World Cup Warming Up Nicely
Jun 24th, 2018 by 'holic
The second round of fixtures in the group stage of the World Cup has most certainly been a mixed bag for the Gooners present. Mohamed Elneny was substituted early as hosts Russia defeated Egypt 3-1 to qualify for the knock out phase with a match to spare.
Alex Iwobi was dropped for Nigeria’s 2-0 win over Iceland, although he clocked up another appearance as a last minute substitute. Joel Campbell was an unused substitute in Costa Rica’s 0-2 defeat to Brazil.
Friday saw Switzerland defeat Serbia 2-1 with Granit Xhaka scoring the equaliser. The celebrations of the last gasp winner by Shaqiri may yet have consequences for the goalscorers, both with links to Kosovo that had to be separated from Serbia, and Stephan Lichsteiner who joined in with the ‘eagle’ hand signals to celebrate the Kosovan flag. The trio face potentially a two match ban. Hopefully FIFA will settle for fines in the circumstances.
Yesterday’s dramatic last kick win for Germany over Sweden was the first major tournament match which has seen Mesut Ozil relegated to the bench. The defending champions were that one shot away from being out of the tournament, but they should qualify now with a victory against Serbia in their group finale. Will Mesut get a recall, or is he still perhaps suffering back problems? We will find out more on Wednesday afternoon.
Today (Sunday) has seen some cracking entertainment and setting the tone were England. Again Danny Welbeck didn’t feature but we can no longer claim he is the highest international goalscorer in the squad. Harry Kane’s hat-trick took him past Danny’s total. The match against Panama had got off to a worrying start with the underdogs trying to intimidate England out of their stride.
John Stones eighth minute header settled the nerves and set up a first-half onslaught. Kane’s well taken penalty doubled England’s advantage midway through the half and the three points were all but secured when Jesse Lingard curled in a beauty nine minutes before the break, and Stones became the scorer of an unlikely pair with another header four minutes later. Kane’s identical second penalty made it 5-0 as the opening half drew to a close.
Not surprisingly the intensity dropped after the break, but Kane did complete his unique hat-trick when Loftus-Cheek’s shot deflected off his ankle and left the Panamanian goalkeeper stranded. Panama got some consolation when Baloy took advantage of a sleeping defence to score at the far post. That goal could have consequences as it levelled England and Belgium’s identical points and goals for and against. A draw when those two sides will be sufficient to earn England the top spot in the group as long as they retain the better disciplinary record in the tournament.
As I type I am watching David Ospina’s Colombia leading Poland in the ‘loser goes home’ fixture. Our old boy Wojciech Szczesny failed to claim a first-half cross and Mina headed the South Americans in front. Live update, Falcao has just been put clean through to double the Columbian advantage with the outside of his right foot. Live update two, Cuadrado has just raced clear to make it 3-0, and Poland are on their way home after their final fixture against Japan on Thursday.
Come back on Tuesday for the first of a pair of upcoming book reviews.
32 Responses to “World Cup Warming Up Nicely”
Bang
things are shaping up for the top teams except Argentina who have looked likely to depart at the group stage
There is always one of the big nations that self-destructs at a World Cup.
For a long time it looked like it might be both Argentina and Germany this time.
Thanks for the report, ‘holic. England looking good. For the time being.
And from the last of the last drinks. “Leno doesn’t smoke in the showers.”
TTG, I hope not, but how many chances has he had? 😉
Nice roundup, H. This England team might just be the strongest team in this here world cup! Bigger tests to come of course but their tails are clearly up and provided confidence doesn’t breed complacency they could go a long way. I’ve just dropped some cash on an England win to provide me with solace if I have to deal with chants of “Tottnumb won the WC”.
I enjoyed Colombia and wonder if Ospina has his own first aid man? He looked a better keeper than Szczesny tonight but that bar is low!
Pangloss nice to see you here. Are you enjoy events in Russia and at tge Grove?
Playing with my grandson England beat Portugal 2-1 on FIFA in the World Cup Final . Rashford with a brace and a late goal for Ronaldo. I’d lump on now . You heard it here first.
What an exciting night of football that was! So many goals and so much good cheer.
Group H is still wide open. Colombia just need to beat Senegal and they can probably finish top! What the blazes?
If Japan lose to Poland then they go out so they better try to get at least a draw and hope Senegal also comes away with something.
England looked good against Panama! They can make the quarter finals probably if they have to play one of Japan or Senegal. I think they may struggle if they draw Colombia though.
I’m still loving the VAR system. Long may it continue to serve up penalties!!
Stick a few goals past 55th-ranked Panama and all the overinflated hype about England being world beaters returns.
I think you would do well to lump on Germany, as they are bound to get through and despite looking unconvincing, are the kind of team who will make the most of their luck and probably win the thing.
TTdTTG@6; it’s nice to be here.
Frankly, I’m not enjoying events in Russia all that much. I rather went off Engerland a few years back when we played Croatia at Wembley a few weeks after Eduardo had dived for a penalty, when playing for Arsenal against Celtic in a CL qualifier, and was vilified non-stop by the tabs before and booed during the game. A dive against Celtic for God’s sake – who cares?
It seems to be the same old story, as Ned remarks above – scramble a scrappy result against unfancied opposition in the first game, actually score a hatful against even-less fancied opposition in the second. In the build up to the third game, actually against a decent team, there is fevered speculation about whether it would be “better” to end the group in first or second place. Whatever the result against Belgium, the journos will have a happy week “explaining” how it would have been better/worse had it gone the other way. I’m not sure who England are likely to play in the first knockout round and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go through. I don’t expect them to get past whoever they are drawn against in the second.
