Bayern Trupp » 26 points and No. 25 Notre Dame

Day 6 in 100 words or less There is a demand from the Brazilian public when it comes to their national team. Entertain and win. So far, Brazil are struggling to tick either box. There will be many negative words written about Brazils performance but Brazil are not in the World Cup to convince now. They are in it to win it on July 13th. The result of the game may not be what the public wanted but the competitiveness of the match was exactly what this Brazilian team needed. Brazil 0-0 Mexico - Through two games at the 2006 World Cup there were very few people picking Italy to win it. Four points from a possible six will do that. Through two games at the 2010 World Cup there were very few people picking Spain to win it. Three points from a possible six will do that. Through two games at the 2014 World Cup fewer and fewer people are picking Brazil to win it. Just last Thursday, prior to the tournament kicking off, their bandwagon was full. Now people are jumping off it very quickly. - Of course, they need to be better and there are questions about the hosts, mainly around how they can change a game when it isnt going their way. Bernard for Ramires, Jo for Fred, Willian for Oscar; different piece, same puzzle. It was a game that screamed for a playmaker from a central area to link up with the front three. A man who can play as a third midfielder and match up against opponents in defence but ignite an attack with penetration and vision going forward. A Kaka in his prime, for example. - However, Kaka is only in Brazil as a fan. This team is what it is and Luiz Felipe Scolari seems very hesitant to move away from a disciplined 4-2-3-1 shape. He is a stubborn man with belief and faith in what got him here and he loves stability. - It is a shape that will likely find a high gear against minnows Cameroon in their next match but in arguably their biggest test of the group stages they became too predictable. - Mexico were magnificent. It took until Bernards run inside, in the 76th minute, before a ball was played in behind their defence and Jo poorly shot wide. - Their back five were compact and extremely organized. Their shape meant they had outlets all over the field with technical players demanding the ball. Many of their players excelled and for the second straight game their trio in central midfield of Jose Vazquez (#23), Andres Guardado (#18) and Hector Herrera (#6) impressed, making a number of ball recoveries to start transitions stats powered by Opta - No one was better, however, than goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa who made a number of brilliant saves highlighted by his stop from Neymars thunderous header in the 26th minute. Weve been given many gifts by this World Cup and that was one of the greatest saves you will ever see. - Mexico have given many people a lesson in Brazil, including those who put a lot of faith in qualification processes months ago. Miguel Herreras team are night and day different to the way they played last year and is it really a surprise? Finally they have a coach who has a gameplan, a system he has stuck to and players he believes in. On the biggest stage, so far, it has worked out for them and theyll only need a point vs Croatia to get to the last 16 once again. Belgium 2-1 Algeria - With twenty minutes to go, Belgium coach Marc Wilmots had laid all of his cards on the table. He was all in. The sexy upstarts were in trouble, down a goal to the organised Algerians, and with the world watching now was the time to deliver. - The past 25 minutes, since half-time, had been a much needed improvement from a slow, predicable style in the opening half of the game. - Wilmots has been successful with Belgium because he has leaned heavily on depth - half of their goals in qualifying came from subs - and he was at it again in Brazil. Off came Nacer Chadli at half-time, a disciplined wide player with little creativity, not needed when you are chasing a game. Dries Mertens, unlucky not to start, provided some width and an increase in tempo that the attack needed. Yet it remained 0-0. - Off came Romelu Lukaku for young 19-year-old Divock Origi on 65 minutes. And yet five minutes later they still trailed. - Off came Moussa Dembele, inserting a more attacking threat, in central midfield, with Marouane Fellaini getting his chance. Wilmots was done. It was up to the players. - Kevin De Bruyne, so crucial to their