World Cup 2018 Diary 3 – Peru and Egypt crash out
World Cup 2018 Diary 3 – The belated appearance of Mo Salah was not enough to rescue Egypt’s World Cup as they lost to hosts Russia. Ronaldo continued to carry Portugal, while Nigeria set up a must-win clash with Argentina.
By Dave Bowler
Poland 1 Senegal 2 (Group H)
Senegal earned their victory against Poland on day six of the tournament. Even so, the Poles gave a hopelessly lacklustre display until a brief final flurry. Poland were a little unlucky, it’s true, Senegal’s opener coming via a thick deflection off Thiago Cionek. The second goal was more controversial still. M’Baye Niang came back on the pitch after injury to collect a horrific back pass from Grzegorz Krychowiak and slot home.
For all that they had those pieces of luck, Senegal played with proper conviction and belief throughout. In defence, especially, where the much vaunted Robert Lewandowski was barely seen. The Polish striker was well marshalled by the giant Kalidou Koulibaly and Salif Sane. Between the sticks, Khadim N’Diaye was admirably strong and decisive in all his work.
Senegal prove their worth
Senegal were by far the best of the African teams in the first round of matches. Not even Krychowiak’s late consolation for Poland could fluster Aliou Cisse’s team. They look better balanced than any of the other sides from the continent. They play with a pleasing ambition and drive, and they clearly love the opportunity they’ve got at this World Cup.
For Poland, there are only questions after all their big hitters failed to show. They can only get better after this. However, beating Japan and Colombia might be asking too much.
Colombia 1 Japan 2 (Group H)
The game between Colombia and Japan was irrevocably unbalanced after just three minutes. Carlos Sanchez was red-carded for handling a goal-bound shot after a horrible defensive mix-up. Shinji Kagawa duly knocked in the spot kick. A goal up and a man up, Japan were in the ascendant from there.
To their credit, Colombia worked their way back into the game before the break. A clever free-kick from Juan Quintero was drilled under the wall. Clearly, nobody had explained goalline technology to Eiji Kawashima in the Japanese goal. He managed to embarrass himself by insisting the ball hadn’t crossed the line. By the time he’d finally got it under control, despite it having been so far over, it was virtually in the crowd.
Japan rewarded
Japan simply played the percentages after the break. They kept possession, moving the ball around, forcing Colombia to chase. Ultimately, they got their reward when Yuya Osako rose to power in a header from Keisuke Honda’s corner.
Japan were a little disappointed not to have won by more than 2-1, but they were niow handily placed to progress. Colombia drew encouragement from coming so close to a point in tough circumstances. They were also uplifted by the return from injury of James Rodriguez in the second half.
Russia 3 Egypt 1 (Group A)
It hadn’t been a classic World Cup thus far. Like the group stages in the Champions League, it felt like treading water before things really got started. But the Russians did their bit to get things moving. they approached their home World Cup with real gusto, creating the most memorable moments thus far, Ronaldo aside.
Certainly, they were favoured by a reasonably weak group, made the more so by the injury to Mo Salah. But the way they comprehensively dispatched Saudi Arabia and Egypt enthralled a nation that was expecting the worst from them.
The better side throughout, it took a slice of luck to open the scoring at the start of the second half. Egyptian skipper Ahmed Fathy placed the ball unerringly into his own net. From there, the Russians went for the throat in a blistering 15 minutes of football that the Egyptians simply couldn’t cope with.
Cherysev scores again
Denis Cherysev joined Ronaldo on three goals with a lovely, crisp finish to a nicely worked move. If they’re not knocking down statues of Lenin all over Mother Russia and replacing him with Cherysev by the end of the month, something will have gone seriously wrong.
The giant Artem Dzyuba essentially sealed victory with a great piece of control and an emphatic shot to make it 3-0. Hew will be vying with Cherysev for the position of most popular man in Russia. Watch out Comrade Putin, don’t call any snap elections just now. Then again, if you already know the result…
Egypt tried to get back into it by throwing bodies forward. Mo Salah won a penalty, which he converted with 17 minutes to go. But there was never any real hope of them getting back on terms. The injury to Salah left him a mere shadow of himself in this game. He was unable to really threaten the Russians. Without him, I’m afraid Egypt had nothing else to pin their hopes on. Their dream was over, barring the most implausible sequence of results in the final three group games.
