World Cup diary 2018 – Tuesday 03 July

Brazil (2) – (0) Mexico

No matter how good this side is (or thinks it is) I really have no time for the Brazilians and it is all down to one player – as I can’t call him a man – because quite frankly his antics are embarrassing. Yet again we had another exhibition from the self-proclaimed best player in the world, Neymar, showing the petulance and over-acting that are more likely to be associated with a five-year-old child.

There is an inevitability about Brazil’s progress to the Final that frankly fills me with dread.

Belgium (3) – (2) Japan

If the antics in the Brazil game showed the downside of the game, then it was a mighty relief that Belgium and Japan showed why football is so loved. The game was in the balance at the break with the score at 0-0, but within seven minutes of the restart Japan had scored twice through Haraguchi (48′), and Inui (52′) and it looked like another upset was on the cards. Then on sixty-five minutes, Belgium boss Roberto Martinez made a double substitution with Chadli and Fellaini replacing Carrasco and Mertens. Within four minutes Belgium were back in it, somewhat fortuitously as Vertonghen’s header looped into the goal. It was the spark the European team needed and on seventy-four minutes they were level, as Fellani outmuscled the Japanese defence to head in the equaliser. Japan though simply kept going and just when it looked like Extra-time was on the cards, Belgium broke superbly from a corner and in a devastating move swept in the winner courtesy of Chadli. Breath-taking stuff. So, so cruel on Japan, but what a comeback by Belgium,

Today the final two games in the last sixteen phase takes place and by this evening the full Quarter-Final line-up will be known.

Sweden v Switzerland

These two have never met in a Finals tournament, but have played in the Qualifiers on five occasions. The first of these was in Group 1 for the 1962 World Cup in Chile, when in May 1961 Sweden beat the Swiss 4-0 in Stockholm. In the return game in Bern, Switzerland turned the tables winning 3-2. Both sides finished with six points and it meant a play-off was required to see who would progress to the Finals. The game was played at a neutral venue, the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, and the Swiss came from behind to win 2-1 and take their place in Chile. The sides were next to meet in the Qualifiers for the 1978 World Cup, in Group 6, which also contained Norway. Switzerland hosted Sweden in October 1976, It was the same score-line in June 1977, when the side met in Solna, as Sweden topped the group and take their place in the Finals in Argentina.

A cagey European encounter given what is at stake? I’ll go for the Swiss given their strike force, but it may take Extra-time to separate the teams.

England v Colombia

1998 World Cup (France) 26 June 1998 – Group G

England (2) 2 – 0 (0) Colombia

Anderton (20’), Beckham (29’)

David Seaman, Gary Neville, Tony Adams, Sol Campbell, Graeme Le Saux, Darren Anderton (80’ Rob Lee), David Beckham, Paul Ince (83’ David Batty), Paul Scholes (73’ Steve McManaman), Michael Owen, Alan Shearer (captain)

It’s the only time the two countries have met in the Finals and all I respectfully ask the football gods is that they can deliver a similar result tonight. It’s an evening for keeping a clear head and in true football cliché style, just take one game at a time. Yes we know how the draw pans out, but please, please let’s get through tonight first.

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Monday 02 July

Russia (1) – (1) Spain [Russia win 4-3 on penalties]

Well I’m fairly much speechless even a day after the game. Spain with all the possession but created very little, with Russia just content to sit back – it wasn’t a great watch at all. On the one hand Spain got what they deserved because they didn’t have the guile to breakdown the hosts. However, for me, yet again the VAR and referee have come up with a wrong call, when Spain were denied a penalty in the closing minutes of Extra-time. As a free-kick was swung in there was a case for three Spanish players being pulled down, yet the referee deemed none of them to be fouls – a quite startlingly decision. Just where is the consistency in this tournament. And then to cap it all off the BBC pundits in the studio made no mention of the incident. Really?

Croatia (1) – (1) Denmark [Croatia win 3-2 on penalties]

With my frustration at events still lingering from the earlier game, I wasn’t really in the mood for this one and ended up only tuning in for the Extra-time and penalties. It appears that Croatia made heavy weather of things with perhaps the tag of favourites in this tie being a burden for them. However, despite the heroics of Danish ‘keeper Kasper Schmeichel, he was outdone by his Croatian counterpart Danijel Subasic who saved three penalties in the shoot-out.

