World Cup 2014: day 12 – as it happened!

And that is your lot for the day folks. Thanks for all the comments, opinions, tweets emails that you have sent in during the day. Be sure to join Barry Glendenning for the Big One and Paul Connolly for the not so big one. Bye!

For those of you wondering why we call them Holland and not the Netherlands, it's because the style guide tells us so. The style guide's word is law 'round these parts.

You can read more of that over here.

Get your dose of Holland v Chile. Right here, right now.

Get your dose of Spain v Australia. Right here, right now.

But you knew that already right?

SB Tang has previewed Australia 1-0 Spain so you don't have to. SB reckons Ange Postecoglou has been brave at this World Cup, gas picked the right tactics, has motivated his players well and was extremely unlucky to see his team lose to Holland and Chile.

Before Australia's opening matches against Chile and Spain I thought Ange Postecoglou should have abandoned his favoured possession-based, high-tempo, high-pressing style – because both nations execute that very same gameplan better than Australia do – in favour of sitting deep and compact and hitting the opposition on the counter.

It gives me tremendous pleasure to say that I have never been more wrong in my life. Postecoglou stuck with his ambitious Plan A and his team produced football as exciting and dynamic as any seen in Australia’s (admittedly brief) life on the world’s biggest stage.

Australia were brave.

But then, we should hardly have been surprised, for that has been true of their performance at every World Cup – yes, even the frequently and unfairly maligned 2010 campaign, when, apart from 60 minutes against an outstanding Germany side, Australia were excellent, bossing Ghana despite being down to 10 men for most of the match and eventually drawing 1-1 after missing numerous clear-cut opportunities to win the game, and beating Serbia 2-1.

Much more of that over here.

Here is a gallery of politicians at the World Cup shamelessly jumping on the bandwagon trying to eek out a few more votes as they pretend to be something they are not supporting their countries.

"Re; Dermot Corrigan's tweet" chirps Saffron Rainey, "have the masters of fluid inter-changing play know recently as tiki-taka decided to 'evolve' back to 4-4-2 topping off with the classic of yore and big man little man front line?" It would look like it, wouldn't it? (Perhaps Del Bosque has been on the blower to Jack Charlton for some tactical advice.) Unless they play Iniesta out wide in a 4-3-3, a position he is more than familiar with from his time at Barcelona. Speaking of that side, it's odd how Alonso has (apparently) made it in. He has looked off the pace and more out of touch than a fussy principal in a high-school comedy set in Anywhere USA.

A touch of the Dutch news for you.

Queen Mathilde of Belgium was so impressed with Belgium's performance against Russia last night that she wanted to thank the players in person for c uring anyone in the country of their insomnia bringing glory to the nation. Except she messed it up. Big time. The players lined up, ready to greet her and when she reached Romelu Lukaku, she farted: "Bravo, thanks to your goal, we won, right?" Eh, wrong.

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(H/T @PaulQuinnBxl)

Speaking of Spain, Xabi Alonso has dismissed speculation he is about to give international football the old heave-ho.

Xabi Alonso has denied speculation he is set to retire from international football, revealing he is still to decide on his future with Spain.

The Real Madrid midfielder grabbed the headlines after Spain’s 2-0 defeat to Chile – which saw the world champions eliminated from the World Cup after just two games – by declaring that the team lacked “hunger” and “ambition”.

Reports later emerged that the 32-year-old was to call time on an illustrious 11-year career with Spain, in which he has won two European Championships and one World Cup, but Alonso insisted he had not made any decision.

He told the Spanish radio station Onda Cero: “I’m still not at that moment, I want all this [in Brazil] to end as soon as possible, go on holiday, disconnect a little and then decide things with time. Right now is not the time.”

Get more of that over here.

Some (possible) Spain news for you.

Yeah, hi, how you going? First things first. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was in the house earlier, wagging his chin with Nat Coombs about how Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal punctured USA spirits at the death, Louis van Gaal's criticism of Fifa and a whole lot more. Enjoy.

OK, that's it for me. I'm off to do my pre-match warm-up ahead of writing the minute-by-minute report on Netherlands v Chile, a match I am looking forward to immensely, having backed Chile to make it to the semi-finals before the tournament started. Ian McCourt will be taking up the cudgels here on the live blog, once he's finished his posh cheddar sandwich which was "lovingly handmade" in the branch of a nearby fast food chain. Lovingly handmade? That's probably a bit of an exaggeration. Surely "handmade" would suffice?

More on the Harry Redknapp controversy

Harry has refused Steven Gerrard and Roy Hodgson’s demands to name and shame the former-Tottenham stars that the QPR manager claims skipped England duty. Redknapp had claimed "two or three" ENglish players asked him to pull them out of national games when he was in charge at White Hart Lane between 2008 and 2012.

England captain Gerrard believes that anyone who dodges international duty is “disgusting”, while manager Roy Hogdson called on Redknapp to name the players in question.

Redknappp told the Daily Mail: “I understand Steven’s concern but I don’t want to get into naming names because it wouldn’t be fair to the players. Every Premier League manager past and present knows what I’m talking about. Probably even Roy Hodgson. But sadly this attitude is not unusual these days.

“You’ve only got to look at how many players pull out of an international game on Tuesday and Wednesday then are running about for their clubs the next Saturday to see that this is a very real issue.”

Frank Lampard news: Frank has said he will wait until he returns to England from the World Cup before he decides whether to end his international career. When Roy Hodgson announced Lampard would lead England in their final match against Costa Rica on Tuesday, many took it as a sign that this would be the midfielder’s international swan song. Lampard played every minute of England’s previous two World Cup campaigns, but he has not yet featured at all in Brazil this summer.

However the 105-cap midfielder, who turned 36 last Friday, has not ruled out the possibility of carrying on playing for his country until Euro 2016, though. “I don’t know whether I will [retire] or not,” Lampard told BBC Radio Five Live. “I am going to get home and make a decision at that point because I have my own [club] future to sort out as well. This is not the time and place to make the decision. Sometimes when you are away for a month you don’t always come up with the right judgement.”

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For those of you, unlike Gurmaj and other readers, who are not lucky enough to have made the trip to Brazil, here's a sample of exactly what you missed from FifaTV, the television arm of the propaganda wing of world football's governing body.

Gurmaj Dhillon is another reader just back from Brazil. If nothing else, the England players can take solace from the fact that they at least lasted longer there than he did.

"Thanks very much for your blog on the 2014 World Cup – this became a daily must-read while I was in Brazil, great way of catching up on the wider show," he bgins. "I’ve spent just under two weeks in Rio and Sao Paolo, watched the opening game Brazil v Croatia and then the Argentina v Bosnia and Spain vChile games at the Maracana, finishing with a trip back to Sao Paolo to see England crash out to Uruguay – some reflections ...

· "South American fans set the standard for team support, in terms of dress, match songs/dance and general ambience – the atmosphere created by the Argentinian and Chilean fans for their respective games at the Maracana was incredible and must have created a wall of sound for the players on the pitch. Great gender balance amongst the Brazilian fans – the female fans were the most vocal during the Brazil-Croatia opening game

· "Might sound rather obvious, but just to note that the more successful teams seemed to do two things consistently – 1) ensure that their best players got most of the ball and 2) the ball was quickly fed through to the 18-yard area during attacks. Two points on which England could have done better, especially in the Uruguay game

· "Brazil should be the default location for the World Cup, on an alternating basis with external sites – it just works better here, compared to Russia or Qatar?