But for Russia, ranked 70th in the world, the worst team in the World Cup, the dream was just beginning. Momentum and home advantage can be a very heady cocktail indeed.
Portugal 1 Morocco 0 (Group B)
Portugal’s hopes of advancement centre entirely upon their number seven. That’s not to say the rest of the team don’t do a good job in terms of blocking up the opposition. However, you’re not going to win any tournament by nil-nil ing your way through it. And no Ronaldo, no goals for Portugal.
He proved it once again in this fixture. He hurled himself full length to nod in Joao Moutinho’s cross after four minutes. Thus, the game was decided, and Ronaldo re-established himself at the head of the race for the Golden Boot.
Admittadly the goal lacked the explosive beauty of the free-kick that secured the 3-3 draw against Spain. But diving into an area where he could easily have been injured shows that the showpony of a dozen years ago has been replaced by a winner. Cristiano Ronaldo will do whatever is needed to make the difference and score a goal. In that desire, he is unmatched in the current game.
Morocco lacks a goalscorer
At the other end, Pepe underlined his credentials as a cretin of the highest order. He collapsed to the floor in agony after Mehdi Benatia had patted him on the shoulder.
As gallantly as Morocco fought, playing well in flashes, they didn’t have a goalscorer. That was true for plenty of other sides that took an early flight home from Russia. They’ll reflect on a World Cup where they were competitive, where they asked questions of more traditionally powerful nations.
Where they came up short was in their ineffectiveness in front of the goal. And that’s why Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Harry Kane, and their ilk are so revered. They’re the men who get the job done.
Uruguay 1 Saudi Arabia 0 (Group A)
The Egyptians were eliminated when Saudi Arabia lost to Uruguay. It wasn’t a game that’ll live long in the memory. The Saudis took some comfort from the fact that they were not embarrassed again and only conceded the one goal. This was against an attack comprising Edison Cavani and Luis Suarez.
It never looked as if they were going to succumb to such a battering as they’d taken against Russia in the opening game. Equally, Uruguay weren’t the kind of team that cares much about those kinds of frills. They had a rock-solid central defensive pairing in Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez. They backed themselves to keep clean sheet after clean sheet in a fashion not unlike Portugal. Having said that, the Uruguayans were far better defensively.
Their rationale, again like Portugal, was that if you keep it tight and have a bit of world-class up front, they will make the difference. On this occasion, it was Suarez’s turn to poach. He was at the back post after Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais made an absolute hash of coming for a corner. Suarez poked in the loose ball after 23 minutes to celebrate his 100th cap in style. With that, the game was done. Good as Saudi Arabia were, they couldn’t really lay a glove on their opponents.
Saudi Arabia fall short
Saudi Arabia, like all too many “smaller” opponents, were victim of the footballing orthodoxy of the moment. The demand that every team should pass, pass, pass. That’s great if you’re Spain or Argentina and have players who can ultimately spot and play the killer ball.
Nobody can deny the effort, the work rate, the desire and the pride with which Saudi Arabia plays. However, if you’re a clearly inferior side, trying to play the big boys at their own game can only end in defeat. Because you can’t do it so well.
Mix it up, hit it long, ruffle a few feathers. Force the top side to defend for a bit for a change. Think of third round day in the FA Cup when the non-league side steams into the pros. They make it uncomfortable and, every now and again, it works.
But now, unless you play the game the way the pundits want you to play it, you are castigated. There are few coaches who are sufficiently thick-skinned to take the attacks and do it their way. As a result, the tyranny of possession is, thus far, giving us a lot of one-dimensional football and a lot of fairly predictable outcomes.
Iran 0 Spain 1 (Group B)
At least Iran had the intelligence not to get themselves involved in a passing contest with Spain. The final tally was 813 to 228 in favour of the Europeans, though it seemed even more one sided. On the rare occasions that Iran saw the ball, they tried to smash it about 100 yards up the pitch. This way they ensured they had 11 men back in the box again by the time Spain retrieved it.
In fairness, they did their job well, frustrating as some of their antics were to watch at times. If you have a blanket defence, a team like Spain are always likely to find a way through. This was the perfect example of a team making its own luck. The sheer number of times they got into the box made it inevitable there’d be a ricochet or a deflection in there somewhere. As it was, it came off Diego Costa and into the bottom corner.
