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It was a day of disbelief at the World Cup. Adidas NMD Human Race Suomi . A day where thousands sat in stunned silence. A day when a minnow deservedly beat a European powerhouse; when a former European powerhouse awoke from years of discontent and immaturity to put it all together on the biggest stage of all. Italy 0-1 Costa Rica D4. It stood right there on the board. It was the World Cup draw and every country was represented. D4, where hopes and dreams would have to go through not one, not two but three extremely hot Northern locations in group play. Manuas, Recife and then Natal. Three matches, including two at 1pm local time. Once the draw was made D4 got even worse, becoming the position where two non-European seeded teams came together. Two former winners. Englands entourage at the draw may have made headlines for the famous cut-throat gesture when handed their three opponents but this was far from what Italy wanted. Yet, still they remained in their base, at the seaside resort of Mangaratiba, over a thousand miles away from all three locations. The Italians put aside any worries about slow starts with a master class against England in their opener and arrived in Recife hoping to book their place in the next round against the groups apparent whipping boys, Costa Rica. For 30 minutes it was going to plan. Daniele De Rossi sat deep, allowed the full backs to motor on and Andrea Pirlo pulled the strings for the others to dance to. Mario Balotelli should have scored at least once and Claudio Marchisio, a misplaced backpass aside, was outstanding. Then the heavyweights hit the deck. Hard. Giorgio Chiellini misplaced a back pass, allowed Joel Campbell to blow by him before fouling in the box. Penalty. Except the referee missed it. Of course he did, look where he was? Apparently the counter-attacking World Cup isnt as easy to ref as people would hope. Italy got away with a standing count but a minute later they were floored again, this time for real. Their narrow 4-3-3 can be very successful with the ball but the wide members of their attack do tuck in and when Junior Diaz motored down the left wing the hapless Ignazio Abate had no help. Diaz whipped in a wonderful cross and Bryan Ruiz completed a miserable two minutes for the ball-watching Chiellini by heading in at the back post. Italy were down and apparently out; a wounded heavyweight with no energy or quality to help them back up. The biggest surprise was not them losing a competitive first half 1-0, it was their pathetic display in the second. Once again, just like Spain, we saw a European powerhouse labor through a game in South America devoid of ideas in the unfamiliar scenario of being behind. Cesare Prandelli, one of the games great flexible coaches, played three cards with his subs and they were all wrong. Instead of looking like a complete side, knowing what each others roles can be, against England, Italy were clueless against a magnificently organized Costa Rican back five. The image of Antonio Cassano rather than Ciro Immobile, for example, trying to get them back in the game was as sad as seeing the likes of Iker Casillas, Xavi and Steven Gerrard underperform at this World Cup. The game is changing in front of our very eyes and if Italy dont get back to what makes them special theyll soon be flying home just like Spain and England. Despite mistakes on Friday, their back seven - Buffon, back four, De Rossi and Pirlo - is good enough to win a World Cup. Who plays with them, and how they play, will ensure just when this teams tournament will end. France 5-2 Switzerland If you read any previews heading into this World Cup you probably had them tell you how difficult Switzerland are to break down and how mentally fragile France are. Welcome to the 2014 World Cup where stereotypes and form guides are being broken down as quickly as the Maracana security. Switzerland had a nightmare from start to finish. Everything went wrong for them, from a key early injury to massive errors by usually reliable players it was simply a game they just need to forget immediately. Win their last match against Honduras and they should qualify. If you cant beat them then they dont deserve to advance. France was magnificent. It was the best performance they have produced post- Zinedine Zidane and it wasnt even close. When France got to the final in 2006 they never produced back-to-back halves as good as this one. They scored five, missed a penalty and scored another fine goal less than a second after the final whistle blew. It was only fitting this game ended with the ball in the back of the net. In three matches in Salvador this World Cup has now produced SEVENTEEN goals. Or, the same amount of goals Norwich City scored at home all of last season. Suddenly, France looks like a legitimate, serious contender for this World Cup. Hated by their own people back in October after losing the opening leg against Ukraine, Les Bleus have gone from a bunch of arrogant, unlikeable underachievers to a formidable power with tremendous depth, full of players with Champions League experience who fear no one. Even their key nemesis in recent years, Spain, cant get in their way now. Guaranteed winners of a comfortable group, the tournament opens up for them now and Germany in the quarterfinals looks like a real possibility. Just dont call them dark horses. They were always too talented for that. The moment the draw was made, these so-called dark horses left the stable as a shiny white horse more than capable of easily jumping the first fence at the