Recaps of Today: Japan, Greece Scoreless, Columbia Luckily Beat Ivory Coast, Uruguay Shocks England

Today there were three matches today, with the first being Ivory Coast vs. Columbia, who both won their first games. Both teams won the first game because of their attacks, but there were little chances in the first half. Juan Cuadrado fired a shot that Ivory Coast goalkeeper Boubacar Barry tipped before it hit the crossbar. On a corner in the 64th minute, James Rodriguez scored on a header from a corner that beat Barry for a 1-0 lead. In the 70th, Serey Die of Ivory Coast lost the ball to Rodriguez who passed it Juan Quintero who finished it to double the lead. Ivory Coast cut the lead in half in the 73rd when Gervinho passed through defenders before shooting in the box that beat the Columbian goalkeeper. Columbia, though held on for the 2-1 win, clinching a spot in the next round.
Next was Uruguay vs. England. In the 9th minute, Wayne Rooney`s shot from a free kick was inches wide. Rooney again had a chance to score his first World Cup when he headed a ball from a Steen Gerrard free kick but the headed hit the post in the 31st. Uruguay went up in the 39th when Edinson Cavani sent a cross to Luis Suarez, who scored on a header for the lead. In the last half, Suarez nearly scored on a corner, but English goalkeeper Joe Hart made the save. In the 54th, Rooney shot a powerful strike that Muslera saved again. Rooney scored his first WC goal in the 75th when he tapped in Glen Johnson`s cross. But Suarez led Uruguay to victory in the 85th when Suarez got a long ball and hit it at the top corner.

The last match today was Japan vs. Greece. They played a scoreless draw and Greece had 10 men when Kostas Katsouranis got a red. Japan had trouble with the advantage and it ended with a draw. Panagiotis Kone shot a ball in the first half that Japanese keeper Eiji Kawashima saved. Yuya Osaka and the Japanese dominated possession and Osaka nearly scored twice when he shot it low and one curling wide that Greek goalkeeper Orestis Karnnezis saved. Keisuke Honda also forced Karnezis to make a save from his powerful strike. Japanese had many more chances, but couldn`t convert at all.