There were no shock results in Brazil yesterday; fixtures were played out mostly to script, Argentina's win was a little lacklustre, Switzerland's had more romance than expected and France comfortably dispatched the Hondurans.
There was however, certifiably more drama and action away from the pitch.
Before France played Honduras in their opening match of the World Cup, Bill decided to impart upon the great Irish public, his significant knowledge on Honduran society.
The Best of the Pundits
Bill O'Herlihy didn't exactly endear himself to the people of Honduras:
Meanwhile, Thierry Henry destroyed Robbie Savage on BBC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYD67WvtWZ8
The Goals
Karim Benzema was responsible for this controversial goal..
Jonathan Pearce vehemently opposed the validity of the controversial effort, despite the evidence presented by goal-line technology. He was left noticeably baffled by the whole experience....
Having a relatively simple concept explained to you by Martin Keown must be a uniquely demeaning experience.
Pearce: Well look at the boos and the Honduran players. And look at this again. We’ve seen so many spurious goal line technology replays. AND IT SIGNALS NO GOAL! No goal has gone up on the screen. The fans have heard it, the Honduran players have seen it. Keown: But it’s a goal there... Pearce: OH GOODNESS ME. THEY’VE CHANGED THEIR MINDS NOW. Does goal line technology work or doesn’t it? PEARCE: Well which replay are we supposed to believe? This was supposed to be a flawless system. KEOWN: Yes but it says the ball was over the line on the second instance.
@Mark_Jones86 'Jonathan Pearce and Richard Keys, keeping the Luddite movement alive well into the 21st century.' Great reference. Kudos. — Patrick (@Gooner_Patrick) June 16, 2014
Switzerland edged past Ecuador winning 2-1, they scored this very very late winner with minutes to spare..
...and Messi opened his World Cup account against Boznia and Herzegovina while most of Ireland lay asleep. Argentina's display left a lot to be desired but Messi's was a beautiful finish.
See the rest of the goals here..
The Out of the Ordinary
The Japanese fans took their defeat to the Ivory Coast extremely well, instead of smashing up their end of the stadium in fury, they instead decided to clean it up. This is an oddity in the world of football but seemingly a regular occurence in Japan, here are the pictures.
Mexican fans were less courteous, raiding bins full of unattended beers after their victory over Cameroon at the Estadio Das Dunas.
