Knockout Round
The Knockout Round started today with Chile being the first team knocked out. Brazil and Chile were locked in a 1-1 tie through the game and two overtimes, so it came down to penalty shots with Brazil scoring 3 while Chile fell one short.
Update: Brazil will play Colombia in the first Quarter Final game, as Colombia beat Uruguay 2-0.
These are the games:
Brazil v. Chile
Colombia v. Uruguay
France v. Nigeria
Germany v. Algeria
Netherlands v. Mexico
Costa Rica v. Greece
Argentina v. Switzerland
Belgium v. US
The teams in the top four games will supply one of the finalists, while the other will come from the teams in the bottom four games. One loss and you are out.
FIFA has over a half billion dollars in the prize pool and teams get paid for advancing, with the overall winning team making about $35 million to go along with the Cup for the last game.
It turns out that I underplayed what happened to “Jaws” Suarez. The four-month ban is from football, meaning he can’t play for his Liverpool club until November, while they will be paying him millions under his contract. He is banned from 9 international games and FIFA took a ‘bite’ out of his wallet with a 100k Swiss franc fine [$112k US]. Some people think the penalty is too severe, but this is the third time he’s done it. They should make him wear a collar with a current rabies tag and a muzzle on the field.
2 comments
Sounds like Uruguay was toothless against Columbia. 🙂
They need to grow up. Their coach quit FIFA committees and the President of the country called FIFA “old SOBs” for banning ‘Jaws’. It’s embarrassing as Suarez has just apologized for biting Chiellini. Liverpool had already sent Suarez to counseling for biting, and now they need to decide whether they can afford to have him around. He is a good player, but one hefty law suit can cost them more than his added value.