Italy v. Costa Rica
Friday, June 20th | 5PM BST/12PM EST
Television Listings | Full Schedule
With Uruguay defeating England 2-1 on the strength of two Luis Suarez goals on Thursday night, Group D suddenly became very congested. Three teams now on three points, with England on the outside looking in, and today's match-up between Italy and Costa Rica should start to sort things a bit. Italy were controlled and confident against England in the opener, calmly exposing the weaknesses in Roy Hodgson's setup en route to a 2-1 victory that never really felt that close. They'll now be expected to go on and win the group, though their task is anything but straightforward against a resolute Costa Rica side.
We knew Uruguay had been struggling over the course of the past few years, but few expected them to fall apart completely in a 3-1 loss against Costa Rica. Jorge Luis Pinto's side went down a goal on Edinson Cavani's penalty, but an inspired display by goalkeeper Keylor Navas and three second half goals secured all three points. Today should prove a far more difficult task, as the Italians will surely be more organized than a porous Uruguay midfield and defense, and another three points for Costa Rica here would be one of the tournament's biggest surprises.
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