World Cup: A look at Friday’s World Cup schedule
A look at the matchups for World Cup games Friday:
GROUP E
BRAZIL VS. COSTA RICA
Where: St. Petersburg
Time: 5 a.m. PDT
TV: FS1, Telemundo
The buzz: Brazil’s tournament got off to a ragged start in a draw with Switzerland, and now Neymar is limping out of training. But Costa Rica may be in even worse shape after losing to Serbia in a game that was dead even. That has the Central Americans needing at least a draw here to keep alive their hopes of getting out of the group.
SERBIA VS. SWITZERLAND
Where: Kaliningrad
Time: 11 a.m. PDT
TV: Fox, Telemundo
The buzz: Aleksandar Kolarov’s stunning free-kick goal made Serbia the only team in the group to win its first game, leaving it in control of its own destiny. A win over Switzerland and it moves on to the knockout stage; even a draw would leave it well-positioned to advance. For Switzerland, meanwhile, a loss wouldn’t be fatal but it would complicate things, while a win or draw would leave the Swiss well-positioned heading into the final game.
GROUP D
NIGERIA VS. ICELAND
Where: Volgograd
Time: 8 a.m. PDT
TV: Fox, Telemundo.
The buzz: Keeper Hannes Halldorsson’s save of a Lionel Messi penalty kick to preserve Iceland’s draw with Argentina is one of the memorable moments of the tournament thus far. Iceland played a selfless and unattractive defensive game, parking the bus in front of the net and absorbing 26 shots. Expect it to use a similar approach against a quick and athletic Nigeria team. As the only team in the group without a point, Nigeria needs at least a draw against Iceland to keep its World Cup alive.
kevin.baxter@latimes.com | Twitter: @kbaxter11
