England and Costa Rica are playing live on the World Cup schedule from Group D in Brazil and the game on ESPN2 and live stream on WatchESPN starts at 12 pm noon from the Estadio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte and the English side is already eliminated and will be playing for some pride as Wayne Rooney and Raheem Sterling take the pitch.
England has the chance to play for pride here, as Costa Rica is already through in the group, while Italy and Uruguay are playing to see who else will make it out. England needed a win or at least a point in their second match to stay alive and they couldn't get it done and now they are playing to just get some positive points in their World Cup standings. England now has had another tough run in the World cup and they have to gear up for next time and with Rooney at 28, he could still be in line to play at the next tournament and that one will be in Russia.
The United States now understands what that heartbreak feels like, as they came back from a 1-0 deficit against Portugal to take a 2-1 lead, but they could not hold on and now they need points from their final game against Germany to advance. The United States can also advance on goal differential as well as if Ghana and Portugal draw and they also can advance with a win against Germany and that would make the team the group winners.
Group G was called the group of death coming into the tournament and no one really gave the United States a chance to get out of this group and now they are in position to win it. The US could have punched their ticket to the next round, but with time running down they allowed a nice cross from Ronaldo that was put in the net and that clinched the draw. Before the match nearly any American fan would have taken the draw and the point as the result of the match, but afterwards everyone wondered whether that one play will be what keeps the team out of the knockout stages.
Heading into the match, the United States had never won a game after conceding the first goal and Portugal had never fallen after scoring the first goal and for a moment it appeared both of those marks would fall. Graham Zusi played a great ball for the United States and kicked a shot right across the front of the goal that was perfectly placed chest high for Clint Dempsey, who put it in net for the 2-1 lead. The American fans all could taste the next round and three points, but the ref added a long extra time of five minutes and after holding back Cristiano Ronaldo all game, he got free on one play and had a fantastic cross to set up the goal to get the draw and keep Portugal alive. Now the Us needs a result against Germany to get in or they can advance depending on how Portugal-Ghana plays out. Group of death indeed.
Check here for the England and Costa Rica live coverage from the World Cup.
