The U.S. takes on Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal tonight in Manaus, which is in the middle of the Amazon. It's one of the most controversial locations for games because Brazil spent an estimated $300 million building a stadium in a city where there is no top-flight professional team.

It's also oppressively hot and humid.

ESPN's Jeremy Schapp was just reporting live from the pitch in Manaus and a laser thermometer measured the temperature at 105 degrees F. Granted, the U.S. will play when the sun goes down, so it might relieve the heat slightly, but it's still going to be very hot.

According to Weather.com, when the match kicks off at 6 p.m., it will feel like it's 85 degrees and there will be 85% humidity. Oof.

This might be a good thing for the U.S., however, because many of its players who are in MLS are used to playing in hot and humid climates like Houston in the middle of the summer.

SEE ALSO: 23 Photos Of The World Cup City That's In The Middle Of The Jungle

Join the conversation about this story »

You can’t get away from soccer right now.

Thanks to the World Cup, it’s all over TV and social media. Like a zombie apocalypse, no one is untouched by the epidemic. No matter how paranoid and hermetic you try to be, it will hunt you down.

So instead of hiding from it, you might as well watch, discuss it and take what you can from it and apply its lessons to your financial life.

Lesson 1: Whiners are winners.

If you have ever watched a World Cup game for more than seven seconds, you’ve seen a player who was barely grazed by an opponent flop around like a fish out of water. Sneer and shake your head if you like. Hate the player, hate the game, but respect the survival instincts.

The takeaway from floppers is that complaining works. Pick your spots and complain when the corporate or job worlds do you wrong. Even if you don’t get the call one time, human nature dictates that those you’ve complained to will keep your plight in mind for the next time you bug them.

So protest when you’re overcharged on your electric bill and ask for an explanation when you’re passed over for a raise or a promotion. The afflicted-seeming wheel gets the grease, or something like that.

Lesson 2: Annoying dullness and lameness are virtues.

Flashy, daring moves may make the highlight montages, but those who hunker down and watch dozens of full two-hour matches this month will tell you it’s timidity, not boldness, that wins games. Many goals in soccer are borne from solid defenses waiting for opponents to make mistakes and leave openings for counterattacks. If that’s too abstract for you, think back to playing checkers in elementary school, and how annoying it was to play against people who never moved the pieces in their back row.

Apply this to your money by avoiding get-rich-quick schemes and shoring up your reserve fund, retirement accounts and, for parents, college saving plans. Take down debt before blowing your excess income or worrying about investing. Boring is soaring. Put that on one of those motivational office cubicle posters.

Lesson 3: Emotion is the enemy.

Goal-scoring celebrations aside, players who lose themselves in outbursts on the pitch end up costing themselves and their teams. Earlier I talked about how many goals come from counterattacks, and here I’ll say most other goals come from set pieces — penalty kicks, free kicks, or corner kicks — awarded after an opponent flipped out and made a mental error. The same applies to soccer fandom, because letting the spirit of the moment overcome you to partake in postgame riots only puts you in danger.

Both with soccer and money, it’s always best to keep your cool and not let emotion dictate your moves. If you’re an investor, ignore your gut and the way the wind seems to blowing during sell-offs. And if you’re hurting psychologically, don’t indulge the whim to make yourself feel better by retail therapy. Tell your heart to shut its piehole and let your brain do the thinking for you.

Lesson 4: Your head is your best weapon.

Many spectacular scores involve a gorgeous cross hammered into the back of the net, ricocheting off the forehead of a lunging striker. The lesson to learn is that just as brain damage from taking a header off a laser-like pass is well worth the glory of a goal scored, you won’t regret pushing your brain to the limit when researching and pondering financial moves. Sure, this may seem like a stretch, but it does make sense, sorta.

Keep your head in the game, the eye on the ball, and every other sports cliche. Even unsuccessful moves you made, when fully thought out, are tough to regret because they made the most sense given the information at your disposal. 

Lesson 5: Champs are those who are best at dealing with constant frustration.