Well I’m hoping my enthusiasm can be reignited with the two clashes today, starting with:

Brazil v Mexico

This will be the fifth encounter in World Cup Finals for these countries. The first came in 1950 when the tournament was played in Brazil and in a Group 1 game, the hosts swept to a 4-0 win. Four years later in Switzerland the result was even more emphatic as Mexico were on the end of a 5-0 beating in the group stages. Their third meeting in the World Cup came in Chile in 1962 with Brazil winning 2-0 including a goal from Pele. Just four years ago in Brazil, the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in Group A, which saw Mexico break the run of defeats, but they have yet to score against the Brazilians in any of the four games. What a time to get a first goal.

It’s been a tournament with a number of the big guns going out – will Brazil really be another casualty? I can’t see it, but who would have said, Argentina, Germany, Portugal and Spain would already be on the plane home.

Belgium v Japan

There has been one meeting in the Finals tournament before, back in 2002 when Japan co-hosted with South Korea. In a Group G game in the Saitama Stadium, a crowd of 55,258 saw the teams play out a 2-2 draw. Belgium went ahead through Marc Wilmots (57’) with Japan level two minutes later through Takayuki Suzuki. Junichi Inamoto then put Japan ahead on sixty-eight minutes, only for Peter Van Der Heyden to level things up with fifteen minutes remaining.

Belgium are a gifted team and you would expect them to progress, but after the way Russia frustrated Spain yesterday, is this the game-plan for the Blue Samuri?

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Friday 29 June

So that’s that. The final round of group games were completed yesterday and the final sixteen teams are now all known.

The action began in Group H, and with Poland already out, it was left to Colombia, Japan and Senegal for fight for the top-two spots. It was to prove a controversial afternoon as with Colombia ahead 1-0 against Sengal through Mina (74′) and Japan losing 1-0 to Poland through a Bednarek (59′) goal, the Japanese knew that if the scores remained the same that was enough to send them through. With Senegal and Japan having the same points and goals scored it came down to the number of bookings. It produced a final ten minutes of the game that caused such outcry in 1982 between Austria and West Germany when they effectively played-out time without any intend of going forward, that FIFA made final round games kick-off at the same time. The reaction some 36 years later is no less vociferous, but let’s consider a couple of things. Firstly, Japan did nothing wrong, what they did was within the laws of the competition and whilst some might argue it’s not in the spirit of the game, they were perfectly within their rights to finish the game as they did. Secondly, it was a risky strategy from Japan, as Senegal only needed to equalise and the Blue Samurai would have been eliminated. Something for FIFA to ponder once this World Cup finishes.

That just left Group G to be completed with England and Belgium competing for top-spot and Tunisia and Panama vying to avoid finishing bottom. Tunisia won the game 2-1 thanks to a second-half strike from Sunderland’s Wahbi Khazri, condemning Panama to the bottom slot in the group. In the battle at the top, both sides rested players with England making eight changes and Belgium nine, so it was no surprise that it felt a somewhat disjointed game, that was ultimately won by a superb Adnan Januzaj strike six minutes into the second-half. Much of the debate wasn’t around the game itself, but which looked a better route to progression, which to me is all pretty academic if you don’t win your last sixteen game.

It left the final pairings as follows:

July 02 Belgium v Japan                 July 03 Colombia v England.

Today there are no games with the knockout phase beginning on Saturday with two Europe v South America clashes as France play Argentina in Kazan and later in the day, Uruguay play Portugal in Sochi. Both very difficult to call. Like the teams I’m resting for today and will pick up with previews tomorrow.

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Thursday 28 June

Going into yesterday’s fixtures there was the possibility that both Germany and Brazil could have exited the competition at the group stage. The South American’s progressed with a goal in each half, through Paulinho (36′) and Thiago Silva (68’), although Mitrovic had two decent headed chances that the Serbian couldn’t convert when the score was still at just 1-0. In the other Group E game, Switzerland took on Costa Rica, knowing that a point would be enough to take them through. Costa Rica dominated the opening half-hour and but for the woodwork and some fine saves from Swiss ‘keeper Yann Sommer, would have been comfortably ahead. However, somewhat against the run of play, Switzerland went in front when Dzemali smashed home a knock-down in the box on thirty-one minutes. Costa Rica though got back in the game after the interval with a smart header from Waston and then followed a dramatic last few minutes. First with just two minutes of normal time left. Drmic swept home sweetly to restore the Swiss advantage at 2-1. Almost immediately, Costa Rica were awarded a penalty, which was then overruled by VAR for offside. However, they weren’t to be denied the chance of an equaliser as on ninety- three minutes they were awarded another penalty. Up stepped captain, Bryan Ruiz who crashed the ball against the crossbar but as it bounced out it rebounded off the back of ‘keeper Sommer’s head and into the net to secure a 2-2 draw and a point for Costa Rico. In terms of the final placings, it meant Brazil topped Group with Switzerland in second place.

