Colombia

President Juan Manuel Santos vowed to bring peace to Colombia after winning re-election on June 15, telling rebels his victory shows that voters demand an end to five decades of war.

Italian experience overcame England's youthful exuberance in an intriguing clash of styles at the World Cup on June 14 and in Group D's other game unfancied Costa Rica beat twice champions Uruguay in the tournament's biggest upset so far.

By Karolos Grohmann

A 3-0 defeat by Colombia on Saturday in Greece's opening World Cup Group C game was a bad start to the tournament in Brazil but it is no drama, Greece coach Fernando Santos told reporters.

Santos said the Greeks, who have never managed to keep a clean sheet at a World Cup match, paid the price for a lack of focus at key moments in the game.

By George Georgakopoulos

No beautiful horizon lies ahead for Greece after its performance at Belo Horizonte on Saturday and its 3-0 loss to Colombia in its opening game for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, as besides its defeat the national team was disappointing in many ways.

Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL - Colombia and Greece clash on Saturday in Group C plagued by fears over where their World Cup goals will come from.

The South Americans were rocked when talismanic striker Radamel Falcao lost his battle to be fit for the finals after suffering a serious knee injury playing for French club Monaco in January.

 Greece enters the World Cup on Saturday, aiming for its first ever qualification from the group stage

By George Georgakopoulos

Greece optimistic about World Cup chances

Pundits and predictions say the team could advance past the group stage for the first time.

Editor's note: This is one in a series of stories previewing the 2014 World Cup and teams from Greece, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

By Karolos Grohmann

A second consecutive appearance at the World Cup finals represents a huge success for a Greece side who have set their sights on going one step further than they did in South Africa and advancing past the group stage.

Greece and Nigeria battled to a scoreless draw late on Tuesday at Philadelphia in the US, in an international friendly match that served as a World Cup warm-up for both teams.

Greece had its fair share of chances, but couldn't get past Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who made a superb double save on Giorgos Samaras and Dimitris Salpingidis in the 8th minute.

Greece defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos will miss his country's next World Cup warm-up friendly with African champions Nigeria in the United States on Tuesday after suffering a biceps injury, the team's medical team announced on Sunday.