World Cup games for Friday TV
TODAY’S GAMES
Group D: ITALY VS. COSTA RICA
Where: Recife. Time: 9 a.m. PDT. TV: ESPN, Univision.
The buzz: Both teams won their openers, Italy downing England on Mario Balotelli’s goal in the 50th minute and Costa Rica stunning Uruguay behind Arsenal’s Joel Campbell, who had a goal and an assist. In its win, Italy completed a World Cup-record 93% of its passes. Whoever wins here is on to the second round.
GROUP E: SWITZERLAND VS. FRANCE
Where: Salvador. Time: noon PDT. TV: ESPN, Univision.
The buzz: Another meeting of two unbeatens. Switzerland needed a goal from Haris Seferovic deep in stoppage time to edge Ecuador while France rode three first-half goals to an easy 3-0 win over Honduras. France was clinical in its opening win, erasing the bad memories of its 2010 disaster, and looks like a team that could go far in the tournament though lackluster Honduras is probably a poor measuring stick. The next goal for France will be its 100th in World Cup play.
GROUP E: HONDURAS VS. ECUADOR
Where: Curitiba. Time: 3 p.m. PDT. TV: ESPN, Univision.
The buzz: Ecuador needs a win to keep its hopes of advancing alive while Honduras would probably be happy just scoring a goal, something it hasn’t been able to do in its last five World Cup games dating to 1982. Honduras, which played with 10 men after losing Wilson Palacios to a first-half red card against France, faced 20 shots in that game, had possession just 28% of the time and managed only four shots of its own. It will be without Palacios again but will have to improve on all those numbers. Ecuador Coach Reinaldo Rueda figures to know a lot about Honduras since he led them in the 2010 World Cup.
