It was a day of disbelief at the World Cup. Kansas City Royals Gear . A day where thousands sat in stunned silence. A day when a minnow deservedly beat a European powerhouse; when a former European powerhouse awoke from years of discontent and immaturity to put it all together on the biggest stage of all. Italy 0-1 Costa Rica D4. It stood right there on the board. It was the World Cup draw and every country was represented. D4, where hopes and dreams would have to go through not one, not two but three extremely hot Northern locations in group play. Manuas, Recife and then Natal. Three matches, including two at 1pm local time. Once the draw was made D4 got even worse, becoming the position where two non-European seeded teams came together. Two former winners. Englands entourage at the draw may have made headlines for the famous cut-throat gesture when handed their three opponents but this was far from what Italy wanted. Yet, still they remained in their base, at the seaside resort of Mangaratiba, over a thousand miles away from all three locations. The Italians put aside any worries about slow starts with a master class against England in their opener and arrived in Recife hoping to book their place in the next round against the groups apparent whipping boys, Costa Rica. For 30 minutes it was going to plan. Daniele De Rossi sat deep, allowed the full backs to motor on and Andrea Pirlo pulled the strings for the others to dance to. Mario Balotelli should have scored at least once and Claudio Marchisio, a misplaced backpass aside, was outstanding. Then the heavyweights hit the deck. Hard. Giorgio Chiellini misplaced a back pass, allowed Joel Campbell to blow by him before fouling in the box. Penalty. Except the referee missed it. Of course he did, look where he was? Apparently the counter-attacking World Cup isnt as easy to ref as people would hope. Italy got away with a standing count but a minute later they were floored again, this time for real. Their narrow 4-3-3 can be very successful with the ball but the wide members of their attack do tuck in and when Junior Diaz motored down the left wing the hapless Ignazio Abate had no help. Diaz whipped in a wonderful cross and Bryan Ruiz completed a miserable two minutes for the ball-watching Chiellini by heading in at the back post. Italy were down and apparently out; a wounded heavyweight with no energy or quality to help them back up. The biggest surprise was not them losing a competitive first half 1-0, it was their pathetic display in the second. Once again, just like Spain, we saw a European powerhouse labor through a game in South America devoid of ideas in the unfamiliar scenario of being behind. Cesare Prandelli, one of the games great flexible coaches, played three cards with his subs and they were all wrong. Instead of looking like a complete side, knowing what each others roles can be, against England, Italy were clueless against a magnificently organized Costa Rican back five. The image of Antonio Cassano rather than Ciro Immobile, for example, trying to get them back in the game was as sad as seeing the likes of Iker Casillas, Xavi and Steven Gerrard underperform at this World Cup. The game is changing in front of our very eyes and if Italy dont get back to what makes them special theyll soon be flying home just like Spain and England. Despite mistakes on Friday, their back seven - Buffon, back four, De Rossi and Pirlo - is good enough to win a World Cup. Who plays with them, and how they play, will ensure just when this teams tournament will end. France 5-2 Switzerland If you read any previews heading into this World Cup you probably had them tell you how difficult Switzerland are to break down and how mentally fragile France are. Welcome to the 2014 World Cup where stereotypes and form guides are being broken down as quickly as the Maracana security. Switzerland had a nightmare from start to finish. Everything went wrong for them, from a key early injury to massive errors by usually reliable players it was simply a game they just need to forget immediately. Win their last match against Honduras and they should qualify. If you cant beat them then they dont deserve to advance. France was magnificent. It was the best performance they have produced post- Zinedine Zidane and it wasnt even close. When France got to the final in 2006 they never produced back-to-back halves as good as this one. They scored five, missed a penalty and scored another fine goal less than a second after the final whistle blew. It was only fitting this game ended with the ball in the back of the net. In three matches in Salvador this World Cup has now produced SEVENTEEN goals. Or, the same amount of goals Norwich City scored at home all of last season. Suddenly, France looks like a legitimate, serious contender for this World Cup. Hated by their own people back in October after losing the opening leg against Ukraine, Les Bleus have gone from a bunch of arrogant, unlikeable underachievers to a formidable power with tremendous depth, full of players with Champions League experience who fear no one. Even their key nemesis in recent years, Spain, cant get in their way now. Guaranteed winners of a comfortable group, the tournament opens up for them now and Germany in the quarterfinals looks like a real possibility. Just dont call them dark horses. They were always too talented for that. The moment the draw was made, these so-called dark horses left the stable as a shiny white horse more than capable of easily jumping the first fence at the World Cup. Now that star striker Karim Benzema is finally playing as good as he does for Real Madrid this once lazy, uninterested horse is trotting hard towards the last week of this tournament. Ecuador 2-1 Honduras This was another great game at the World Cup. Honduras took the lead through Carlo Costly and it was then that we saw what Ecuador could do. Enner Valencia, their new goal scoring hero, grabbed a brace with a combination of good finishing and poor defending. Honduras will