The difference between an unbeaten juggernaut and a winless group stage washout can be only a few goals. Soccer is a tough and cruel game — which is probably why Third World fans identify it in larger percentages than Americans do — and everyone who plays it will face an incomprehensible amount of repeated failure. The teams that manage to stay upright and keep their eyes open for those rare glimmers of hope are the ones who dominate.

So as far as your money goes, don’t let setbacks set you back. Expect the worst, grit your teeth through the catastrophes you face, and stick to strategies you know to be sound, even when successes aren’t coming. Sock away savings even when the amounts are depressingly small. Pile money into your 401(k) even when the market stalls.

The definition of insanity may well be doing the same thing and expecting a different result, but dammit, as far as your money goes, be insane. Because insanity is what soccer players, and fans, do best.

SEE ALSO: 7 Money-Saving Myths, Debunked

Join the conversation about this story »

With World Cup fever hitting the United States, the now-popular "I believe we will win!" chant has become synonymous with the U.S. national team and was even featured in a popular ESPN commercial leading up to the World Cup (see video below).

That chant which has become a staple at sporting events across the country had an improbable beginning, having been invented by a student at the Naval Academy Prep School in 1998 according to Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo.com.

That student, Jay Rodriguez, came up with the catchy chant and taught it to his 50-member platoon as a rallying cry. According to other students at the prep school at the time, "it caught on like wildfire."

The next year, Rodriguez taught the chant to his roommate, a cheerleader at the Naval Academy. That student then led his fellow students in the chant during the 1999 Army-Navy football game.

From there it spread to other campuses, and now the World Cup.

Join the conversation about this story »

The United States men's national team got off to a nightmare start in Sunday's Group G match against Portugal.

In just the fifth minute, Geoff Cameron botched a clearance, the ball dropped to Nani, and the Portuguese winger made it 1-0.

Cameron tries to clear, but it deflects the complete opposite direction:

The mistake:

Join the conversation about this story »

After a nightmare start, the United States took a 2-1 lead on Portugal in the 81st minute with a wild goal off of Clint Dempsey's stomach.

DeAndre Yedlin sent in a cross, Graham Zusi chipped it back to Dempsey, and the captain rammed it in with his tummy.

He took the ball at the edge of the area after a corner, and banged it into the far corner.

The goalie was frozen:

Join the conversation about this story »

Seconds away from completing one of the best performances in American soccer history and qualifying for the knockout round of the 2014 World Cup, the U.S. allowed a game-tying goal to Portugal to end the match at 2-2.

The U.S. led 2-1 in the last minute of stoppage time when Cristiano Ronaldo swung in a perfect cross and Varela headed it in. The final whistle blew moments later.

The goal:

A win would have sent the U.S. through to the round of 16, and given them a decent chance to finish first in the group. Instead, the U.S. could be going home with a loss to Germany on Thursday.

The game started horribly for the USMNT. Central defender Geoff Cameron botched a clearance in the 5th minute, leading to a Nani goal to make it 1-0 to Portugal.

But after that the U.S. thoroughly outplayed Portugal, creating decent chances down the right flank.

A Jermaine Jones goal in the 64th minute tied it at 1-1. A Clint Dempsey goal 15 minutes later seemed to send the U.S. into the knockout round.

Then came the Portugal suckerpunch.

The U.S. advances to the knockout stage with a win or draw against Germany. If the U.S. loses, they'd need help. A tie in the Portugal-Ghana game sends them through. With Portugal's -4 goal different, a Portugal win over Ghana would likely also send the U.S. through.

Join the conversation about this story »

The United State men's national team blew a golden opportunity to advance to the knockout round of the 2014 World Cup, allowing a game-tying goal to Portugal in the 95th minute.

It was a stomach punch.

Still, the U.S. is favored to get out of Group G going into the final group game against Germany, although there is a nightmare scenario.

Here are the current group standings:

Let's run through the ways the U.S. can get through:

1. Win against Germany

The U.S. would win the group with 7 points. Fun times, but it probably won't happen. ESPN's SPI index says there's only a 14% chance of the U.S. beating the Germans.

2. Draw against Germany

A draw would send both the U.S. and Germany into the knockout round. Sometimes in this situation, the teams play for an unofficially agreed-upon draw — a "fixed draw" as they call it. There's going to be a ton of conspiracy talk this week because of this.

