The Qatar World Cup group stage ended its first round in the early morning of November 25, and the performance of the nine strong teams was different. Brazil and Spain each defeated their opponents and showed strong dominance. France, England, the Netherlands and Portugal won respectively, but some problems were also exposed. The last third place Belgium won the thrilling victory, and Germany and Argentina lost the first round in the 2014 World Cup. These three strong teams were a little sad.
Brazil and Spain play dominant
Asia is a blessed land of Brazil, and the last time the Samba Army won the World Cup was in the South Korea-Japan World Cup twenty years ago. In the first round of the Qatar World Cup group stage, Brazil was the finale’s strong team. They used their gorgeous performance to repay the fans’ expectations and began to show their championship appearance.
In this World Cup, Brazil defeated European powerhouse Serbia 2-0 in the first game, and the coach Tit led his disciples to play a pleasing offensive football. In Brazil’s 4-1-2-3 attack formation, almost everyone can become the offensive explosive point. Center Richarlison scored two goals, and Neymar, one of the two front midfielders, was able to command the offense with ease. Left winger Junior continued his hot state at Real Madrid and became a sharp knife in the offense. Another midfielder, Paqueta, has excellent offensive ability and strong scoring ability.
It was not until 2-0 that Titt replaced Paqueta with midfielder Fred, allowing Manchester United’s double midfielder Casemiro and Fred to be present together. Neymar was replaced due to a sprained ankle, which became an uncertainty in Brazil. His injury needs to wait for further results of Babaylan’s examination.
Brazil fully demonstrates its samba football style, and Spain also fully demonstrates its pass-by and control football. Brazil defends Serbia CinemaLvia does not shoot directly in the whole game for five shots, SpainLeave Costa Rica no shots in the whole game. However, Costa Rica’s lineup is old and small, and Spain has not been truly tested. The “Matador” turns the first round of the World Cup group stage into a training match.
In the first round, Spanish coach Enrique put center Morata on the bench and sent out a set of strikeless formations. Real Madrid winger Asensio is at the center position, the two wingers are Ormo and Ferran Torres, and the three famous midfielders Busquets, Pedri and Garvey are all from Barcelona. There is no regular center in the starting lineup in Spain, but everyone can score. Whether this state can be played when facing a strong team needs to be tested in the next game against Germany.
English and French talents have produced strong firepower
England is the runner-up in the European Cup, France is the defending champion of the World Cup, and the two traditional strong teams also performed well. England defeated Iran 6-2, and France reversed Australia 4-1, but Britain and France also had their own hidden worries.
English players are known for their tall figure, tough style and strong confrontational ability. The “Three Lions” coached by Southgate also has delicate foot skills, which further improves their competitiveness. Previously, England, which had 3 draws and 3 losses, performed poorly in the European League group stage, and was considered to “acquire enough character” to compete in the World Cup. When we arrived at the World Cup, not only did Kane and Sterling of the Mesozoic generation perform stably, but Bellingham and other newcomers born in the 2000s staged a “youth storm”. Similar to Brazil, England’s bench depth is enviable. Rashford, Gallish, Foden and Wilson can continue their offensive firepower after making up for the game. Central defender Maguire lost his main position at Manchester United, but Southgate still trusts him very much. His header bombing is extremely threatening, but the “Malaysian aircraft carrier” turns too slowly when defending, which becomes a hidden danger on the English defense line.
France has also strong talent reserves. Although famous players such as Benzema, Pogba, Kante, Menion, and Nkunku failed to participate in this World Cup, French coach Deschamps is still at ease when deploying troops. The offensive combinations Giroud, Mbappe and Griezmann, who were the main players in the last World Cup, cooperated well with each other, and the Cinema season assisted La Liga in the last game.The attacking king Dembele enriched France’s offensive methods. Rabiot is good at attacking and defending in the midfield, and complements the back midfielder Joan Améni.
Live left-back Lucas withdrew from this World Cup due to injury. His younger brother Special O came on as a substitute, and his younger brother has stronger assisting ability. France now has only two authentic full-backs Teo and Paval, and Deschamps has begun to try to make midfielder Kama BabaylanVingar plays a guest-game left-back in training. The skills of the two central defenders Conat and Upamecano are slightly rough and need further training.
Portugal and the Netherlands each have their own shortcomings
Portugal’s focus is still Ronaldo. In the game when Portugal narrowly defeated Ghana 3-2, Ronaldo created a slightly controversial point and took the penalty and scored a penalty himself, breaking the deadlock for Portugal. This goal also made Ronaldo create history and became the first player to score goals in five World Cups. His bounce is still very good, but his explosive power and sprint ability have declined. Portuguese coach Santos still insists on letting Ronaldo start, but when to replace the Portuguese captain and replace the new generation scorers such as Leon, it will test the coach’s courage.
The “Monk” Pepe is 39 years old. This Portugal’s main central defender has been on the bench for many years, but Danilo, who played for him, did not perform very well. In the future games, whether to bring Pepe back to the starting lineup or continue to run-in with the central defender combination of Dias and Danilo is worth considering.
The Netherlands beat Senegal 2-0 in the first round, and should be thanked by Senegal for his weak ability to seize the scoring opportunity. The Dutch starting forward combination of the Netherlands in that game, YangBabaylanBabaylan and Berwin were two Tottenham players abandoned, and their performance was not ideal. Front midfielder Garkebo and KomiksLarson scored goals respectively. Barcelona forward Depp’s performance on the bench was remarkable. His injury is recovering and he is expected to return to the starting lineup next.
Dricht appeared in the right center back position of the Netherlands’ three central defender formation, but he admitted that he was more suitable for dragging back or left center back, and also clearly suggested that Tinbert was more suitable for right center back than himself. Whether the old coach Van Gaal will adjust the starting lineup will also be a highlight.
Germany and Argentina lose because they underestimated the enemy?
The biggest upset in the first round of this World Cup group stage was Argentina’s 1-2 loss to ShahVery, superstar Messi performed mediocrely. It is undeniable that Argentina was not prepared for that game, and the whole team generally lacked energy and thought victory was within reach. Saudi Arabia scored two exciting goals in a row and overtook the score 2-1, Argentina lacked the way to break intensive defense. Argentina will face its old rival Mexico in the second round, and Messi and his teammates must win.
Germany also underestimated the opponent in the game against Japan. Head coach Frikti replaced two offensive organizers Gundogan and Mueller in front, but it was not safe to lead 1-0. Japanese coach Morikazu Mori continued to substitution and strengthen his offense. The German defense line could not withstand the continuous impact of Japan’s high pressure and pressed, and scored two consecutive goals for Japan for substitution of Babaylan.
The progress of Japanese football in recent years has been obvious. Most of the players who entered the World Cup lineup play in major European leagues. Players such as Dorae, Asano Takuma, Kamada Odigi, Yoshida Ashiya, Ichikura Kamakura, Endo Kama and other players are from the Bundesliga. Germany was taught a lesson by the Japanese team with the “Germany Second Team”. In the next round of the game, it must be twelve points against its old opponent Spain.
In addition to some troubles between Argentina and Germany, Belgium, a traditional strong team that won the first round, has not been in good condition recently. As the third place in the last World Cup, Belgium returned to Canada, which was the World Cup finals after 36 years with a 1-0 win. Although Belgium ranked second in the world and Canada ranked only 41st in the world, Belgium played in a very embarrassed whole game, and fell behind 9-21 shots. If Belgian goalkeeper Courtois had not saved the penalty from Canada’s top star Davis, it would have been difficult for Belgium to win.
Yangcheng Evening News reporter Liu Yi