World Cup 2014 – Group D: Last Round-up, Send-Offs, and Other Random Bits

And that’s how it all went down in Group D. Whoever bet on Costa Rica, congratulations! I knew they could be a spoiler, but didn’t think they’d go all the way through to the quarterfinals. In honour of the teams, here is a buttload of random bits and bobs I’ve had sitting on my desktop for awhile to send them all on their respective ways.

World Cup 2014 – Group D: Santos Is Where It’s At

Everyone loves Costa Rica! Including legendary football club Santos, who had a special surprise for the Los Ticos players on Wednesday.

World Cup 2014 – Group D: Italy vs Uruguay Match Report

“Smile though your heart is aching; smile even though it’s breaking.” I tried, Nat King Cole. I really did. *sniff*

World Cup 2014 – Group D: Lampard and Lampard

Little Leandro Lampard was born on the day Chelsea knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League in 2012. Yes, I remember that day well. Booyah! To celebrate that occasion his dad Leandro Tavares Guedes, a long-time Chelsea fan, decided to name his new baby boy after England and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.

World Cup 2014 – Group D: A Costa Rican Birthday

Costa Rica and Arsenal forward Joel Campbell turned the wonderful age of 22 today. 22!

World Cup 2014 – Group D: Costa Rica vs England Match Report

I suppose it was expected this match would be somewhat anti-climatic. Neither team needed to win for footballing reasons, and neither necessarily played as if they wanted to win. So, ultimately, both won by salvaging a draw.

World Cup 2014 – Group D: Smalling for President

Can you see the difference?

So, what do England defender Chris Smalling and US President Barack Obama have in common? Both are handsome men. Both have stern, take-no-guff looks about them. Both have all their own hair. Oh, and both now share an English team tea mug.

What?

World Cup 2014 – Group D: I’ve Got 500 Problems and My Sticker is One

La fiebre #AlbumMundialPanini http://t.co/HeSBJiJYOe

—
Joel Campbell (@joel_campbell12) April 09, 2014

Back in April, Costa Rican forward Joel Campbell went out and bought 100 packages of the Panini World Cup stickers. After opening up all 100 packets in a “fever”, he managed to amass…not one of himself. None. Nada. 500 player stickers. No Joel Campbell.

So he did what any sane person would do.

World Cup 2014 – Group D: Costa Rica vs England Preview

This is a game all about pride, but for vastly different reasons. If Costa Rica wins, they will have defeated all three World Cup Champions in the group. If England win, they will have shown they are, in contrast to what the British press say, as talented as every other team in this group.

World Cup 2014 – Group D: Italy vs Uruguay Preview

This is a must win game for Uruguay, while Italy just need to draw to go through to the next round.