Conspiracy or not, the U.S. would finish 2nd in the group behind Germany (on the goal difference tiebreaker) with a draw.

3. Lose to Germany, Portugal draws Ghana

No matter what happens in USA-Germany, the Americans will go into the round of 16 if Portugal and Ghana draw. The U.S. currently has 4 points, Portugal and Ghana would each finish with just 2 points if they drew.

4. Lose to Germany, Portugal beats Ghana, U.S. advances on goal difference

The U.S. will likely get into the knockout stage with a loss if Portugal beats Ghana, as long as neither game is a blowout. In that scenario, the U.S. and Portugal would tie for 2nd place in the group with 4 points.

The tiebreaker is goal difference. Right now the U.S. has a goal difference of +1, while Portugal has a goal difference of -4 after getting destroyed 4-0 by Germany. This is good for the U.S.

As long as Portugal doesn't make up five goals on the U.S. on Thursday, the U.S. is through with a Portugal win.

5. The nightmare scenario where the U.S. loses to Germany, Ghana beats Portugal, and the U.S. can only advance on the goals scored tiebreaker.

This is the nightmare scenario.

If Ghana and the U.S. each end up with 4 points, the goal difference tiebreaker becomes more complicated.

The U.S. currently has a goal differential of +1 while Ghana has a goal differential of -1. 

In this scenario, if Ghana wins by more than one goal or the U.S. loses by more than one goal, Ghana would have a better goal differential and advance.

If both teams have the same goal differential (for example, both teams would have a goal difference of 0 if the U.S. loses 1-0 and Ghana wins 1-0), then we go to the 2nd tiebreaker: goals scored.

Right now the U.S. has scored 4 goals while Ghana has scored 3 goals.

If Ghana wins, say, 2-1 and the U.S. loses 1-0, Ghana would finish with 5 goals in the tournament to the U.S.'s 4, and Ghana would advance. So if the U.S. is going to lose to Germany, they're better off doing it scoring a ton of goals.

There is one more scenario where the U.S. and Ghana would need a THIRD tiebreaker. If Germany beats the U.S. 1-0 and Ghana beats Portugal 1-0, then the two teams would be tied on both goal difference (0) and goals scored (4). In that scenario, the tiebreaker would be head-to-head goal difference. The U.S. would go through because they beat Ghana 2-1.

In conclusion: The U.S. should be fine unless they lose to Germany and Ghana wins. Then things get really hairy.

SEE ALSO: The 53 Most Mesmerizing Photos From The World Cup

Join the conversation about this story »

Every four years the World Cup takes over the world for a month and produces incredible moments and photos.

Brazil has been a beautiful background for amazing sports photography.

From soaring header goals to games in the pouring rain to fans cheering, here are the most mesmerizing photos from the World Cup so far.

Jermaine Jones celebrates after scoring a goal against Portugal.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after a Portugal goal in their game against the U.S.

Tim Howard is in shock after Portugal tied the game 2-2 with 30 seconds left.

The U.S. national team did exactly what it had to do with a 2-2 draw with Portugal in its second World Cup match. But it could have had so much more if not for a horrible 55-second sequence of blunders and bad luck leading up to Cristiano Ronaldo's last-second pass to set up the equalizer.

55 seconds left

It started at the 3:37 mark of stoppage time with the U.S. about to take a goal kick and both sides knowing there are probably 30 to 90 seconds left in the match. U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard sent the ball deep, making sure it was as far away from the U.S. goal as possible.

40 seconds left

Chris Wondolowski won the deep ball with a header to teammate DeAndre Yedlin. But here is where the U.S. made the first crucial mistake.

With just eight seconds remaining until the start of the final minute of stoppage time, the U.S. has a 3-on-5 disadvantage. Instead of dribbling to the corner and stalling for time, Yedlin inexplicably tries to force the ball back to Wondolowski in the box.

The ball didn't even make it past the second defender.

32 seconds left

Yedlin does manage to reacquire the ball after being blocked by the defender. This time, Yedlin makes a better decision and takes the ball to the corner to kill crucial seconds.

