Colombia, Uruguay, Japan and Italy-England Draw in the 2014 World Cup Day 3 Picks

Day three of the Brazil 2014 World Cup has four exciting games, with group C and D hitting the stage for the first time in the tournament.  Here are the World Cup picks for Saturday June 14:

Colombia vs Greece, Group C, 12 PM ET

Colombia will miss their star Radamel Falcao, who won’t be in the World Cup due to an injury; however, they have enough talent to overcome the game against the Greeks.

The Colombians were the best defense in the South American qualification stage; meaning they are a balanced team on both sides of the ball.

Greece was one of the best defenses in the Europeans qualification; they spent six games without receiving a goal against.  Their problem is their offense; they are so obsessed with ending the game with a clean sheet, sometimes they look weak in the attack.

Pick: Colombia.

Uruguay vs Costa Rica, Group D, 3 PM ET

Uruguay knows they need to beat Costa Rica in order to have a shot to advance to the next round; anything but a win would hurt their chances considering England and Italy are on their group, as well.

Uruguay leads the series with six wins and two draws, and they beat the Ticos 2-1 in 2009, in the playoffs for the South Africa 2010 qualification.

Pick: Uruguay.

England vs Italy, Group D, 6 PM ET

England trails the series against Italy with nine losses, eight wins and seven draws, but as you can see is awfully close.  The English beat the Italians in their last meeting with a 2-1 result on a friendly game, but in their last official match Italy was able to eliminate England in the EURO 2012 quarterfinals via the penalties after drawing 0-0.

Both teams have enormous respect for each other, and I think they rather start the World Cup with a draw than risk too much and find themselves losing the first match.

The draw is listed is at +200, and is a good pay for two teams that must likely look as Uruguay and Costa Rica as their next victims.

Pick: Draw.

Japan vs Ivory Coast, Group C, 9 PM ET

The match between Japan and Ivory Coast is one of the most intriguing in the tournament as both teams have tremendous offenses and great players.

Japan has evolved to one of the most dynamic squads in the world, and will try to win their first game of the tournament by outplaying the Africans with speed and movement; they did it four years ago when they beat Cameroon in their debut game of South Africa 2010.

Ivory Coast has their best chance to get to the round of 16 for the first time in team’s history; in 2006 and 2010 they were eliminated from the Group of Death.

I like both teams, but I see Japan as a better unit; they have skilled players to make Ivory Coast pay.

Pick: Japan.