All news

Costa-Rica crushes Uruguay 3-1 at FIFA World Cup

The third day at the 2104 FIFA World Cup opened with a Group C match between Colombia and Greece

RIO-DE-JANEIRO, June 15 /ITAR-TASS/. - Costa Rica’s national soccer team beat Uruguay 3-1 in a stunning victory on Saturday that marked the third day of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Uruguay, a semifinalist at the 2010 World Cup, took an early 1-0 lead in the Group D match when Edinson Cavani scored a penalty in the 24th minute.

Costa Rica battled back after the break, when Joel Cambell scored the tying goal in the 54th minute, Oscar Duarte made the score 2-1 three minutes later and forward Marcus Urena sealed the Central Americans’ stunning 3-1 win over Uruguay in the 84th minute.

The third day at the 2104 FIFA World Cup opened with a Group C match between Colombia and Greece.

The South American team seized the initiative from the first minutes of the match. Colombo’s Pablo Amero opened the scoring already in the fifth minute. Colombia doubled the score after the break when striker Teofilo Gutierrez drove in the second goal. In added time, James Rodriguez made the scoring 3-0 to wrap up Colombia’s convincing win over Greece.

The Group D match between England and Italy was the central event of the World Cup’s third day, with both squads showing fascinating football. The Italian side was weakened already before the match as news came on Saturday morning that Italy captain and veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had hurt an ankle in a final training session and would be out of Italy’s game against England. Salvatore Sirigu, a 27-year-odl goalkeeper from Paris Saint-Germain, was set to take the Italian captain’s place in the side.

The loss of the experienced player, however, did not affect the Italian side’s performance.

The squads had equal chances in the first half of the game. Italy’s Claudio Marchisio opened the scoring in the 35th minute, sending a shot from a distance of 25 meters. Daniel Sturridge equalized for England two minutes later after receiving a pass from Wayne Rooney. But Mario Balotelli’s header just minutes after the start of the game’s second half secured Italy’s 2-1 win over England.

In the concluding match on Saturday, Cote d’Ivoire beat Japan 2-1. Keisuke Honda’s goal in the 16th minute gave Japan a 1-0 lead but the introduction of Didier Drogba as a substitute in the second half Intensified the attack of the African side, which scored twice to secure a 2-1 win.

The Russia House in Rio-de-Janeiro made a presentation on Saturday of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Russia. General Director of the Russia-2018 Organizing Committee Alexei Sorokin showed a 15-minute video presentation, in which legendary Soviet football player and 1956 Olympic champion Nikita Simonyan urged all football fans to come to Russia in four years to get to know “the country, people and sport.