Good morning, all. Strange one last night between Cameroon and Croatia. After the Indomitable Lions’ bright start, it was surprising to see them implode as they did. Benoit Assou-Ekotto should be ashamed of what he did. Never, and I mean never, should you show up a teammate on the field, much less headbutt him. If he isn’t suspended by the Cameroon soccer federation, it will be a crime. There is simply no place for that anywhere. And on another note, I guess Alex Song doesn’t read my blog. His action was rather childish as well, and cost his team dearly. As I said before, he needs to be better.

The Red Sox had a big win yesterday. It seems like the kind of stuff that could turn the season around. Nine shutout innings from John Lackey and then some tenth inning heroics from David Ortiz and Mike Napoli. In my eyes, Lackey deserves to be an All-Star this year. When the Red Sox have needed a stopper, he has been the guy, even if he isn’t piling up the wins. He and Koji Uehara should be the only Boston representatives in Minnesota this summer.

Now, to my picks. They’ve been going better lately.

Colombia 2 Ivory Coast 2

I expect this game between the two top teams in Group C to be an exciting one. Coming off of a strong performance against Greece, James Rodriguez will impress once again, setting up Teo Gutierrez for Colombia’s first. The Ivorians will strike next via Yaya Toure. With a match under his belt to regain some fitness, Toure should be better today. Colombia will score their second shortly after half through Victor Ibarbo, whose excellent play will be rewarded with a fine goal. But the scoring won’t be done, as a late penalty will see Didier Drogba tie the game from the spot.

Uruguay 2 England 1

The outcome of this game will depend completely on Luis Suarez. Initially, it looked like he was going to play. But recent reports suggest he won’t. If he does play, I think he scores a brace against many of his Liverpool teammates. Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka won’t be able to contain both him and Edinson Cavani. If Suarez plays, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Uruguay score three. But if he doesn’t, England will dominate. Whether or not that will manifest itself in a win is another matter, but Daniel Sturridge should have his way with the shaky Uruguay defense that will be without Pereira and Lugano. I’ll settle for in between my two predictions. Cavani will score first, and Suarez will add one off the bench for the winner. Sturridge will have set up one for Sterling earlier to get England on the board. This game should be fascinating.

Japan 2 Greece 0

I’m still disappointed in Japan’s performance against the Ivory Coast last weekend. But I expect them to be less intimated by Greece’s frontline. As a couple of my friends pointed out recently, there aren’t too many strikers like Greece’s Georgios Samaras – ones who specialize in not scoring. He certainly shouldn’t cause the same degree of fear that Drogba did. If Greece starts Konstantinos Mitroglou, this might be a match. But should he be on the bench, the Greeks won’t have much going. On the other side, Shinji Kagawa will have his way in midfield. He will set up Shinji Okazaki nicely for Japan’s opener, before scoring the second himself. He will put the Japanese back in the Group C race.

As always, thanks for reading. Check back later for more World Cup coverage. Please share any thoughts or suggestions for content, and have a great day.