[ad_1]
The serious battle between South America and Europe begins this Saturday, when Argentina and Uruguay will attempt to leave the last two finalists of the European Championship respectively France and Portugal.
These matches will start the 16 round of a World Cup more unpredictable than ever, where the big ones have not yet said this and the only certainty is that Germany will not repeat itself as champion and will not be crowned for the first time by an African team.
Africa survived the initial phase, and the departure of Germany in the same first round paved the way for other contenders to the scepter. However, no one has scored the distances, not even a brazen Brazil of talent, and only three teams have won all their matches from the initial phase: Uruguay, Croatia and Belgium, perhaps the only arrival with a favorite poster and this has been confirmed as a serious candidate for the title.
One of the big questions of this stage is to see if there is a clash between Lionel Messi's Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the quarterfinals, which would happen if his two selections succeed. this Saturday.
It should be noted that nine of the ten World Cups contested in Europe were won by European teams. Brazil was the exception in Sweden in 1958.
A look at the knockout stages:
FRANCE vs ARGENTINA
A disconcerting Argentina, devoid of identity and still unable to defend itself. exploit the talent of Lionel Messi, will try to turn the tunes to France by Antoine Griezman and Kylian Mbappé, who fell to Portugal in the final of the last European Championship. The French team has long worked under the command of Didier Deschamps, but has several young players and we will have to see how they react to the experience of an Argentine team with many players with a long history that burn their last rounds and want to give their country its first title in more than 30 years.
URUGUAY vs PORTUGAL
Uruguay is probably the team that had the least difficulty in the initial phase, which closed by 3-0 to the owner, Russia. While the Uruguayans have gone down more and more (their first two games have won 1-0 against weak opponents), Portugal has gone lower and lower. He made a good match by shooting 3-3 with Spain in his debut, beat Morocco 1-0 tight and tied 1-1 with Iran. The Portuguese team, on the other hand, depends a lot on Cristiano, the author of four of the five goals that he scored. In contrast, Uruguay's scoring chances do not revolve exclusively around Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani. Their defenders are still deadly with the balls stopped and their midfielder has gained momentum
SPAIN vs RUSSIA
Russia has scored eight goals against Saudi Arabia and Egypt combined, but then lost 3-0 against Uruguay. In the newspapers, it should not cause too much trouble to a category Spain team, although "The Red" did not meet expectations. The Spaniards, who fired their coach Julen Lopetegui a day before the World Cup, won their group with a 1-0 victory over Iran and two draws, including one against Morocco that created many options from goal. If you do not put the batteries, Spain could suffer a surprise against the host
CROATIA against DENMARK
With Luka Modric to Ivan Rakitic on fire, the Croats were one of the sensations of the first round. They beat Argentina 3-0 after beating Nigeria 2-0 and, in the end, playing with substitutes, sent Iceland 2-1. They looked favorites against a Denmark that survived the first round thanks to a 1-0 victory over a Peruvian team that was far superior.
BRAZIL vs MEXICO
The World Cup is still waiting for the break-up of Brazil, a great candidate for the title but whose numbers have not yet given all that is expected of them. 39 and they suffered a lot the initial phase. It will be necessary to see which version of Mexico goes on the field, if the one who won 1-0 in Germany and 2-1 in South Korea, or the one who lost 3-0 against Sweden on the third date. Never in history has Mexico won a round of 16 match away from the World Cup, where it has never beaten Brazil either.
BELGIUM vs JAPAN
The Belgians have won their three matches, including the last against England, and they are big favorites to go on the road to Japan. The Asians advanced with just four points to have less caution than Senegal and after defeating Colombia in their debut after being favored by a penalty kick and the expulsion of a Colombian just started the game.
SWEDEN vs SWITZERLAND
reserved forecasts between two European teams of very uniform level. Sweden secured the qualification with a 3-0 win against Mexico which was very tonic, while Switzerland took a point in Brazil in its debut, overtaken by the minimal difference to Serbia with a return and closed the first leg with a 2-2 draw in front of a Costa Rica already eliminated which caused a lot of problems.
COLOMBIA vs ENGLAND
There are those who speculate that the English did not do much strength in Belgium because if they lost, they had a clearer path to the final. Colombia in the eighth, Sweden or Switzerland in the quarterfinals and Croatia, Denmark, Spain or Russia in the semifinals. The certain thing is that, already clbadified, they left to the bank to Harry Kane, who takes five goals, and to the other holders of the duel with the Belgians. The panorama of Colombia is uncertain. After the misstep of the debut, they made a big game against Poland, which they beat 3-0, and beat Senegal just enough to finish first in the group. They impressed only against Poland and do not know if they can count on James Rodríguez, who arrived at the World Cup with muscle overload, did not play in the beginning and had to leave. in the first half against Senegal
[ad_2]
Source link