be furious with how they conceded, particularly the winning goal, which was another header from another good cross at this World Cup. Man of the Day Nominees Bryan Ruiz - No matter what this proud country do at this World Cup from here on in, they have their moment and their hero. Giancarlo Gonzalez - The Columbus Crew defender was absolutely marvelous against the Italians, leading a very high line and spending much of the game with Mario Balotelli in his pocket. Jorge Luis Pinto - The Costa Rica boss has got his tactics spot on in back-to-back games. Olivier Giroud - It proved to be a masterstroke inserting the Arsenal man into the lineup by Didier Deschamps. A superb header opened the floodgates but his buildup and attacking run - allowing Mathieu Valbuena to be onside - for the third goal was just as good. Enner Valencia - Every World Cup has a player from a smaller nation who some target in their pool heading in. The Ecuadorian hitman is no Lucas Barrios from 2010 thats for sure. The Winner… Jose Luis Pinto - Games are won and lost by players but Pinto, a veteran coach of 19 teams in 30 years, has outcoached Oscar Tabarez and Cesare Prandelli inside a week. A phenomenal achievement. What comes next? Argentina vs Iran (12pm/9am), Germany vs Ghana (3pm/Noon), Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Nigeria (6pm/3pm). Burning question for tomorrow Will Iran be the perfect opponent for Lionel Messi to score some more goals at a World Cup and quiet those who only think he plays well when he scores? Key stat of Day 9 Honduran goal scorer Carlo Costly was not even born the last time his country scored at the World Cup (1982). Royals Jerseys China . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. Fake Royals Jerseys . Adding playoff teams. Monitoring instant replay from league headquarters. Possibly creating a set of guidelines to prevent locker-room bullying. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ . Barnard, 28, was 1-0 with a 0.53 ERA in three appearances, including two starts, with San Angel o this season. He struck out 19 batters and walked just one in 17 innings pitched. He has previous American Association experience with the Lincoln Saltdogs, El Paso Diablos and Amarillo Sox. CHICAGO -- While the Chicago White Sox await the return of injured slugger Jose Abreu, Dayan Viciedo is doing his part to make up for the missing power. Viciedo hit a long three-run homer, Conor Gillaspie collected four more hits and the White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 6-2 on Monday. Abreu, who is out with a left ankle injury, took 25 grounders and played soft toss before the game. He also hit 30 balls off a tee. The slugger is expected to be activated from the 15-day disabled list when he is eligible on June 2. Viciedo went 2 for 4 for his first multihit game since May 19 at Kansas City. He said the bond between the two Cuban players has been beneficial for both sides. "We have a great relationship," he said through an interpreter. "There are some things he has mentioned to me and I give him advice as well. It goes both ways. Knowing each other for years and then being here together definitely helps." Gillaspie went 4 for 4, scored twice and drove in a run. He became the first White Sox player to hit three doubles in a single game since Paul Konerko on May 26, 2012, against the Indians. Viciedo connected in the third inning against Josh Tomlin as the White Sox improved to 5-3 this year against Cleveland. Mike Aviles, Michael Brantley and Ryan Raburn had two hits apiece for the Indians, who have dropped three of four. Brantley and Raburn each drove in a run. Cleveland third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall committed a costly error in the third inning, allowing Marcus Semien to reach. Gillaspie then singled to put runners on first and second before Viciedo drove a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left for his fifth homer, giving the White Sox a 3-1 lead. "Thats on me," Tomlin said. "I need to do a better job of picking Lonnie up there. It took a tough hop and I need to come back and make a better pitch to Viciedo right there." Gillaspie is batting .407 (24 ffor 59) in his last 16 games. Royals Jerseys 2020. . The White Sox added two more runs in the sixth on consecutive RBI singles for Alexei Ramirez and Alejandro De Aza against Bryan Shaw. Gillaspies third double in the seventh scored Semien from first base, making it 6-2. "Any time you can add on runs, its big," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. Tomlin (3-2) allowed two earned runs and five hits in five-plus innings. He struck out eight and walked one. Jose Quintana (3-4) pitched six effective innings for the White Sox, allowing two runs and five hits. Scott Downs got four outs for his first save. "Its great to give Q some run support," Gillaspie said. "Hes a guy that goes out there every time, hes a fighter, hes a bulldog out there. To give him some run support, it has to make him feel better about his performance." Quintana also got some help from his defence in the sixth. Raburn singled in Brantley with one out, but was thrown out by right fielder Moises Sierra trying to stretch it to a double. "Its a good feeling," Quintana said. "Thats a good one for us, the first game of the series. It was good to make a quality start, too, which gives us a chance to win." NOTES: Cleveland manager Terry Francona declined comment on the Cubs hiring Manny Ramirez as a minor league coach/player. "Ive got my hands full being the manager of this team," said Francona, who was in Boston with Ramirez and Cubs executive Theo Epstein. "I did exchange a couple of texts with Theo yesterday in fun." ... Indians slugger Carlos Santana was in the original lineup at DH but was scratched because he was feeling ill. ... INF Jason Kipnis (right oblique strain) will rejoin the Indians on Tuesday following a rehab assignment. ... RHP Justin Masterson (2-3) faces White Sox ace Chris Sale (4-0) in the second game of the series. ' ' '