The not really that much awaited if at all sequel to that thing I wrote back in 2010: Pretty Much the Same Thing But in 2014. But hey, it's World Cup time!

Just a heads up: these were all written before the last match listed, most on the day of the match in question, without foreknowledge of anything that's happened since. In case you were wondering.

Enjoy.


Mexico 1-0 Cameroon

"Yes!" Mexico shouted at the top of her lungs, "We did it! We won! Do you see me now?" she laughed, a tad on the maniacal side, and Cameroon started to creep out of the reach of her flailing limbs, "Do you see what we can accomplish now? We are the best there ever was!"

Cameroon kept the forced smile frozen on his face as he nodded, but she hardly seemed to notice.

Now might have been a bad time to mention she still had two more games to play.


Spain 1-5 Netherlands

Netherlands sighed and nudged Spain's prone form with his foot, "You still alive?"

"Barely," his voice was muffled by the grass he was face down in, "Is it over?"

"Yeah, it's over." It had been over for about three hours, but really who was counting? "You lost, by the way."

"I figured that out after your third goal," he groaned.

Netherlands rolled his eyes, he could be such a drama king, and sat down on his back as he pulled out his phone, "Do you want to hear what they're saying about you?"

"I do not want to hear what they are saying about me."

"'Worse loss by a defending champion,'" he quoted, "You hear that, Spain? They're saying you're the worst."

"I feel like the worst," he rolled over, causing Netherlands to fall off and sprawl over the grass, "Mi dios, did you have to be so harsh?"

"I didn't want to," blatant lies, but who was counting, "You're an embarrassment to the rest of us, Mr. European Champion. Perhaps it's time for a new Champion."

"Oh no you don't," Spain sat up, grin on his face, "I won't lose again. After all, I've got a title to defend."


Chile 3-1 Australia

"You South Americans really don't mess around," Australia laughed, "First time out of the gate and you show no mercy."

"Of course," Chile said, "This is the World Cup, the greatest and grandest stage for football. You didn't think I'd go easy on you, did you?"

"No way, but what about having fun with the game?"

"You misunderstand," Chile's grin grew, "Crushing you is fun."


Colombia 3-0 Greece

Being down 1-0 is fine, Greece decided. It's off putting, but fine. In fact, it might be better to be down one then up one, because now the team is more focused and, at least in this theory, less likely to make mistakes.

2-0 is doable. Upsetting, sure, but it's still possible to win, as long as there's enough time left in the match, the team can rally together and make a dramatic comeback. At two down there's still hope.

All of that vanishes once the score hits 3-0.

Still, Greece mused, at least his goal differential is better than Spain's.


England 1-2 Italy

"This is it," England panted as he braced his hands on his knees and glared, "This time for sure, you're going down, Pasta Boys!"

"Ha!" Romano laughed as he leaned heavily against his bench and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"We'd like see you try," Italy was sprawled all over the bench.

Sweat was pouring out of every pore in England's body, but he couldn't give up, "Yeah, well-"

"Break," FIFA said as he came between the three of them.

"Break? What break?" England barked, "There's no breaks in football!"

"Water break," he shoved a bottle of water into England's hands and tossed two more over to Romano and Italy, "We're in the middle of the rainforest and it's over thirty-two degrees Celsius. You're taking a water break before you collapse on me."

England took giant gulps of water, shooting a glare at the brothers as he did so. This game wasn't over by a long shot.

Although not collapsing on the field would help.


Côte d'Ivoire 2-1 Japan

"Ah," Japan sighed as the referee blew the final whistle. So many opportunities to score, and they were right there, but none of them amounted to goals.

Japan congratulated Côte d'Ivoire on a good game, and wandered up to the stands to help his supports clean up.

It was mostly his fault, he supposed. He got too confident after that first goal. Next time he'd know better.

He smiled, small but there. Next time he'd win.


Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador

1-1 was not the score Switzerland came her for. He did not come here to tie the others; he came here to beat them. He came here to win.

He glared at the field as if he could force his team to score again through sheer willpower, however as the clock crept into extra time and he could hear Ecuador's laughter even on the other bench, he slowly began to accept that this would be his fate.

