. Particularly if serial Arsenal loanee Joel Campbell starts for Costa Rica against Uruguay:
8.53am BST
Controversy in Cuiaba! Not wanting to bring you back down to earth with a shudder after last night's derring-do, but Tim Cahill says that all was not well during Australia's close-run thing against Chile. He says that Gonzalo Jara, in what might be seen as a disarming display of honesty, admitted to cheating during the first half of their meeting:
"The left-back kicked out at me when I was trying to run past him for a cross and I pushed him away - and I got the yellow card," Cahill said. "I called him a cheat. And he said 'yes, I'm a cheat, so what'. That is not gamesmanship ... this needs to be out of the game."
8.43am BST
Mark has passed on the early-morning baton to these clammy hands, with our appreciation and awe at sifting through this morning's Matters Of Interest at such a godawful hour. I'm Nick Ames, and I'll be with you for the next little while, so please feel free to share your thoughts such as they might be after a Jean Beausejour-fuelled late night via email or on Twitter @NickAmes82
8.35am BST
There's been a lot of media interest in the pitch in the Arena da Amazônia in Manaus, where England play Italy tonight, but what of the city itself?This reflective piece over on The Conversation, written by a Brazilian academic, explains why England fans should not be surprised to see protests and dire poverty during their trip to into the jungle.
Official data shows that 15% of Manaus' 1.8 million residents lived in subnormal agglomerations the Brazilian governments official definition of slums with at least 50 dwellers. This greatly surpasses the national average of 6%.
The rapid population growth promoted by the zone was not accompanied by the necessary investments in sanitation. Lack of clean water is a topic that always tends to dominate local election debates: one in four houses in Manaus does not have access to running water, despite being located in the largest watershed on the planet.
8.25am BST
Argentina might be in a spot of trouble. Off the pitch rather than on it until Edin Dzeko gets a go at them tomorrow, anyway. The Press Association says that Fifa has begun disciplinary proceedings against their FA after the team held up a potentially naughty banner before their friendly with Slovenia last week:
Members of the Argentina team held a banner stating 'Las Malvinas son Argentinas', which translates as 'the Falkland Islands are Argentinian', before kick-off in La Plata.
A FIFA statement confirmed: "The chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee has decided to open disciplinary proceedings based on an apparent breach of art. 60 of the FIFA stadium and security regulations ('prevention of provocative and aggressive actions') and art. 52 of the FIFA disciplinary code ('team misconduct')."
8.15am BST
A moment for some artwork. The enterprising chaps over at World Cup Glory are running an 'illustration blog' during the tournament. We don't know the purpose of an illustration blog, or how common they are, but we do like this lovely CAD-like drawing of Van Persie's arcing header that kicked off the rout of Spain.
8.13am BST
And the players weren't all that happy either. This was, by some distance, a nadir for most of the Spanish side and Sid brings us the distraught reaction of its metronome:
As for Xavi Hernandez, he was momentarily lost for words. This is the hardest game ... , he said, seeking a way to adequately express just how painful it had been. Eventually, he continued: This is the hardest night of our footballing careers. It was a bad game, really bad. We have to react now. We did everything badly today. It was a debacle. This is the worst defeat of my career. It is difficult because this was a resounding failure.
8.07am BST
Sid Lowe reports from Salvador on some more of the Spanish media reaction. Vicente del Bosque will be choking on his porridge, or huevos rancheros whatever Spaniards have for breakfast:
We believe ran the headline on the morning that Spains defence of their world title began. But no one could believe this; a few hours later, everything had changed. A World Cup winning team had never been beaten so badly.
It was 64 years since Spain conceded five times and this was utterly unexpected the third worst defeat in their entire history, inflicted upon the best team in their entire history. Even those who harboured doubts did not expect a humiliation as hurtful, one that appeared to hasten the end of an era.
8.00am BST
Marca's all-black front page strikes a funereal note this morning. I don't speak Spanish, but I'm fairly sure the big words in white mean "Fix This".
'Arreglad esto' #LaPortada #ElMundialenMARCA pic.twitter.com/49tRpeIh4t
7.38am BST
How did Holland do it? Our resident tactician Michael Cox has the answer in this freshly-launched-this-morning bit of analysis. Basically, an awful lot of very high pressing and the fact they had Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben in the form of their careers, and dovetailing like Sepp Blatter can only dream:
From the outset it was clear that Holland and Spain were playing high defensive lines and pressing intensely in midfield. Louis van Gaals side spent longer without possession and therefore had more opportunity to prove their determination to press in the opening stages.
The two central midfielders, Nigel de Jong and Jonathan de Guzmán, both pushed up into extremely brave positions, leaving space in front of the three-man defence. Considering Spain use a plethora of talented playmakers, it seemed a very risky strategy. This meant the two outside centre-backs, the left-sided Bruno Martins Indi and the right-sided Stefan de Vrij, tracked Andrés Iniesta and David Silva into deep, narrow positions.
7.31am BST
This is my favourite Van Persie Photoshop so far for its simple zaniness
Robin Van Persie @FIFAWorldCup #worldcup #worldcup2014 pic.twitter.com/4W8HphT8X4/s/kFf1 http://t.co/roNgzZjL6V
7.26am BST
Good morning, and welcome to day three of our coverage of the 2014 World Cup the Copa das Copas! in Brazil. I'm holding the fort here at Guardian Towers for the earliest of early shifts (is anyone else up yet?).
Today really is the morning after the night before for Spaniards across the world, after their reigning champions were humbled by Louis van Gaal's dazzling Dutch.
7.00am BST
Mark will be here soon. In the meantime. Some action from yesterday:
Here's how it went down in a rain-soaked Natal, where Mexico deservedly got the better of Cameroon.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com |