I’ve now been in Brazil for almost 3 weeks, taken 14 flights, shot 9 group stage matches and am now ready for the business end of the tournament.

Here are some highlights (or lowlights depending on who you’re supporting) of the matches I’ve covered since my last post…

England fans turned up in Sao Paulo with such high hopes and expectations

But were left disappointed by one of the most disliked players in English football…

Leaving them heartbroken at the final whistle and praying for a miracle to help them progress past the group stages.

 

The next day their fate was sealed in Recife with this goal by Bryan Ruiz sealing a 1-0 win for Costa Rica over Italy, eliminating England in the process.

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon modelled the latest in goalkeeping fashion, wearing odd coloured gloves and boots

 

Whilst the supposed whipping boys of Group D celebrated their progression to the last 16, leaving Italy requiring a point against Uruguay to qualify themselves.

Costa Rican supporters enjoyed the moment and didn’t miss the chance to rub salt into English wounds.

 

From there I travelled to Fortaleza where I got to meet some locals near the Estadio Castelao…

Some fans stood out more than others before the Germany vs Ghana match, for differing reasons

Brothers Kevin-Prince and Jerome were facing each other at a World Cup for the second time, and the first half was a bit pants.

Before 2 goals a piece after the break made for an entertaining second period and ensured there was plenty to play for in the final round of games in Group G.

 

I was on the move again this time heading to Natal for the deciding fixture in Group D between Italy and Uruguay, with Italy showing off a new addition before kick off…Mario Balotelli’s fiancée Fanny Neguesha.

It was billed as the battle of the two madmen…Luis and Mario

A tight first half in baking hot conditions meant Pirlo and Cavani were happy to strip off at half time

Uruguay went on to win 1-0 thanks to a Diego Godin header, knocking out Italy in the process and leaving poor old Mario upset on the bench

But that wasn’t the main talking point after the final whistle as it emerged Luis Suarez had bitten an opponent for the third time in his career. Unfortunately for me, he did at the other end of the pitch meaning I had no decent images of it.

At full time it looked as though he knew what was coming his way

It’s since been confirmed he’s been handed a 4 month ban from all football meaning we’ve seen the last of him at this World Cup and possibly in the Premier League with a move to Spain on the horizon.

After all that drama it was back to Recife for my final group game, USA vs Germany with former colleagues Jürgen Klinsmann and Joachim Löw squaring off with the USA requiring a draw to send them through at the expense of Portugal and Ghana.

Travelling on the media bus on the way to the Arena Pernambuco it was clear to see that the heavy rain was taking it’s toll on the roads with severe flooding causing major delays in the city centre.

Thankfully the match went ahead and the stadium was mostly full, one supporter coming especially prepared

 

Germany manager Joachim Löw stuck to his guns though and decided against wearing a coat despite torrential rain for the entire match…

 

 

Conditions were so bad German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had to take action to ensure his gloves stayed dry

I was impressed by the USA performance, they showed that even with a group of lesser known players you can still perform well at a tournament with good coaching (take note England and Roy Hodgson). They also had some impressive hairstyles on show, especially Kyle Beckerman with his dreadlocks

A second half goal by Thomas Mueller saw Germany win 1-0 but due to Portugal only managing to win 2-1 against Ghana, it meant both sides went through to the round of 16, sending the USA players and fans wild as they saw the result on the big screen.

I didn’t manage to get the two coaches and friends shaking hands at full time due to tv getting in the way (the one picture I wanted from the game) but Klinsmann, the German coach of the USA had a chance to share a joke with a few of his compatriots at full time which made for a nice picture.

 

So after 9 matches I move on to the round of 16 where I’ll cover Costa Rica vs Greece and Belgium vs USA. Won’t get to see the Messi’s and Neymar’s again yet but hopefully that chance will come later on in the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and possibly against each other in the Final. Just 6 matches, 7 flights and 20 days before I’m back in the UK.

As always all photos are copyright of www.backpageimages.com, please check out our Facebook page which is being updated regularly with stuff that me and Ben have been up to.

 

 

It’s been a week since I landed in Brazil to cover my first ever World Cup and since landing it’s been as expected, pretty non stop for me. 7 flights, 4 matches and not a lot of sleep. The weeks in the build up to leaving were spent worrying about what I was going to take and whether the schedule packed with flights would work but thankfully so far, things have gone smoothly.

Having landed in Rio, I spent 2 days there collecting accreditation and covering England training and press conferences at their base at the foot of Sugar Loaf mountain in Urca. It was a great setting for pictures and hopefully when I’m back in Rio in the second half of the tournament I’ll get a chance to head up to the top.