The real drama of the day though was to be in Group F. Sweden dispatched Mexico with three second-half goals from Augustinsson (50′), Granqvist (62′ pen) and Alvarez (74′ own-goal), leaving both sides with six points. It meant that Germany had to beat South Korea to advance. The 2014 Champions huffed and puffed with late pressure creating a couple of decent chances. However, as the game went into stoppage time it was the South Koreans who made the breakthrough, with Kim Young-Gwon having all the time in the world to control and slot into the German net. As Germany looked for a consolation with time running out, ‘keeper Manuel Neuer was caught in possession in midfield. Korea pumped the ball goal-wards, where Son Heung-Min gleefully slotted into an empty German goal to record an improbable 2-0 victory.

Two of the most interesting facts to emerge from this result were:

 

  1. The Champions curse – Germany fell in the Group stages four years after lifting the trophy, as did France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014.
  2. It is only the second time that Germany have been eliminated from the first round at the World Cup, with 1938 the last occasion.

 

What all the results from Group E and F meant was that the last 16 games are as follows:

July 02 Brazil v Mexico   July 03 Sweden v Switzerland

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Tuesday 26 June

With the final round of group games starting yesterday, for those with something to play for, the pressure cranked up another notch.

First up were the two games in Group A, with Russia and Uruguay already confirmed as advancing to the knock-out phase and the result all about top spot. In the end the Uruguayans gave the Russian bear a bloody nose as they romped to a 3-0 victory over the host nation. Saurez opened the scoring on ten minutes with a clever low free-kick, with a Cheryshev own-goal after twenty-three minutes doubling the South American’s advantage. Even worse was to follow for Russia when Smolnikov was dismissed for a second yellow card fourteen minutes before the break. All that was left in the second-half was a tap-in for Cavani on the stroke of the full-time whistle to complete the scoring and secure top spot for Uruguay.

In the other group game, it was the battle to avoid finishing bottom, between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Egypt dominated the opening half and went ahead after twenty-two minutes, with Mo Salah latching onto a ball through and lobbing the Saudi ‘keeper Yasser Al-Mosailem. It was Egypt’s first World Cup goal from open play since 1934. Now whilst it as a good finish, the goalkeeper rushing that far out made the choice for the Liverpool striker in terms of what he needed to do. Salah had another great chance when one-on-one with Al-Mosailem, but his dink over the ‘keeper this time drifted wide of the mark. Once again VAR was in the headlines, when with four minutes remaining in the first-half, Saudi Arabia were awarded a penalty for handball against Ahmed Fathi. Now I’ve watched it back and the player has his head turned away and the ball strikes his trailing arm, where is the intent in that? For me, justice was served when Egyptian ‘keeper El Hadary (who at 45 years and 161 days beat the record of Colombia ‘keeper Faryd Mondragon (43 and three days at Brazil 2014) to become the oldest player to take to the field), made a tremendous save from the spot-kick. However, like buses another penalty soon came long as Saudi Arabia were awarded another deep into first-half stoppage time, with Al Faraj slotting home. After the break, El Hadary was the busier of the two ‘keepers, but he could do nothing as in the fifth minute of stoppage time Salem Al Dawsari secured a 2-1 win for Saudi Arabia, to leave Egypt bottom of the group without a single point.

