Wenger’s World Cuppers Part 3

Italy: 0 Costa Rica: 1

Costa Rica showed up to play, while Italy did not. I don’t know what was going on in the Italian camp, but their tactics made no sense at all. They came out and made a concerted effort to slow down Joel Campbell, after his scintillating performance in the first game, but didn’t seem to realise that the Costa Ricans were not going to roll over. Italy never looked like they were really trying that hard, and even after going 1-0 down, they seemed to think that they were going to win anyway. Not until the last ten minutes did the Italians really kick it into gear and try and get a goal, but by that point it was too late.

As I mentioned earlier, Campbell was held in check most of the game due to being crowded every time he got the ball. He did manage to get in behind the two Italian centre backs right before the first goal, and he was brought down in the box for what should have been an obvious penalty. Incredibly the referee did not award it, but it took some great skill and running from Campbell to create the dangerous position, and he forced the sort of foul that earns a penalty 99 times out of 100.

Jun 20, 2014; Recife, Pernambuco, BRAZIL; Costa Rica forward Joel Campbell (9) and Italy forward Lorenzo Insigne (22) battle for the ball during the second half of Costa Rica

Switzerland: 2 France: 5

In a contender for game of the tournament, Oliver Giroud both scored and assisted a goal. His goal was an excellent header, and you could really see his Premier League experience in his toughness and the way he attacked the ball. His assist came from a rare run in behind the defence, and required an extra burst of speed that I did not think he was capable of. Once in position, Giroud lofted a lovely left footed cross into the path of his oncoming teammate who had no trouble scoring at all.

Laurent Koscielny came on as a late game substitute once the game was out of hand, but both Swiss goals were scored with him on the pitch. While he wasn’t to blame for either of them, it is interesting that he is not preferred at the heart of the French defense (especially when you consider it is Sakho taking his place), and that they conceded only with him on the pitch.

Finally, potential Gooner Greizmann came on as a second half substitute, but was unable to rekindle the magic that he had in his first appearance. Then again, France didn’t really need any more goals by the time he made his way onto the pitch.

Honduras: 1 Ecuador: 2

I didn’t watch this game, but no Arsenal players played, so don’t worry, you’re not missing out on much.