The 2018 FIFA World Cup was made memorable partly due to some of the giants of the game exiting the tournament so early. The holders, Germany didn’t make it out of the group stage while former winners Spain and Argentina lost in the round of 16. Spain vs Portugal set the tempo on the second day of the tournament with a thrilling 3-3 draw. That was swiftly followed by Mexico beating defending champions Germany and Argentina crashing to a heavy defeat against Croatia. All this excitement and drama occurred in the group stage!!!
England did not arrive in Russia with high expectations, and they confirmed that assessment by struggling to dispatch Tunisia in their opening match. Harry Kane scored the match winner in injury time. This was followed by an emphatic 6-1 over a dirty, cynical Panama who wasted so much energy
continually berating the referee. England qualified with those two victories, and played to lose against Belgium to avoid the stronger left side of the draw which they duly accomplished. One couldn’t help wondering though if they had sacrificed some momentum entering the knockout stage of the competition.
Germany were given a lifeline when Tony Kirus scored a late winner against Sweden only to surprisingly lose 0-2 to South Korea, and were duly eliminated. After the dust had settled, the line up for the last sixteen had taken shape:
Uruguay 2 vs Portugal 1 Spain 1 vs Russia 1
(Russia won on penalties.)
France 4 vs Argentina 3 Croatia 1 vs Denmark 1
(Croatia won on penalties.)
Brazil 2 vs Mexico 0 Sweden 1 vs Switzerland 0
Belgium 3 vs Japan 2 Colombia 1 vs England 1
(England won on penalties.)
The shocks, drama and excitement continued during the round of 16. Uruguay knocked out European Champions Portugal, but unfortunately lost their star striker, Cavanni, to injury. France’s 4-3 win over Argentina was the match of the tournament for me. France are very good when they bring their Gallic flair and suppress their Latin temperament. Of course, having three world class attackers, Pogba, Mbappe and Greizmann, can tilt the scales in their favor.
The most impressive comeback of the tournament was Belgium gifting Japan a two goal lead, but then replying with three late goals after manager Martinez changed the course of the game with some critical substitutions. The hosts Russia were the lowest ranked team left in the tournament, but had just enough fuel in the tank to knock out much fancied Spain. England overcame a very feisty Columbia, and made history by winning their first penalty shoot out in World Cup competition.
Significantly, the sport’s two super stars, Ronaldo and Messi, were on their way home having failed to lift their teams to greater heights. The tournament had arrived at the elite eight and more shocks and awe were in store:
Uruguay 0 vs France 2 Russia 2 vs Croatia 2 (Croatia won on penalties.)
Brazil 1 vs Belgium 2 Sweden 0 vs England 2
Uruguay didn’t have the fire power without Cavanni, and France won comfortably. Belgium provided further heroics by defeating Neymar’s Brazil, and England earned a credible victory over Sweden. Meanwhile Croatia continued to grind out results with another win via the format of a penalty shoot out.
English fans stoked up by their fickle media were daring to dream that the Cup could be returning home for the first time since 1966. The mood of the nation had dismissed their semi-final opponents, Croatia, and speculation was rife on who they would prefer England to play in the final: Belgium or France?
SEMI-FINALS
France 1 vs Belgium 0
Croatia 2 vs England 1 (aet)
Belgium’s stunning victory over Brazil had taken its toll, and they were unable to reproduce their “A” game in such a relatively short time to match France’s savoir faire. There was only one goal separating the teams, but France controlled the match from start to finish with stout defending and counter attacking.
England couldn’t have enjoyed a better start to their semi-final scoring after five minutes through a spectacular free kick by Kevin Trippier. Some talking heads claimed they scored too early, but that’s a silly notion. It’s never too early to score, but the secret is to score one or two more so you have your boot firmly on the opponent’s jugular. Harry Kane had a great chance to make it 2-0 midway through the first half but failed to take it. Normally it was a chance he would make with his eyes shut.
England came out for the second half seemingly with the mindset that they would defend their lead for the ensuing 45 minutes. Big mistake!!!! Croatia, orchestrated by Luco Modric ,dominated the midfield and placed relentless pressure on England’s defence which eventually crumbled. Why oh why did England revert to the long ball? They finished the tournament in fourth place losing again to Belgium for the bronze medal. Harry kane won the golden boot with 6 goals, but didn’t score in the quarters or semis. Remarkably, Croatia’s last three games went into extra time and each time they prevailed which spoke volumes for their character.
The final between France and Croatia proved to be an entertaining but somewhat controversial affair. France’s opening goal derived from a Griezmann dive which led to a free kick and subsequent own goal by Croatia’s striker whose name I can’t spell. Croatia equalized through a sublime goal by Petrovic who then blotted his copybook by handling the ball at the other end giving away a penalty from which France regained the lead. The referee reverted to AVR (assisted video referee) to make a decision on the handball which was unjust in my opinion.
France came out for the second half with all guns blazing and quickly scored two additional goals via Pogba and Mbappe to take an unassailable 4-2 lead. France’s captain and goalkeeper Lloris made a horrendous error to gift Croatia a goal and a glimmer of hope. Needless to say, sanity was restored and cruised to the finishing line as worthy winners of the World Cup.
