World Cup 2018 : A
round-up of all the first set of group matches
Group A - Russia versus Saudi Arabia – A lop
sided opening affair.
The World Cup 2018 got under way
with the hosts Russia taking on Saudi Arabia. It turned out to be one of the
most boring and one sided matches as Saudi offered little in the form of
resistance. Russia took advantage of their pathetic opponents and pumped in 5
goals, much to the joy of the home crowd. A top notch Cheryshev scored a
brilliant brace. The game ended 5-0 in favour of the hosts.
The Russians overall were very
slow in their movements. They need to be much more prepared for their upcoming
matches against Egypt and Uruguay in their group.
Group A – Egypt versus Uruguay – Uruguay's Strikers
failed to take off
The Egypt versus Uruguay game was
touted as the clash of super strikers Mo Salah and Luis Suarez. Unfortunately
Mo Salah due to his recent injury, did not start for Egypt.
But he was one of the substitutes on the bench. Uruguay was the dominant
team with Suarez and Cavani in the forefront of things. Egypt did manage to
attack but they lacked the killer
instinct and missed Salah. Suarez and Cavani were wasteful, missing a number of
chances. Cavani did manage to hit the woodwork once. Finally one tactic by the Egyptian Coached changed
the course of the game. With the game headed towards a goalless draw, Uruguay's
approach changed the moment they realized that Salah wont be playing as they attacked with more
intent. Finally a late header by Gimenez
gave Uruguay a 1-0 win.
It was heartbreak for the brave
Egyptians who tried their best to contain their aggressive opponents. Without Salah they never threatened up
front. If Uruguay had made effective use
of the chances that came their way, the score line would have been more
impressive. Uruguay needs to improve especially their strikers.
Group B – Morocco versus Iran – A lucky gift for Iran
It was a match up between the two
minnows of the group. The two teams played aggressively in the first half but
lacked the finishing. In the second half, both teams became more defensive. It
looked like both teams were playing to claim a draw. But in injury time, there
was a totally unexpected twist to the match. The Moroccan player, Bouhaddouz,
in an attempt to clear the ball, headed it into his own net, giving Iran an
unforeseen win.
Group B – Portugal versus Spain – Cristiano
Ronaldo on song
An entertaining thriller! Led by
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal , the European Champions took on one of the pre-tournament
favourties Spain in their first game. Spain were rocked early as Portugal got
a penalty, thanks to Nacho’s naiveness and Ronaldo’s smartness. But
Spain kept up the pressure to get back one through Diego Costa. But an
appalling error from De Gea gave Ronaldo and POR the 2nd goal
before half time. The struggling Spain bounced back in the 2nd half with the relentless Diego Costa equalizing once
again. Nacho made up for his mistake with a stunner to make it 3-2 for Spain. But
towards the fag end Portugal earned a free kick because of a foul by Pique. Ronaldo scored
his hat trick from a fantastic free kick to make it 3-3 for Portugal.
It was a roller-coaster, full of
ups and downs. After all the totally avoidable pre-match drama of the last
minute sacking to their coach (thanks to Real Madrid) and the initial errors, Spain must be happy to come away with a draw against Portugal. The next two
matches would not be this tough for both teams.
Group C – France versus Australia – France
unimpressive in win
France is one the top contenders
for the title this year because of the heavyweights who play for them. They
went on the offense from the start. But Australia simply didn’t bother about
the superstars as they put on a remarkable defensive display to frustrate their
much stronger rivals. In the 2nd half Greizmann scored from a
penalty (based on VAR) but Australia equalized through another penalty. France continued to probe while Australia sat
back and defended strongly. Finally it took Pogba with a tremendous late finish
to give France a much needed win. Later the Pogba goal was declared as an own
goal by Behich.
The atmosphere in the stadium was
a hue of yellow and green as the Australian fans turned up in large numbers to
cheer their team. Despite a nonexistent midfield & ineffective forwards,
the ice cool defenders of Australia won everyone's hearts with their lionhearted
defending. Despite winning, the much hyped, all stars of France were very
disappointing. The Pogba flourish was the only bright spot.
