Review-Journal reporter Ben Gotz looks at the World Cup quarterfinals and predicts which teams will advance to the next round.
Lights FC/Soccer
It’s the second-largest World Series of Poker’s Main Event field ever, trailing only the 2006 tournament that featured 8,773 players at the height of the online and TV poker boom.
Residents of the World Cup host city of Samara are being urged to take showers in pairs because the influx of fans is putting strain on water supplies.
The Las Vegas Lights totaled 12 goals in their five June games after scoring just 11 in their first 10.
Even in the World Cup, a moment can change a match completely.
England ended its long run of penalty misery and reached the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in 12 years, beating Colombia 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday.
Fresh off winning the NHL title, the Washington Capitals forward is continuing his summer-long victory tour by taking the trophy to Moscow on Saturday, where it will be exhibited at a “fan fest” public viewing site ahead of Russia’s quarterfinal game against Croatia.
The 48 group stage telecasts on Fox and FS1 averaged 2,069,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Mikel decided to hide the news from his teammates and coach so as not to destabilize the team and went ahead and played the game in Russia, the midfielder said in a statement released by his management company on Tuesday.
With soccer powers dropping out of the World Cup left and right, Monday’s knockout matches in Russia were about passing tests.
Belgium is the first team to overturn a two-goal deficit in a World Cup knockout match since West Germany beat England in extra time at the 1970 tournament.
Lost among the rojo y verde of the Mexican jerseys and flags and sombreros and Modelo sat a pocket of rambunctious Brazil supporters who made sure to remind the despondent majority whose team won 2-0 in the World Cup knockout stage.
The world’s most expensive player put Brazil in the lead after his back-heel released Willian, who then sent the ball into the penalty area. Neymar slid in to tap in the opener in the 51st minute.
Brazil captain Thiago Silva is hoping Neymar plays as well as some of his Paris Saint-Germain teammates have done in the knockout round of the World Cup.
In the second straight shootout of the tournament, the Croats advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday with a 3-2 victory over Denmark on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