system, linking up centrally between the defensive-minded six and the three forwards, then took over. His delivery into the box for Fellaini to head into the net was one of the finest crosses so far in a tournament full of fine crosses. - It has also been a tournament of counter attacks. Algeria attacked and De Bruyne produced a brilliant tackle to start a transition, led by the creative guile of Eden Hazard and finished off with the power from the right foot of Mertens. - It was far from an ideal performance but Wilmots learned quite a bit about his team in the game at Belo Horizonte. They trailed for 46 minutes, seven more than they did combined in the two years it took to qualify to get there. Just like against Croatia early in qualifying, his players answered back and will gain a lot of confidence from it. - Question marks remain, of course, about just how good they are. Some minor changes can be made, such as Mertens for Chadli, possibly, against Russia on Sunday but there are some deficiencies that can not be solved. - Playing four centre-backs is his only real choice at this tournament but the wide men across the back four got exposed in the buildup to Algeria winning their first half penalty. - Initially the back four look like they are in a good position to deal with an attack..... - Then left midfielder Riyad Mahred makes a move inside that causes Toby Alderweireld to follow him, just as centre-backs often do... - This leaves a gap on the left side for Faouzi Ghoulam to run into... - He gets the better of De Bruyne to cross into the box and by now left back Jan Vertonghen isnt quick enough to get back, instead looking in front of him for the threat, rather than behind. - The cross comes in and Vincent Kompany, centrally, puts his arms up thinking it will be easily dealt with but Vertonghen has fallen asleep and allows Sofiane Feghouli to get goalside, forcing him to foul him and giveaway the penalty. - If a fairly limited side like Algeria can expose Belgium in this area expect future opponents to concentrate on exposing the positioning of their full-backs. Russia 1-1 South Korea - It was far from a classic. If you missed it all you need to know is Igor Akinfeev had a Rob Green howler moment midway through the second half to ensure Fabio Capellos World Cup started with a very similar 1-1 to four years ago. - The Italian manager responded by finally placing his ace goalscorer Aleksander Kerzhakov on the field and within five minutes he had leveled the game, bundling home the rebound inside his office, the six yard box. - The commentator gave Capello credit for the goal but it was clearly a bizarre decision by not playing the Zenit striker from the start. - Russia were many peoples picks to advance from this group but based on todays display the slot to go through with Belgium is very much alive for all three other members of Group H. - It will not help that Russia play Belgium next and they will have to be much better. Man of the day Nominees Kevin De Bruyne – The former Chelsea man took over the game in the second half for Belgium and two moments of brilliance swung the game his teams way. Axel Witsel – The central midfielder was clearly the most consistent performer on the day and looks poised to have a very good World Cup. Sofiane Feghouli – The Valencia man won the penalty, dusted himself down and scored the countrys first World Cup goal in 28 years. Neymar – Brazil were frustrated many times with Mexico but we were still fortunate to watch a few special moments from ‘Mr Box Office as he dribbled his way around his opponents. Guillermo Ochoa – Yesterday many people looked up the Wikipedia of John Brooks. Today that man was the Mexican goalkeeper. The winner… Guillermo Ochoa – The Wall of Ochoa dominated day six. He had his moment, brilliantly denying Neymar in the first half but he produced three more magnificent saves and fully deserved his clean sheet. He is on the look out for a new club team and I think his agents phone has been very busy today. What comes next? Australia vs Netherlands (12pm/9am), Chile vs Spain (3pm/noon), Cameroon vs Croatia (6pm/3pm). Burning question for tomorrow What will Spain do differently to keep themselves alive in this tournament and prevent a loss to Chile? Key stat of day 5 Through 17 games the teams that have scored first have only eight wins, drawing once and losing six times. Junior Seau Jersey .