WORLD CUP 2014
Italy 2 Marchisio 35, Balotelli 50
England Hart - Johnson, Baines, Cahill, Jagielka - Henderson (Wilshere 73), Gerrard (c), Sterling, Welbeck (Barkley 61), Rooney - Sturridge (Lallana 80) Booked Sterling
Italy Sirigu - Chiellini, Barzagli, Paletta, Darmian - De Rossi, Verratti (Motta 57), Pirlo (c), Marchisio, Candreva (Parolo 79) - Balotelli (Immobile 73)
Attendance 39,800 at Arena da Amazonia, Manaus Referee Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands)
Kick-off 11pm BST. Live on BBC One.
ENGLAND lost a World Cup opener for the first time since 1986 - but there were plenty of positives to take from the 2-1 defeat to Italy at the Arena da Amazonia in Manaus.
Mario Balotelli converted Antonio Candreva's cross early in the second half to settle an engaging contest in favour of the Italians.
And, with three points in the bag, the Azzurri will already be looking towards the knockout stages.
But Roy Hodgson's Three Lions can still join them there if they stick to the pass and move principles which were on show last night.
Indeed, there are a few statistics which show that, for once after a World Cup defeat, the mood in the country needn't be so gloomy...
Of the 16 teams we have seen so far, England have had more shots than any of them.
Even more stunning, though, is the fact that England's passing accuracy ranks second, just behind Italy - but ahead of Spain, Netherlands and Brazil.
Yes - for a country that has traditionally struggled to keep the ball in major tournaments, this new-look team appears to be bucking the trend.
However, it would be folly not to recognise that there are still certain weaknesses in this England side.
The back-line of Glen Johnson, Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines almost picks itself - but, in the absence of Ashley Cole and John Terry, this is more down to lack of alternatives than anything else.
Baines, at left-back, was left exposed by Candreva for Balotelli's winner - and the whole left-hand side was a point of weakness all night with Wayne Rooney failing to provide adequate cover.
That opens the question, of course, of whether Rooney should be playing there in the first place as, except for the sumptuous ball curled into Daniel Sturridge for the equaliser, the Manchester United man was somewhat on the periphery of the action.
It was perhaps a reason why he snatched at a glorious late chance for a second equaliser which could have brought the draw England richly deserved.
But, despite the defeat, Hodgson's men did enough to suggest they can still get through.
After all, the group was thrown wide open earlier in the day when minnows Costa Rica beat Uruguay 3-1 in another thrilling match in this brilliant World Cup.
Uruguay, semi finalists four years ago, took the lead through Edinson Cavani's penalty after a foul on Diego Lugano, and it looked as if the absence of Luis Suarez through injury was going to be easily dealt with.
The Costa Ricans, however, were never out of it and a stunning burst of two goals shortly after half time from Joel Campbell and Oscar Duarte put them into the lead.
Late on, Los Ticos completed the job as Marco Urena slid the ball past Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera with an inch-perfect finish.
Opening on Thursday, this exciting tournament also began with a 3-1 win for the hosts,Brazil, against Croatia. Neymar scored twice but his second, a penalty, was a highly contentious decision.
Indeed, Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa got a bigger hand on the shot by Neymar than what had been put on the Brazilian to win the spot kick in the first place, and he really should have saved it.
On the second day, the poor refereeing continued as Mexico were denied a two-goal half-time lead against Cameroon after having two goals incorrectly chalked off for offside.
There was justice, then, for the Mexicans when Oribe Peralta slid in the rebound to Giovani Dos Santos' shot for the only goal of the game.
All the other matches have had at least three goals as the tournament happily trundles on with the healthy average so far of 3.5 goals per game.
Of course, that average was helped on Friday night by a stunning performance by Netherlands against defending champions Spain, a repeat of the 2010 final.
Everything seemed totally normal as the Spanish headed towards half-time following Xabi Alonso's penalty - but then came a wonderful swallow dive from Robin van Persie as he headed in an equaliser.
The goal seemed to have shocked the Spanish to the core - or perhaps it was the relentless Dutch attacking from van Persie and Arjen Robben.
In the end, two goals from each - and one from Stefan De Vrij off a corner made it 5-1 - but it could have been even more with van Persie hitting the bar with cracking strike and Spain's defence and goalkeeper Iker Casillas looking a total mess.
Revenge was particularly sweet for the Dutch who have looked the best of the contenders in these early stages in Brazil.
The other match in the group - Chile v Australia - did go as expected, with a Chilean win - but this was still an entertaining game as the Chileans raced into a 2-0 lead inside 15 minutes.
After effectively suffering from stage fright, the Socceroos were put back into the game from absolutely nowhere through a typical header from Tim Cahill. But, no matter how hard they tried, the Aussies just could not force an equaliser.
In Group C yesterday, Colombia made a welcome return to the World Cup for the first time in 16 years with an easy 3-0 win over a familiarly unadventurous Greece.
And, through the night, Ivory Coast overturned a shock Japan lead to win 2-1 through two goals in as many minutes from Swansea City's Wilfried Bony and then Gervinho.
By then, most of England was tucked up in bed, disappointed that the Three Lions' visit to the Amazon jungle had ended in defeat.
England are down but they are not yet out - and playing the vulnerable Uruguayans next is a great chance to get off the mark.
That match, played in Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo, kicks off at 8pm BST. Live coverage will be provided by ITV.
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