Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/327636
27 Sport maltatoday, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Mainly fine but with the possibility of some sea fog patches at first VISIBILITY: Good except in fog patches at first WIND: Mainly East to Northeast force 2 to 3, locally force 3 to 4 at times, becoming mainly North to Northwes SEA: Slight SWELL: Negligible SEA TEMP: 21 °C A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. partly cloudy 29 º c / 19 º c uV index: 8 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits Rb7+ Kd8 Bg5+ xg5 Qxg5+ Ke8 Nf6+ Kd8 Rd7++ OpiniOn Across 1. Lounges (7) 5. Woman who works in a bar (7) 9. Gives a new name (7) 10. Shield (5) 11. Portion (5) 12. Succeeded (3) 13. Like a dog (6) 14. Yield post (6) 15. Pigpen (3) 17. Motherhood (9) 21. Have supper (3) 23. Reach destination (6) 24. One who enjoys inflicting pain (6) 27. Some (3) 28. Pertaining to sound (5) 29. Emblem (5) 30. Traveller (7) 31. First book of the Bible (7) 32. Member of a crew (7) Down 1. Spreads (7) 2. Period of a tenant's occupancy (7) 3. Birmingham suburb (6) 4. Pendent (9) 5. To lose blood (5) 6. Deeply respectful (8) 7. Refrain voluntarily (7) 8. One dearly loved (7) 16. Near the South Pole (9) 18. Counsellors (8) 19. Ladies' carrying bag (7) 20. Widen (7) 21. Sports arena (7) 22. Cheshire town (7) 25. Not susceptible (6) 26. Mountain range (5) At long last the day we have all been waiting for has arrived. Our lives slow down to a standstill as our eyes are glued to the television screens, some have even installed one in their bathrooms not to miss a single kick. It's Brazil who kick off the World's most popular event tomorrow against Croatia in what promises to be the most spectacu- lar opener. Over the last month we have looked at the top teams around the world with Brazil and Argentina being top of the pile, supported by Germany and Spain but today it is time to look at the main divide locally: its England and Italy, bril- liantly drawn together in the same group, which many have labeled the 'Group of Death'. Group D con- sists of the above two followed by dark horses Uruguay and potential banana skins Costa Rica. thankfully this year English fans have broken tradition and many actually believe this will not be their year, even though they feel it always is. this England team, crammed with youth and Liver- pool players is a half decent squad, but playing style and the risk of sticking to tradition will make England one of the more predict- able sides in Brazil, unless Roy Hodgson plays his two wild cards. Rather cleverly he shipped Ster- ling and Barkley off to Brazil with them, however whether or not he will use them wisely is another story all together. Sterling's send- ing off against Ecuador was not the wisest moment for the youngster, but that inexperience will come with age and playing time. Go- ing for a new top heav y Liverpool style line up will help his side play around the capability of captain Steven Gerrard who reveled in his new role for his club last sea- son, however like the Dutch, Eng- land might find themselves being caught at the back with a lack of international experience available to them. Everton center half Jag- ielka might be 31 years of age, but this is his first major tournament and his partner in crime Gary Ca- hill is in the same waters. Ross Barkley and Raheem Ster- ling are two fresh faces in the camp and are the roughest of cuts. they are both extremely eager to impress and are remarkably exit- ing to watch. they are both unpre- dictable and in my eyes starting them will be England's best hope of making it out of a tough group. that England vs Italy clash on Saturday will excite all Maltese fans and thousands will gather in St Julian's square to watch what could turn out to be an open, high scoring match. Italy's squad boasts a typically strong defense and with that cool man Pirlo f loating balls in from the midfield I can see a few goals in this side. I also get the feeling this is Mario Balotelli's chance to shine in what has been a difficult season for him at Milan. He might have been frustrating to watch however the explosive na- ture of the Italian will prove diffi- cult for any defense to handle. His Euro 2012 campaign was strong and you feel that he is a different sort of beast when representing a country he loves so much. He is always eager to impress Italians due to the severe amount of racist abuse he received in his past and I feel that edge makes him one of the men to watch in Brazil this summer. In my eyes he is one of the most mismanaged player of the modern era and I have always en- joyed watching him play. You get the feeling that Super Mario is on the verge of greatness and I can't wait to see more epic goal celebra- tions from the controversial for- ward. the Italians will look sharp and very organised, playing a more pa- tient game due to the experience of their squad. their pre tournament experiments may have seemed dull however the wisdom of Cesare Prandelli cannot be underesti- mated and those experiments just prove that he has many options and games can turn in an instant for this Italy side. Dutch doubts Unfortunately for 2010 finalists Holland there seem to be many doubts about this top heav y Dutch squad. An excellent qualif ying campaign saw them top their group undefeated and van Gaal's aggressive and hands on approach has been effective following their abysmal Euro 2012 showing where they crashed out of the group stag- es without a single point. He has picked a homegrown squad and backed his youth with the experience of 2010 finalists Dirk Kuyt and Nigel de Jong. Rob- ben, Sneijder and van Persie will provide the spark for the Dutch, however the absentees of Kevin Strootman and Rafael van der Vaart have hit the creative depart- ment in various ways. A largely inexperienced defence means that the Dutch need to resort to their total Football to control matches and their World Cup warm up matches have seen the Oranje re- tain a lion's share of possession. their biggest test is their first, against nemesis Spain and that match can really set the tone for these giants. It's a Friday early kick off for the Dutch, let's hope they can prove doubters wrong this time around. Mark Strijbosch Bring on tomorrow Brazilian street sellers offer the Brazilian flags and national jersey in Fortaleza. Photo by EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO