Day 14 standings

1 Jake 115
2= Steve 110
2= Phil 110
4 Andy 108
5 Tim 102
6 Stu 97

A great day for Tim - getting him right back in it....

Croatia v Australia 2-2

Lots of bookings in this one, with stroppy Australians and Croatians (who have a bit of a reputation) in this must-win game for both teams. Hopefully, this will be the match the BBC put on this evening.
Jake & Tim have 2-2, Stu 1-1, Andy & Phil 1-2, while Steve has a 4-1 thumping for Croatia.
I'm glad I was watching BBC3. A great game, and as I predicted, several cards dished out. Good old Graham Poll even managed to book the same player 3 times...5pts for me & Tim, 3 for Stu & 1pt each for Andy & Phil. Steve gets nothing.

Japan v Brazil 1-4

Should be straightforward.
Steve 0-6(!), Phil 0-4, Andy 0-3, Jake, Tim & Stu 1-3
4pts for everyone, except for Andy & Steve who get 3.

Ghana v USA 2-1

This is a big one. A win for Ghana would mean they will be the only African country to make the last 16 - but a draw might (if Italy win) be enough.
Jake & Steve have USA winning 1-2, Andy 0-1, Phil 1-3. Stu has 2-2 and only Tim has a Ghana victory (now looking more likely IMHO) at 2-1
Tim gets a much needed 5pts, while Stu & Andy get a point each.

Czech Republic v Italy 0-2

A lot is riding on this game. A loss for either team would be disasterous.
Stu, Tim, Steve & Andy all have 1-1, Jake has stuck his neck out with a 2-1 victory for the Czechs, and Phil has a 2-3 win for Italy. Points to be won (and lost) here.
Good news for Phil (3pts) but nothing for anyone else. The other bad news (& good, depending who you are) is that Jake & Steve in their final 8....