If anyone says they predicted Costa Rica to be among the first teams to reach the last 16 round at the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, it would be a big lie. The Central America country, ranked 28th in Fifa ranking are fast becoming the talk of tournament after pulling off two of the biggest shocks thus far against Uruguay and Italy—and they could add the limping England on their list of victims on Tuesday. Costa Rica’s 1-0 win against four-time winners Italy, means they are through to knockout round for only the second time in their history, while England became the fourth country to be eliminated from World Cup after Australia, Spain and Cameroon. Italy’s failure to beat Costa Rica means, they are on the bring of early elimination just like they did four years ago, but also striker Mario Balotelli won’t ‘get’ the kiss from the Queen of England, which he had jokingly demanded incase he helped England stay in the competition—he didn’t. However, to me there is no shock at England’s latest failure, the biggest shock in this group, which was seen by many as the proverbial ‘group of death’, is that Uruguay or the Azzurri will go out in the group stage. This world cup is turning to be full of surprises and I wouldn’t be surprise if we get an unfamiliar winner on July 13—after all, the way the tournament is unfolding in the first 12 days, has given an indication that the so called small teams are determined to change the status quo.