With Group A sorted it was the turn of Group B to reach its conclusion. Here going into the games, involving Iran against Portugal and Spain up against Morocco, all that was certain was that Morocco were out. And both games proved to have high drama and controversy. Iran knew they had to beat Portugal to make the last 16. The European Champions has the better chances in the first-half and scored on the stroke of the break, when a stunning strike from Ricardo Quaresma put them ahead. All the fun though was yet to start. It all began eight minutes into the second-half when after a VAR review Ronaldo who had been fouled, had his spot-kick saved. It gave the game an edge that was lacking in the opening half, and it ramped up controversially ten minutes from time. Ronaldo swung an arm at Morteza Pouraliganji, catching him in the face. Somehow after a lengthy VAR review, the Real Madrid player was only shown a yellow. I have every sympathy for the Iranian coach who said after the game that there was effectively one rule for players like Ronaldo and Messi and another for the rest. The question is though, is it the fault of VAR or the on-field referee? Then with Portugal seemingly on their way through with a 1-0 win, three minutes into time added-on Iran got a penalty after a VAR review. In my view a crazy decision, the Portuguese defender has merely challenged for a header with the ball catching him at close quarters on the arm. He couldn’t have got out of the way or at such close quarters had any intent to handle it. Again, VAR or poor call by the referee? Iran though had one last chance as Mehdi Taremi fire into the side-netting with his effort from inside the penalty box. If he had scored Iran would have been through.

In the other encounter Morocco took the lead after a cool finish from Boutaib following a mix-up on the halfway line by the Spanish just before the quarter of an hour mark. Spain were level just five minutes later though as Andres Iniesta brilliantly set-up Isco to score. Morocco regained the lead nine minutes from time with a stunning header from En-Nesyri, which looked to have secured a 2-1 win for the North Africans. However, it wasn’t to be as Iago Aspas back-heeled home an equaliser in stoppage time for the Spanish. It went to review and in a very tight decision the goal stood. It was cruel on Morocco, but enough for Spain to head Group B, courtesy of goals scored.

It was a day in which VAR did nothing to leave me thinking that it will improve the game. Currently there is no consistency as to the way it is used and for me has highlighted a weakness in the quality of the match officials as much as anything else. Are these really the best referees out there? After what I’ve seen so far, I’m not really sure.

Following the finish of Groups, A and B, it means the following last 16 games have now been confirmed:

June 30 Uruguay v Portugal and July 01 Spain v Russia

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Monday 25 June

Yesterday I asked the footballing gods for a calm afternoon watching England and boy did they deliver. Yes, of course Panama were a limited side and their antics in the first-half were nothing short of embarrassing at times. However, you can only beat what is in front of you and there have been too many occasions down the years when the Three Lions have struggled to overcome stubborn opposition. England blazed their way to a 5-0 half-time lead thanks to a John Stones brace (8′ and 40’), a pair of Harry Kane penalties (22′ and 45’+1) and a sublime strike from Jesse Lingard (36′), with their set-pieces causing havoc for the Panama defence on every occasion. Understandably the second-half was a quieter affair, with Panama thankfully leaving their rough-house tactics in the changing room. Still there was enough time for captain Kane to claim a hat-trick and a consolation for Panama from a smart Defoy finish. Qualification sorted and the Belgium game becomes merely a top-spot battle.

Elsewhere in Group H, Poland were surprisingly dispatched 3-0 by Colombia, meaning the European team were out. With Japan and Senegal playing out a 2-2 draw, it means that the two teams going through won’t be sorted until the final round of games. One talking point for me though and highlighted in the Japan game, was the continuing modern trend for goalkeepers to punch the ball rather than catch it, for both crosses and increasingly shots. Take Senegal’s opening goal – Kawashima the Japanese ‘keeper, attempted to punch away a shot that was perfectly catchable and in doing so knocked it against Sadio Mane and it rebounded in for a goal – totally avoidable. Is it that modern day balls move so much that ‘keepers can’t trust the flight so feel punching it away is the best option, or is it a modern coaching fad that will pass? It will be interesting to monitor the men better between the sticks in the rest of the tournament.

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Saturday 23 June

Friday’s games could all have been labelled as the ‘late, late show’ starting with the Group E encounter between Brazil and Costa Rica. VAR once again had its part to play twelve minutes from time, thankfully reversing the on-field decision of the referee to award Brazil a penalty after a theatrical collapse from Neymar. With ninety-minutes up, the score was 0-0 and a frustrated and petulant Brazilian team looked to be heading for a second successive draw at these Finals. However, in the first minute of stoppage time, Coutinho fired home after a knockdown in the box to save his teams blushes. Then just five minutes later, Neymar got a less than deserved second for the five-times World Cup winners. As with the Brazil squad in 2014, I just can’t warm to them and have fingers crossed that another beating a la Germany four years ago is waiting in the wings for Neymar and his chums.

