So yesterday you pulled open the curtains and witnessed that whole sunshine thing everyone was on about recently, waded through a pile of unopened bills behind the front door and pulled on a clean pair of pants. The rest day was tough for a lot of us.

Thankfully, the World Cup action returns today. And we’ve got plenty to talk about.

So let’s do this… Brazil and Chile have already kicked off after another epic battle of the anthems. You can follow the action here.

So what have we missed?

Luis Suarez has broken his silence and he’s gone for the Shaggy ‘It Wasn’t Me’ line of defence, it seems.

“After the impact … I lost my balance, making my body unstable and falling on top of my opponent,” Suarez wrote in his submission to the panel which met Wednesday, one day after Uruguay beat Italy 1-0 in a decisive group-stage match.

“At that moment I hit my face against the player leaving a small bruise on my cheek and a strong pain in my teeth,” Suarez said.

Read more here

Remember the group stages? They were great weren’t they? We got to watch some of the games with the likes of Ken Doherty, above, Andy Lee and Jarlath Regan.

Monday, 2FM’s Paddy McKenna — an Evertonian from Leitrim — will join us for France v Nigeria.

GOAL! David Luiz is celebrating but this opener looks like an own goal to me.
https://vine.co/v/MFh1WI713KL

Our man in Brazil, Mikey Stafford has had quite the week with floods and varous south american amphibians. Today, it’s a little more civilised. He writes:

“One advantage to being in Recife for the Greece and Costa Rica press conferences is being able to watch the match on a big flat screen TV with English commentary in the air-conditioned Arena Pernambuco media centre. Food is still  rip-off but at least I didn’t have to wade here past frogs. Result.”

Jason Stenson writes below the line: “Jaysus thought Chile were better than this,making a poor brazil side look like champs in waiting”.

Whatcha make of the first 25 minutes there?

Right, let’s make like the Chilean defence and give away a gift.

Thanks to our good friends at Budweiser we’ve got a lovely-looking Sony Xperia Z2 tablet to offer one of you out there in internetland.

Look at at it there:

So… what we want to know is: in what minute will the last goal be scored in the Colombia-Uruguay game later?

Goals in penalty shootouts don’t count obviously and if it’s nil-all after 120 minutes we’ll roll it over til tomorrow. One entry each and our call — like Howard Webb’s – is final.

Let us know in the comment section below.

Oh my days. The knock-out phase looks to be as fun as the group stages.

Brazil — and mainly Neymar — are peppering the Chile goal while not defending very well themselves.  Another lapse from the tournament hosts allowed Alexis Sanchez to do this:
https://vine.co/v/MFhHKPQ7uYa

It’s half-time in Belo Horizonte and that was mental. Catch up on the first half here with Howard Webb bald-a-like, Ben Blake

While United, Liverpool and Chelsea have been getting plenty of transfer business done nice and early, Arsene Wenger is having the absolute megalols on his trip to Brazil.

The Gunners boss been doing a bit of TV work, playing beach football and mixing with fans.  Check out this Vine of one Southampton fan begging a topless Arsene not to sign one of the Saints’ defence.
https://vine.co/v/MFzA13U1aFm

Fred is getting dog’s abuse online after that first-half performance while Liam Brady reckons he isn’t up the task in his home town. It was desperate stuff. Can Brazil win it with the moustachioed one up front?

Meanwhile, Uruguay are getting ready for their big game with you-know-who. They seem to have laid out his gear anyway.

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Maybe they’ve come up with a cunning plan:

BackPageFootball BackPageFootball

“Despite Oscar Tabarez’s ridiculous suggestion of a media conspiracy there is no defence for what Suarez did.

What he did was disgusting and hard to explain, particularly given his recidivism, but it is by no means the worst crime ever committed on a football field. Even as a repeat offender he does not deserve to play against Colombia today, but neither does he deserve to be exiled for one-third of a year from the only industry, outside of municipal sanitation, he has ever known.

Suarez needs someone to help him understand why the red mist descends and why he has thrice reacted by biting an opponent. It is unsavoury but he is not a cannibal.”

Mikey Stafford‘s take on the Suarez incident that has split the football world.

Fred and Gary Medel have a bit of a shemozzle as they head in for their half-time cuppa.
https://vine.co/v/MFhD3mZqwnJ

Fair dues to Howard Webb. The referees have been whistling to a Samba beat for the past fortnight  and more but the Premier League’s top ref has given his hosts nothing this evening. Webb’s ruled out this Hulk effort for handball — which may be harsh — and Big Phil is doing his nut on the sideline.

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Keep those last-goal predictions coming in, that tablet won’t win itself.

Friend of TheScore and comedy’s-own, Jarlath Regan, was in touch earlier.

“Some people used the World Cup day off wisely,” writes King of the Podcasts. “Shane Todd was one of them”:

There’s 15 minutes or so to go in Belo Horizonte and Brazil’s World Cup bid is on the line.

Earlier, we took a look at the football pitches that are crowbarred into the tightest of spots throughout the country.  According to Irish documentary photographer Dualtagh Herr, the fact that you’ll find a church and a pitch everywhere you go sums up the Brazilian psyche:

“While it is a strikingly devout country in the traditional sense, it worships two Gods. For here, in the land of Garrincha, Pelé and Zico, football is also elevated to the level of religion.”

This is ridiculously tense. Neymar’s gone and headed straight at the keeper here:
https://vine.co/v/MFMBjwzi11u

The DOD is up there with Rihanna as our favourite World Cup tweeter.

Full-time in normal time the Brazil game! Follow the rest of that clash here. That 90 minutes was fun I thought but Ronnie Whelan is disgusted. “That was extremely poor” he says and reckons “it was a ‘bad, bad second half”.

What did you think?

It’s been fun as usual but we’re gonna wrap up this hangout. We’ll keep the comments open til kick off in the Colombia-Uruguay game so there’s plenty of time to get your spake in for the Sony tablet.

Thanks for your company.