Biete/Tausche » . He stood in the line of fire and took

RECIFE, Brazil -- Costa Rica has turned the table on the teams World Cup expectations. Cheap Nike Free Wholesale . Or at least on everyone elses expectations. Costa Rica followed up its surprise win over Uruguay with another World Cup stunner on Friday, beating four-time champion Italy 1-0 to secure a spot in the next round and eliminate England in the process. After entering the tournament as an expected underdog in a group featuring three former world champions, Costa Rica is now on top. "Maybe there are a lot of people who didnt have faith in us because we were in the Group of Death, said Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz, who scored the key goal. "But the other guys are the ones who are dead and were going to the next round." Ruiz gave his side the lead in the 44th minute, heading in off the underside of the crossbar following a cross from Junior Diaz. Goal-line technology was used to show that the ball bounced down and in after hitting the bar. There was a frenetic end to the first half, as moments before Ruizs goal Costa Rica had a penalty appeal waved away when striker Joel Campbell was bundled over by Giorgio Chiellini. Costa Rica leads Group D with six points, while Italy and Uruguay have three each before Tuesdays showdown. England has zero points after losing to Italy and Uruguay. Italy (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), Uruguay (1930, 1950) and England (1966) have won a combined seven World Cups. Costa Ricas only other appearance in the knockout phase came in its World Cup debut in 1990, when it beat Sweden and Scotland under experienced coach Bora Milutinovic before ultimately getting eliminated by Czechoslovakia. "Those who havent supported us may believe in us right now," Ruiz said. Italy, meanwhile, can still advance with a win or even a draw with Uruguay, since it leads on goal difference which is the first qualifying criteria. "We gave our all. They did well to block every pass," Italy coach Cesare Prandelli said. "Theres no worry now. We just need to regain our energy." It was exactly 24 years ago to the day that Costa Rica beat Sweden 2-1 to advance at the tournament in Italy. "There are no more Cinderellas in football, especially in a competition like the World Cup," Italy captain Gianluigi Buffon said. It marked the fourth consecutive World Cup in which Italy failed to win its second match, although only in 2010 did the Azzurri not advance. "Well play a great match against Uruguay," second-half Italy substitute Antonio Cassano said. "Im convinced we will. ... If we regain our energy we can (advance) comfortably." While it was nowhere near as hot as Italy feared at the Arena Pernambuco -- 29 C (84 F) and 70 per cent humidity according to FIFA -- the Azzurri still struggled to keep up with the speedy Ticos for long stretches. Costa Rica coach Jorge Luis Pinto lined up five defenders but his squad was able advance forward with one swift, sweeping movement -- just like in the 3-1 win over Uruguay. "We did what we needed to do, we took away the game from the Italians," Pinto said. The Azzurri hardly threatened until Mario Balotelli had chances in the 31st and 33rd minutes. First, Balotelli was set up with a long, vertical pass from Andrea Pirlo and tried to lift the bouncing ball over the charging goalkeepers head but missed the target. Then the Azzurri forward had an effort from beyond the area stopped by goalkeeper Keylor Navas. "If we had scored goals on those two chances for Balotelli, the match would have changed," Prandelli said. Costa Rica kept its poise after the threats from Balotelli and in the 36th minute Buffon had to make a diving save to stop a shot from midfielder Christian Bolanos. In the 43rd, Chiellini made an uncharacteristic error -- gifting the ball to Campbell near midfield -- and then raced back and committed what appeared to be a clear foul. However, Chilean referee Enrique Osses motioned to play on. Prandelli attempted to stir things up by adding Cassano, Lorenzo Insigne and Alessio Cerci in the second half, providing the Azzurri with four forwards instead of just Balotelli, but the 2006 winners rarely came close to equalizing. "Its a deserved defeat," Prandelli said. "They were much more aggressive than us. They kept coming constantly and we werent able to stop them." ------ Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Ignazio Abate, Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini, Matteo Darmian, Daniele De Rossi, Antonio Candreva (Lorenzo Insigne, 57), Thiago Motta (Antonio Cassano, 46), Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio (Alessio Cerci, 69), Mario Balotelli. Costa Rica: Keylor Navas, Giancarlo Gonzalez, Michael Umana, Celso Borges, Oscar Duarte, Christian Bolanos, Joel Campbell (Marcos Urena, 74), Bryan Ruiz (Randall Brenes, 81), Junior Diaz, Cristian Gamboa, Yeltsin Tejeda (Jose Cubero, 67). Nike Free Australia .ca NHL Power Rankings, finally overtaking the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, who rank second and third this week. Wholesale Nike Free Australia . -- Felix Girard scored on the power play in the third period to lift the Baie-Comeau Drakkar past the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada 4-3 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Friday. http://www.cheapnikefreeaustralia.com/ . - A mixed