Mick Jagger's World Cup curse strikes again as Italy fall

'COLD FOOT' JAGGER HAS WORLD CUP CURSE

Is Mick Jagger the "anti-octopus"? Unlike his eight-legged rival, Paul, the Rolling Stones frontman appears cursed when it comes to making World Cup predictions, and has earned the nickname "pe frio" - cold foot - in Brazil. In May he told a crowd in Lisbon that unconvincing Portugal would win the World Cup, last week he took to Twitter to back England, and on Saturday told 70,000 fans in Rome that Italy would make it to the knock-out stages. In 2010 he backed the US, England and Brazil, who all failed.

NEYMAR HAS THE GOLDEN BOOT

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He's Brazil's golden boy on course for the Golden Boot who used to spray-paint his boots as a child. But now Neymar will celebrate Brazil reaching the knock-out stages of the tournament by donning a pair of special golden Nike Hypervenom boots. The Selecao superstar bagged the 100th goal of the tournament in Brazil’s 4-1 win against Cameroon and already has four so far in the tournament. It brings his tally to 35 goals in 53 appearances, just three behind Pele at the same age.

GREECE INTO LAST 16 AFTER LAST-MINUTE PENALTY

Greece booked a place in the last 16 in dramatic fashion last night with 2-1 win over Ivory Coast in Fortaleza. Greece appeared to be heading home after Wilfired Bony came off the bench to equalise for Ivory Coast with 16 minutes remaining. But with seconds to spare they were awarded an injury-time penalty, coolly converted by Georgios Samaras which lifted them above the Africans. It’s the first time Greece have made it into tournament’s knock-out phase and they’ll face Costa Rica in the last 16.

MONDRAGON SETS RECORD AS COLOMBIA BEAT JAPAN

Columbia set-up a mouth watering tie against Uruguay in the last 16 by demolishing Japan 4-1 in their final group game. The South Americans took an early led after Yasuyiko Konno brought down Adrian Ramos in the box, and although Japan equalised on the stroke of half-time, the Columbians were a class apart in the second half. Two goals from Jackson Martinez put them out sight before substitute James Rodriguez grabbed a fourth in the 90th minute. At the other end of the pitch, Columbia’s 43-year-old goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon became the oldest player in World Cup history.

FOOTBALL JALFREZI IN BRAZIL

Brazil has many things going for it, but a decent curry is not one of them, which is why one football fan has forked out £4,200 to fly his favourite dishes in... from Worthing, in West Sussex. Bangladeshi businessman Mustafa Azim, who has tickets to the World Cup final, ordered £1,200-worth of food for him and 12 of his friends from Chilcha restaurant and it was due to be flown out to Brazil today. Getting it to Brazil will cost a further £3,000 reports the Worthing Herald.

REF JOKE SPARKS PETITION

New Zealand referee Peter O'Leary was already in the doghouse after incorrectly ruling out a goal for Bosnia in their 1-0 defeat to Nigeria, a result that saw them exit the competition. Edin Dzeko described his performance as "shameful". Now a picture has emertged of O'Leary apparently sharing a joke with one of the Nigerian players at the end of the match, which has prompted a petition calling for the result to be overturned. But Fifa are standing by their man and say any allegations against the ref are "baseless".