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When England – I mean the country, its media and its fans – comes back to earth after breaking the curse of penalties, they will realize that this has followed a disappointing performance in the two hours that have preceded. Thus, how the pre-quarterfinals ended was a contrasted study of how they started.
What came out of the first day games was the speed of the teams' transition from front to back. There are few visions in football more enjoyable than a team moving from defense to attack in the blink of an eye. Kylian Mbappe's gazelle steps exploited Argentina's lack of pace in the midfield, which was mentioned earlier in these columns, and helped France take control early.
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Check that they never gave in, something that would not be obvious on the score of 4-3. France has overtaken Argentina, suffocated Lionel Messi and is growing in this tournament, just like a team in a hurry to go to the end. Same as Brazil and I will come there in a minute.
Later that night, Edinson Cavani brought together his experience, endurance and incredible abilities in one quick movement that he began and ended. After the ball moved from right to left, what had marked me was the way Cavani was following him, pbading some of his team-mates who were farther away. This is what serves the instinct of a true attacker. The move also showed all that is right about the Cavani-Luis Suarez partnership.
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Japan also showed how much his football has become intelligent with the goal of Genki Haraguchi exposing the flaws in the three back system from Belgium. The kind of self-confidence that Japan has shown with its ability to stick to a plan against much higher opponents is something that they will support. Belgium will take a lot of heart with the character they showed but their winner has also been a transition lesson and with Thibaut Courtois, goalkeepers can be the first line of attack.
Brazil was once again the strongest team in the group and what has marked me, is how they lined themselves defensively to smother Mexico. Suffocation is what Russia has done to Spain and I still have trouble overcoming their eviction. They have never settled and maybe it has a lot to do with what happened before the start of their tournament.
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Maybe the players were caught in the crossfire between Real Madrid and the Spanish FA . The big clubs, whether it's Mohun Bagan or East Bengal or Spanish heavyweights, weigh their weight all the time even if it does not do justice. Maybe the Spanish FA should have kept in mind the bigger picture. Maybe Spain would not have looked so disjointed at that time. Maybe there would not have been so many individual mistakes.
England was disjointed. It was known that Colombia without James Rodriguez would try to disrupt and disrupt them, but what could worry England, is their lack of creativity and the tendency to try to protect a 1-0 lead . So, if it is England and Croatia in the semifinals, I believe that Luka Modric's team will become better than that of its predecessors in 1998.
The writer is the former captain of the Indian football team
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