· " Coming back to work is very hard"

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Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni hopes his side can rediscover their attacking zest to prolong their World Cup campaign. The Asian champions face early elimination from the tournament in Brazil after failing to live up to expectations in their opening two games. Japan first conceded a lead to lose to Ivory Coast in their Group C opener and then played out a drab goalless draw with Greece.
They now head into their final group match against already-qualified Colombia in Cuiaba on Tuesday needing to win while hoping Ivory Coast slip up in their simultaneous clash with the Greeks.
"We haven't had enough speed in our play and it's as though the players have been playing with the brakes on," Zaccheroni, the veteran Italian coach, told reporters. "The problem is probably mental. We're not satisfied with our performances so far.
This team has given lots of joy and satisfaction in previous matches over the past four years, so I'm hoping we can show that good part of our football against Colombia."
Colombia top the group with six points from their opening two games while Ivory Coast have three. Japan and Greece have a point apiece, with Zaccheroni's men boasting the superior goal difference.
Yet while Japan may hope that Colombia ease up with their place in the last 16 assured, the South American side will want to lay down a further marker of their abilities.
Colombia, back at the World Cup for the first time since 1998, struck three times against Greece and impressed again in their 2-1 defeat of Ivory Coast. That has carried them into the knockout phase for the first time since 1990 and the world's eighth-ranked side want to continue the momentum.
Forward James Rodriguez, who has scored in both games so far, said: "Why can't we be the revelation of the tournament? I hope we will be."

Meanwhile in the Europa League ...

The draw has been made for the second qualifying round draw, in which assorted Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Northern Irish teams will be playing. St Johnstone have been handed a game against Swiss side Lucerne in the second qualifying round, while seeded Motherwell will play the winners of the tie between Bangor and Stjarnan. Aberdeen will play Dutch side Groningen if they get through while Derry or Aberystwyth will take on Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Belarus. Linfield will face AIK of Stockholm if they beat their Faroese opposition and Dundalk have the incentive of a second-round clash with Hajduk Split, while Sligo's potential opponents include Rosenborg.

Venezuela fans rush to buy World Cup stickers. Venezuela may not be in this year's World Cup, but adults and children alike have been busy buying and swapping stickers of football players and Brazilian stadiums. Many of the traders say collecting the stickers, of which there are 640, helps them connect with the tournament and provides a distraction from daily troubles.

Want to read Fifa's official matchday preview of today's games? Of course you do. "Expect the whole of Brazil to be biting fingernails on Monday as A Seleçao bid to seal their progress to the Round of 16," it begins. "Luiz Felipe Scolari's side will be strong favourites to see off eliminated Cameroon in their 100^th FIFA World Cup™ match, but the Indomitable Lions are sure to be hungry to exit the tournament on a high. Adding to the tension for the home fans, four Brazil players risk suspension if they collect another yellow card, including Thiago Silva and Neymar.
"Elsewhere in Group A, Mexico take on Croatia needing just a draw to go through, and both could qualify if the host nation come unstuck. As for Group B, the Netherlands and Chile have already clinched berths in the knockout phase and will be competing for top spot in a game that has all the makings of a truly spectacular encounter. A stalemate would leave the Oranje first on goal difference, though they will have to make do without Robin van Persie. Spain, meanwhile, have nothing but pride to play for as they get to grips with Australia. "
The matches
Netherlands-Chile (Group B), Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo.
Australia-Spain (Group B), Arena da Baixada, Curitiba.
Cameroon-Brazil (Group A), Estadio Nacional, Brasilia.
Croatia-Mexico (Group A), Arena Pernambuco, Recife.

Dan writes. "Great job to the Guardian team on the world cup coverage! Really enjoying the podcast and that impressive shout of goal!" he writes, apparently another one of many labouring under the delusion that the bloke giving it the full gun in his roar of "Goooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaalllll!" at the start of World Cup Daily is me. It's not - I don't have that much breath in my lungs. "One question on the fading Spain team before their last match. Was Mourinho right in that Casillas is a shadow of his former self, or is his poor performance a result too of spending most of the last two seasons not playing? Also, any thoughts on Suárez to Barcelona talk? Do they really need him? Me and my mates can't figure or agree."

Casillas certainly had a World Cup to forget, but I have no idea why. Do Barceliona need Suarez? I imagine he would be an asset to any team who is prepared to look past his assorted misdemeanours.

Merchandising mishaps. Remember when hapless merchandisers manufactured lots of mugs featuring Ashley Giles, England cricket's King of Spain (sic)? Well this is worse. Please be upstanding for England centre-half and American president Chris Smalling.

