June 18: World Cup diary... Magic Moment

Magic Moment

John Brooks, 21, in his first competitive game for the USA, scored the winner over Ghana with a thumping header. He even foresaw it in a dream!

What the favela?!

Mario Balotelli  posted a pic of his sticker album with Italy filled entirely with himself, along with ‘why always me?’ line.

Beach bum

Quite why Pepe decided to stop, turn back and headbutt (albeit weakly) a grounded Thomas Muller is anyone’s guess.

They said what?

“Oh goodness me. They’ve changed their minds now. Does goal line technology work or doesn’t it?” — BBC commentator Jonathan Pearce embarrasses himself with a rant about goal-line technology, which worked fine.

Stat attack

12 - games into the World Cup before it produced a draw — a record.

8 - goals in seven World Cup matches for Germany’s Thomas Muller.

37 - goals after the first 11 matches, which was 12 more than in 2010.

29 - seconds — how long it took Clint Dempsey to score sixth-fastest World Cup goal.

Results and fixtures

Yesterday’s results: Belgium 2-1 Algeria; Brazil 0-0 Mexico; Russia L-L South Korea.

Today

Group B Australia v Holland 1pm; Group B Spain v Chile 4pm; Group A Cameroon v Croatia 7pm.

Tomorrow

Group C Colombia v Ivory Coast 1pm; Group D Uruguay v England 4pm; Group C Japan v Greece 7pm.