Iceland were next up against Nigeria in Volgograd, and despite starting well, lost out to a brace from the Leicester City striker Ahmed Musa (49′ & 75′) who is currently on loan with CSKA Moscow. Despite the fantastic support of their fans, Iceland couldn’t handle Nigeria in the second-half and even a penalty ten minutes from the end, which would have given them a lifeline was blazed high and wide by Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson. It was a result that gave fresh hope to Argentina being able to now make the knock-outs.

The final game turned out to be controversial for a number of reason. Serbia were good value for their 1-0 lead at the break courtesy of on-loan Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic after five minutes. However, the Swiss were significantly better in the second-half and an absolute screamer from Granit Xhaka. Despite that Mitrovic continued to be a threat and should have had a penalty mid-way through the second period, as when he attempted to get his head on a cross, he was in what only be described as a two-man rugby tackle was hauled down. Now you don’t need VAR to see that it was a blatant penalty, so quite what German referee Felix Brych was thinking goodness only knows. The Serbs were then punished again as in the final minute Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri broke from the half-way line to score the winner. As with Xhaka, Shaqiri celebrated with a gesture that had political significance.

As the BBC explained: Serbia has hit out at a “provocative” double eagle celebration by two ethnic Albanian goalscorers in the World Cup…Their gesture is a nationalist symbol representing the double headed eagle on Albania’s national flag. Critics say it could inflame tensions among Serbian nationalists and ethnic Albanians… Xhaka and Shaqiri’s families are from Kosovo, where a Serbian crackdown on the Albanian population only ended with NATO military intervention in 1999…Xhaka’s father spent three-and-a-half years as a political prisoner in Yugoslavia for his support for Kosovan independence. Shaqiri was born in Kosovo and his family fled to Switzerland as refugees…Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority declared independence in 2008 but Serbia, its ally Russia and most ethnic Serbs inside Kosovo do not recognise it.”

Many say that sport and politic shouldn’t mix, but history is littered with examples of the when tournaments are used as propaganda or provocation by countries and their governments. And when the world is watching it is the biggest free advertisement going.

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Tuesday 19 June

Long live King Harry! No, I’m not prompting some massacre of all those in line to the throne of England, but merely praising the performance of Tottenham’s Harry Kane. His two-goal salvo, the first after eleven minutes gave The Three Lions the perfect start in a first-half in which they created enough chances to have put the game beyond Tunisia by half-time. However, as every England fan knows, the national team never does anything easily and after a soft penalty for the African side was converted before the break by Sassi after thirty-five minutes, the game became one of attrition as Tunisia tried to hang on to a point by fair means or foul. Tunisia’s cause was helped by VAR not being used when King Harry was wrestled to the ground rugby-style twice in the penalty box from corners, but England continued to knock at the door and a minute into stoppage time, Kane slipped his marker and headed home to ensure a 2-1 victory as the nation signed in a huge collective relief. A vital win and confidence boost for Gareth Southgate’s young charges.

In the other game in England’s group, Belgium were eventually comfortable 3-0 winners over Panama, but it took until the forty-seventh minute for Mertens to break the deadlock, before a Lukaku brace (69’ and 75’) saw The Red Devils secure the win and top spot in Group G. In the other game of the day in Group F, a rather scrappy game saw Sweden win 1-0 thanks to an Andreas Granqvist just past the hour. It showed that VAR works in that the correction decision was given, but also illustrated how it is messy within football rather than the rugby codes which have natural stop and starts. In this case play had continued with South Korea on the break after Kim Min-woo’s foul on Viktor Claesson, only for the game to be stopped for the review. And after the failings of the use of VAR in the England game, I’m not totally convinced that there is a consistent application of the technology.

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Friday 15 June

Well it couldn’t have gone much better for the hosts on Opening night with a 5-0 beating of Saudi Arabia. Substitute Cheryshev bagged a brace (43’ and 91’) along with goals from Gazinskiy (12′), (71′) and Golovin (94’) as Russia cruised to three points. There will be sterner tests ahead for Russia than Saudi Arabia who proved to be early contenders of the ‘give the ball away’ competition and defensively looked very, very poor.