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Cristiano Ronaldo's hair. And to think some people thought we might struggle to find content with which to keep this live blog ticking over, eh? It's emerging that Cristiano wasn't attacked by Zorro, but shaved his head as a tribute to a young boy who surgery to remove a brain tumour last week,so that the pair might have matching "scars". Erik Ortiz Cruz is a young Spanish boy who needed an operation and it seems Ronaldo is a generous Portuguese footballer who £50,000 so Erik could have it. Good on him, if that's the case.

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Good news for Liverpool fans. Their club has been told they can sign Sevilla left-back Alberto Moreno - as long as they meet the asking price. The club's president Jose Castro confirmed that Brendan Rogers' side are one of several teams interested in signing the highly-rated 21-year-old, but explained that serious negotiations were yet to begin while emphasising that Sevilla were under no pressure to cash in on the Spain international.
"It's true that there is interest from a number of clubs, above all Liverpool, in him, but we haven't had proper conversations about selling him," Castro said in an interview with Spanish newspaper ABC. "Signing any player from this club has a price and we will decide that price. If Alberto Moreno has to stay at the club he will stay but if a club pays the amount we think is big enough for him to leave, he will leave. But there is no pressure.
"We haven't reached an agreement, but talks haven't broken down. We'll wait and see what happens. If Liverpool are interested in the player and pay the right amount, he will be sold."

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Phil Neville tweets. And considering how unexcited Phil sounded during his much (and in my opinion) unfairly maligned co-commentating stint for England's match against Italy, he must be finding it really, really tough.

Brian Cloughley writes. And like his late near-namesake, he has some strident opinions. "England came back from a goal down in both of their matches, so I don't know why Neil Connolly (12.38) is arguing that their response to losing goals is indicative of a lack of character," he says. "Also, am I the only person that's a bit troubled that choosing to stay with your heavily pregnant wife rather than playing for England is being described as disgusting? Name and shame these sensitive considerate bastards!"

The World Cup Show is here. Click on this link to see Nat Coombs deliver an essential round-up of World Cup news as Cristiano Ronaldo fails to inspire Portugal for 93 minutes against Clint Dempsey's USA, dark horses Belgium stutter into the last 16, and was Algeria v South Korea the game of the tournament so far? Plus we take a statistical view on Holland v Chile, new Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal accuses Fifa of dirty tricks, and Thierry Henry wiggles his tache.

Gigi Buffon speaks. THe Italian goalkeeper has been talking ahead of his side's match against Uruguay tomorrow, which they must win or draw to ensure progression to the last 16.

"Now we have to send some positive signals and the only way to do that is to raise our game against Uruguay," said Buffon. "We need to show some strength and pride and come up with a win. We need cool heads but also to be highly motivated. If we end up going out in the first round, it will be a failure."
Italy suffered just such a fate in South Africa four years ago, when their defence of the title they won in 2006 ended after defeat to Slovakia in their last group game.
Prandelli is facing calls to make changes after the Costa Rica disappointment, which came after an uplifting opening win over England.
Most notably, it is suggested Borussia Dortmund-bound forward Ciro Immobile - top scorer in Serie A with Torino last season - should come in to partner Mario Balotelli up front.
Buffon, 36, fit again after missing the England game with an ankle injury, said: "Of course the coach will make the call but we're open to everything. But you also have to remember Mario and Immobile have never played together. That could be risky, or it could be to our benefit."
Uruguay are not unfamiliar opponents for Italy, with Buffon having saved three penalties in a shoot-out victory over them in last year's Confederations Cup. The South Americans were also beaten by surprise package Costa Rica but now look a deadlier proposition with Liverpool's Luis Suarez fit again and leading their attack.
Suarez kept Uruguay's hopes alive with two goals against England and forms a formidable attack pairing with Paris Saint-Germain's Edinson Cavani, a player familiar to Italy after six years with Palermo and Napoli. Despite that, the pressure remains on La Celeste and their coach Oscar Taberez to deliver.
Tabarez said: "I have a group who are used to resisting pressure and who react to it in a good way. The pressure was worse against England. They've (Italy) been world champions four times and we have a lot of respect for them. It will be a tough challenge for us but I believe we'll have our chances."

