On Friday evening, three more matches will be played at the ongoing World Cup in Brazil. In the earliest match of Group D, Italy will seek to overcome the surprise presented by the Costa Rican national team in the first round.
In the first half of the match, the Italian favorites had a hard time taking the initiative. The teams fought in the middle of the field, making it difficult for them to create opportunities near the opponent's goal.
Mario Balotelli had excellent chances to lead Cesare Prandelli's players forward, but his shots went wide or into the hands of goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
However, we did see a goal in the first half, but not at K. Navas' goal, but at Gianluigi Buffon's. In the 44th minute of the match, Bryan Ruiz sent the ball into the goal with a header from the left attacking side after a pass from Junior Diaz. However, the ball bounced off the crossbar and back into the field, but with the help of modern technology, the match referee recorded the goal by the Costa Rican footballers.
The Costa Ricans went to the break leading with a score of 1 - 0.
The second half of the match was dull. The Italians tried to equalize the score, while the Costa Rican team waited for opportunities to counterattack.
C. Prandelli's players hardly created any chances near the opponent's goal in the second half of the match, so they had to admit the advantage of the Costa Ricans.
This victory for Jorge Pinto's players means that they have secured a place in the quarter-final stage, while the championship has ended for the England team. In the last round, Uruguay and Italy will fight for the second ticket to the knockout stage.
Result:
Italy 0 - 1 Costa Rica
44' [0 - 1] B. Ruiz
Starting lineups:
Costa Rica: Navas, Gonzalez, Umana, Borges, Duarte, Bolanos, Campbell, Ruiz (c), Diaz, Gamboa, Tejeda
Italy: Buffon (c), Chiellini, Darmian, Motta, Candreva, Abate, Marchisio, Balotelli, Barzagli, De Rossi, Pirlo