Plucky Iran fight on
From there, Iran did give it a bit of the third round charge. They proved that not even a side of Spain’s pedigree like being pushed onto the back foot. Karim Ansarifard put a shot into the side netting. Then Saeid Ezatolahi had an equaliser chalked off for the most marginal of offsides. But in truth, plucky as their attempted comeback was, it would have been the most undeserving of stolen points for the Iranians.
As things stand, they go into their final game with Portugal knowing that victory will have them in the last 16. That’s an outcome few would have predicted a week ago.
Denmark 1 Australia 1 (Group C)
France 1 Peru 0 (Group C )
Argentina 0 Croatia 3 (Group D)
At the time of the 2018 tournament, a South American side had only once won a World Cup in Europe. After Argentina’s shock 3-0 defeat to Croatia, it was looking increasingly like that record was going to persist.
Of course, Argentina had a chance to spring a real miracle thanks to Nigeria’s win over Iceland. That meant victory over Nigeria in the final group game and Messi and co would breathe again. Though rumours whirled that Sampaoli might not be in charge by then.
Brazil 2 Costa Rica 0 (Group E)
After Argentina’s 3-0 defeat the previous day, Brazil did at least get the win they needed against Costa Rica. However, both their goals came in injury time after a less-than-convincing performance. VAR denied Neymar a penalty he had been given 12 minutes from time. That most balanced and graceful of footballers suddenly fell out with gravity and fell to earth a little too easily.
Brazilian obituaries were being prepared, if not quite in the stentorian tones with which Argentina were condemned. This was not simply because they weren’t breaking through Costa Rica’s defence but because they rarely looked likely to. There was none of the fizz, the flair, the individuality that you expect from Brazil. To this day, the prospect of watching Brazil is the thing that most excites the imagination going into the competition.
Brazil looking pedestrian
And yet despite an attack of all the riches, Neymar, Coutinho, Jesus, Firmino, like Argentina, the Brazilians haven’t yet found a way of exploiting that. How to get the best from them, and get them causing the chaos they should.
Though they had plenty of the ball, their use of it was pedestrian at best. They looked laboured and unimaginative as they tried to find the way through Costa Rica’s blanket defence. But, unlike Argentina, in those final moments, they found a way to score. Firmino, Jesus and Coutinho combined for the first. Douglas Costa and Neymar the second. Even so, you have to say that this is presently the least inspiring Brazilian side since 1994. But who won that competition? Exactly.
Nigeria 2 Iceland 0 (Group D)
Nigeria deservedly beat Iceland with two terrific goals from Ahmed Musa in the second period. The African outfit were a different side from the team that had been decidedly second best in the first 45 minutes. At least in terms of goalscoring threat.
The second half was very different. Musa’s magical first touch twice had him in position to score. First with superb control of a cross which he then slashed into the net. Next, collecting a pass, getting the ball instantly out of his feet, and embarking on a blistering, hazy run beyond defenders and goalkeeper to finish.
Gylfi Sigurdsson misses penalty for Iceland
Iceland, backed by the thunderclaps of a nation, almost got back into it courtesy of a VAR-awarded penalty. Unfortunately, Gylfi Sigurdsson skied his effort from the 12-yard mark. The Icelanders were now tasked with beating Croatia in their final game while hoping for a favorable result in the other group fixture.
Nigeria’s coach, Gernot Rohr, acted effectively to change things after their opening game defeat to Croatia. He changed both personnel and system to transform their performance. That’s the difference a level-headed coach can make. Also, it is why, when pundits complain that a manager should show passion on the touchline, they’re generally talking nonsense.
Serbia 1 Switzerland 2 (Group E)
The eternal virtues of knock-out football came to the group stage with Serbia and Switzerland both aware that victory would be decisive. Serbia were the better side in the first 45 and deservedly led through Mitrovic. Perhaps they could have put the game away. It was very different after the break. Xhaka smashed Switzerland level with a fabulous strike, running onto a loose ball on the edge of the box. That gave the Swiss fresh impetus, and they went for the throat, Shaqiri curling a shot against the bar.
Swiss fortunes
The Serbs were very unlucky not to get an obvious penalty when Mitrovic was wrestled to the ground by two Swiss defenders. From there however, the Swiss looked the more likely side to win. When Shaqiri was fed through one-on-one from the halfway line, the result was never in doubt. A win over Costa Rica in the next game would see the Swiss through. But Brazil would be wary of underestimating Serbia in the other game. Who knows, we could still have a last 16 with Argentina and without Brazil.