Uruguay Redefines Winning Ugly

Diego Godin scores the goal, but appears to be run away from Luis Suarez
(number 9) rather than celebrate with him for fear of being bitten.

The day's biggest game was a very ugly affair.  In a game that featured Mario Balotelli and Luis Suarez it could have been a clasic.  Both players are capable of magic and both have a history of losing it on the field.  This match featured Mario getting a yellow card for an amazing ninja kick to the back of an Uruguayan defender's head and Luis Suarez getting away with biting an Italian late in the game.  Italy only needed a draw to advance and they were playing for the 0-0 result.  The Italians had a player sent off for a red card which looked mild relative to the rest of the action.  In the end, the Uruguayos scored on a corner kick but deserve to be the most hated team to continue in this years World Cup (and the 2010 World Cup, too).

Balotelli's violence was much more athletic and actually
involved him trying to win the ball.

Greece advanced ahead of the star studded Ivory Coast team thanks to a late penalty.  The Greeks actually played some attacking soccer and nearly scored many other times while doing the defensive work needed to stop the great Ivorian goal scorers.  Colombia continued with style in a 4-1 win over Japan who had to press for a victory to have any hope of advancing and left themselves vulnerable to the exciting South Americans.  In the meaningless match between Costa Rica and England both teams played like it was meaningless.  0-0 was the final score, England leave on a whimper and Costa Rica top the group.

The results set up a battle of South American rivals, Colombia and Uruguay in the next round.  Colombia is the tournament darling so far with plenty of attacking flair and a well choreographed goal celebration that you can't help but love.  They take on the villains, Uruguay, who will probably be toothless without Suarez as they were without him in their opening loss to Costa Rica.  The other knock-out match will be between Greece and Costa Rica in a matchup that will guarantee that an underdog advances to the final eight.

For the BISERGS, I'm very happy to report that Emilie was the big winner on the day.  Greece and Uruguay earned her 7 points which doubles her score for the entire BISERGs so far.  Ivan moved to within 1.5 points of Rodrigo thanks to Colombia and fellow Colombia owners Matt S. and Rick made significant advances, too.  Annika has risen to her highest place yet (4th) and with her highflying French side set to play tonight, she could soon top the table.  Nine BISERGSers still have the potential of seeing all four teams advance.  Rachel, Dawn, Emmett, Nate, Krista and Evan aren't in the top 10 today, but with the possibility of four teams advancing, they could be serious contenders before it is over.