World Cup Review: A un-Justo result and Maicon magic

A pair of Latin American sides played in the World Cup on Monday and Tuesday; one underdog should’ve walked away with three points while another team had some trouble getting a win. Here is our look at the Paraguay-Italy and Brazil-North Korea matches.

Lo Bueno (The Good)…

There are 104 spots between top ranked Brazil 105th-placed North Korea yet it was the South American side that was lackluster after a scoreless first half. Brazil stepped up its attack in the
second half and their diligence would be rewarded with an acute angle strike from Maicon:

Despite the 2-1 victory Brazilian coach Dunga acknowledged that his side showed “a lot of nervousness and anxiety” and will need to play better in their next matches against Ivory Coast and Portugal.

Lo Malo (The Bad)…

Paraguay played a solid defensive effort in its 1-1 tie with defending World Cup champs Italy. The Azzuri underwhelmed in their title defense against a Paraguayan side that, according to ESPN, “seemed content to sit back and soak up Italy's pressure.” Paraguay’s confidence was bolstered in the 39th minute when Antolin Alcaraz found the best moment to score his first ever goal in international competition. Unfortunately for the Albiroja they had to share the spoils with Italy after goalie Justo Villar mistimed a corner kick and Daniele De Rossi scored the game-tying goal:

Ultimately Paraguay will be very pleased to come away with a point against their most difficult group opponent and they have good odds of making it into the round of 16.

Y Los Feo (And the Ugly)

Two words: Dunga’s coat.

Online Sources- YouTube, USA TODAY, ESPN, The Telegraph