Costa Rica 0, England 0; Uruguay 1, Italy 0; Colombia 4, Japan 1; Greece 2, Ivory Coast 1

They fight
They bite
They bite and fight and bite
Bite, bite, bite
Fight, fight, fight

The Uruguayans scored late against the Italians, who spent most of the game running out the clock. What everyone is talking about, though, is how Luis Suárez bit yet another opponent. (It’s the third time in his career he’s done this.) And so the tournament probably is over for one of the world’s most exciting players.

Now Uruguay will likely lose against Colombia, the team with the most flair. Last night the Colombian bench players overwhelmed the Japanese. Their fourth goal was one of the tournament’s prettiest.

Touchingly, the Colombians gave some minutes to Faryd Mondragón — their 1998 goalie, now a substitute — making him, at 43, the oldest player in World Cup history.

The Greeks, who’d previously done nothing, knocked out the Ivorians with a stoppage-time penalty. Was it well-called? You decide. The referee was Ecuadorian. Today Ecuador will play its last group game; the referee is from the Ivory Coast.

Holland 2, Chile 0; Spain 3, Australia 0; Brazil 4, Cameroon 1; Mexico 3, Croatia 1

Yesterday I failed to write about these games.

For me the most notable game was Mexico’s. Rafa Márquez scored a vital goal in a third consecutive World Cup.

Belgium 1, Russia 0; Algeria 4, South Korea 2; Portugal 2, USA 2

Belgium boringly qualified for Round 2. …

Hats off to the Algerians. Their fourth goal was especially well-crafted. And hats off to the Koreans for trying all game long. …

The U.S. came within a minute of qualifying against the mediocre Portuguese. I roared with pleasure when Silvestre Varela scored the tying goal.

Now Ghana and Germany, the better teams, are poised to qualify instead of the U.S.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

This morning, before I walked to work, I checked the forecast: 0% chance of rain … and then a downpour caught me as I was waiting for a train to pass. I called Martin, and he kindly brought dry clothes.

Argentina 1, Iran 0; Germany 2, Ghana 2; Nigeria 1, Bosnia and Herzegovina 0

Tragedy for the Bosnians and Herzegovinians. A goal by Edin Džeko was wrongly disallowed. The Nigerians scored, killed time, and won. The Europeans were eliminated. …

Against Argentina, the Iranians had the better chances — and then Messi made a wondergoal. …

In the most thrilling match so far, the Ghanaians led late. My heart sank when the Germans brought on Miroslav Klose. I knew that he would score.

Costa Rica 1, Italy 0; France 5, Switzerland 2; Ecuador 2, Honduras 1

The Costa Ricans are for real.

The Swiss’s collapse was sorrier than Spain’s. Some of the French goals were as soft as cotton.

Victory for Ecuador. … We looked awful. We looked like we were in the 2002 World Cup: tentative, nervy. Without Castillo, we couldn’t dominate the midfield. It wasn’t pleasing to behold.

A few other notes:

(1) The Hondurans have such dirty players. They tackle viciously; they handle deliberately. Playing beautifully against them is impossible. A cynical, cynical team.

(2) Our second goal against Honduras was a carbon copy of our goal against the Swiss — and of several earlier goals (here and here). A foul against Jefferson Montero on the left side of the box; a bullet cross by Walter Ayoví; a close-range header. This trick may be unstoppable.

Colombia 2, Ivory Coast 1; Uruguay 2, England 1; Greece 0, Japan 0

Tonight we’ll play against Honduras. Do-or-die.

Uruguayan Luis Suárez, inactive previously, scored twice against the English. What a difference one player makes. … Against the Ivorians, Colombia’s star was Old Man Yepes, playing his one-hundredth game (this tournament, I’ve not seen a neater tackler). His team qualified for Round 2 due to Japan’s dour draw with Greece.

Holland 3, Australia 2; Chile 2, Spain 0; Croatia 4, Cameroon 0

Yesterday, three interesting games. … The Australians played valiantly against the Dutch, and briefly led, but eventually succumbed. … The Spanish were slow and imprecise; the Chileans, without difficulty, eliminated them. … Alex Song of Cameroon was red-carded for a vicious elbow-foul. His teammates were then humiliated by Croatia; toward the end, they headbutted one another.

We hosted Community Dinner for the church. The humans all enjoyed themselves, but Bianca was frightened by the children; she hid all night with Mary & Martin, in their bedroom. Even now, she twitches at the slightest noise. All of us are heart-wrenched.

Belgium 2, Algeria 1; Brazil 0, Mexico 0; Russia 1, South Korea 1

Good grief, who played yesterday? I barely remember.

People will be praising the Mexicans’ effort against Brazil. Not that it was bad; but as I said before, this Brazilian team is nothing special.

I’m glad the Algerians got a goal. Last World Cup, they didn’t.

