Results of Group D games

Well Group D has now played 2 games, and 2 things are clear. England is going home after the first round, and Costa Rica, and perhaps the CONCACAF  region as a whole are better than people think.
Yesterday England and Uruguay played in a game that both needed to win. England lost 2-1, after losing to Italy 2-1 in the previous game. After the loss, they had only the slimmest chance to get out of the group, and those hopes were dashed when Costa Rica won today. The failure to advance is particularly painful for England because they really did not play that poorly. They have played worse in other tournaments and still advanced. Yet what plaques England is what always does. They play scared and tight and nervous. Despite any false bravado, they do not believe they will win. They are always waiting for the other shoe to drop. It is the same reason they fail in penalty kick shoot-outs. Everyone knows nerves kill in shoot-outs. England played tight and that led to the defensive mistakes that resulted in goals ( somewhat against the run of play) in both loses. Of course losing reinforces the doubt and the nerves and now England is mired in a 50 year old cycle that talent alone will not erase.
  Uruguay found a way to win. The return of Suarez from a knee injury was the key. He was out of shape, and not uber aggressive, but he has the touch of a goal scorer, and he pounced on the England miscues and made them pay. After watching Uruguay play their 2 games, I am not convinced they will beat Italy, but they have given themselves a chance, and that is all their fans asked for.
     Today, Costa Rica got a great result and beat Italy to ensure a place in the knock out round. It is only the second time that they have gotten that far, but it is no fluke. They out hustled and out played the Italians for most of the match. They created goal scoring chances from midfield, never letting Italy get in a groove. After beating Uruguay, they actually look to be the best team in this group. No one will want to play them in the round of 16. If the US can get a result in the next two games, we will probably have 3 teams from our region in the final 16, and that has never happened in any previous WC.
  Italy did not look sharp today, and most of that credit can go to Costa Rica, but they are still my favorite to get out of the group over Uruguay. They will not make the kind of mistakes that the South Americans capitalized on in the win over England. Italy will play with in themselves and find away to penetrate the Uruguayan defense. Still, it will be a winner take all game and it should be a classic. The kind of match the World Cup is all about.