Defense makes Brazil and Uruguay dangerous in World Cup quarter-finals

Similarly, Uruguay has a much vaunted offensive pair. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani attracted attention and achieved five of the seven goals of the team. Still, it is the defense that has been the key to his run with one goal allowed, on a set against Portugal. In addition, Cavani should miss the quarter-final against France because of a calf injury, making the defense even more important.

[How Uruguay became the World Cup’s little country that could]

Despite the poor performance of Argentina, South America has been excellent defensively. The continent has allowed only 0.76 goals per game in the round of 16, well below the 1.12 allowed by its closest rivals in Europe. His defensive leaders were his two remaining teams, Brazil and Uruguay, who only allowed one goal each.

This was not the case in 2014, when Uruguay and Brazil could designate the fragile defense as the reason for their failures. . Brazil was embarrbaded at home in the semifinals, giving Germany seven goals; Uruguay conceded six goals in four games, leading to a disappointing exit in the round of 16. Four years later, the defense is their main weapon.

Brazil Manager Tite set up defense in a Thiago Silva and Miranda zonal marking system protected by Casemiro in the midst of a 4-3-3 formation. The outside defense managed to overcome injuries with Danilo coming out after the first match, and being replaced by Fagner on the right. The left back was solidly held by Marcelo but the injury required that he be replaced by Luis against Mexico. That Brazil has managed this defensive discipline with a rotating cast and an attack that has fired 77 times on opponents is a marvel.

The center of Uruguay is anchored by the back center Diego Godin , which has been a key piece for eight seasons at Atletico Madrid, which has the best defense in the world. Godin's partner in the backcourt, Jose Gimenez, is also his partner, which only makes things better. In early Uruguay, 4-4-2, but the opponents were more difficult to set up with a slightly more offensive 4-4-2 formation with defensive midfielder Sampdoria Lucas Torriera responsible for clogging middle. [19659012L'UruguayamontréuneexcellenteflexibilitétactiquetoutaulongdutournoiAprèsavoirpris55%depossessiondanslaphasedegroupesils'estbadisprofondémentcontrelePortugalenprenantseulement33%duballonetaabsorbélapressiondeCristianoRonaldoetCoPortugalatenté41croixdanslematchunsignequelemilieuduterrainIlestimpénétrableetsouligneàquelpointlemilieudeterrainetladéfenseuruguayensontbienjoué

While Brazil and & # 39; Uruguay look to their quarter-final Friday, they face two of the best offenses in the tournament. Brazil will face Belgium, which leads the tournament with 12 goals. Uruguay will face France, who has just scored four goals on Argentina. Expect that Uruguay and Brazil maintain their defense philosophies and focus on form rather than possession

On the positive side if you are a fan of South Americans, Belgium and the United States. France have not been the ball, having allowed 10 goals between them in eight games, and five in their last knockout matches against better competition.

Friday's clashes will be a clbadic offensive-versus-defense business, but as previously mentioned, Uruguay and Brazil have enough offensive firepower on their own. In the last round of KO, the defensive teams advanced. The eight winners had a goals-against average of 0.58, while the losers doubled that to 1.21. Recent history favors the defensive, and up to here Brazil and Uruguay have stolen this show.

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