2014 FIFA World Cup NZ time

Here are the kick off times (NZ time) for all matches in the 2014 FIFA World Cup

Group A 

Brazil, Croatia, Mexico Cameroon

Brazil vs Croatia - June 13 - 8:00
Mexico vs Cameroon - June 14 - 4:00
Brazil vs Mexico - June 18 - 7:00
Cameroon vs Croatia - June 19 - 10:00
Cameroon vs Brazil - June 24 - 8:00
Croatia Mexico - June 24 - 8:00

Group B
Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia

Spain vs Netherlands - June 14 - 8:00
Chile vs Australia - June 14 - 10:00
Australia vs Netherlands - June 19 - 4:00
Spain vs Chile - June 19 - 7:00
Netherlands vs Chile - June 24 - 4:00
Australia vs Spain - June 24 - 5:40

Group C
Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan

Colombia vs Greece - June 15 - 4:00
Ivory Coast vs Japan - June 15 - 13:00
Colombia vs Ivory Coast - June 20 - 4:00
Japan vs Greece - June 20 - 10:00
Japan vs Colombia - June 25 - 8:00
Greece vs Ivory Coast - June 25 - 8:00

Group D
Uruguay, Costa Rice, England, Italy

Uruguay vs Costa Rica - June 15 - 7:00
England vs Italy - June 15 - 10:00
Uruguay vs England - June 20 - 7:00
Italy vs Costa Rica - June 21 - 4:00
Italy vs Uruguay - June 25 - 4:00
Costa Rica vs England - June 25 - 4:00


Group E
Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras

Switzerland vs Ecuador - June 16 - 4:00
France vs Honduras - June 16 - 7:00
Switzerland vs France - June 21 - 8:00
Honduras vs Ecuador - June 21 - 11:40
Honduras vs Switzerland - June 26 - 8:00
Ecuador vs France - June 26 - 8:00
 
Group F
Argentina, Bosnia, Iran, Nigeria

Argentina vs Bosnia - June 16 - 10:00
Iran vs Nigeria - June 17 - 8:40
Argentina vs Iran - June 22 - 4:00
Nigeria vs Bosnia - June 22 - 10:00
Nigeria vs Argentina - June 26 - 4:00
Bosnia vs Iran - June 26 - 5:00

Group G
Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA

Germany vs Portugal - June 17 - 5:00
Ghana vs USA - June 17 - 10:00
Germany vs Ghana - June 22 - 7:00
USA vs Portugal - June 23 - 10:00
USA vs Germany - June 27 - 4:00
Portugal vs Ghana - June 27 - 4:00


Group H
Belgium, Algeria, Korea, Russia

Belgium vs Algeria - June 18 - 4:00
Russia vs Korea - June 18 - 10:00
Korea vs Algeria - June 23 - 7:00
Belgium vs Russia - June 23 - 4:00
Korea vs Belgium - June 27 - 8:00
Algeria vs Russia - June 27 - 9:40 

Round of 16

Match 49 - 1A vs 2B - June 29 - 4:00
Match 50 - 1C vs 2D - June 29 - 8:00
Match 51 - 1B vs 2A - June 30 - 4:00
Match 52 - 1D vs 2C - June 30 - 8:00
Match 53 - 1E vs 2F - July 1 - 4:00
Match 54 - 1G vs 2H - July 1 - 8:00
Match 55 - 1F vs 2E - July 2 - 4:00
Match 56 -  1H vs 2G - July 2 - 4:00

Quarter Finals

Match 57 - Winner 49 vs Winner 50 - July 5 - 8:00
Match 58 - Winner 53 vs Winner 54 - July 5 - 4:00
Match 59 - Winner 51 vs Winner 52 - July 6 - 8:00
Match 60 - Winner 55 vs Winner 56 - July 6 - 8:00

Semi Finals

Match 61 - Winner 57 vs Winner 58 - July 9 - 8:00
Match 62 - Winner 59 vs Winner 60 - July 10 - 8:00


Playoff

Match 63 - Loser 61 vs Loser 62 - July 13 - 8:00

Final

Match 64 - Winner 61 vs Winner 62 - July 14 - 7:00

Confederations Cup - Review

Italy have finish third in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup after beating Uruguay 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in  normal time.Italy coach Cesare Prandelli fielded a second, or even third, string side without the services of frequent starters Andrea Pirlo, Andrea Barzagli, Ignazio Abate and striker Mario Balotelli.