Fabio Capello, do you demoralize your goalies? Last World Cup, in the first game, your English goalie allowed a weak shot to trickle in; and this time, your Russian goalie did the same.

Germany 4, Portugal 0; Iran 0, Nigeria 0; USA 2, Ghana 1

Self-destruction by the Portuguese. …

Iran/Nigeria. … “Dreadful stuff,” the British commentator said. Afterward, Alexi Lalas, the U.S. commentator, apologized for the game.

The day got worse. …

The Ghanaians steamrolled over the U.S. players — I mean, made them look pathetic — only to fail, again and again, just outside the box. Bad cross after bad cross. Bad shot after bad shot. No self-belief. “Just bring the ball inside the box, on the ground,” I thought. “They can’t defend against that.” And that was how, at last, the Ghanaians scored their tying goal. Then they switched off their brains and allowed the U.S. to steal the victory.

Switzerland 2, Ecuador 1; France 3, Honduras 0; Argentina 2, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1

Crushing sadness after yesterday’s defeat. …

I think that Bianca knows when we’re sad. She sits closer to us.

I’ve read that cats aren’t susceptible to “contagious” yawning; but I could swear I’ve seen Bianca do it.

Colombia 3, Greece 0; Costa Rica 3, Uruguay 1; Italy 2, England 1; Ivory Coast 2, Japan 1

Pray for Ecuador to beat Switzerland today. …

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The frontrunners for the Tiniest Passing award are the Colombians. Putt, putt, putt. At times they used a four-player phalanx (Stephen’s phrase) to advance the ball against the Greeks.

The Costa Ricans were surprisingly good.

Italy/England. … Meh. Who cares.

The Japanese were tidy and cunning, but in the end the Ivorians were too skilful. Didier Drogba, who started on the bench, wreaked havoc after entering the game.

Four games in one day … grueling.

Mexico 1, Cameroon 0; Holland 5, Spain 1; Chile 3, Australia 1

Lots of rain; lots of goals. Against Cameroon, Mexico scored three. The first two were wrongly disallowed. … The big news is how heavy Spain’s defeat was against the Netherlands. Afterward, I listened to the analyses of Roberto Martínez (a Spaniard) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (a Dutchman): van Nistelrooy praised the distinctive “Dutch” style of play; Martínez’s veins looked set to burst. It’s the Spanish, of course, whose play resembles the classic “Dutch” style. The Dutch now simply kick long passes to Robben and to van Persie. This time, with those strikers so “in form” — and with Spain’s defense so flustered and its attack so uninspired — the Netherlands’ bet paid off. But I’m not sure what broader lesson can be gained from this. … In the third game, the Chileans were wasteful in front of the Australians’ goal: they shot too little and passed too much. Thus the score was closer than it needed to be, and at the end the Chileans looked exhausted.

Brazil 3, Croatia 1

If that’s a penalty, then we can just stop playing football right now. … It’s ridiculous. If we continue in this way, we will have a circus. … If that’s how we start the World Cup, then we may as well give up and go home now.
[Niko Kovač, Croatian manager]

The Croatians played well, I thought, but the referee gifted the host country the longer straw. I hope this doesn’t keep on happening. This is the most inept Brazilian team I’ve seen; I don’t much fear it, but I do fear the referees.

In our house we had eleven spectators: ten humans and Bianca. We all thought the same about the penalty; and, in Ecuador, so did my mother.

It begins

And now Castillo isn’t going to the World Cup; his injury won’t heal quickly enough. Oswaldo Minda is going in his place.

Today the tournament begins. I’ll try to comment regularly.

Gatsby

The nation rejoices: Castillo’s ligament isn’t torn. Though he won’t play for a couple of weeks, he’ll be included in our World Cup roster.

The score of our last warm-up, against England: 2 to 2.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Martin and I watch the new Gatsby movie. (He might show it to his highschoolers.) We take turns cringing. … Though I’ve read the book twice, and seen an opera of it, I hardly remember the story. What I notice this time is how Gatsby keeps on repeating the phrase “old sport.” (I recall a similar faux pas by a character in From Russia with Love, the Bond novel. Is Fleming spoofing Fitzgerald?) … Downtown, Sabby (the male) says of a pedestrian: “There goes the Gatsby of South Bend.” What a sad description to be known by! And how ridiculous that I, so removed from the local “scene,” should know exactly who that person is. … Reputation is a horrid thing. When I’m introduced to new people, they look startled — and then they say they know my reputation. Those are the words they use. Nothing makes me queasier.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

“Come, meet Bianca,” I say to Cristian. The little beast is resting on a chair. She raises her chin, and Cristian strokes it. “You are beautiful,” he tells her. “At last I meet this cat — the Internet sensation.”

(This photo is nothing special; but with a laptop camera it’s the best I can do to show Bianca sleeping in her box.)