Great bet: At least one Spain fan gained some satisfaction from the holders’ 5-1 thrashing by Netherlands on Friday after he was the only player in a lottery to predict the result and won €100,000 in fuel. Jacobo Rios-Capape, 56, an architect from Valencia, was one of 70,000 to take part in the World Cup sweepstake organised by Spanish oil company Cepsa.

Balotelli: Mario Balotelli is elated after Italy’s World Cup started with a victory over England. The fiery striker put his end-of-season struggles at Milan behind him and scored the winning goal in Saturday’s 2-1 win in Manaus. Balotelli, who was named the game’s best player by FIFA, tweeted: “Man of the match, I’m just so happy. A great thank you to my team-mates and let’s continue like this.”

Schweini: Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger was airlifted to hospital on Saturday, although there are no concerns about him not being fit to face Portugal today. The midfielder was taken to hospital from Germany’s World Cup base by helicopter to have a scan on the knee injury he picked up during a training camp last month. However, there is no risk of him not being fit for today’s match – the hospital visit was just an obligatory check-up for insurance purposes.

TV audience: More than 15 million people in the UK tuned in to watch England’s opening World Cup game against Italy on BBC One. The TV audience peaked at 15.6 million just before half-time. In comparison, the audience for England’s first match at the 2010 World Cup against the USA peaked at 20.1 million.

Bare facts: Croatia’s players are refusing to talk to World Cup reporters after photos were published of them bathing nude in the team’s swimming pool, coach Niko Kovac said. Two photographers hid in bushes and took the pictures which were published by online media. “I can’t force them to be at your disposal after what you have done to them and their families,” an angry Kovac told reporters.

Serie B: Promotion play-off (first leg) – Cesena vs Latina 2-1. Second leg next Wednesday.