Match Brazil v Croatia Fifa World Cup 12/06/2014

 

 

Match date: Thursday, June 12, 2014

 

Kick Off Time: 21:00

Venue: Arena de Sao Paulo, SAO PAULO, Brazil

The first match of World Cup 2014 comes from Group A and it sees host nation Brazil start as short price favourites for their clash with Croatia in Sao Paulo on Thursday.

 

 

The Confederations Cup 2013 aside, Brazil have been playing friendly matches for the best part of three years. They were foot perfect in winning the the dress rehearsal tournament 12 months ago including a 3-0 win over current World Champions Spain in the final. Brazil have won 15 of their last 16 matches, a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in a friendly in Basel last August being the exception to the rule. In a bid to win their first world title since 2002, they have turned to the man who was in charge when they won in Japan / South Korea, Luiz Felipe Scolari. Three warm up matches since March have brought three wins accompanied by a clean sheet with Bafana hammered 5-0 in South Africa in March and more recently they beat Panama (4-0) before being made to work hard in their final tune up, a 1-0 victory over Serbia. Brazil took seven points from three group matches in 2010 before beating Chile in the last 16 but they bowed out in the quarter finals, losing 2-1 to the Netherlands.

 

Croatia are second favourites in Group A with the betting suggesting they can just about get the better of Mexico and also Cameroon in the race to reach the last 16. They ran out of steam in the European qualifying group, losing touch with Belgium and having to come through the play offs with a 2-0 aggregate win over Iceland. Three friendly internationals this year started with a 2-2 draw against Switzerland and more recent warm ups saw them beat Mali 2-1 and Australia 1-0. Coach Nico Kovac stepped up from his role with the Under 21's to take over in October last year and he brings along a talented bunch including Modric and Mandzukic. Croatia were not present in South Africa 2010 and they failed to make it out of the group stage in 2002 and 2006 but in 1998 they were beaten semi finalists.

 

probable line-ups:

Brazil (4-3-3): Julio Cesar; Dani Alves, Marcelo, Thaigo Silva, David Luiz; Luiz Gustavo, Paulinho; Oscar, Hulk, Neymar; Fred.
Croatia (4-2-3-1): Pletikosa; Srna, Lovren, Corluka, Vrsaljko; Modric, Vukojevic; Perisic, Rakitic, Kovacic; Olic.

Brazil last 5 matches:
17/11/13 Honduras 0 – 5 Brazil
20/11/13 Brazil 2 – 1 Chile
05/03/14 South Africa 0 – 5 Brazil
03/06/14 Brazil 4 – 0 Panama
06/06/14 Brazil 1 – 0 Serbia

 

Croatia last 5 matches:
15/11/13 Iceland 0 – 0 Croatia
19/11/13 Croatia 2 – 0 Iceland
05/03/14 Switzerland 2 – 2 Croatia
31/05/14 Croatia 2 – 1 Mali
06/06/14 Croatia 1 – 0 Australia

 

Channel 

 

Iran TV3
ZDF Germany
  HRT-TV2
ORF 1
RTP 1
TF1
TVP 1
Ulster TV
ORTM
beIN SPORTS 1 HD
beIN SPORTS 2 HD
beIN SPORTS 11 HD
beIN SPORTS 13 HD
beIN SPORTS 1 HD FR
ZDF HD
ORF eins HD
TF1 HD
Tele Cinco
beIN SPORTS 1 FR
STV scotland
STV (scotland) HD
TVP 1 HD
La Une HD
RTS Deux
RTS Deux HD
SRF ZWEI HD
SRF Zwei

 

 

Can You Watch Match Live Here  LINK 1 LINK 2 LIVE SCORES

 

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Iran beat Trinidad 2-0 behind closed doors in warmup

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Ehsan Haji Safi scored just before halftime and Reza Ghoochannejhad added their second nine minutes into the second period to boost Iran's confidence ahead of the finals.

The match took place at the training ground where Iran have been preparing for their Group F games starting with Nigeria on June 16 followed by Argentina and Bosnia.

Haji Safi put the Iranians ahead in added time at the end of the first half after Trinidad failed to deal with Ashkan Dejagah's corner from the right.

Six minutes into the second period Iran were awarded a spot kick after Dejagah was brought down by right back Justin Hoyte but Javad Nekounam's effort was saved by Jan-Michael Williams.

However, three minutes later Ghoochannejhad scored from close range in a counter attack to wrap up a comfortable win before both sides made multiple substitutions.

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Argentina vs Trinidad Tobago 3-0 Goals & Highlights Friendly Match 04/06...

Argentina vs Trinidad and Tobago

Competition: International Friendly

Match date: 4 June 2014

Venue: Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti

Argentina 3-0 Trinidad/Tobago (Friendly):

Goals: Argentina – Rodrigo Palacio 45 Javier Mascherano 51 Maxi Rodriguez 64

 

Argentina registered an easy win over Trinidad and Tobago in the match of International Friendly. Match ended with 3-0 scoreline in International Friendly 2014

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Gervinho and Drogba fire Ivory Coast to friendly win

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Ivory Coast, who will face Colombia, Greece and Japan in Group C at the World Cup, moved the ball with confidence and purpose and grabbed an early lead in the ninth minute.