As to events at the Emirates… There haven’t been any yet, and there won’t be any meaningful events until August 11.
Yes I’m with all the posters who feel that vanquishing the might of Tunisia and Panama might not -incredibly- presage triumph in the Final ! I have a bit more faith in Southgate than some of his predecessors but I had none in them!
Nice to hear from you Pangloss. You are missed.
I’d feel until we play it’s a phoney war but there’s an awful lot going on behind the scenes especially on the coaching side and some transfer activity which I suspect will speed up after the WC.
I didn’t see almost anything of the Uruguay game but heard a bit on the radio. I note that Torreira is top of the BBC viewer ratings but I suspect this might be due to a small sample and biased Gooner voting! I didn’t hear him mentioned on the radio at all!
Torreira is 5’5″ and looks really small. How he would fare against the big built players in the premier league is anybody’s guess. He will probably take longer than most newcomers to the league to adapt.
There are reports of Emery being interested in Ever Banega who is 5’9″, another shortie by league standards. Is Emery trying to do an Arsene by building a team of technically good players playing tiki taka football to win the league. Interesting to see how the team finally shapes up.
The day they introduce VAR to the Premier League is the day I stop watching completely.
N’Golo Kante is only 5’6″.
And Torreira is officially listed at the same height.
Cynic@14: The day they let Enrique Cáceres ref in the Premiership will be the day I stop watching completely.
TTG@12, I saw the second half. The commentator and co-commentator (neither pro-Arsenal) commented on how Torreira had been the outstanding player in the first half. He is certainly small but brave in the tackle. In the second half he was in constant motion (shades of Arteta), making himself available for teammates with the ball, reading the opposition moves and movements and screening his back four.He made several interceptions, delayed/blocked several attacks, made several good forward passes and had a good shot (blocked) at the end. It was a very impressive performance. If this is his normal level he will make a major difference to the Arsenal.
Bath
Thank you for your impressions. I’ve now read three accounts and talked to a mate who is a Gooner and they are very much in line with your thoughts. He was MOTM on most reviews I saw and that is enormously encouraging. Uruguay will give Portugal a whole heap of trouble in the last 16. My sense is that they may well beat them and hopefully our new boy gets to start.
To reassure Ksn he is a tough cookie ( like most Uruguayans) and looks well able to look after himself. Santi managed pretty well and he was tiny! The Banega links are interesting and might have implications for Elneny although we will have to look closely at the home grown restrictions that we need to deal with. This might mean us keeping on a Jenkinson or Bramall that have little future otherwise. Certainly we would surely need to retain Holdind and/ or Chambers
Ned
Well said. Neither penalty was legitimate and the game became a farce. While Ronaldo didn’t poleaxe the Iranian lad I did think his intent was to hit him in the face. I think a yellow card was ok. VAR is not covering itself in glory so far.
I think we might need to allow two appeals per team per half as in cricket and tennis .
The play acting in football is so awful now it makes me ashamed . Ironically the BBC bring on Drogba and Shearer to comment!
To spot the best, you need the best, TTG.
Santi was small built but he looked like he could look after himself. Torreira looks small compared to Santi. Reassuring to read comments above that he would be a good addition to the team.
Digressing from football, what a fantastic cricketer is Butler! Big hitter, great finisher and modest / down to earth guy.
Link to Torreira’s performance against Russia.
https://youtu.be/v9eEphsa1L4
Watched Spain vs Morocco and I thought
it was a good effort by Morocco considering
they were already out. The late equaliser
was an impossible decision for the asst ref.
Watched the first half of the Uruguay game
too and Torreira didn’t stop moving I think.
Hope we get him as lots of potential there.
Russia didn’t take their chances and the
game was over with the sending off.
But i think Russia have a decent chance
with home advantage against Spain.
I think I’ll just delete th Portugal / Iran
recording.
At the other end of the football world: Clive, What has happened at Hendon? The entire first team seems to have moved to Hampton except for its star man Muir, who has gone to Hartlepool.
They made two big mistakes with VAR
1. They introduced it in the first place
2. They allow the off field refereeing team (there should only be one guy doing this anyway, not a fucking team) to get into the ref’s ear and “suggest” he looks at things.
Let the guy referee the game and only use VAR himself if he has a doubt, if we have to have this bloody thing at all. As far as I can see, referee’s “advised” to look at things are feeling obliged to change their minds, taking a colleague’s opinion over their own.
That ref last night took forever to decide on something he’d already got right, and it was him convincing himself to change his mind simply because his mate in Moscow sees enough to think there’s a case for a penalty, when nobody remotely sane did.
Fuck VAR. Get rid of it.
Ned
The Hendon coach has gone to Hampton and virtually nearly all the first team have joined him.
There has been a restructure of the lower leagues and Hendon are now in a diff league to last season.
New coach is busy recruiting as we speak.
Cheer up, Brits. There is always a chance Argentina could lose. 😉
Half time in the Argentina game and Ever Banega in the Argentina midfield has played really well until now. Controlled midfield performance, good distribution of the ball and the assist for Messi’s goal. Torriera yesterday and Banega today, their performances have been pivotal to their teams. If we sign them both, our midfield would be strengthened considerably and there would be genuine competition for places in midfield.
Clive@27: Thanks for the update. So the team that failed by a penalty to get play-offs promotion to a higher division has just moved there lock, stock and barrel but will be playing under a different name? Got to feel for last season’s Hampton’s team that has been colonised.
Cynic@26: VAR makes me wonder if we couldn’t dispense with human refs altogether and have AI officiate games.
A virtual Mike Dean Ned? That’s a concept I will need to get my head around. At least the bots would have more personality !
Book review one (of two). >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>