Well guys, almost a week into the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and you'd think we've pretty much seen it all already.
Since Brazil kicked off football's grandest stage with a thrilling 3-1 come from behind victory over Croatia, we've seen another 11 games (14 when you guys get this week's paper), with an eye opening 37 goals scored, so it's pretty safe to say the tournament hasn't failed to entertain at this point. It hasn't come without its fair share of surprises either.
It all started on Friday when the defending champions Spain got their tournament underway with a rematch of the 2010 final against the Dutch. Heavily favoured heading into the game, it was the Spanish who opened the scoring with midfielder Xabi Alonso slotting home from the spot after star forward Diego Costa was brought down in the box.
It's become almost an expectancy that, upon scoring the first goal, Spain go on to claim two or three further goals en route to a comfortable victory, but the Netherlands had other plans this time, rallying to secure an incredible 5-1 victory after one of the best and most explosive second half performances I've ever seen.
Mexico got their tournament off to a good start with a 1-0 win over Cameroon in Group A, while Chile easily dispatched of Australia 3-1 to give them a good shot of progressing from a group also containing Spain and Netherlands.
There were four games on Saturday and without a doubt the shock of the day came in Fortaleza when a Uruguay team without its star man Luis Suarez were downed by a lowly Costa Rican outfit that sit 20 places below them in the Fifa world rankings.
And to think, this reporter backed Uruguay to be the dark horses of the tournament – now it's looking incredibly unlikely that they even make it out of the group stage. I think it might be safe for most of you to take my predictions with a pinch of salt from here on out.
After a hard fought game, Italy defeated England 2-1 in sweltering conditions in Manaus despite being dominated for large stretches of the game, while there were further victories for Colombia and the Ivory Coast in Group C to put them in pole position to qualify for the round of 16 knockout stage.
Sunday saw my personal favourites to win the entire thing, Argentina, get off to a stuttering start against an impressive Bosnia and Herzegovina, recording a narrow 2-1 victory. An own goal in the opening minutes from Sead Kolasinac was later added to by a virtuoso Lionel Messi strike before forward Vedad Ibisevic gave the Bosnians hope with a goal late in the game. Elsewhere, Switzerland and France secured victories in Group E to secure their one and two positions in the group.
By the time this column hits the shelves, three further games will have been played, so I thought it might be fun for me to predict some score lines that, in all honesty, will probably leave me with even more egg on my face, but here we go anyway – Germany 2-2 Portugal, Iran 0-2 Nigeria, Ghana 3-1 United States. At an incredible 2,421/1, it might be worth a little flutter and if I'm right, I expect a round or two on you Bonnyville!
This week we'll watch as many teams kick off their second round of games and at this stage of the tournament, it's already do or die for some. Particularly watch out for the England and Uruguay match-up on Thursday to provide some entertainment. Until next week Bonnyville!