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. Keenan Allen Womens Jersey . In the last race before the Sochi Olympics, Bjoergen followed up her win in the 10-kilometre classical race on Saturday by beating World Cup sprint leader Denise Herrmann of Germany by 0.43 seconds for her fifth victory of the season. http://www.chargersauthenticofficialonli...jersey.html.com) - Colorado forward P. Lance Alworth Youth Jersey . According to the Globe and Mail, a decision between the NHL and the Players Association should come within the six months. "I can tell you, (a decision) shouldnt take all that long," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Globe and Mail. Melvin Gordon III Chargers Jersey . He was 90. The team announced Monday that Adams had died, saying he "passed away peacefully from natural causes." The son of a prominent oil executive, Adams built his own energy fortune and founded the Houston Oilers.Lexington, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - Devin Booker and Willie Cauley-Stein each scored 15 points as top-ranked Kentucky remained undefeated with an 84-70 victory over No. 21 North Carolina. Aaron Harrison added 14 points and the Wildcats shot 56.3 percent from the floor in a performance far more impressive then Wednesdays lethargic 10-point home win over heavy underdog Columbia. Kentucky (11-0) also asserted itself on the defensive end, forcing 18 Tar Heel turnovers that it converted into 24 points, and was never seriously threatened for the majority of this high-profile battle of basketball blue bloods. Brice Johnson led North Carolina (6-3) with 15 points, though most of that total came the games early stages. Marcus Paige finished with 14 points in the loss. Final Score: (3) Arizona 80, Michigan 53 Tucson, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Last season, Arizona traveled to Ann Arbor and won a two-point thriller. It was much easier this time around for the hird-ranked Wildcats, who dominated Michigan in every facet of the game in front of their home crowd and embarrassed the Wolverines, 80-53. Freshman phenom Stanley Johnson led a balanced scoring attack with 17 points for Arizona (10-0), which shot 58.2 percent from the floor while limiting the Wolverines to just 35.2 percent. Arizona improved to 31-0 with Ashley in the lineup since the start of last season. Zak Irvin had 14 points to lead the Wolverines (6-4), who were coming off consecutive home losses to NJIT and Eastern Michigan. Final Score: (5) Wisconsin 86, Nicholls 43 Madison, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Sam Dekker scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in No. 5 Wisconsins 86-43 win over Nicholls. Dekker scored 13 of those points in the first half for the Badgers (10-1), who led by as much as 45. Josh Gasser added 14 points for Wisconsin, and Nigel Hayes chipped in 12 points and eight boards. Amin Torres scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Colonels (1-5), and Sam McBeath netted nine points on 4-of-6 shooting. Wisconsin owned a 41-26 edge on the boards and outscored Nicholls 36-26 in the paint. The Badgers also scored 19 points off 21 Colonels turnovers. Final Score: (8) Texas 59, Texas State 27 Austin, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Cameron Ridley scored 14 points and eighth- ranked Texas used a dominating defensive performance to rout Texas State, 59-27, at the Erwin Center. Javan Felix added 10 points, and Connor Lammert pulled down 10 rebounds for the Longhorns (8-1), who bounced back from a 12- point loss to top-ranked Kentucky on Dec. 5. Demarcus Holland scored nine points for Texas, which has posted 26 straight wins against Texas State. Cameron Naylor scored eight to pace the Bobcats (5-2), who had just nine points in the opening half and faced a 15-point deficit after 20 minutes. Final Score: (10) Kansas 63, (13) Utah 60 Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Perry Ellis scored 14 points, the last two on a tie-breaking basket with 2:01 remaining, and 10th-ranked Kansas survived a stern challenge from No. 13 Utah to earn a 63-60 victory. The Jayhawks squandered a 21-point lead early in the second half, but came up clutch down the stretch to record their seventh straight win since a blowout loss to top-ranked Kentucky in Indianapolis in mid-November. Ellis big basket snapped a 55-55 tie, while Brannen Greene hit four critical free throws in the final seconds to enable Kansas (8-1) to hold on. Delon Wright led the Utes near-comeback