World Cup 2014 kicks off in nine days so Ger McCarthy looks at how some of the contenders and outsiders are shaping up ahead of their final friendlies before boarding the plane to Brazil.

The curse of the San Siro continued for AC Milan as they lost 1-0 to Atalanta last night, having also been beaten by the same scoreline by Sampdoria in their previous home game.

Republic of Ireland 2 Uruguay 3