Just then, hope beyond hope, the ball sailed into the goal right before time was up. He cheered, and turned to see Ecuador's face and stunned silence.

This tournament was looking better already.


France 3-0 Honduras

France smirked as the referee blew the final whistle, signaling the end of the game and his inevitable victory. He turned to gloat, but found that Honduras had already slunk back to the locker room, but it didn't bother him. England was probably already at the bar, he could gloat to him.

Not that he should get too caught up in this one victory. After all, there were still bigger fish in this tournament to fry.


Germany 4-0 Portugal

"I think we killed him," Prussia said as they stared down at Portugal's lifeless form.

"Indeed," Germany nodded, "he does appear to be dead."

Prussia nudged him with his foot. Portugal groaned and turned over, blinking as the late afternoon sun hit his eyes.

"He lives yet!" Prussia cackled.

Portugal let out another pained sound and squinted up at them, "Is it over?"

"Yes," they both nodded.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "How," he swallowed, anxious, but pushed through anyway, needing to know, "How bad was it?"

"Four-nil," Germany said, as Prussia started cracking up behind him yet again.

Portugal groaned and rolled over so he was face down in the grass again, "Just leave me here to die."

Prussia and Germany glanced at each other, sharing maniac grins.

They were just getting started.


Ghana 1-2 USA

America buried his face in his hands. The game had started out beautifully – a goal in the first thirty seconds for him, who'da thunk – but after the hamstring injuries started, it'd all been downhill.

"I can't watch," he muttered, "I'm gonna lose to Ghana again. My life is over."

"You're being melodramatic," Germany said, "Even if you lose here, you still have a chance."

"Really?" he perked up, "You really think I can beat you?"

"No. Definitely not. But there's still a slim, slim chance you can beat Portugal. I mean, not if you play like this, if you play like this you won't stand a chance, but-"

"My life is over," he wailed, burying his face in Germany's shoulder, "Why are you here anyway?"

"Moral support," America looked up, eyes full of thanks and gratitude, "Your new coach is a good friend of mine, after all."

America frowned, but any response was cut off by a commotion on the field. One of the new kids had just scored and the rest of the team was celebrating.

"Yes!" America jumped out of his seat and pointed frantically at the field, "Did you see that?"

"I did," Germany stared in shock, "Wasn't he one of mine?"

"Well, he's mine now!" America laughed and settled down as play resumed, giant grin covering half his face.

They called this the group of death? Ha! He wasn't done yet.


Belgium 2-1 Algeria

"Yes!" Belgium cheered as the referee blew the final whistle. It was a hard fought victory, but a victory none the less.

"Congrats, Sis," she turned to see Netherlands decked out in a red jersey with her flag painted on his cheek.

"You made it!" she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, "It's nothing compared to yours, but still."

"We can't all crush Spain," he hugged her back, "But you did well. At this rate you might win the group. I won't face you until the quarterfinals."

"Well, that is the plan," she pulled back and beamed, "You better prepare yourself for then, brother, because I'm not going to go easy on you."

He put on a smirk of his own, "I'm counting on it."


Russia 1-1 South Korea

"A tie," Russia noted as the referee blew the whistle, "how quaint."

"Could be worse, I suppose," Korea said, "You're just lucky I let you off easy."

"Not losing is fine, but not winning is, troublesome, yes?"

Korea shrugged, "I guess, but it keeps the group interesting," he held out his hand, "Still, good game."

Russia shook it, "You as well."

Ties were well and good, but in the end, there could only be one winner, and Russia would make sure it was him.


So few notes concerning the America drabble since I doubt everyone knows the ins and outs of Team USA like it's their job and maybe I just like talking about Team USA:

- The head coach is Jurgen Klinsmann. He coached Germany back in 2006 when they got third, and he's still seen as something of a hero there, according to my sources.

- John Brooks was the sub who scored the winning goal in the Ghana game. Before joining Team USA, he played in Germany's second division, and he has dual German-American citizenship, so he is allowed to have played for both.