World Cup 2014: Match Day 7

Yesterday brought the front runner for Goalkeeper of the Tournament. Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa of Mexico put forth an absolutely stunning shutdown performance against host nation Brazil in an enthralling 0-0 tie between Mexico and O Seleçao. The two teams battled to earn a point each in the second game of their Group A fixtures. Ochoa registered 6 outstanding saves, with some spectacular blocks on Neymar and Thiago Silva to preserve the point for his side. Mexico put forth an impressive effort as well, many times challenging the strong Brazilian defense into their own eighteen yard box. After the game, neither team has locked up passage to the next round, making their next matches extremely pivotal to their hopes of advancing.



Today, we see the defending champions take on a worthy Chilean side as Spain look to bounce back from the thrashing given to them by the Netherlands. Many questions swirl around the Spanish camp for head coach Vicente Del Bosque about whether or not he will leave Diego Costa at the striker position, and what he will do about many of his other underperforming star players. Juan Mata and David Villa have yet to see any minutes, while rumblings of benching goalkeeper Iker Casillas have been making their way around the soccer world.



The Dutch look to continue their impressive form as they take on the Socceroos from Australia. Tim Cahill, in what may be his final international push, will hope to lead an upset for the Aussies and keep their World Cup dreams alive. Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben will be the focal point of that Dutch attack while building upon their combined 4 goals in the tournament already.



Cameroon and Croatia square off in the final game of the day to round out the second games for the countries in Groups A and B. By the end of today, we should have a much more clear picture of who will advance to the Round of 16 and who will be going home with their spirits crushed.



Today's Games:

Netherlands vs. Australia, 9:00 PST Porto Alegre

Spain vs. Chile, 12:00 PST Rio de Janeiro

Cameroon vs. Croatia, 15:00 PST Manaus



My Picks:

Netherlands

Chile

Croatia



My Record:

10 out of 17, 59%