Away from the action on the pitch, amongst the most annoying aspects of the game was the horrendous American announcer in the stadium and the banal commentary of ITV’s Glenn Hoddle.

After yesterday’s game, the other two teams in Group A, Egypt and Uruguay, play in the first of three games today starting at the Ekaterinburg Arena in Yekaterinburg, the furthest east of the Finals venues and actually situatetd in the Asian sector of Russia. The stadium has caused quite a stir, as the seats in the two temporary stands behind each goal are located outside the main bowl of the stadium. Having looked at images of it, there is no way I’d feel comfortable sat in what looks like a precarious giant scaffold.

The two teams have met previously in a Friendly International in August 2006 at the Alexandria Stadium, with Uruguay winning 2-0 with a goal from centre-back Diego Godin and an own-goal from Abdelzaher El Saqqa. The expectation is that Uruguay will have too much for Egypt, but the biggest talking point could be around two players who have Liverpool in common – current Kop King Mo Salah, who faces a battle to be fit and ex-Red hero, dentists best-friend and all-round pantomime villain, Luis Suarez. Besides Salah the Egyptians boast a number of players familiar to an English audience with Ali Gabr and Ahmed Hegazi (both WBA), Ahmed Elmohamady (Aston Villa), Sam Morsy (Wigan Athletic), Ramadan Sobhi (Huddersfield Town) and Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal) in their Finals squad. Uruguay to nick the points in a close game.

The second and third games of Friday see Group B get underway with Morocco against Iran at the St Petersburg Stadium followed by the European giants of Spain and Portugal as the Fisht Stadium. Morocco and Iran met in the LG Cup in 2002 in a game which ended 1-1 with Iran winning 4-3 on penalties in Tabriz. In the Iranian squad is a player with recent game-time in England, that being their captain Ashkan Dejagah who played for Fulham in the Premier League and last season spent time on loan at Nottingham Forest. Morocco have their own English connection with Romain Saiss, who was part of the Wolves team that took the SkyBet Championship title in 2017/18. Could be the tournament’s first draw.

Friday finishes with the Iberian clash of Spain and Portugal. These European heavyweights last met in a World Cup in 2010 when they played each other in the last sixteen. Spain made it to the Quarter-Finals 1-0 courtesy of a David Villa goal on sixty-three minutes with Rui Costa sent-off for Portugal. The Spanish made the headlines before a ball had even been kicked in this World Cup with the removal of their manager and the test will be to see if this has any impact on this talented squad. Star-studded line-ups on both sides, but could end in the second draw of the day.

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT

World Cup diary 2018 – Thursday 14 June

Today will see the tournament start, but for many fans in England and beyond thoughts will have been dominated by the release of the Premier League fixtures this morning. You have to ask though, did it really need to be today to coincide with the start of the World Cup? The answer to me at least, is that the Premier League wanted maximum exposure and feels rather like a spoilt child looking for attention by jumping up and down shouting, “I’m here, I’m here”.

However, the reality is that the Premier League has a huge influence and a number of the players taking part over the next month in Russia will have in the back of their mind the hope of a life-changing move to the richest League in the world following a fine showing in the World Cup. Players stock could rise and fall and as an example Newcastle United will monitor closely the form of Serbian striker, Aleksandar Mitrovic, who fired Fulham to promotion. How much will he cost Fulham or indeed another club if he continues his fine form of 2018?

As it is the opening day, here’s a summary of the first games since the 1966 World Cup:

1966       England 0-0 Uruguay

1970       Mexico 0-0 Soviet Union

1974       Brazil 0-0 Yugoslavia

1978       West Germany 0-0 Poland

1982       Argentina 0-1 Belgium

1986       Italy 1-1 Bulgaria

1990       Argentina 0-1 Cameroon

1994       Germany 1-0 Bolivia

1998       Brazil 2-1 Scotland

2002       France 0-1 Senegal

2006       Germany 4-2 Costa Rica

2010       South Africa 1-1 Mexico

2014       Brazil 3-1 Croatia

 

Hard to imagine tonight’s game will be anything other than cagey. Avoiding defeat in your opening fixture is always high on the priority list and Russia have the added pressure as hosts. Opening games are full of banana skins as Argentina and France will testify. However, for me Russia to get the three points in an uninspiring ninety-minutes.

Let battle commence!

Category: World Cup 2018 diary | LEAVE A COMMENT