World Cup. Now that star striker Karim Benzema is finally playing as good as he does for Real Madrid this once lazy, uninterested horse is trotting hard towards the last week of this tournament. Ecuador 2-1 Honduras This was another great game at the World Cup. Honduras took the lead through Carlo Costly and it was then that we saw what Ecuador could do. Enner Valencia, their new goal scoring hero, grabbed a brace with a combination of good finishing and poor defending. Honduras will be furious with how they conceded, particularly the winning goal, which was another header from another good cross at this World Cup. Man of the Day Nominees Bryan Ruiz - No matter what this proud country do at this World Cup from here on in, they have their moment and their hero. Giancarlo Gonzalez - The Columbus Crew defender was absolutely marvelous against the Italians, leading a very high line and spending much of the game with Mario Balotelli in his pocket. Jorge Luis Pinto - The Costa Rica boss has got his tactics spot on in back-to-back games. Olivier Giroud - It proved to be a masterstroke inserting the Arsenal man into the lineup by Didier Deschamps. A superb header opened the floodgates but his buildup and attacking run - allowing Mathieu Valbuena to be onside - for the third goal was just as good. Enner Valencia - Every World Cup has a player from a smaller nation who some target in their pool heading in. The Ecuadorian hitman is no Lucas Barrios from 2010 thats for sure. The Winner… Jose Luis Pinto - Games are won and lost by players but Pinto, a veteran coach of 19 teams in 30 years, has outcoached Oscar Tabarez and Cesare Prandelli inside a week. A phenomenal achievement. What comes next? Argentina vs Iran (12pm/9am), Germany vs Ghana (3pm/Noon), Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Nigeria (6pm/3pm). Burning question for tomorrow Will Iran be the perfect opponent for Lionel Messi to score some more goals at a World Cup and quiet those who only think he plays well when he scores? Key stat of Day 9 Honduran goal scorer Carlo Costly was not even born the last time his country scored at the World Cup (1982). Adidas Alphabounce Kengät . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap. Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Suomi . They kicked off the still-going trend of host cities winning the Grey Cup and sent Hall of Fame head coach Wally Buono to the front office a champion. http://www.nmdhalvalla.com/adidas-falcon-halvalla.html . The club was unable to retain hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, who is bound for Atlanta. Seitzer replaces Greg Walker, who was assisted by Scott Fletcher this season as the Braves finished 79-83.A rookie puts on a show in San Jose, spitballing ideas for a Jake Gardiner deal and what help the Oilers might seek on the back end. Also, Jake Muzzin and a host of injuries from Tuesdays games in Scott Cullens latest blog. 1. There is a lot to cover today, but Sharks rookie LW Tomas Hertl jumps to the forefront after scoring four goals in his third NHL game. Hertls six goals and seven points in three games, combined with the manner in which he scored his fourth goal, ensures that hes no longer flying under the radar. Coming into the season, I was quite high on Hertl (drafted him late in the Experts League) because he was playing with Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. As rookie opportunities go, thats a good one. But, even though Hertl remained with his talented linemates last night, Thornton had one assist and Burns no points, so it wasnt as if Hertl was heavily-dependent on those linemates to drive his production. (As an aside, and were not evaluating picks at such an early point in their careers, but here are the five forwards taken immediately ahead of Hertl, who was drafted 17th overall in 2012: Tom Wilson - 16, Zemgus Girgensons - 14, Radek Faksa - 13, Mikhail Grigorenko - 12 and Filip Forsberg - 11). Beyond the four goals, its also worth noting that Hertl had seven shots on goal in 11:12 of ice time. While he now leads the league in goals (6) and points (7), Hertl has 17.7 shots per 60 minutes of ice time, second only to Alex Ovechkin, and a decent indication that, while Hertl is not -- I repeat, not -- going to score two goals per game all season, he could be much more productive than I had projected in the preseason. 2. Before leaving San Jose, it would be wrong to skip a three-point night from another rookie, wouldnt it? Matt Nieto has a good thing going with Joe Pavelski and Tommy Wingels on what is effectively the Sharks third line. Hes not in Hertls class offensively, but the Sharks are looking at two rookies playing significant roles among their top nine forwards this season. 3. After Elliotte Friedman mentioned trade talks in 30 Thoughts and both James Mirtle and TSNs NHL Insiders discussed the possibility of Maple Leafs D Jake Gardiner getting moved, I decided to look around the league for a scoring forward that might be an upgrade for the Leafs. Given that they dont have much salary cap room, it becomes challenging for the Leafs to make a move without including someone else (Nikolai Kulemin? John-Michael Liles?) in the equation. In any case, here are couple of the possibilities that could, theoretically, fit for Gardiner: Calgary - Certainly, Flames president Brian Burke has familiarity with Gardiner, from drafting him in Anaheim (17th overall in 2008) to trading for him in Toronto and Gardiner could play in the Flames top four right away (with Mark Giordano, Dennis Wideman and T.J. Brodie). The question is, would