martial arts fighter who changed his name to War Machine was ordered Friday to stand trial in Nevada state court on 34 felony charges including attempted murder, sexual assault and kidnapping that could get him life in prison for allegedly attacking his porn star ex-girlfriend and her friend.It was the final day of training camp in September of 2001 and I opened the door to the Senators coaches office. There, I saw a teenaged boy with tears in his eyes, being consoled by strength and conditioning coach Randy Lee. Jason Spezza had just been delivered the devastating news that he would be returned to junior hockey – the final victim of the roster cuts made by general manager Marshall Johnston and head coach Jacques Martin. At the time I was a fairly inexperienced member of the Senators PR department, but I knew that Spezza was not ready to deal with the media. He flatly told me he didnt want to answer any questions that morning. However, it was just past 10am and reporters were going to start trickling into the building at any moment. We made the decision to get Jason out of the rink before any cameras showed up and caught footage of him looking so despondent. I went outside to the hallway and found that an Ottawa Citizen reporter had been the first to show up. But there was nobody else around, so I told him he needed to have his photo taken for his 2001-02 season pass, and I walked with him down to the security area. And once I did that, Lee helped escort Spezza out of the rink going the opposite way – so that nobody from the media could see him. I dont think you could really blame him in that situation. He was 18 years old and just had the rug pulled out from underneath him. He exceled at every level when it came to hockey, so being returned to the OHL was something he never fathomed. A few hours later, Jacques Martin would make his infamous statement that Jason was "a boy playing a mans game" – and maybe it was true on that day. But it seemed like that label stuck to Spezza for his entire tenure in Ottawa, like a stubborn piece of gum at the bottom of his shoe. He was never quite good enough for some people in this market. Even after his heroics as a 19-year-old in the playoffs in 2003 – when he scored a goal and added an assist in a must-win Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final against the New Jersey Devils – there were lingering doubts about his ability as a player. The very next year, Jacques Martin made him a healthy scratch for several playoff games against the Toronto Maple Leafs. A trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007 didnt cement his status in this town, even though Spezza tied for the league lead in playoff scoring. Just a couple of years later, he was booed on home ice during a Game 4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2010 playoffs. That was almost enough to drive him ouut of town, with general manager Bryan Murray hinting that Spezza told him he was amenable to a trade if one could be executed. Cheap Nike Free Australia Sale. nbsp; And yet three years later he was still here, now wearing the captains "C" on his jersey - which only seemed to make the target on his back even bigger. It was a roller coaster with Spezza from the onset and it seemed the ride never stopped. Every game seemed to be a referendum on whether or not you could win with him. After a while, it gets tiresome. Tiresome for the player. Tiresome for the fans. And tiresome for the organization. And yes - even tiresome for people like me who work in sports talk radio. There are days when I would just have to say "Jason Spezza" on the air and our phone lines would light up. Finally, Spezza himself has had enough. Bryan Murray admitted to the reporters on Wednesday that Spezza has asked to get off this ride. And Im not sure I can really blame him. Hes spent 11 seasons here and has more than paid his dues. In the next few days, you will likely read a ton of internet comments suggesting that Spezza never really embraced Ottawa. And that if he cant stand the pressure of playing Ottawa, he shouldnt let the door hit him on the way out. From my perspective, though, Spezza handled the pressure in this market as well as he could have. He was made the scapegoat on many nights when the team lost. And when he was the star in a Senators victory, too often the sentiment was, "why cant he do that every night?" I believe that day as an 18-year-old was the only time that Jason Spezza ever knowingly ducked the media. He stood in the line of fire and took his lumps on a daily basis for more than a decade. To suggest that he doesnt have the mental toughness to handle a Canadian market is completely erroneous. The guy just spent 11 years in this market, was a point-a-game producer and wanted to be named the captain of this team 10 months ago. If thats shying away from the limelight, I think youre sadly mistaken. We can debate whether the media or the fans pushed another star out of town in Ottawa - although this one feels a little different than the forced departures for guys like Dany Heatley and Alexei Yashin. Daniel Alfredssons exit last summer was a punch in the stomach that nobody saw coming. Spezzas imminent departure, on the other hand, is more like a gradual erosion; something that was inevitable. And when he finally does leave Ottawa, I can guarantee you Jason Spezza wont be shedding any tears. ' ' '