Messi inspires Argentina, Swiss win of late drama

The day review -on the fourth day of the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 ™ has been in line with three, the previous offer many destinations, incredible incidents, and major stars, the its brand.

There is nothing, the football fans love more than a comeback summoned pulled exactly that in Brasilia, defeated Ecuador in the with a last-minute goal and Switzerland stoppage time after the break.

In the other group E France meet, the perfect start for your Brazil 2014 campaign by triumphing over a physical, rugged Honduras page, courtesy of a clinical performance from Karim Benzema.

Last but not least, Argentina confirmed that the power be taken into account, at the tournament, see arise from Bosnia and Herzegovina in an exciting and vibrant, individual effort opened his account while the fine with a Lionel Messi.

Results
Switzerland 2: 1-Ecuador (Budweiser man of the match: Xherdan Shaqiri)
France 3-0 Honduras (Budweiser man of the match: Karim Benzema)
Argentina 2: 1-Bosnia and Herzegovina (Budweiser man of the match: Lionel Messi)

Unforgettable moments
Bank bonus: Xherdan Shaqiri can Budweiser have been named man of the match, but Switzerland had the decisive goals come due their deputies to their hard-won victory over Ecuador, Admir Mehmedi and Haris Seferovic from the Bank. With his team, which had the following 1-0 Enner Valencia header Ottmar Hitzfeld the foresight, Mehmedi shortly after half-time, to introduce a confidence vote, which the Freiburg striker to compensate two minutes later repaid. Salih needed more time to get on the scoreboard in the 75th minute and in injury time for a 2-1-to seal victory. Interestingly, all three Swiss hero - Shaqiri, Mehmedi and Salih - have connections in the former Yugoslavia. Shaqiri and Mehmedi were both as born, Seferovics family moved to Bosnia and Herzegovina the Switzerland of what now is in the 1980s.

Bothersome benchmark: Against Argentina Sead Kanta was a new record, which he does not necessarily want any time soon are remembered. With two minutes and 9 seconds on the clock the Bosnian defenders went the ball into his own net after a Lionel Messi free-kick to knock always the fastest own goal - scorer in World Cup history in the process. Here he takes the place of Carlos Gamarra, the previous holder in the enviable record a David Beckham free-kick his own goalkeeper in the third minute England facing Paraguay in 2006 in Germany controlled. Kanta's 'Strike' is the third own goal of Brazil 2014, starting from Marcelo in Brazil's opening match with Croatia and the Honduras ' keeper of Noel Valladares against France.

Benzema bosses the show: if its first half penalty against Honduras received France, Karim Benzema shouldered its responsibility, as should any good No10. The Real Madrid striker chose the ball firmly to right of the goalie, plants, exactly, how Zinedine Zidane once scored France's tenth World Cup penalty at his time. The similarities with the former Bleus legend to do has not been completed. Benzema doubled his tally in the second half and was the first Frenchman Zidane's double whammy since Zizou to a curly brace in a World Cup match result, after his country to victory over Brazil in 1998 helped France in the final. In his debut world finals, Benzema put the disappointment of his goalless show at UEFA EURO 2012 really behind him.

The stat
5 Honduras have now five consecutive World Cup games without a goal, an unwanted run that brings them finalists Algeria with Bolivia and colleagues Brazil 2014. Before lost four years in South Africa, La bicolor two and moved without the back of the net, their ultimate goal in the competition in a 1: 1 draw against Northern Ireland in Spain 1982 finding. The result was a 0-1-defeat in Yugoslavia, the beginning of their goalless strips.

Tweet of the day

Good luck my friends @youridjorkaeff @Benzema @HugoLlorisOffi @ LizaDoBrazil #tousensemble #CDM2014 #allezfrancepic.twitter.com/VzNQ1RHBp1

-Cris Oficial (@ZagueiroCris) June 15, 2014

Next
Germany Portugal, 13:00, arena Fonte Nova, Salvador
Iran-Nigeria, 16:00, arena de Baixada, Curitiba
Ghana United States, 19:00, Estádio das Dunas, natal

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Italy fairy tale inspires Ticos heroes

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Every dedicated Costa Rica fan remembers the goal that sent Los Ticos through to the last 16 at the 1990 FIFA World Cup Italy™. It came against Sweden in their final group match and involved Alexandre Guimaraes heading into the path of Hernan Medford, who bore down on goal and planted a right-footed cross-shot into the back of the net.

El Pelicano’s strike gave the Central Americans a 2-1 win, the most important in the country’s history and one that clinched them a place in the knockout phase for the first and only time to date. It was a triumph Los Ticos have been dreaming of repeating ever since, and one that edged closer to becoming a reality on Saturday as the Central Americans came from behind to down Uruguay 3-1 in Fortaleza.

Basking in the afterglow of a famous win, Costa Rica’s heroes spoke to FIFA.com.

Thanks for the memories
The first to present himself before the microphone was Oscar Duarte, the tall central-defender who stooped low to put his side 2-1 ahead with a classic diving header.

Recognising the influence of the 1990 generation on the current Tico crop, the No6 said: “I was only one at the time but everyone knows the story inside out. I’ve also had coaches who played at that World Cup and told me about it. It’s a real motivation for us.”

The defeat of the Swedes 24 years ago has acquired an almost mystical significance for the people of Costa Rica, as Duarte explained. “They even made a film out of it back home. We picked up things from it that we could use on the pitch, and it helped us in a mental sense more than anything else. We just thought that if our predecessors could do it, then there’s no reason why we couldn’t do it.”

The scorer of La Sele’s equaliser against the Uruguayans and the Budweiser Man of the Match, Joel Campbell, also spoke of the inspirational example set by the class of 1990: “Before we came here we decided we would write our own story and go even further. Today was the starting point.”

Turning a page
Mixed in with the delight of getting off to a winning start was a feeling of relief. Defeating Uruguay has allowed the latest Tico generation to move out of the shadow of their illustrious forerunners.

“To be honest, it’s been a heavy burden for several generations of national-team players, every one of which is compared to that one,” acknowledged Cristian Bolanos, one of Costa Rica’s standout performers on Saturday. “Every side gets compared to that team and it isn’t easy. We’ve had to fight against our rivals and our own happy memories.”

Clearly delighted at generating the same happiness as the squad that overachieved at Italy 1990, Bolanos said: “I was just a little boy at the time, only six years old, but I have very vivid memories of the celebrations and people going crazy in the streets. It makes me very, very happy to think that we are now causing that same kind of excitement.”

Having chased the ghosts away, the sky is now the limit for Jorge Luis Pinto’s side, as Marcos Urena, the scorer of Los Ticos’ third goal in Fortaleza, pointed out: “We are very happy but we are not going to lose sight of our objective.

“The history books say that Costa Rica’s best achievement is reaching the last 16 and we want to get there too. This is a really tough group and our remaining opponents are both top sides, though that’s only going to help us maintain our focus.”

Urena’s goal will also live long in the memory of the fans. Like Medford 24 years before him, the front man latched on to a through ball, advanced on goal and placed a precise cross-shot into the back of the net.

His strike will no doubt inspire thousands of Costa Rican youngsters, just as Medford’s epoch-defining goal captured Urena's imagination. The only difference is that this story has yet to reach its conclusion.