Bite spoils Uruguay's advancement as Italy is eliminated
CHICAGO -- There were shades of Tyson biting Holyfield on Tuesday afternoon on the pitch at Estadio Das Dunas in Natal as Uruguay defeated Italy 1-0 to advance to the round of 16 along with Costa Rica. In the 80th minute, Uruguay's best player, Luis Suarez bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder. It was a despicable foul by the man many in the European leagues call "The Cannibal."
One minute later, the Uruguayans scored the only goal of the match when the ball bounced off the shoulder of Diego Godin. Uruguay advanced to the round of 16 to face Colombia, the winner of Group C, this Saturday. Italy was playing with 10 men because Claudio Marchisio received a red card for a hard tackle on Egidio Arevalo. Suarez should have been red carded too, especially after he displayed the bite mark live on ESPN to referee Marco Rodriguez. Maybe FIFA will suspend Suarez for Saturday's game, because this is bad for the "beautiful game."
In the other morning game, Costa Rica and England played to a 0-0 draw. Costa Rica wins Group D and will take on Greece, the 2nd place finisher in Group C, in the knockout round on Sunday.
Colombia scored 9 goals in its first three games, then beat Japan 4-1 Tuesday, while the Ivory Coast blew a great chance to advance to the knockout stage when they lost 2-1 in the final moments to a Greek team that never gave up.
On Wednesday, four more games will take place as the group stage winds down. Groups E & F will stage their final games. At 11 a.m. CST, Nigeria and Argentina do battle. The Argentines have already advanced and all they have to do is win or tie, and they win the group. Nigeria has to win to capture the group or tie to advance.
Iran plays Bosnia-Herzegovina and if Nigeria loses and Iran wins by two more goals than Nigeria scores, the Iranians are in. I like Argentina to win and the Iran vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina game to end in a tie. In Group E, Honduras faces Switzerland. I pick the Swiss to win and they need to win by 3 or more goals and hope Ecuador loses to France, which is already in the round of 16. I have France winning.