Unfortunately, this is where the U.S. got unlucky. A Portuguese player manages to kick the ball off of Yedlin's leg. The ball then just barely avoids striking the leg of a second Portuguese player who moved his leg back just in time.

This gave the ball back to Portugal for a throw-in.

22 seconds left

Jurgen Klinsmann, wanting to protect his own goal instead of trying to create a scoring opportunity, wants his players to retreat.

Unfortunately for the U.S., nobody listened to him. On the subsequent throw-in and long pass to midfield, we see seven U.S. players on Portugal's side of the field, including three players pressuring the throw-in.

Portugal won't score at this point, but it shows that the U.S. is leaving itself vulnerable to a quick counterattack if there is a turnover and the ball gets through.

12 seconds left

Despite the mistakes, the U.S. still had a chance to run out the clock and win the game.

On the long pass upfield after the throw-in, Geoff Cameron intercepted the ball with a header, sending the ball to the middle of the field where Michael Bradley is sprinting to control the ball.

Bradley need only control the ball as four opposing players close in on him.

8 seconds left

But Bradley's first touch was too hard and the ball squirts away from him and directly toward one of the opposing players. Bradley is able to get there first but not before he can completely control the ball.

A small shove from the Portuguese player jars the ball loose out of the control of the U.S. national team.

7 seconds left

Portugal now controls the ball, and, as we saw earlier, the U.S. has too many players too far away from their own goal.

There are five players on the Portugal side of the field and one at the midfield stripe.

3 seconds left

Now, instead of having players back and in good defensive position, facing the attack, the U.S. players are racing back and every player is facing toward the goal.

It is hard to know where the other players are on the field if you can't see them.

Less than 2 seconds left

So with less than two seconds remaining, the best player in the world has the ball on his boot and places a perfect pass into the box. The American defenders are in no position to defend the pass or to disrupt the run of Varela, who easily heads the ball into the back of the net.

Game over.

NOW WATCH:  Here's How Offside Works In Soccer

WATCH ALSO: Why Soccer Players Ignore The Best Odds When It Comes To Penalty Kicks

Join the conversation about this story »

United States men's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann hit out at the World Cup schedule makers for giving Germany an advantage heading into Thursday's massive Group G game.

"Everything was done for the big favorites,"he said after the game.

Since Germany played Ghana on Saturday in Fortaleza and the U.S. played Portugal on Sunday in the jungle outpost of Manaus, the Germans have an extra day of rest and much easier travel schedule.

Klinsmann called it unfair (via ESPN):

"[Germany], they played yesterday, we played today. We played in the Amazon, they played in a location where they don't have to travel much. Everything was done for the big favorites. We're going to do it the tough way."

While the World Cup schedule came out months before we even knew who was in each group, Klinsmann is actually right that a few big teams got a scheduling advantage between the second and third group stage games.

The teams in groups B, C, E, F, and H played their second group stage games on the same day, so no team got an extra day of rest going into the final group game.

However, groups A, D, and G (the U.S.'s group) played their second group stage games one day apart. And in each situation, the 1st-seeded team in the group played first — giving them a day off heading into the final group game.

Brazil (the seeded team in Group A) played Mexico one day before Croatia played Cameroon. Uruguay (the seeded team in Group D) played England one day before Italy played Costa Rica. Germany (the seeded team in Group G) played Ghana one day before the U.S. played Portugal.

This is by design. It's true that FIFA made its schedule before the draw and didn't know which teams would be in which groups. But since the eight best teams in the World Cup were guaranteed to be draw into the No. 1 slots in each group, FIFA knew that the pre-draw schedule gave an advantage to whichever 1st-seeded teams were drawn into groups A, D, and G.

Here's the pre-draw schedule. Notice how the extra day off for the top teams is built into the schedule:

The extra day of rest is enormous for Germany, especially since the U.S. played their last two games in hot, humid, physically draining conditions. The difference between three days of rest and four days of rest could be the difference in the game — as we saw against Portugal, one mental error from a tired player late in the game can change everything.

It's also true that the U.S. is at a travel disadvantage. Manaus, where the U.S. played Portugal, is the most remote host city in the entire World Cup. As a result the Americans will log 4,900 miles over the final two group games, while Germany will travel only 2,900 miles.