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Where next for Super Mario? With Nicklas Bendtner going, or already gone, from Arsenal, there will be a vacancy at the club for a headline-grabbing striker with a propensity for occasional acts of buffoonery. Small wonder, then, that the club has been strongly linked with Italy and AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli. They'll be cheered by the news that AC Milan have not ruled out selling the striker.

"Balotelli is a great player but in my mind I don't believe that someone can be irreplaceable, we will see what happens," said Milan vice-president Barbara Berlusconi. Balotelli scored 14 goals in 30 league matches last season but Milan finished eighth and failed to qualify for Europe.

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Ashish Luna writes: "I think our mate Neil Connolly is spot on here," writes Ashish. "England have lacked a basic mental toughness or aggression in the past few tournaments. The hunger is definitely below the par of other counterparts we see in the tournament. Teams like Uruguay, Costa Rica just want to win the game that 5% more and that is the difference. "

Meanwhile in the Champions League: Celtic have been drawn to play Icelandic champions KR Reykjavik in their Champions League second-round qualifier. With Celtic Park out of commission because of the Commonwealth Games, Ronny Deila is set for a Murrayfield debut as manager with Celtic picked out first in the draw for the second qualifying round. The first-leg will take place on 15-16 July with the second-leg the following week.

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An email from Neil Connolly: "Watching the England post mortem in Galway and all the usual reasons for failure have been trotted out," he says. "Except for one: character. The USA find themselves in a tougher group (arguably) than England, with worse players (arguably) and a similar problem in maintaining possession. Then look at their reaction to Ghana equalising and to Portugal taking the lead. Energy, pace and organisation can take you far in a competition where the teams don't play together week in, week out. There is zero excuse except that the players didn't perform."

Those Redknapp comments that have stirred up a hornets' nest. "When I was at Tottenham, when full internationals came around, there were two or three players who did not want to play for England," he said. "They would come to me 10 days before the game and say, 'Gaffer, get me out of that game, I don't want to play in that game'. "I'd say, 'you're playing for your country, you should want to play'. "[They would say] 'Nah, my girlfriend is having a baby in four weeks, I don't want to play' and that is the truth, so it makes you wonder."

Zonal Marking's Michael Cox asks an interesting question. Me? I'll be watching the England v Costa Rica match, albeit under duress, for work reasons.

Some news: Fifa has banned Cameroon midfielder Alex Song for three games for elbowing Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic in the back during a 4-0 loss on Wednesday. Song was already automatically suspended for Cameroon's final Group A match against Brazil today.
Fifa says Song will complete his ban in Cameroon's next two official matches. After Cameroon's almost certain World Cup elimination Monday, it plays 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in September against Ivory Coast and Congo. Fifa's disciplinary committee also fined the Barcelona midfielder 20,000 Swiss francs (£13,200). Song was sent off in the 40th minute when Croatia led 1-0.

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An email from David Wall: "What do you make of Redknapp's comments about Spurs players asking him to excuse them from England call-ups?" he asks. "Is it anything interesting or controversial, or just Redknapp stirring the pot and getting himself re-acquainted with the media spotlight before transfer-deadline day after a year of being on the under-card? Although much of the reporting in the papers today seemed to focus on the players he had been referring to, the impression I got from the interviews was that Gerrard and Hodgson were tired of another of Redknapp's stream of passive-aggressive comments about England since Hodgson took over. Something tells me that 'Arry won't be naming any names (but only out of loyalty to those players, of course...)."

It's an interesting one, this. Looking at the list of Spurs players who represented England or were in and around the fringes of the England squad during Redknapp's reign, nobody stands out as a likely candidate for asking to be got out of international duty. I can perfectly understand a player perhaps wanting to miss out on a friendly if he's carrying a knock, expecting the imminent arrival of a child with his wife or girlfriend or simply doesn't fancy going on a 10-day trip to sit on the bench for friendlies, but would be surprised if there were more than a handful of players out there who actively dislike being selected to play for their country in competitive matches. Whether or not they actually enjoy the experience of playing when selected is another story. What does anyone else think? Let me know at the email address above.

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An email from Paul Lees, who is a broken man: "Got back from Brazil at 9pm last night, " he writes. " Back in work this morning. I am an empty shell of a man today and need all your help to get me through it. Besides a three day jaunt to Rio and Sao Paulo, I was mainly based in Salvador. With 18 goals and a missed penalty witnessed in three matches, it must be the best host city to watch matches in the Copa do Mundo so far. It's a wonderful stadium in a colourful and vibrant city just 10 minutes walk from the historical centre of Pelourinho, with plenty of beers and meat-on-a-stick for the journey from the street vendors. All the different nations there with the colours and samba-sounds made it an incredible experience, which I long to go back to. I will never forget this wonderful experience, which will never be bettered in my lifetime."

Good morning everybody. Having finally succumbed to fatigue/"lazy journalism" last night, I missed USA 2-2 Portugal, which seems to have been another belter. Despite getting a much-needed nine hours sleep, interrupted only by the binmen banging around outside at some ungodly hour, I don't recall any dreams I might have had.

Anyway, that's my stint over. I'll hand over to Barry Glendenning. He can read your dreams from hereonin.

Another World Cup dream!

I had a boisterous dream involving a brass tricycle, steam punk-style, with the forlorn head of Vicente Del Bosque on the handlebars, muttering 'ah si!' whenever the vehicle came within a few metres of me. I was handing out choc-ices pitchside to a collection of rabid fans dressed as Droogs, minstrels and Laurel & Hardy etc in the stands as Chile played Spain. The VDB tricycle kept running into my legs, putting axle grease all over my sapphire cords, no matter how much I told VDB to clear off. Then Arturo Vidal cleaned me out with a tackle and I was stretchered off to hospital in the back of an old Morris Traveller. Raquel Welch c. 1969 was the nurse. Chile won 8-0"

I'm not sure if that's so much a dream or a post-music festival hallucination, James Debens. But it's worthy of analysis. Are you perhaps feeling anxious? Are the Droogs symbolic? Are you paying your bills is what I'm asking?

Football turns Algiers into a seething mass of celebration.

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Weird World Cup dreams section.

"I dreamt last night that I was at the World Cup with Cuauhtemoc Blanco," writes Adam Yates. "Whilst people were busy watching a match, we were robbing a lock-up to give astro turf trainers to the young kids in favellas. Unfortunately when we went to see Blanco's friend, a mafia type, to get his permission to hand them out he wasn't happy. He accused us of being paid by Sepp Blatter and that playing football isn't going to fix Brazil's problems. He then got very angry when I hugged his wife and thanked her for her hospitality. Thankfully it was then that I woke up. The trainers wouldn't have been any good for kids anyway, they were all adult sizes. This World Cup is so good it has replaced cheese in provoking mad dreams."

That's quite a dream Adam. Has anyone else had a weirder World Cup dream?

Colombia's manager, José Pékerman, is a classic one-game-at-a-time manager, according to Stuart James. His side are only focused on Japan and not a possible meeting with Brazil in the last 16. Ooh! Brazil v Colombia. Brazil really wouldn't fancy that would they?

Well done. Yes, it was Xabi Alonso. A fan of Wilco. Here's a song his Spain team-mates could have done with heeding in Brazil.

Xabi Alonso or Steven Gerrard? You decide …

"I'm still not at that moment, I want all this to end as soon as possible, go on holiday, disconnect a little and then decide things with time. Right now is not the time. I'm not going to say what's happening in the dressing room, for me that should stay there. The atmosphere and feeling in the dressing room is the same as it was two years ago. It's all very natural, there isn't the tension that you [the media] imagine there is."

Zinedine Zidane is 42 today. I miss Zidane. He not only broughtgames to life, but he controlled them too. Here he is bringing a bit of majesty to France's quarter-final victory over Brazil.

Trends section! The World Cup is like a big football fashion show. What happens at Big Show usually influences what we see in our domestic leagues over the next few years. So, after the 32 group games so far what can we expect on the high street next season?

Lenient refereeing?

Chileans everywhere?

Mismatched boots?

Sensible Soccer-style headers?

Nonexistent defending?

Mismatched goalkeeper gloves?

Massive beards that are already unfashionable, according to us?

What have I missed?

Fred!

How is this man starting for Brazil tonight? That's what Stuart James asks in this piece, too.

Quiz time! And you're going to like this one. Here are 10 kits from previous World Cups. Can you name the tournament they were worn at? I got 5/10. I'm as low as a snake's belly after that performance.

Po' Richard. He feels as "low as a snake's belly" about England coming home.

A blow for hip Pirlo fans. Daniele De Rossi has out ball-hogged him.

Matthew Le Tissier agrees with Harry Redknapp.

"I think there are times – especially when its friendly matches – where there are players who aren't that fussed about pulling on the England shirt. From that point of view it doesn't really shock me that he came out and said that. As someone who would have killed for more England caps, I never understood it, but it doesn't surprise me that it went on."

And to think, if more players pulled out of England friendlies when he was doing his thing, he'd have won more than eight caps. Oh to be playing now, Matt.

What does a crazy Dutchman/Californian hippy drive? This, of course. 6,192 miles to watch Holland take on Chile tonight.

Cameroon's Alex Song has been banned for three matches for a nuclear moment of stupidity in which he elbowed Mario Mandzukic in the back for no good reason during the 4-0 hammering by Croatia that confirmed their World Cup elimination. So he'll not have the chance to stomp around Brazil's midfield tonight.

An email from David Wall:

I know it sounds a little odd to express sympathy for multi-millionaire, international superstar, and Ballon d'Or holder Cristiano Ronaldo, but when Portugal go out after the group stage the verdict is likely to be that he has failed to shine at this World Cup in contrast to other high profile players such as Benzema, Van Persie and Robben, Müller, and in particular Messi. But considering the performances of Argentina and Portugal so far is the difference really just a matter of the difficulty of their respective groups. Messi has underwhelmed aside from his couple of goals and been pretty quiet, but because of the opposition he's done enough to help his side qualify after two games. In contrast, Ronaldo has looked as good as can be expected in Portugal's games but his interventions haven't been sufficient to beat better opponents than Argentina have faced. It seems a little harsh that he is going to be damned by the general inadequacy of his team-mates simply because of the luck of the draw."

The inadequacy of his team-mates has been quite clear, David. I don't think anyone would suggest Portugal's failings have been his fault. The final ball into him hasn't been good enough to utlilise his stunning pace on the counter-attack. Maybe he needs to trust his team-mates more, though. When he did, with that wonderful cross last night, he kept his nation's World Cup hopes alive.

Early-morning catharsis section. The blocky version of Luis Suárez is just as dangerous as the real one. Watch him torpedoe England's World Cup campaign, brick by brick.

Morning. Well, that was exciting last night wasn't it? I'm talking about the Fargo finale, of course. USA 2-2 Portugal wasn't half bad either. Was Clint Dempsey's chest-bump finish the most American goal ever?

Passing over to Gregg Bakowski now. Ta for reading. Bye!

From Fabio Capello to the legacy of the 2010 tournament, here's five brand-spanking-new World Cup talking points for your reading pleasure.

Hurrah! Chile's Arturo Vidal is fit to play against Holland. Here's Owen Gibson's preview piece on the match to decide who wins Group B.

Brendan Donegan has emailed some thoughts on who should move up in the power rankings ...

'Costa Rica! - Side of the tournament so far, somewhere in the top 10 is far more than deserved
France - should be top, clearly the best looking side so far.
Ghana - up a little, did a lot better against Germany and could dump Portugal out. Will probably still not qualify though.
Australia - In no way ever deserved to be the bottom ranked team (note I'm not an Aussie, just think they didn't do too badly)
USA (USA! USA!) - looking likely to qualify now :)'

Just how far can this USA side go? Had they not conceded a last-minute goal to draw with Portugal, they'd be top of Group G and only need a point against Germany to get a nice draw against (probably) Algeria in the last-16. Even if they finished second and played a so-far-underwhelming Belgium side, you wouldn't discount them.

Morning rumours are in: fresh from scoring for Belgium in their win over Russia ...

Divock Origi to Tottenham Hotspur?

Who else is watching football with their camel?

Brazil are in action later on against Cameroon. The Group A leaders only need a draw to qualify, although with Mexico lurking just behind them will need a win to guarantee winning the group.

You get the feeling after their largely disappointing performance against Mexico in the last round, Brazilian fans won't settle for less than a romping victory.

Six-fingered family rooting for Brazil to win their sixth World Cup you say? Yep.

France are definitely in the reckoning for that No1 spot. Which gives me just enough leeway to shoehorn this in.

Tigana was big time wasn't he: part of France's Magic Square midfield in their 1982 World Cup run, ultimately coming unstuck in a fantastic 3-3 draw in the semi-finals with West Germany.

Of course, France may well have made the final had Patrick Battiston toe poked the ball into Germany's net. Toni Schumacher put an end to that: the German keeper colliding with Battiston in one of the most shocking challenges in World Cup history.

For Scott Murray's excellent World Cup moment on that incident, have a go on this.

We're through the second round of fixtures and will soon launch a full run down of who we think has impressed and who we think has flopped in Brazil in what we've called our World Cup 2014 power rankings.

Here's last week's rankings after the first round of games: who do you think should move up/down? Email and tweets please people.

Hello everyone. Another night, another smorgasbord of World Cup action. You watched the games, you're reading this blog, now listen to our World Cup podcast.

Discussions today focus on Belgium beating Russia in the drab early fixture and Algeria's terrific 4-2 win over South Korea to get their campaign up and running. Paolo Bandini calls up from Manaus with news of USA's draw with Portugal, plus Tom Marshall previews Mexico v Croatia.

Listen here.

How on earth did we get through World Cups before social media? I actually do not know.

Check out this colourful video ... not like watching paint dry at all.

Barney Ronay has an interesting take on England's limp, but familiar, exit from the World Cup: the public should be apologising to the team, not the other way around.

He makes a pretty good darned point - unlike England after two straight defeats.

Speaking of Aaron Timms - or should that be 'writing'? - he's filed a delightful, for want of a better word, preview of Australia's oh-so-nigh game against Spain, which, as Aaron points out, is a dead rubber kicking and screaming with life.

Here you go, have a read.

Who'll win the World Cup? Who'll win the Golden Boot? Who cares? Raymond Reardon has identified the real accolades in Brazil.

Over to you, Raymondo: "At the halfway point of the 2014 World Cup, after 32 of the 64 matches, it would seem to be a shoe-in that Aaron Timms, David Hytner and Stuart James are fighting it out for the Golden, Silver and Bronze Boots of the Guardian Writer's Predictions for The Cup."

So Portugal, somehow and from somewhere, plucked a late, late equaliser against USA to keep their hopes of progression flickering.

Group G is delicately poised, to say the least. Germany and USA only need to draw their final group game, which they play against each other, to lock in a place in the last 16.

Will good mates Jürgen Klinsmann (USA) and Joachim Löw (Germany) get their heads together before the game? Here's what Herr Klinsmann had to say about that.

With ego and reputation on the line there's no such thing as a dead rubber in a World Cup, right?

Hello

Welcome to our rolling coverage of all the buildup to day 12 at this rip-roaring World Cup. Today sees the final round of group games kick off. Here's the full schedule:

Group B: Holland v Chile (5pm BST, 2am AEST)

Group B: Australia v Spain (5pm BST, 2am AEST)

Group A: Cameroon v Brazil (9pm BST, 6am AEST)

Group A: Croatia v Mexico (9pm BST, 6am AEST)