Attacking midfielder Alessandro Diamanti provided the goods for Italy. His first free kick was tapped in by defender Davide Astori and his second in the 78th minute was a thing of beauty - curving the ball over the Uruguan wall and into the corner of the goal.

Buffon is congratulated after the penalty shootout (Source)

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved three penalties, and had his best performance of the Confederations Cup after being below his best earlier on in the tournament. He currently has 133 caps for Italy, three short of former captain Fabio Cannavaro's record.

It brings an end to the highly entertaining two-week tournament in Brazil. Brazil thrashed world and European champions Spain 3-0 in the final, courtesy of a brilliant double by Fred and a Neymar goal just before half time. It was only the second time Spain have lost in their last 29 matches at international tournaments (the other being a loss to the USA at the 2009 Confederations Cup), their first defeat in 29 competitive matches spanning three years, and first defeat of any kind since losing a friendly 1-0 to England in November 2011.

As a lover of Italian football, it is my duty to review Italy's performance.

The Azzurri started with a solid but less than spectacular 2-1 over Mexico, courtesy of a vintage free kick from play-maker Pirlo and a 78th minute goal to Balotelli. It reminded me of how Italy played against Spain in the opener of the European Championships last year, not just because of the creative intent that Prandelli has installed in this young team, but also due to the fact Italy's form has been far from convincing in the build up - a 0-0 draw in a world cup qualifier against the Czech Republic and a shock 2-2 draw with Haiti in a friendly.

Giovinco celebrates his goal vs Japan (Source)

The next challenge was against Asian champions Japan, who Italy had only met once previously in a 1-1 draw back in 2001. Japan had lost their first match, against Brazil, 3-0, and Italy were expected to easily account for the Japanese and secure the three points. What a shock it was to see Italy go down 2-0 after no more than 35 minutes. Japan were dominating the match, had all the ball, and looked destined to finish off a major upset. But Italy struck back just before half time thanks to a Daniel De Rossi header, and 5 minutes after halftime from an own goal that prevented a Balotelli tap-in. Balotelli made it 3-2 from the penalty spot, but Japan struck back from a wonderful freekick-header combination. After a few very close calls for Italy, they found the winner in the 86th minute after De Rossi's through-ball found Marchisio, who then passed it across goal for substitute Sebastian Giovinco to convert the winner from close range.

Arguably one of the most entertaining and flowing matches I have witnessed. An unfair result for Japan.

Italy then had to face the red hot Brazil, who they had not beaten since their semi-final victory at the 1982 world cup. The match finished 4-2 in Brazil's favour. However Italy were without Pirlo for the whole match and lost Abate to a dislocated shoulder. If wing defender Christian Maggio's header found the back of the net instead of the crossbar, it would have been 3-3 with 10 minutes to go. Italy's ever-reliable goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon probably had one of his worst nights between the sticks. He was slow to react to Neymar's free kick and twice conceded goals after fumbling the ball.

Italy finished second in the group and were now up against the world's best team, Spain, in the semi-finals. To make things worse, Balotelli was sent home from the tournament with an injury.

The major disappointment from the group matches was that Italy conceded way too many goals - eight in three matches, seven in the last two. Italian teams of old with the likes of Nesta, Cannavaro, Maldini and Zambrotta would never let that happen.

Prandelli had to change tactics against Spain in the semi-final in order to improve the defense and compete with the classy Spanish midfield. Three at the back was the way to go, with a heavy midfield and a lone striker in Alberto Gilardino. The Gilardino experiment did not work, but Italy dominated large parts of the game and went close several times. The good news was they erased the memories of their 4-0 capitulation to Spain in the Euro 2012 final a year ago, bad news was the match finished 0-0 and Spain won a penalty shootout after defender Leonardo Bonucci's spot-kick went high over the crossbar. Still, Italy kept Spain scoreless for 120 minutes and took a lot of confidence from that match.