But most of that is U.S. Soccer's fault. The team picked Sao Paulo as their World Cup base before they even knew where they were going to play. Then, in a stroke of bad luck, the draw came out and all three games were being played in the extreme northern part of the country.

Klinsmann shouldn't complain about the travel. But he has every right to complain about the extra day off.

SEE ALSO: The 69 Most Mesmerizing Photos From The World Cup

Join the conversation about this story »

Of all the possible scenarios for how the United States men's national team could qualify for the knockout round of the World Cup, the most absurd is what happens if the U.S. and Portugal finish with the same number of points, the same goal difference, and the same number of goals scored.

There would be a coin flip to decide which team finishes second in the group. A horrible, horrible coin flip.

Here's what would have to happen:

• Portugal beats Ghana
• U.S. loses to Germany
• Portugal makes up exactly five goals in goal difference with the U.S.
• Portugal scores exactly two more goals than the U.S. does

If all of those things happen, the U.S. and Portugal would be dead even on every metric. Here's how the tiebreakers work:

If Portugal wins and the U.S. loses, the two teams would be tied on 4 points. The first tiebreaker is goal difference (which the U.S. currently leads by five goals). If the teams are tied on goal difference, the second tiebreaker is goals scored (which the U.S. currently leads by two goals). If the teams are tied on goal difference and goals scored, the third tiebreaker is head-to-head results. Since the U.S. and Portugal tied 2-2, we'd move to the final tiebreaker ... the drawing of lots, a.k.a. a coin flip.

Here are the six results that would lead to a coin flip:

• U.S. loses 3-0, Portugal wins 2-0
• U.S. loses 3-1, Portugal wins 3-0
• U.S. loses 3-2, Portugal wins 4-0
• U.S. loses 4-0, Portugal wins 2-1
• U.S. loses 4-1, Portugal wins 3-1
• U.S. loses 4-2, Portugal wins 4-1

It'd take an unlikely combination of wacky results, but it's possible.

SEE ALSO: The 69 Most Mesmerizing Photos From The World Cup

Join the conversation about this story »

Starting today, the teams at the World Cup will play their final match of the group stage. But unlike the other matches within the groups, the four teams in each group will play their final matches at the same time.

This quirk in the scheduling dates back to 1982 when West Germany and Austria were accused of conspiring to fix a match in a way that would benefit both countries.

In group 2 of the 1982 World Cup in Spain, Algeria defeated Chile in their final group stage match, a result that appeared to put them in a good position to advance to the knockout stage. However, West Germany and Austria did not play until the next day and their was a very specific scenario that would guarantee both teams would advance.

Entering the final match, Austria and Algeria were tied with four points apiece (a win was worth two points) with Austria holding a 3-goal advantage in goal differential, the first tie-breaker. Meanwhile, West Germany trailed both teams by two points.

A win for West Germany would have guaranteed their advancement as they held the goal differential advantage over Algeria. Austria would have also advanced with a win or a draw. However, they also would qualify for the knockout stage with a loss as long as they only lost by one or two goals.

The UK Guardian went through a recap of the match back in 2010.

Germany scored in the 10th minute to go up 1-0 and "then ... nothing."

The two teams stopped trying. Over the final 80 minutes there were no shots and only few tackles or attempts to move the ball effectively.

West Germany and Austria advanced to the knockout stage with the Germans eventually losing to Italy in the final. Meanwhile, Algeria, who beat West Germany 2-1, was sent home.

Neither side was apologetic for what happened and the head of the Austrian delegation even suggested a conspiracy at the time, noting that the match "was played tactically" while criticizing the Algerian supporters for complaining.

However, there was also backlash in both West Germany and Austria as well as outcries from around the world.

Neither side was punished for the incident, but FIFA responded by changing the scheduling to the format we see now.

Of course, this does not eliminate the possibility of final match conspiracies. As we have seen this year, the suggestion has come up in group G as both Germany and the U.S. can advance with a draw in their final match, regardless of what happens in the other match.

You can be certain FIFA will be watching the U.S.-Germany match closely. But if both sides want a draw, there is not much anybody can do to stop it.

Join the conversation about this story »

FIFA uses a fairly simple World Cup tiebreaker system to decide which team goes through to the knockout stage in the event of a tie in the group standings.

If two teams are tied on points after the final group game, here's the order of tiebreakers to decide the standings.

Tiebreaker #1: Goal difference in all 3 group matches

You subtract a team's total goals allowed from its total goals scored, and you get its goal difference. If Team A outscored its opponents by 2 and Team B outscored its opponents by 1, Team A goes through.

Tiebreaker #2: Goals scored in all 3 group matches

In most scenarios goal difference breaks the tie. But in the event that two teams have the same goal difference, the team that scored the most goals goes through. There's only been one situation in the last four World Cups where a team was eliminated because of the goals scored tiebreaker.

Tiebreaker #3: Head-to-head result

In the unlikely event that two teams are tied on goal difference and goals scored, whoever won the group game between the two teams goes through. It seems like this should be the first tiebreaker, but it rarely comes into play.

Tiebreaker #4: Goal difference in head-to-head games (only applies if more than two teams are tied)

This is redundant if there are only two teams tied on points.

Tiebreaker #5 Goals scored in head-to-head games (only used if more than two teams are tied)

Ditto.

Final tiebreaker: Coin flip

Yikes.

This has never happened in the World Cup under the current format. If two teams have the same goal difference, the same number of goals scored, and tied the group game against each other, FIFA will "draw lots" to decide which teams advances.

It's the cruelest possible way for these things to be decided, but it's possible in a number of groups at the 2014 World Cup — including the U.S.'s group.

Join the conversation about this story »

When they're not on the field, the members of England's football (soccer) team will be living in paradise at the Royal Tulip Rio de Janeiro, a stylish hotel in Rio's São Conrado beach.

The hotel offers beautiful views of both the ocean and the mountains, which England's football team will be able to admire from their private balconies.

The Royal Tulip also has two tennis courts, a gym, and a sauna.

The Daily Mail reports that the Royal Tulip will have increased security during England's stay. However, the team is only taking up two floors of the hotel, and other guests are allowed to mingle with the players.

The Royal Tulip has 17 floors and 418 apartments.

There are incredible views of the mountains and ocean.

Each of the apartments is spacious and bright, with plenty of seating to accommodate visitors.

We're only 12 days into the month long World Cup but it's already created some dazzling highlights and heart-wrenching drama.

It's also on pace to be the highest scoring World Cup ever.

Scoring a goal at the World Cup on stage in front of the goal is just about every single soccer players' goal, so it's not surprising that they celebrate accordingly. It's pure ecstasy. Here are 21 pictures of some of the best goal celebrations thus far:

Algerian players kiss the ground after taking a 1-0 lead over Belgium.

Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria after Messi's second goal versus Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Netherlands' Robin van Persie high fives head coach Louis van Gaal after scoring a wonder goal against Spain.

Ivorians Gervinho and Didier Drogba after Gervinho's winner over Japan.

England's Daniel Sturridge shows off his best dance moves after equalizing versus Italy.

Oribe Peralta gets his goal-scoring left foot cleaned off by Mexico teammate Miguel Layun.

A Colombian dance party after James Rodríguez (10) scores against the Ivory Coast.

Olivier Giroud springs into his teammates' arms after opening the scoring in France's 5-2 rout of Switzerland.

German goalie Manuel Neuer (right) chest bumps teammate Benedikt Howededes after Germany scores against Ghana.

Enner Valencia celebrates scoring Ecuador's second goal versus Honduras.

Luis Suarez on the verge of tears after scoring his second versus England.

Jermaine Jones equalizes for the US against Portugal.

Ghanaian players dance with goal scorer Asamoah Gyan (3).

Costa Rican manager Jorge Luis Pinto looks to the sky after los Ticos take a 3-1 lead over Uruguay.

Algeria's Islam Slimani screams into the camera after scoring against South Korea.

Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell tucks the ball under his jersey after putting his team level with Uruguay.

Robin van Persie celebrates scoring against Australia.

Miroslav Klose with his signature celebration against Ghana.

John Brooks doesn't know what to do with his hands after scoring the winner for the US.

Ghanian keeper Adam Kwarasey.