Group C – Peru versus Denmark – Eriksen - the
fulcrum of Denmark
This was a hotly contested game
with both teams on equal footing. Peru were awarded a penalty which was missed
by Cueva. Denmark scored in the 2nd half as Eriksen gave one of his
trademark, perfect passes to Poulsen who made no mistake. Peru went on the
offensive but were unable to score till the end.
Denmark managed to see off the
tenacious Peru. It could have been a different ball game had Cueva not missed the penalty for Peru. The best part of the game was Cueva's teammates giving him
all their support after his heartbreaking miss.
Group D - Argentina versus Iceland– Messi’s
Argentina woes continue
Welcome to a chaos named
Argentina. First, coach Sampaoli got his starting 11 completely wrong. In
the first half Argentina was totally hopeless
but there were a few good chances created by Messi and missed by his team
mates. The lively Aguero finally scored to give Argentina the lead. Soon, due to some absurd defending, Iceland managed to equalize. It could have been even worse as
Argentina played poorly at the back, but Iceland failed to capitalize. Argentina
improved in the 2nd half with the introduction of Pavon and Banega. Aguero
earned a penalty but Messi’s shot was saved by Halldorsson who was fantastic. He and the entire Iceland team defended with all their might against the
constant attacks of Argentina. Messi missing the penalty proved to be costly
for Argentina as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Everyone was expecting a disaster
from Argentina but not a miss from Messi. It was an unexpected result but a
draw was not bad for Argentina going by the way they played in the 1st half. It
was a good wake up call for coach Sampaoli. Things look very tough for Leo Messi
& co as Croatia and Nigeria are much better teams. One big positive was an energetic
Aguero who had a great game despite very less service from the midfield and
flanks.
Unlike Argentina, Iceland was an
epitome of organization as they were disciplined in their defense and truly
deserved the draw despite being on the back foot for most of the 2nd half. Expect
Iceland to play like this against everyone. It’s not going to be easy to beat
them.
Group D – Croatia versus Nigeria – The
talented midfield of Croatia saw them through
Croatia boasts of one of the best
set of midfielders in the world, led by the skillful Modric. Despite the
toughness of the Nigerians, Croatia deservedly won the game 2-0.
While one would always expect
Nigeria to be rough, it was surprising to see Croatia being equally physical.
It was one of the roughest games played in the World Cup.
Group E – Costa Rica versus Serbia – Captain
Kolarov led from the front
Serbia was the dominant team
creating many chances. But the solid defence of Costa Rica led by their ever
dependent goalkeeper Keylor Navas managed to hold them off. But all the good
work of Costa Rica was undone by a phenomenal free kick taken by the Serbian
captain Kolarov that sealed the deal for his team. Costa Rica were guilty of
fluffing a few very good chances. Finally Serbia won 1-0.
Not a great game, with both the
teams missing some fine chances to score. Need to see how they fare against the
rest in the group.
Group E – Brazil versus Switzerland – The
Swiss ice-wall against the Brazilian samba
Brazil are the biggest
favorites to lift the title and has one of the most talented array of players. The
superstars of Brazil started brilliantly as they were all over Switzerland. But
the compact defending of the Swiss kept them at bay. A stunner from Coutinho made
it 1-0 for Brazil. But the strong Swiss refused to go down. They hung on,
equalized & defended well. In the 2nd half, despite being
aggressive, Brazil was off the mark & it ended in an unexpected 1-1 draw.
Goalkeeper Sommer and defender Schar were outstanding for Switzerland.
Neymar was fouled repeatedly by
the Swiss who kicked him more than the football. They also seem to love his
jersey. It did not help that Neymar was intimidating and asking for it by his
exaggerated reactions and heavy falls. Also the award for the most horrendous
hairdo goes to Neymar (LOL)
Group F – Germany versus Mexico - The First major upset of the tournament
Holders Germany was always
expected to do well. They had a solid team in all aspects of the game. Mexico, the
underachievers, had also been quite good in the qualifiers. A confident Germany
attacked regularly with well-organized moves. But the little green men of Mexico
stood firm in defense as Germany piled up the pressure. Their diminutive goalkeeper
Ochoa and his band of merry defenders were calm and did incredibly well. The enthusiastic
Mexicans also threatened on the breaks but their final pass & the quality
of finish was awful, especially Layun to whom almost all the chances fell.
Finally the deadlock was broken when Lozano managed to score for Mexico with an
emphatic finish. A desperate Germany
kept waves & waves of attack coming in. The brave Mexican refused to let
up, putting up an impeccable defensive master class to thwart the reigning
World Champions and inflict a 1-0 defeat on them.
The Germans, overnight, realized that
their aging centre backs were not quick enough while their famed midfield was
not good enough for any kind of additional defensive duties. It was just jaw dropping stuff from the
Mexicans in the face of adversity. That goal from Lozano created a mild
earthquake in Mexico City. If only Mexico were better in finishing, it would
have been an even worse loss for the title holders. Vamos Mexico!
Group F – Sweden versus South Korea – On
expected lines
The Sweden S. Korea game saw
Sweden being dominant over the Asian giants. But they couldn’t capitalize on
the chances that came their way as they were denied by some stout defending by
the Koreans. Finally a VAR assisted penalty gave Sweden a well-deserved 1-0
win.
Group G – Belgium versus Panama – Awakened
Belgium does well
Belgium is one of the star
studded teams of this World Cup with most of them playing for the top clubs in
Europe. There are a lot of expectations from their team this time. To start with Belgium
seemed to be in some kind of stupor and just ambled along, letting the minnows
Panama have the ball. Panama were generally mediocre and very physical, with
Eden Hazard at the receiving end of most of their rough tackles. The first half
was totally aimless and dull. In the second half, Belgium came with more
urgency and started to dominate. Deservedly the Red Devils went on to win 3-0
with Mertens scoring from a sensational volley and Lukaku getting a brace.
Group G – Tunisia versus England - Harry Kane to the rescue
England started fantastically with
an early Harry Kane goal giving them the lead. But they had to battle hard
against a defiant Tunisia who grew with the game. A foul by Walker gave the Tunisians a penalty and
they equalized to make it 1-1. Tunisia defended with more determination and
frustrated the English. Finally the deadlock was broken in stoppage time, again by
Kane from a corner, which gave the
relieved Three Lions a 2-1 winning start.
England was the better team and
definitely deserved to win. But how they fare against Belgium will give us a clearer
picture of how good they actually are. It was an incredible and surpising fight
back from little Tunisia. The late goal left them heartbroken but earned them
many more admirers worldwide.
Group F – Colombia versus Japan – Unexpected Asian
Joy
Colombia were one of the favorites, expected to progress from this group with ease. Minnows Japan were not exactly
a big challenger to them. But it started disastrously for the South Americans as
Sanchez was sent off in the 3rd minute for an intentional handball. Japan
scored from the resulting penalty to find themselves with a 1-0 lead. While Colombia
struggled to cope with 10 men, Japan wasted a number of good chances. Within
the 1st half, Colombia managed to equalize through Quintero and
things were level at half time. In the 2nd half Japan continued to
dominate but failed to score. Colombia scrambled along but finally were undone
by a goal from Osako which tilted the game in favour of Japan.
It was an unexpected but happy result
for Japan. They need to improve a lot to
get into the knockout stages. The penalty decision seemed a bit too harsh, but it unsettled the Colombians and they never really recovered from that blow.
The form of their star man James Rodriguez is also a major cause of worry for
Colombia
Group F – Poland versus Senegal – A comedy of
errors that led to a Polish tragedy
Poland was one of the teams
predicted to do well in their group. Both Poland and Senegal started slowly but
Senegal became more dominant with time. Soon it turned into a nightmare for
Poland as they presented Senegal with an own goal. Things turned worse when
Niang scored the second for Senegal by taking advantage of an awful mix-up at
the back by Poland. Though they did manage to pull one back, Poland could not get
the much needed leveler, thus crumbling to a shocking defeat in their first
game.
The standout moments:
Lozano’s earth shattering goal to
upset the German applecart.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s thunderous
free kick which leveled the game against Spain.
Iceland’s impeccable defending
that frustrated Argentina and Messi's penalty miss.
The Swiss defiance against the
Brazilian super stars.
Group F has become the group of
death with both the favorites - Colombia and Poland - stumbling in their
opening games.
Russians starting the tournament
with a bang much to joy of the home crowd.
Comments
Post a Comment