- HIGHLIGHTS: Rep of Ireland 1-5 Portugal
- Poor quality pitch threatens England’s first Group C match against Italy
- Can you best Soccerlens at the SuperBru World Cup predictions game?
Republic of Ireland 1-5 Portugal – Ronaldo raring to go after ideal comeback
Cristiano Ronaldo made his long awaited international comeback on Tuesday evening, only two days before the start of the 2014 World Cup, helping his Portugal side to a resounding 5-1 win over a hapless Republic of Ireland in New York.
Ronaldo, who was considered to be a doubt for the tournament in Brazil due to him struggling with two separate injuries in the buildup, started and played just over an hour of the friendly last night (Portugal’s final warmup game before the World Cup).
The Real Madrid attacker did not get on the scoresheet, but did strike a post in the first half with a trademark freekick, and always looked dangerous, with Portugal’s Group G opponents undoubtedly looking on with trepidation.
Chunky hitman Hugo Almeida, sporting and twiddling a moustache that a musketeer would have been proud of, netted twice; while goals from Vieirinha, Fábio Coentrão and an own goal from Andy Keogh convincingly ended any Irish resistance in New York.
State of Manaus pitch a cause for alarm, with England vs Italy only days away
There is growing concern about the quality of the pitch in the Amazonia Arena in Brazil, the stadium in which England will begin their World Cup adventure against Italy on June 14th.
Pictures of the pitch in Manaus have emerged, with the above example (only taken yesterday) showing the grass to be dry, patchy, and noticeably bare around the goal.
Incredibly, the £173m Amazonia Arena has not yet been completed, with the Telegraph reporting that naked power cables still dangle from the walls of the changing rooms, while workers are still applying a final coat of asphalt outside the ground.
A construction worker fell to his death last year during the construction of the new 46,000 seater stadium, and several security doors are also waiting to be fitted ahead of Saturday’s game.
Beat Soccerlens – Win £100 Amazon card: Can you predict the scores at Brazil 2014?
Soccerlens have teamed up with prediction aficionados ‘SuperBru’ to bring you an amazing opportunity to not only prove your World Cup luck, but also get your hands on a £100 Amazon gift card!
Totally free to play, the ‘SuperBru World Cup Prediction Game‘ sees players predict the score for each fixture in the tournament, and win prizes according to how close they are to the results!
If you come out on top in the Soccerlens pool at the end of the tournament, you win the Amazon gift card – it’s that simple!
You can make your picks right up until kick-off in each match, so predict them one by one, or predict them on a round-by-round basis – it only takes a couple of minutes either way, and it will make every game important as you try to beat your friends.
As well as taking on the Soccerlens team and other readers, you can also set up your own pools to play against your office colleagues to show who really knows their stuff.
Everyday, I will include my predictions for the upcoming games, and discuss past successes or failures on my part – just to give you a look at how I’m doing!
– World Cup Game 1: Brazil vs Croatia
– Tom’s prediction: Brazil 3-1 Croatia – Scolari’s men are strong, and while Croatia are no pushovers, I can’t see past an impressive opening day win for the hosts.
Be sure to sign up and get cracking before kickoff tomorrow – the very best of luck to you!
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