the Flames give up a young scoring forward in return? The one they have, that fits financially, is Sven Baertschi, the 13th pick in 2011, who finished strong last season, but is on the low-end of ice time for Flames forwards (12:10 ATOI per game) early in the season. Baertschi was also criticized by Burke prior to the start of the season. Carolina - The Hurricanes are thin on the blueline, especially after losing Joni Pitkanen for the season, and it has been suggested that Jeff Skinner might be the bait to bring an upgrade on the blueline. Skinner comes with a $5.725-million cap hit, which complicates matters, maybe too much for a reasonable deal to be reached. Colorado - While Paul Stastny might be the playmaking centre that the Leafs need, his price tag ($6.6-million) and expiring contract dont make for an ideal fit, even if the Avalanche could really use more blueline talent. Would LW Jamie McGinn and a prospect be enough? Maybe not. Florida - The Panthers have some quality forward prospects, including Nick Bjugstad, Drew Shore and Vincent Trocheck, and might be willing to part with one to get Gardiner, who could be part of the long-term solution on the blueline. That doesnt provide immediate help for the Leafs, but would be an upgrade in the long run. N.Y. Islanders - While the Isles have done wonders with a bargain basement defence, it would be reasonable to add Gardiner as part of a long-term upgrade. Ryan Strome would be too much to ask, but maybe another Islanders forward prospect, like Brock Nelson, could fit. Adidas Deerupt Ale. . Philadelphia - It seems more likely that the Flyers would want to move out a defenceman, but if there was a way to pry Sean Couturier out of there, and Gardiner could be part of the package, it would be well worth it. Tampa Bay - With no shortage of prospects, but plenty of room to upgrade on the blueline, the Lightning have several young forwards -- Richard Panik, Brett Connolly, J.T. Brown, Nikita Kucherov -- from which to choose. Vancouver - While the Canucks have a stable top four, they could ease Gardiner in with third pair work. If the Canucks are prepared to cut bait with RW Zack Kassian, hes a financial fit and could be the type of player that Randy Carlyle would appreciate. 4. Bob McKenzie also checked in, suggesting that the Oilers are looking for a bold move to upgrade either on the blueline or defence. Gardiner would be an upgrade on some of the Oilers current defence talent and he spent plenty of time with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL last season, under the tutelage of new Oilers coach Dallas Eakins. Who else might warrant consideration in goal or on defence? Some goaltenders with expiring contracts that could be expendable include Ryan Miller, Jonas Hiller, Brian Elliott and James Reimer. The first three will be unrestricted free agents at seasons end, while Reimer would be restricted. On the blueline, how about: underwhelming young guys that still have potential, like Adam Larsson, Tyler Myers or Ryan Ellis? Or maybe veterans with size, like Bryan Allen, Braydon Coburn or Clayton Stoner. Some of those would be decidedly bolder than others. 5. Kings coach Darryl Sutter pulled no punches when discussing the play of D Jake Muzzin, telling Kings Insider, "Hes struggling a lot," later adding, " Youre not going to win very many games if youre a guy whos playing significant minutes, and youre a high-minus player." This, of course, is where we can look beyond Muzzins plus-minus to see that the Kings have fared very well, possession-wise, with Muzzin on the ice. However, their goaltending has been suspect (.714 SV%) with Muzzin on the ice, but that is how a strong shot differential turns into a negative plus-minus in a hurry. This isnt to suggest that Muzzin cant play better, but it is a suggestion that maybe his team-worst minus-5 isnt entirely his fault. 6. And now to the injury portion of the proceedings. Panthers G Tim Thomas left Tuesdays game with what appeared to be a lower body (maybe groin?) injury. Fortunately, the Panthers have Jacob Markstrom, who was expecting to be the No. 1 guy this year anyway, ready to handle the starts for as long as Thomas is out. 7. Wild G Niklas Backstrom suffered a leg injury when Predators LW Eric Nystrom plowed into him after getting tripped on a breakaway. With Backstrom out, Josh Harding takes over between the pipes. If the injury is long-term, Darcy Kuemper could get the call from the AHL. 8. Rangers RW Rick Nash may have suffered a concussion when Sharks D Brad Stuart caught him with a shoulder to the side of the head. While Stuart awaits his fate with NHL justice, Nashs absence would be significant, even if he didnt play a ton (15:13 and 17:55) in the first two games. Captain Ryan Callahan, who just returned from shoulder surgery, will likely have to take on a bigger role (hes averaged 13:41 per game in his first two games) in Nashs absence. 9. Lightning C Tom Pyatt suffered a broken collarbone, an injury that could keep him out for a couple of months. While it doesnt have to result in an immediate roster move, Pyatts absence could allow the Lightning to bring back a late training camp cut like Brett Connolly. 10. Maple Leafs LW Joffrey Lupul suffered a bruised knee against Colorado, thinning out what is already a thin group. First-year pro Josh Leivo has been recalled from the Marlies, where he had one assist and was plus-1 in two games. Last season, in the Ontario Hockey League, Leivo had 29 goals and 73 points in 63 games with Sudbury and Kitchener. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '