WC 2014 LAST 16 - Colombia vs Uruguay, Rodriguez steals the show!

Rodriguez stole the show for Colombia, to set up an interesting quarter-final against Brazil

Hello again and welcome to my latest blog post - as I have a match report plus summary of the second match in the Last 16 of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

After a dramatic end to an enthralling match between fellow South Americans Brazil and Chile; the host nation eventually progressed through to the quarter-finals after extra time and penalties.

The winner of this match would be up against the hosts in the quarter-finals next week Friday, so there was obviously pressure on both teams to win.

Here are the other Last 16 matches to be played -

France vs Nigeria and Germany vs Algeria - both on Monday

Argentina vs Switzerland and Belgium vs USA - Tuesday

MATCH REPORT:
The best team won on the night, thanks to a great solo display by Monaco creative midfielder James Rodriguez.

Colombia were simply the better team when it came to the crunch, and Uruguay lacked any real attacking threat and were poor at the back - losing the ball in dangerous positions and failed to test their opposition until the final twenty minutes, when the game was virtually over by this point.

It was pretty evident from the start that Uruguay were missing a key player: Luis Suarez.

James was on top-form yet again for Colombia; scoring two goals in a fine display.

He scored twice, including a stunning first-half strike on the volley from 25 yards out, which slammed off the crossbar and past Muslera into the net.

The goal had everything; control, vision, swerve, power and a top-quality finish. Nothing Muslera could have done to stop the shot either.

James opened the scoring in the 28th minute with a fierce volley drive to make it 1-0, a goal of the tournament contender perhaps?

Goal of the tournament? James' first strike past Uruguay was a stunner.

Unselfish play saw Cuadrado's cross fall into the path of his team-mate, to complete his brace.

This result means that Colombia have now set up an interesting quarter-final fixture with Brazil, and it could have all the makings of a super match next Friday.

This post was submitted by Mosope Ominiyi of football365. To see the original blog post, and to see more World Cup blogs from football365, please visit http://football365mo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/wc-2014-last-16-colombia-vs-uruguay.html

Mind The Gap - What Gap?

Much has been made of the apparent failure of many of the big teams and success of the so-called smaller teams at this summer's world cup. However, when you look closer, the failure is more accurately defined as European failure as opposed to big team failure. Yes, both Brazil and Argentina have at times struggled, with Brazil failing to beat Mexico and Argentina struggling to beat Iran. They appear to have been caught out by the pace and organisation of their opposition's defending.

 In contrast, the European team's struggles have gone beyond struggling to win. In many cases they have jumped all the way to struggling, and often failing, to avoid defeat. It is easy to complain and roll out the usual clichéd responses to world cup disappointment, but should the performance of European teams at this World Cup be a shock to anybody other than those who do not understand football.

 European teams had always failed to win the trophy outside of Europe until four years ago, and have never won in South America, (just as the process is true in reverse). However, they still managed to compete well, providing semi-finalists and finalists on numerous occasions. The lack of international teams at a competitive level outside of Europe and South America allowed this to happen. The sheer number of European teams competing ensured some level of success.

The last time the competition was held in South America, Argentina 1978, 10 of the 16 competing nations were European (62.5%) and 3 were South American (18.75%) with one each from Asia, Africa and CONCACAF (6.25%). Those three teams combined only managed to take one point from games against European or South American opposition (Iran v Scotland). They were there to make up the numbers and give credibility to the competition being a World cup.

That was then. This is now.

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Futsal in England

Futsal is one of the fastest growing sports in England so RBB thought we would check it out. When we heard that the England national side were playing against Switzerland in Hereford we thought this was as good a time as any... but hold on, what is Futsal?

Well according to the fountain of knowledge that is Wikipedia it is an indoor game played with five players on each side, over two twenty minute halves, with a smaller heavier ball and hockey sized goals at the end of a basket ball sized pitch. In other words it’s the closest thing to indoor football going. There is no annoying head high rule, any player can go anywhere and there is no wall along the pitch perimeter to turn the beautiful game into pinball like normal 5-a-side. For those of you hack merchants thinking this game sounds fun it requires a high level of technical skill and tactics play a large role in team set-up. Also there is no running time down in Futsal as the clock stops every time the ball leaves the playing area. Right - got all that? 

The game has long been established throughout the world with professional leagues - the likes of Barcelona have their own team - World and European championships, and professional players moving around the globe to ply their trade. If you're wondering if anyone actually takes this as seriously as we're suggesting then have a look at Falcao plying his trade for Brazil and you will be left in no uncertainty at the level of ability, athleticism, and professionalism required at the top of Futsal.


Read more at www.resultsbasedbusiness.co.uk