In this section, no team has suffered disqualification yet which makes it very interesting for viewers. Colombia are already through to the next round but they have not secured the top spot yet. It remains to be seen how much effort they will put in their game against Japan whose only option for survival is to win at the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba.
Like the Japanese, the Greeks count a single point from a possible six. The clash against Ivory Coast is like a final but 24 hours after Cameroon aggravated the sorrows of their fans by collapsing 4-1 against Brazil, Gervinho and his team mates will want to restore Africa’s World Cup 2014 hopes by reaching the Round of 16. Will Greece’s Pirate Ship trap the Elephants and send them back to Cote d’Ivoire?
Group C facts:
• Colombia will win the group with a draw or even a loss as long as Ivory Coast’s result against Greece goes their way.
• If Japan fail to beat Colombia by more than one-goal margin, Ivory Coast will only need a draw to qualify.
• A one-goal margin win will be enough for Greece to qualify as long as Colombia defeat Japan.
• If Japan beat Colombia, they will advance only if Cote d’Ivoire lose by a margin that will place Greece in third place at most.
Group C ahead of Matchday 3 (Graphic by Wikipedia)
Team sheets for Greece vs Ivory Coast
Greece’s First XI: Karnezis, Maniatis, Manolas, Samaras, Kone, Karagounis (c), Salpingidis, Torosidis, Lazaros, Sokratis, Cholevas
Cote d’Ivoire’s First XI: Barry, Boka, K Toure, Kalou, Tiote, Gervinho, Drogba, Aurier, Yaya Toure, Serey, Bamba.
Team sheets for Japan vs Colombia
Japan’s First XI: Kawashima, Uchida, Honda, Nagatomo, Okazaki, Kagawa, Okubo, Aoyama, Konno, Hasebe (C), Yoshida
Colombia’s First XI: Ospina, Arias, Armero, Cuadrado, Guarin, Mejia, Balanta, Ramos, Quintero, Martinez, Valdes
