体坛英语新闻：Costa Rica beat Italy to advance, England eliminated

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Costa Rica upset former champions?Italy 1-0 to advance to the World Cup knockout stage in Recife on Friday and also send Group D rivals England packing.

It was only the second time Costa Rica havee entered the World Cup knockout phase thanks to captain Bryan Ruiz's first-half header.

The result eliminated England from the tournament and means Italy will play off with Uruguay for the other Group D second-round berth in Natal on June 24.

France stormed past Switzerland 5-2 in a second round Group E match in Salvador and almost clinched a berth in the last 16.

Les Bleus have now grabbed six points after two matches. If they did not lose to Ecuador with an unusual huge deficit in the final round they will qualify for the last 16.

Ecuador defeated Honduras 2-1 in the day's another Group E game.

Costa Rica's only previous appearance in the World Cup's Round of 16 came in 1990 when they were beaten by Czechoslovakia in the Italian port city of Bari.

The Central American side also became the first team since France in 1998 to keep Italy from scoring in a World Cup fixture - a run that stretched to 15 matches.

Cesare Prandelli's side looked a shadow of the slick outfit that defeated England 2-1 six days earlier.

After a lethargic opening, Italy began to control possession midway through the first half and could have taken the lead but for wasteful finishing.

AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli was the chief culprit, spurning two attempts in quick succession.

The best chance came when he inexplicably missed the target following Andrea Pirlo's sublime first-time lob over Costa Rica's defence from the halfway line.

Los Ticos looked intent to make Italy pay for their profligacy.

They were unlucky to have a penalty appeal waved away by Chilean referee Enrique Osses after Giorgio Chiellini appeared to bring down Joel Campbell.

But the breakthrough came minutes later from the forehead of Ruiz.

The Fulham forward met Junior Diaz's cross from the left with a powerful header that rebounded in off the bar, sending Costa Rica's fans into raptures.

Coaches of France and Switzerland made two changes in their starting line-up. Admir Mehmedi and Haris Seferovic who scored as substitute in Switzerland's last-gasp 2-1 victory against Ecuador both started while Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud and Newcastle United midfielder Moussa Sissoko came in for Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba in the "Les Bleus".

The Swiss were forced to made an early substitute eight minutes into the match as their center back Steve von Bergen got his face kicked by Giroud. The 31-year-old walked out of the field with blood on his face.

The match remained balanced till the 17th minute. Giroud leapt high and hammered home with a corner from Mathieu Valbuena. Switzerland's goalie Diego Benaglio managed to touch the ball but failed to palm it away.

The match resumed with Swiss kicking off in the middle but they were immediately dispossessed by French striker Karim Benzema, whose through pass set up for a onrushing Blaise Matuidi. The PSG midfielder sent it home into the low corner with a left-foot one touch shot.

Benzema could have further widened the gap but his penalty shot 32 minutes into the game was denied by Benaglio. And Yohan Cabaye's shot off the rebound ball hit the crossbar.

Eight minutes later, Giroud registered an assist under his name following a fast counter attack as his low cross found Valbuena in the far post and the Marseilles midfielder made it 3-0 with a simple tap-in before the break.

Switzerland strengthened their attack trying to open the scoring in the second half but also provided more counter-attack chances for "Les Bleus".

Benzema volleyed home a lop pass from Paul Pogba in the edge of the inner area in the 67th minute. And six minutes later, the Real Madrid striker fed a fine pass to Sissoko, who made it 5-0 with his right foot.

The Swiss found their consolation goal in the 81st minute. Napoli midfielder Blerim Dzemaili fired a long range low free-kick which went through the three-man wall and beat French caption Hugo Lloris. And the goal feast did not end there. A failed offside trap of France saw Swiss forward Granit Xhaka left wide open in the box and his volley shot narrowed the gap to 5-2.