Neymar after tying the score in Brazil's opener versus Croatia.

Join the conversation about this story »

Croatian players and coaches are supremely confident that they'll get a win against Mexico and advance to the knockout round of the World Cup.

With Brazil leading Group A on goal difference and playing Cameroon — the worst team in the tournament so far — it's a near certainty that only one of Croatia or Mexico will advance.

Mexico advances with a tie or a win. Croatia needs a win.

Judging by the quotes from the Croatians in the days before the game, they're pretty sure they're going to get that win.

Coach Niko Kovac on Mexico's goalie, Memo Ochoa (via Goal):

"Ochoa is a great goalkeeper, but we have good forwards who will be a menace for him. If anyone have their knees shaking, it's Mexico."

Midfielder Luka Modric on Ochoa (via NYT):

"With all due respect to Ochoa, [Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic] scored against even better goalkeepers. The fact that they have not conceded speaks volumes about their quality. But I’m sure we will find a way to score."

Modric on why his team is going to win (via NYT):

"I think that we are a better team, and better individuals, than Mexico and that we will show that tomorrow. I think it is a good thing that we have to play to win."

Kovac on the game (via Goal):

"We will enjoy our football tomorrow. Mexico have played very well since Miguel Herrera took charge, but we have a formula for them, although I’m not going to reveal it yet."

Nate Silver gives Mexico a 61% chance to advance and Croatia a 39% chance.

Join the conversation about this story »

When the U.S. national team faces Germany on Thursday in their final group stage match of the World Cup, both teams will need just a tie in order to advance to the round of 16.

This led to Jurgen Klinsmann being asked about the prospect of colluding with Germany to fix the result of the match ahead of time. Most managers and coaches would be angered and offended by the suggestion. Klinsmann handled the question perfectly with the perfect response via Kurtis Larson of the Toronto Sun.

This quote refers to the dramatic end to the World Cup qualifying when Mexico was losing to Costa Rica and needed the United States to beat Panama to keep the Mexican side alive for a possible World Cup berth.

The U.S., who had already qualified for the World Cup, trailed Panama when they scored two goals in stoppage time. The match was meaningless to the U.S., but Mexico would have never made it to Brazil if not for those two goals.

This quote could be taken as a light-hearted shot at Mexico, the U.S. squad's bitter rival. But more importantly, Klinsmann is showing that his team had the perfect opportunity to stop trying and they didn't.

While there was much less at stake for the U.S. in that match, it would seem to be more relevant to the question of collusion during the World Cup than Klinsmann's ties to the German side or Germany's history of being accused of match-fixing one game, more than 30 years ago.

Join the conversation about this story »

The U.S. has an easy way and a hard way to get into the knockout stage of the 2014 World Cup.

The easy way: The U.S. gets a win or a tie against Germany on Thursday.

If the U.S. loses to Germany, though, things get very complicated. 

This graphic, which is based on a chart from Andy Keller, tells you what happens to the U.S. with every plausible combination of scorelines in the two remaining Group G games.

Keep this handy on Thursday:

Join the conversation about this story »

Every team at the World Cup has played two matches and so far, players from the German Bundesliga and the English Premier League are dominating the scoring.

Of the 94 goals scored in the first 32 matches, 18 (19.1%) were scored by players who play professionally in the Bundesliga and 17 were scored by players from the top division of English soccer.

In all, players from 19 different professional leagues have scored a goal, including Major League Soccer, which has produced four goals. These 11 leagues have produced multiple goals at the World Cup.

Join the conversation about this story »

After failing to convert a number of chances, Mexico unloaded on Croatia in the final 20 minutes, scoring three goals in 10 minutes to win 3-1 and advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup.

The undoubted star of the game was Mexico coach Miguel Herrera.

Herrera took over Mexico at the team's lowest point, guided them to World Cup qualification when it looked like they could miss the tournament altogether, and now has them into the last 16 at the World Cup.

He's also undeniably the hardest-celebrating coach on the planet.

After Mexico went up 2-0 with two goals in three minutes, he tackled his own player:

He was so happy:

Here he is after the third goal. There is no stopping this man:

Join the conversation about this story »