The Fix Is In

Get him and kick his ass...

Well, it didn't take long for SPECTRE FIFA to put their stamp on the proceedings on the pitch, did it? Good grief, could you be more overt? We're still attempting to get that disgusting taste out of our mouths here at SSN Headquarters. Here's your lot from the yesterday's opening "win" for the hosts:

Brazil 3 - 1 Croatia: Barney Ronay at the Arena Corinthians

Ben Smith: Brazil's ecstasy is Croatia's agony

Fred's Fall

Five Talking Points

Three Talking Points

Gabriele Marcotti: Brazil benefit from home cooking?

Jonathan Wilson: Brazil fail to convince

Dejan Lovren: Referee scandalous

Podcast! Well that was exciting wasn't it? The 2014 World Cup kicked off for reals, and it was almost a case of Croatia pooping Brazil's big party - but a Neymar double saw the hosts to victory. AC Jimbo, Barry Glendenning, James Horncastle and Jacob Steinberg give their thoughts - as does Barney Ronay, our man in São Paulo. Plus, we hear from our old friend Sid Lowe as he looks forward to Spain's clash with Holland and tells us why it all went from for Chelsea-bound Cesc Fábregas at Barcelona. Sort of.

Be very, very afraid...

Today's matches are as follows. Mexico vs. Cameroon at 12pm EDT on ESPN2. Here's a preview. Spain vs. Holland at 3pm EDT on ESPN. Here's a preview. Here's another from Eduardo Alvarez. Chile vs. Australia at 6pm EDT on ESPN2. Here's a preview.

Stay classy, England.

Hey! What else is going on? Well, David Bentley has decided to retire at the age of 29. Good. Cesc Fabregas has moved from Barcelona to Chelsea. Bad. Here's some transfer stuff:

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

Grant Wahl's got a nice little ditty here. And friend of the blog and Sunday Soccer Mate David Fellerath has an article about El Tri. They're the U.S.'s most popular soccer team, don't you know?

With that we'll head out. Enjoy the weekend. Italy/England is the big one tomorrow. That's at 6pm EDT. Sunday features Bosnia and Argentina, which could be quite tasty. That's also at 6pm EDT.

Onward!!

-SSN