Drogba, dropping deep, threaded the ball through to Gervinho who coolly rounded El Salvador keeper Derby Carrillo and slotted home.

The roles reversed for Ivory Coast's second goal, three minutes before the interval, when the impressive Gervinho burst down the left flank and crossed low to Drogba who slid the ball home.

With the game firmly in hand, Sabri Lamouchi's team were content to play possession football while El Salvador struggled to create chances.

It was not until the 73rd minute that Ivory Coast keeper Boubacar Barry was truly tested when Darwin Ceren unleashed a left foot drive which was pushed wide.

Two minutes later, El Salvador were awarded a penalty after Kolo Toure recklessly charged into Jonathan Aguilla as they challenged for a header and subsitute Arturo Alvarez converted the spot kick.

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Uninspired Italy held 1-1 by lowly Luxembourg

 Lowly Luxembourg tore up the --- with a late equaliser in a 1-1 friendly draw with Italy on Wednesday that wrecked the four times World Cup winners' hopes of a triumphant sendoff to Brazil.

Defender Maxime Chanot stunned the home crowd in Perugia with a bullet header from a corner five minutes before the end that cancelled out Claudio Marchisio's smart ninth minute opener, also from a header.

The lacklustre showing against a side ranked 112th in the world will have given coach Cesare Prandelli cause for concern ahead of their opening Group D match against England on Manaus on June 14.

Italy are traditionally poor in friendlies and have a formidable tournament record but the draw against a side thumped 5-1 by Belgium last week meant that the Azzurri head for Brazil without a win in seven games.

Prandelli's side looked extremely uncomfortable defending against set pieces, an unusual characteristic for any Italy team that will give England heart ahead of their clash.

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Marchisio thumped home the opener after Mario Balotelli laid on a delicious cross with the outside of his boot to leave the Juventus man an easy finish.

But that was as good as it got for the home side, who hit the bar twice early in the second half after substitute Antonio Cassano came off the bench and put a spark into an otherwise drab match.

The Parma attacker's first act after replacing Marco Verrati ten minutes after the break was to slip in Balotelli, who then hit the bar with Chanot and goalkeeper Anthony Moris on their backsides.

AC Milan striker Balotelli then played in his second perfect cross of the night, but Antonio Candreva again hit the bar.

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Defender Fabian Johnson combined with Michael Bradley to score a superbly executed goal in the first half before Clint Dempsey added a second after the re-start.

Turkey, who failed to qualify for the World Cup, got a consolation goal in the last minute of normal time when Selcuk Inan converted a penalty after Geoff Cameron was ruled to have handled the ball in the box.

Turkey were unlucky not to score earlier when their captain Nuri Sahin hit the post in the first half but had difficulty containing the Americans as the match went on.

Playing in front of a full house at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, the U.S. showed some anxious moments in defence, allowing the Europeans to breach their last line on a handful of occasions, but held firm and looked sharp in attack.

Jozy Altidore had an early goal disallowed for making contact with the Turkish goalkeeper Onur Recep Kivrak before Johnson gave the home team the lead with a spectacular goal in the 26th minute.

Bradley, the heartbeat of the American team, deftly flicked the ball over the Turkish defence into the path of Johnson who hit a perfect left-footed volley into the net for his first international goal.

Dempsey gave the Americans a 2-0 lead in the 52nd minute with a typical poacher's goal, poking the ball in after Kivrak fumbled Timmy Chandler's cross from the left.

Turkey got on the scoreboard in the dying moments after a mix-up in the American defence. Cameron lost the ball to Mustafa Pektemek then failed to get his arm out of the way when the Turkish substitute rifled his shot at the goal to concede a penalty.

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Germany held to draw by feisty Cameroon

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The Germans, who play Armenia on June 6 in their final warm-up, looked still some way off top form as they seek to end an 18-year title drought, missing several key players including captain Philipp Lahm and first-choice keeper Manuel.

Germany coach Joachim Loew must name his final 23-man squad by Monday's deadline.

Loew's side almost got off to a perfect start when Mesut Ozil, completely unmarked in front of goal, somehow managed to shoot wide seconds after the kickoff.

The Germans, drawn with Ghana, the United States and Portugal in Group G, came close again as attacking midfielder Mario Goetze, playing as a lone striker, sent in a low drive which was turned on to the post by Cameroon keeper Charles Itandje.

Cameroon, playing hosts Brazil, Croatia and Mexico in Group A, had trouble containing their opponents' pace down the wings and needed to wait around 20 minutes before Samuel Eto'o got a shot on target.

A series of tough tackles from the Africans threw the hosts off balance and gave the visitors the initiative.

German keeper Roman Weidenfeller was called into action late in the first half, making a superb save in the 39th minute when Eto'o sent Benjamin Moukandjo clear and he also blocked a close-range Joel Matip effort.

Cameroon stunned the Germans in the 62nd minute when Eto'o's shot was saved by Weidenfeller but the forward was in the right place to tap in a subsequent cross.

Their joy was short-lived, however, with Thomas Mueller charging into the box to head in a Jerome Boateng cross four minutes later and Andre Schuerrle tapping in after a surging run by substitute Lukas Podolski.

But Cameroon refused to lie down and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting confirmed his outstanding form this season with Mainz 05, picking up the ball outside the box and drilling an unstoppable left-foot shot past Weidenfeller in the 78th minute.

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