It’s Hold Your Breath Season. At least three World Cup dreams ended today and the USMNT plays tomorrow.

For the 32 national football sides heading to Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, pre-tournament friendlies are a necessary evil. Necessary because competitive tune-ups are essential if they hope to be in top form for their opening matches. Evil because players can get hurt, even in matches that don’t count for anything.

The second round of friendlies got under way today (more are scheduled for tomorrow), and already the necessary evil has taken a nasty toll. Read more