by netting 12 of his 23 points in the second half, but Utah (7-2) failed to score on five straight possessions after claiming a 55-53 edge on Jakob Poeltls layup with 4:36 left to play. Final Score: (11) Wichita State 77, Detroit 68 Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Darius Carter had 18 points and 11 rebounds to guide No. 11 Wichita State to a 77-68 victory over Detroit on Saturday. Ron Baker had 19 points and seven rebounds while Fred VanVleet gave 11 points, eight boards and seven assists for the Shockers (7-1), who have won their past three.dddddddddddd Juwan Howard Jr. scored a game-high 27 points while Matthew Grant and Paris Bass each had 12 for the Titans (6-4), who had won their previous two. Final Score: (12) Ohio State 87, Morehead State 71 Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Sam Thompson and DAngelo Russell each had 15 points as No. 12 Ohio State posted an 87-71 win over Morehead State at Value City Arena. Despite struggling on the defensive end for much of the game, Ohio State (8-1) still managed to record a third straight lopsided victory since falling to No. 4 Louisville on Dec. 2 behind a sharp shooting display. Thompson and Amir Williams both finished 5-of-6 from the field and the Buckeyes went 56.6 percent overall as a team. The Eagles (4-8) shot 55.3 percent, with Corban Collins draining 6-of-7 attempts from 3-point range in a 22-point effort, but committed 21 turnovers in their fourth straight loss. Williams ended with 12 points and nine rebounds, with JaeSean Tate also tallying 12 points for Ohio State. Final Score: (16) Oklahoma 87, Tulsa 68 Tulsa, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - TaShawn Thomas poured in a season-best 25 points as 16th-ranked Oklahoma cruised to an 87-68 victory over in-state foe Tulsa at the Reynolds Center. Thomas went 9-of-12 from the floor and Isaiah Cousins knocked down five 3-pointers in a 21-point effort for the Sooners. Cousins added eight rebounds to help Oklahoma (6-2) easily handle a struggling Tulsa team coming off a home loss to Division II Southeast Oklahoma State. Shaquille Harrison was one of the Golden Hurricanes few bright spots, finishing with 21 points and five assists. Rashad Ray tallied 11 points off the bench for Tulsa (5-5). Final Score: (19) Maryland 67, USC Upstate 57 College Park, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Jake Layman scored 17 points and No. 19 Maryland rallied in the second half for a 67-57 victory over USC Upstate on Saturday. Melo Trimble had 14 points and 12 rebounds while Evan Smotrycz added 10 points and six boards for the Terrapins (10-1), who have won their past three games. Fred Miller gave 13 points, five boards and five assists and Ty Greene added 11 for the Spartans (8-3), who had a three-game winning streak broken. Final Score: VCU 93, (23) Northern Iowa 87 (2OT) Richmond, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - Treveon Graham scored 21 points, including a clutch 3-pointer in the second overtime, and pulled down 11 rebounds to help VCU knock off No. 23 Northern Iowa 93-87 on Saturday. Grahams late layup in regulation helped the Rams (6-3) force overtime and after being held scoreless in the first extra period, he hit the 3-pointer in the second overtime that put VCU ahead for good. Briante Weber chipped in 14 points and six steals for the Rams, and Melvin Johnson added 12. Wes Washpun and Matt Bohannon scored 27 and 18 points, respectively, for the Panthers (9-1), including 12 of the teams 14 points in the overtime sessions. It was not enough, though, and Washpun fouled out of the game in the second overtime. Final Score: (25) Notre Dame 83, Florida State 63 South Bend, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Zach Auguste scored 26 points and No. 25 Notre Dame pulled away in the second half for an 83-63 win over short-handed Florida State on Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. Conference scoring leader Jerian Grant added 18 points, including 14 in the second half, and Demetrius Jackson also scored 18 as Notre Dame (10-1, 1-0 ACC) picked up its sixth consecutive win since a one-point loss to Providence on Nov. 23. Florida State played without leading scorer Aaron Thomas, who was declared ineligible by the school on Friday. The junior guard was averaging 14.8 points and 3.5 rebounds this season. Montay Brandon had 14 points to lead the Seminoles (4-5, 0-1) and Devon Bookert scored 11. ' ' '