Despite the fact that Colombia were already through and it was Japan that had everything to play for, it was great to see that Colombia attacked .... and attacked ..... and attacked. Mind you, so did Japan which made this an exciting spectacle. After the first Colombian goal (from a penalty), Japan roared into life and attacked with every ounce of effort they could muster. At times the Colombian goal was under siege (Japan had almost twice as many shots as Colombia: 23-13) but Colombia's wonderful counterattacking style always left the Japanese goal at risk. The Japan did pull one back, literally on the stroke of half time and the second half continued much the same. This time though the Colombian counterattacks were successful and Colombia scored three more times, twice though Jackson Martinez and once through James Rodriguez, who is rapidly becoming one of my favourite players of the tournament. The game finished 1-4 to Colombia.

This meant that Colombia won all three of their games (scoring 9 goals in the process) and obviously going through in first place in the group, with Japan finishing last and being eliminated.

It happened! I watched in disbelief - Italy have been in this position before and have always managed to score that vital goal but not this time. Uruguay scored a late goal to win the game. Given that Italy only had to draw to go through, I can't help but wonder if that was the plan - their attack was certainly lackluster and Balotelli was "missing in action" for the first half and was substituted at half time. To have lost Marchisio early in that second half may have also made a difference - I'm not sure that an instant red was justified. It was certainly an ugly challenge but sending off? Probably not. What was remarkable was that it was barely noticeable to be honest (and no disrespect to Marchisio intended) because the remaining 10 picked up their game so much that it was probably their best patch of play. At times it looked like that goal had to happen - and then Uruguay scored, much against the flow of the game. Pirlo impressed as always and tried hard to get something happening in those last 9 minutes but to no avail.

The bite - I can't comment because all the footage here was from the wrong angle. If anything, it looked like Suarez tried to head headbutt Chiellini (in itself a major issue) but misjudged it and got a smack in the mouth from Chiellini's rising shoulder.

Uruguay go through, Italy go home.

Sure, the scoreline was 1-4 to Brazil and Neymar scored two goals (and Fred also finally scored one too) but this wasn't potential World Champions overrunning an inferior opponent. Rather, this was two teams slugging it out, both with enormous attacking potential, neither of which ever really fired up. It was exciting because it was attacking end-to-end stuff from both teams but it never dazzled. I suppose that is a little harsh because the Brazilian goals were great but in between, there were lots of chaotic defending and disjointed midfield play. Brazil will definitely need to play better from this point on if they are to progress.

This meant that Brazil were definitely through but whether first or second depended on the next game's result. Cameroon were definitely eliminated.

The substitutes did it again, Fre scoring within two minutes of coming on and Depay scoring in extra time (92nd minute) to finally put the game beyond Chile's reach. It was a tight game with both teams attacking repeatedly but neither even gained any real fluency until Fer finally got his goal in the 77th minute. After that, Netherlands finally started flowing a little more and Robben started raiding in his customary fashion. With the Dutch winning all three of their games, they go through top of their group and Chile go through second. The other two teams (Spain and Australia) were eliminated already.

In direct contrast to game #30, this the other type of game - the exciting game because both teams realise that they have to win this game to be in the hunt. Because of that, both teams attacked throughout the game. The first half hour or so was pretty even with end-to-end football but Algeria finally broke through, and then put in three in twelve minutes of blistering attacking football which was fun to watch, not so much for the Koreans, I guess, but as a spectacle, it was pretty great to watch. Eventually, the Koreans got themselves back on track though they were obviously rattled.The half finished 3-0 to Algeria. The Koreans came out renewed for the second half and pulled a goal back within 5 minutes, looking much more comfortable by the minute. Sadly because Korea threw everything into attack, they were vulnerable to counter-attack and sure enough, Algeria got a 4th just 12 minutes later. To both sides' credit, they both continued to attack and the Koreans duly got a second with 18 minutes to go. Both teams had chances to score but neither found the back of the net and so it finished 2-4. Great game and very exciting to watch.

This means that Korea are definitely out and Algeria are still in the mix.

Nigeria hoped to be greatly improved from their first game (the draw against Iran) and Bosnia and Herzegovina had played some really good football in their first game so this had all the potential to be a very exciting game - and it was. Nigeria's strategy early on was clearly to fire from long-range and they did, albeit unsuccessfully. Bosnia and Herzegovina's Dzeko scored the first goal of the game, only to be denied by an offside flag that really did look unjustified. However this did get the Super Eagles going and they started to be more effective, eventually scoring the only goal of the game after Emenike bundled his way past a defender and then laid on a great cross for Odemwingie to score from. Unfortunately, this seemed to really rattle Bosnia and Herzegovina who then spent a long while falling over every tackle and protesting every decision which, I felt disrupted their game. They were never quite as focused again. They did continue to drop crosses and passes into the Nigerian penalty area, especially to Dzeko but to no result. To both teams' credit, neither gave up and Nigeria played to extend their lead whilst Bosnia and Herzegovina tried hard to equalize. It finished 1-0 to Nigeria.

This meant that Bosnia and Herzegovina are definitely eliminated and Nigeria are almost there, only needing to draw in their next game against Argentina (who are already through).

If you had said to me that Iran would be disappointed that they lost this game, I would have doubted your sanity but I can say that, in all honesty, Iran could have won this. The first half was all Argentina and they hammered way at the Iranian defense but it held steady. The half finished 0-0. In the second half, Iran were easily the better team and had far more shots on goal and corners than the Argentinians had. At times, it was only desperate scrambling that kept Iran out. Finally, in the 91st minute, Messi (who else?) broke the deadlock with a wonderful shot from outside the area. The Iranians looked shattered - not surprising, given that they were that close to pulling off one of the great upsets of all time.

This puts Argentina through and almost certainly eliminates Iran.

This is was a great game - exciting attacking football from both teams though France proved absolutely lethal in front of goal, winning 5-2. They were 3-0 up at the break and 5 up at the 73rd minute mark. To Switzerland's absolute credit, they didn't give up even at that margin and manged to pull back 2 goals but it was never going to be enough to win the game. It did mean that France are definitely through to the next round and Switzerland stays in the mix.

This game was fairly dull for a good chunk of the first half, really only waking up after Greece's captain Katsouranis was sent off and it was Greece, ironically who burst into life. No goals resulted in the first half and the second half pretty much started up where it let off with Greece in the ascendancy. Eventually Japan did wake up and came painfully close through Okubo and Uchida but both missed. It finished a 0-0 draw.

Both teams are now bottom of their Group and both will need to beat their third round opponents (Colombia in Japan's case and Cote d'Ivoire in Greece's) to go through. Given that Greece have scored no goals in the tournament so far and they would have to beat Cote d'Ivoire by at least three more goals that Japan beat Colombia (to compensate for their poorer goal difference), I think that we can safely say that Greece are eliminated and Japan only have a slight chance to go through. Never say never though - you never know in the World Cup.

This was an exciting game that could have gone either way - Colombia took it 2-1 in the end but they were under tremendous pressure in the last twenty minutes, with Gervinho getting one in that time but the elusive second proving beyond them. Both Colombian goals were nicely crafted team goals that showed just how well this team can string their passing and running game together. The result means that Colombia is definitely through to the second round and Cote d'Ivoire can get there if they beat Greece, given that it seems unlikely that Japan can beat Colombia.