On Thursday morning both me and BPI colleague Ben flew to Sao Paulo ready for the opening match of the tournament, Brazil vs Croatia. The atmosphere was great outside the ground with fans from both sides mixing together in the sunshine. Due to the amount of photographers both me and Ben would be working down the touchline opposite the dugouts, not an ideal situation but we would have to make do. The opening ceremony was a bit odd with Pitbull and J-Lo providing the main entertainment, but the whole thing was difficult to follow from pitchside, a tribune position would have been much better.

Before we knew it the match was underway and the atmosphere was electric. After some early chances for Brazil went begging, Croatia took the lead through a Marcelo own goal, sending the stadium quiet but soon  posterboy of the home nation Neymar scored and turned to celebrate towards me before changing his mind and heading for the bench. At half time the game was finely poised at 1-1 but a pretty shocking refereeing performance including a dubious penalty being awarded to Brazil meant they ended up winning 3-1 thanks to a second from Neymar and a toe-poke from Oscar.

It was then a case of finding our way to our hotel and it wasn’t until 12.30 that we got some kip, before I had to get up at 3.30 for a flight to Salvador for Spain vs Holland. Having safely negotiated the early start I got the Arena Fonte Nova ready for the repeat of the 2010 final and I chose my position behind the goal that Holland would attack first half. Spain dominated possession as they always do with their tika-taka style of passing meaning great action shots were hard to come by. They took the lead through a Xabi Alonso penalty at the other end and had chance to increase their lead before out of nowhere a long ball from Daley Blind was headed in by a flying Robin Van Persie and Holland went in at the break on level terms. I’m pretty sure nobody predicted what would follow in the next 45 minutes with Holland causing Spain problems all over the place and through some dodgy defending and pacey counter-attacking, Holland ended up 5-1 winners – a stunning result considering Spain are the defending champions. Looking back at the pictures even though I was at the wrong end for 5 of the 6 goals I was still fairly happy with what I’d got, especially the celebrations of the soon to be Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal.

 

Again I was facing another early flight, this time to Manaus for England’s opening fixture vs Italy. After another night of 3 hours sleep, I had a 6am flight to Sao Paulo before catching a connecting flight that would see me land in Manaus at 1pm – just 5 hours before kick off. Any delays or cancellations would have been a nightmare but luckily I managed to land on time and got to the Arena de Amazonia with plenty of time to spare. Manaus is easily the hottest place I’ve ever been. Not just the 32 degree heat but also the humidity. It was unbearable at times and I can only imagine how difficult it was for the players to put on a performance in those conditions. I was positioned to shoot England attack first half and they started brightly with Sterling inparticular looking dangerous but it was Italy who took the lead with a goal from Claudio Marchisio but England hit back almost instantly through Daniel Sturridge. The 2nd half was a tight affair again but Mario Balotelli’s headed goal after 50 minutes was enough to condemn England to defeat in the opening fixture and put even more importance on their next fixture against Uruguay in Sao Paulo on Thursday. With Wayne Rooney having a pretty poor game old Woy has some big decisions to make regarding team selection.

After the final whistle we headed back to the hotel of fellow photographer Andrew Tobin for a quick shower and pizza after what was a very sweaty day before heading back to the airport for our 1am flight to Salvador via Sao Paulo. After managing to sleep most of the 6 hours across the two flights, me and Ben headed out in the afternoon to explore a bit of Salvador, visiting a beach called Farol da Barra. Fans from various countries were all enjoying the sunshine and it was nice to finally have a chance to see a part of the country where I’m going to be based until the middle of July.

After a reasonably early night it was nice to wake up knowing I wouldn’t have to get on a plane for at least 1 day and we headed to the Arena Fonte Nova for Germany vs Portugal and their Ballon D’or winner Cristiano Ronaldo. The opening fixtures had seen the big names put in big performances and now it was time to see if the man voted as the world’s best could do it against the Germans. An early foul on Mario Gotze saw Thomas Muller convert a penalty and 20 minutes later it was 2-0 when Mats Hummels headed in a corner. Shortly after the much loathed Pepe effectively ended the game as a contest with a moment of stupidity as he headbutted Thomas Muller and was shown a straight red card. Muller scored another before half time and went on to complete his hattrick in the second half of a thoroughly depressing afternoon for Cristiano Ronaldo.

 

 

And that’s the end of a busy first week for me in my first World Cup. From here I travel to Sao Paulo again tomorrow ready for 3 games in three days: England vs Uruguay on Thursday followed by Italy vs Costa Rica in Recife and Germany vs Ghana in Fortaleza. Just the 15 flights and 11 matches left before I’m home in the UK.