For me, the most impressive player during the tournament for Italy was Emanuele Giaccherini. The short, wing-midfielder who plies his trade for Juventus in the Serie A is not the most technically gifted player and has many critics back home in Italy. Despite this, he worked hard and produced moments of brilliance in this tournament.

Giaccherini surprised a lot of people with his performances (Source)

Against Mexico, he set up Balotelli's goal with a superb flick-volley. Against Japan, he hit the post near the end of the first half and provided the assist which led to an own goal after keeping the ball in play from a tight angle. He slotted home an equalizer versus Brazil and agonizingly hit the post against Spain in extra time. A man with a big heart, here is hoping he can do similar things with Juventus this upcoming season.

Prandelli will be concerned about the defensive frailties mentioned above, but 20-year-old Mattia De Sciglio had a great couple of weeks in defence considering this was his first major international tournament. But apart from a few sloppy penalties conceded and fumbles from Buffon in the group stages, it was not all bad.

The Azzurri are still missing the killer blow up front. Injury prevented in form striker Giampaolo Pazzini being considered for selection and Giuseppe Rossi is not quite match fit after recovering from serious knee problems over the last two years. Antonio Cassano has fallen out of favour with Prandelli and it will be interesting to see if he can regain his best form in time for the world cup next year. Juventus' Fabio Quagliarella has always been a favourite of mine but Prandelli has not paid much attention to him. If Pablo Osvaldo can sort out his discipline issues then he has a strong chance of making future squads.

Under-21 stars Lorenzo Insigne and Ciro Immobile both put in strong performances to help Italy take second place at the UEFA Euro Under-21s a few weeks ago. Also, it is only a matter of time before midfielder Marco Veratti, only 20, is a frequent starter for the national team.

Overall, I predicted Italy as losing semi-finalists, but they competed more than I expected against Spain in their semi-final clash. Although not scoring in that match, Italy proved that Spain are beatable and their defense can be broken down. If only they had converted their chances in front of goal.

The focus now turns towards the remaining four world cup qualifiers against Bulgaria (home), Czech Republic (home), Denmark (away) and Armenia (home). Italy lead the group by four points over Bulgaria and their September clash will be decisive. If Italy can win that match then they will almost certainly top the group and qualify for the world cup.

There is also a mouth-watering friendly with Argentina in Rome in August to look forward too.

US Open 2013 - Review

Justin Rose has won the US Open at Merion, finishing on +1 and two shots ahead of Australian Jason Day and now six times runner-up Phil Mickelson.

Rose came to the tee on the monster 500-plus yard par 4 18th with a one shot lead - unaware of Jason Day's putt for par up ahead. It was arguably the most important shot of Rose's life, where all his nerves would be tested. Rose put his drive down the centre of the fairway but still had a daunting second shot to play.

Justin Rose (Source)

Meanwhile, Day failed to get up and down from the left-hand bunker, and lipped out for par. He finished +3 and Mickelson sat on +2 with a birdie putt on 17.

Rose, not knowing that only about 20 percent of players had hit the 18th green in regulation in the final round, struck what I believe was his most crucial ever iron shot. It rolled onto the back fringe, but Rose was more than capable of chipping in for birdie and all but securing the victory. Remarkably, no one had birdied the 18th hole in rounds three and four.

Rose's hybrid chip shot ended up an inch from the hole. He tapped in for par and looked up to the heavens - presumably to give thanks to his late father xxx who died in 2002 - shook hands with fellow countrymen Luke Donald, and waited in anticipation for Mickelson to finish.

Mickelson has now finished runner-up at the US Open six times (Source)

Mickelson hit his tee shot on 18 into the left rough and tried desperately to chase a shot up onto the green. It came up short and he now faced a pitch shot to force a playoff.

You have to feel for Mickelson, he missed several makeable putts on what was coincidentally his birthday.

Even when he had a pitch shot on the last hole to force a playoff, I would not have been surprised if Mickelson had holed it. But he hit it long, and Rose became the champion.

It is the Englishman's first major victory, and he becomes the first English player to win a major since Nick Faldo in 1996 and the first to win the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970.

Many will argue that this moment is long over due for Rose.

As a 17-year-old amateur, Rose finished in a tie for fourth at the 1998 Open Championship. He seemed destined for greatness.

However, he struggled to make cuts in his early years on the European Tour and fell off the radar.

But since the late 2000s, Rose has had a renaissance of sorts. After being winless on the PGA Tour for several years, Rose has now picked up five PGA Tour victories since 2010.

Certainly helping his cause is his current coach  Sean Foley, who also mentors Tiger Woods and Hunter Mahan among others.

Rose's two top-10s in majors last year will now be forgotten. he moves up to a career-high ranking of third in the world.

Tiger's frustration continues (Source)

As for the world's two best players, they both had weeks to forget. World number one Tiger Woods finished a disappointing +13 - his worst 72 hole score at the US Open as a professional. Woods, who won the Players Championship last month but had a terrible week at The Memorial two weeks ago, struggled early on and looked in some discomfort with a sore wrist. His chipping and putting is nowhere near as consistent as it used to be pre-2009. His wait for his first major since 2008 continues.


World number two Rory McIlroy finished a further shot back at +14. He is taking a long time to adjust to his Nike clubs, but I am wondering if it is more mental than anything else. After all, McIlroy is so talented it should not matter what brand of equipment he plays. All players have ups and downs throughout their careers, and I guess Rory is going through one at the moment. It should only be temporary.

American Billy Horschel, one of the in form players in the world this year, ended in 4th place and for the most part held his nerve over the weekend with the big guns. Look out for his name throughout the rest of the year.

Sergio Garcia during the first round (Source)

Sergio Garcia was able to withstand some heckling from the crowds after his "fried chicken" remark to make the cut and finish in a tie for 45th at +15. If anything, Garcia's true enemies this week were holes 14 and 15 - two brtual par 4s with tight fairway and out of bounds areas off the tee. Garcia played each of those holes four times (eight holes) for an accumulated a score of +16, even making a 10 on the 15th during his third round. His wait for his first major continues, unlike Rose's.


Master's winner Adam Scott could have kept his Grand Slam hopes alive with a win, got off to a good start on Thursday but faded away to finish on the same score as Sergio.

Kiwi Steve Alker is ranked 590th in the world but defied the odds to make the cut and finished alongside Scott and Garcia. Alker's final round was impressive, a 72, on a day when only six out of 73 players shot under par. Alker came within inches of getting a hole in one on the long 17th hole on Sunday. Alker climbs up to 528th in the world.

The best thing about the majors so far this year is the removal of two of the world's best players from the "Best Players To Have Never Won A Major" club. Adam Scott and Justin Rose have left the group, but Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald still top the list, followed closely by Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson and Steve Stricker.

Next up in the majors is the Open Championship at Muirfield, Rose would love nothing more than to make it back to back in his homeland of Britain, even if Muirfield is in Scotland!

A memorable Players

A spat between two bitter rivals, an unheralded rookie who almost pulled off a remarkable victory, a potential victory for who would have been the oldest ever winner of the tournament - the 40th edition of The Players Championship at the short but tricky TPC Sawgrass course had it all.

Tiger Woods with his trophy (Source)

Tiger was in complete control of the tournament (three shots ahead) come the back nine on Sunday, until one bad tee shot led to a double bogey on 14. Some good play from overnight co-leader Sergio Garcia, 49-year-old Jeff Maggert and rookie Swede David Lingmerth, made it a four-way tie for the lead at 12 under. Things were getting really exciting.

Maggert found the water on 17 and Sergio found it twice. Lingmerth held his nerve, but needing to birdie the tough 18th hole to force a playoff with Tiger, he pushed his approach to the right part of the green and could not hole what would have been a remarkable long putt.

David Lingmerth (Source)

Tiger had his victory and his second Players to go with the one he won back in 2001. This was Tiger's 300th start on the PGA Tour. He also won on his 200th start and 100th start.


Lingmerth has won me over with the way he played this week and especially with how he handled himself in the final round. For a rookie who had missed his last few cuts, Lingmerth was very impressive. I look forward to seeing his name near the top of leaderboards throughout the season.


This is the earliest Tiger has won four tournaments in a season. I declared the "is he back" argument over when he was winning last year. Now, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Tiger is playing some of the best golf of his life. Out of his last 22 starts, Tiger has won seven - at a strike rate of almost 1/3.

Here are some intriguing questions that we will know the answer to come season's end...

Can Tiger double his tally by the end of the 2013 season and win eight times?

Can he win five more times and make it 83 PGA Tour wins, therefore taking the title from Sam Snead as the most successful golfer ever on the PGA Tour?

Can anyone catch him in the FedEx Cup race?

Sergio Garcia (Source)

Will he win one of the three remaining majors or, even better, how many of the three will he win?


As for Sergio, I would like to see Sergio do an Adam Scott and erase the demons of his collapse by winning something big and soon. For sure, Sergio did not blow a big lead like Scott did last year at the Open Championship, but how will he bounce back mentally? How will he go in his next tournament? Will he keep up his ok start to the season (8/8 cuts, 7/8 top 25s, 4/8 top 10s) or will he fall off the radar for a while? I guess the history of Sergio's attitude and mental game tells us that those last two holes, especially 17, will haunt him for a while but I do hope he can move on from this and contend in the majors and the FedEx Cup.

Petulance vs Arrogance

I will not bore you with all the history surrounding the strained relationship between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia. Simply put, they do not like each other. Well actually, on the surface, it looks like they hate each other. 

Neither are golfing saints. Sergio: Spitting in a cup, blaming the gods for bad breaks, throwing clubs in the water; Tiger: Spitting on the green, swearing and throwing clubs.

The incident that occurred early in the second round of the weather-delayed 2013 Players Championship was just one of many examples over the last 14-15 years that prove Tiger and Sergio do not have a lot of time for each other.

Sergio was about to hit his second shot on the second hole, a par 5, when he heard some crowd noise, or to use his words, "everybody was screaming", from the area where Tiger was waiting to hit his second shot - some 50 yards away, in the pine straw, to Sergio's left.

Sergio claims the crowd noise was due to the excitement of Tiger pulling a 5-wood or 3-wood out of his bag - signalling he was going to go for the green in two as opposed to playing safe.

The crowd noise did begin before Sergio started his backswing, so there is the possibility he could have pulled out and gone through his pre-shot routine again. However, we will never know when Sergio first heard this noise - maybe it was during his swing as he said, or maybe Sergio was just looking for a quick and easy excuse for a bad shot. And who easier to blame than his arch-nemesis?

Awkward: Sergio and Tiger on the first tee (ESPN)

Still, what Tiger did and said does not add up. The video of the incident clearly showed Tiger putting his finger to his mouth and point in the direction where Sergio is about to play his second shot from, or in simple terms a gesture to hush the crowd - a good piece of etiquette from Tiger. But why would Tiger gesture to the crowd, wanting it to be quiet when, as he said afterwards in an interview, a marshal had told him Sergio had already hit and that was why he took the club out of the bag?

Let me break this down into sequential order according to Tiger's actions and his post-round comments about the marshal...

(1) The marshal signalled to Tiger that Sergio had played his shot.

(2) Tiger took a wood out of his bag and began to plan his shot.

(3) Tiger gestured to crowd (puts his finger to his mouth) and pointed in Sergio's direction, presumably asking it to be quiet while Sergio was hitting.

As you can see (1) cannot possibly occur before (3). There is no reason for Tiger to ask the crowd to be quiet for Sergio if a course official had already told him to play his shot.


Why would the marshal lie to Tiger? He wouldn't.

Of course, Tiger did not purposely pull a club out his bag in the hope the crowd would cheer and put Sergio off. No one is that cold-hearted.

Still, the mistake falls on Tiger for not waiting for Sergio to play and not seeing with his own eyes Sergio complete his swing. It is the responsibility of the player who does not have the first shot to make sure that they do not put the other player off until that player has completed their swing.

Watching on: Sergio and Tiger (Daily Telegraph)

It certainly makes for great viewing when these two complete the final few holes of their third rounds on Sunday. Here is some dialogue from separate interviews during and after the third round...

Sergio (during the weather delay and after the incident) - "...you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit and right as I was in the top of the backswing, I think he must have pulled like a 5-wood or a 3-wood and obviously everybody started screaming. So that didn't help very much."


Tiger (at the end of the third day's play)- "The marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot...Not real surprising that he's complaining about something."

Sergio (when told by a reporter what Tiger's response was to his initial comments) - "That's fine. At least I'm true to myself. I know what I'm doing, and he can do whatever he wants.''

The Players Championship - Trivia and Preview

The 40th edition of The Players Championship gets underway this Thursday at the TPC at Sawgrass course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Here is a bit of background on the tournament widely regarded as the "unofficial fifth major" because of its quality of field and the highest prize purse in golf (the winner picks up  just over 1.7 million US dollars).

• It has not always been played at Sawgrass. The fist three editions were played at three different courses: Atlanta Country Club in 1974; Colonial Country Club in 1975 and Inverrary Country Club in 1976. From 1977-1981 it was hosted at Sawgrass' Oceanside Course, before settling at the Stadium Course at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) at Sawgrass.
• Jack Nicklaus won the inaugural event and remains the only player to have won The Players three times. Four players have won it twice - Fred Couples, Steve Eklington, Hal Sutton and Davis Love III.
• Australian Greg Norman holds the record winning score at -24, a feat he achieved in 1994.
• Americans have dominated the event historically. Australia is in second place in terms of number of different winners (four).
• American Matt Kuchar is the defending champion and, if he wins this year, will become the first person to defend the title.

The daunting 17th hole (Source)

Even the smallest of golf fans should be familiar with the 17th hole - nicknamed the "island green". Although not technically an island, the green is almost completely surrounded by water and has destroyed the hopes of hundreds of golfers over the years. Did you know...

• In 2007, a record 93 balls ended up in the water. That is, 21 percent of all attempts.
• Australian Robert Allenby has the longest active streak of avoiding the water - 36 rounds - but don't tell him that!

Enough of the trivia - who are the contenders, favorites and dark-horses? Current Fed Ex Cup and world rankings in brackets.

Horschel with his first PGA Tour trophy (Source)

Billy Horschel (3-49) - Arguably the biggest talking point on the PGA Tour at present. Horschel won his first tournament just under two weeks ago - the Zurich Classic of New Orleans - and has the longest active streak of consecutive cuts made at 23. Five top 10s in 12 tournaments so far this year.

Luke Donald (44-5) - Has not been in his best form lately with only two top-10s in six starts in 2013, but he has finished in the top 10 at The Players the last two years.

Jason Day (15-25) - Almost pulled off a victory at the Masters last month. Four top-10s in nine events. Would be great to see him follow in Adam Scott's footsteps and pick up a significant victory.

Lee Westwood (38-12) - Four top-10s in nine starts, including three out of his last three. Westwood has improved his short game in recent years, and now ranks highly in sand save and all-round scrambling percentages.

Mickelson won The Players in 2007 (Source)

Justin Rose (23-4) - Ranked 2nd in scoring average, 1st in sand saves, 2nd in total driving and 3rd in ball striking. Rose has one of the more consistent games in golf at present and should be right up there come Sunday.

Phil Mickelson (6-10) - Mickelson had a late stumble at Wells Fargo last week but was his usual self - amazing the crowds with a vintage display of accurate putting from within 15 feet. First in birdie averages and par 3 birdie averages will certainly help at TPC Sawgrass. Has already won this year at the Waste Management Phoenix Open back in February - where he just missed a putt to shoot a 59.



What about the world's two best players? Tiger Woods is currently first in the FedEx Cup and has won three times this year, but has not won The Players since 2001. You would expect the world number to be in the mix come the business end of the tournament. Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, has had a disappointing season so far, but has regained some form lately with three top-25s in his last three tournaments, including a 10th place finish at Wells Fargo. However, in three attempts, he has never made the cut at The Players.