today's matches

Costa Rica-Serbia. On paper, this was the least tasty match of the day. It wasn't all that bad, with Aleksandar Kolarov unleashing a free kick that even the great Keylor Navas couldn't stop. A reasonable start to what promised to be a good day. And the promises came true.

Germany-Mexico. The first real upset of the tournament, as the defending champions went down. The Germans dominated many of the statistical categories: 25 shots to 12, 9 on target to 4, 61% possession, 8 corners to 1. Didn't matter ... in fact, the 1-0 final may have flattered Germany, as Mexico blew several chances. Not that anyone cares at the moment ... there are rumors of earthquake-sized rumblings in Mexico when Lozano scored his goal. Germany had the world-famous keeper, but it was Mexico's Memo Ochoa who really shined. As the oft-quoted in these parts Jonathan Wilson tweeted, "If Mexico were even moderately competent at counter-attacking this would be 4-0." The real problem was their finishing, but point taken. You won't find a single Mexican fan who cares. Cantor's call of the goal was worth its own post, but he had a great game over all, continually marvelling at how many Mexicans were in the German half of the field ... "against the defending champs!"

Brazil-Switzerland. Not as big an upset as Mexico's win, but given that I predicted a 3-0 win for the Brazilians, a surprise nonetheless. Coutinho's strike was otherworldly ... it was as well-taken and remarkable as some of the great free kicks we've already seen at this tournament, except he took it in the run of play. Group E is a lot more complicated today than it was before these matches were played.

Overall, a good day. We had nothing like Portugal-Spain, but none of the matches sucked, and the later two matches were full of emotion.