[ad_1]
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi take center stage as the 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off this weekend with the start of the knockout matches in the top half of the draw.
Football heavyweights France, Argentina, Portugal and Brazil are all grouped in a section of the competition, with only Spain among the recent winners in the other half.
The unbalanced nature of the knockout phase sparked a debate before Thursday's England-Belgium group match. and enter the more difficult side of the draw or lose and face potentially easier facilities on the line?
In the event, Belgium ranked third won, adding even more firepower to the top half, while if England can pbad Colombia they imagine their chances of reaching a possible semifinal against the winners of Spain in 2010.
READ | 2018 FIFA World Cup: Luka Modric Facing International Glory
The first phase in Russia had only one blank and a record number of penalties, the video badistant referee ( VAR) being often in the honor.
On the half-dozen winners of the trophy since 1970, Germany has by far won the biggest shock of the tournament while Italy has never even qualified for Russia.
The tie on the 16th place between France and Messi and Argentina, two teams that went through the group stage.
France is bursting with firepower, with Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud, but they have failed to click until now, finding the net only three times in three matches – one of them. Between them was a penalty and another a goal against his side.
READ | FIFA World Cup 2018: Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli promises an "aggression" against France
"A brand new competition begins now, the direct elimination," said manager Didier Deschamps. "We have what we wanted, now the mountain stands in front of us, but we are here and we are aiming to move on to the next round."
Five times the world player of the year Messi stressed his importance for Argentina with a sublime He opened the scoring against Nigeria but his penalty missed Iceland in a 1-1 draw that set the tone for a disappointing campaign until 39. ;right here.
Ronaldo started his tournament with a hat-trick against Spain but he slipped behind the Englishman Harry Kane in the Golden Boot race after seeing his penalty saved in the match 1-1 draw against Iran.
The Real Madrid star, who has four goals in Russia and will be crowned world champion of the year for the sixth time, will come up against a tight defense of Uruguay that has not not conceded a single goal in the group stage.
READ | 2018 FIFA World Cup: Russia tries to rediscover the mojo for the Spanish confrontation
In addition to their defense, the Uruguayans, two winners, have two of the best scorers of their generation, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani . [19659002UruguayansareconsciousthatRonaldon'isnothavegreatlyforEuropeanchampionships-thereforallyoungpeopleaswellasBernardoSilvaandGoncaloGuedes
"We will mark him with the same respect as we score everyone, despite him being a superstar," said Sebastian Coates of Ronaldo. "You do not prepare a match by looking at a single player."
Debate on fair play
The debate on the Japanese approach of the last group match against Poland after the Asian players snuck into the knockout rounds after of their superior disciplinary record.
The Asians had to face a violent reaction in the last 15 minutes, despite a 1-0 loss on Thursday. not equalize against Columbia in the other match of Group H.
READ | FIFA World Cup: The pursuit of a new champion begins after a surprising phase of groups
Kozo Tashima, president of the Japan Football Federation (JFA), said that the l? team deserved a place in the finals. "It's our commitment to fair play that has allowed us to get through," Tashima told local media after Japan faced Belgium next week.
"We had fewer yellow cards, so we could progress, which is the result of" Japan Way "- a flawless dedication to getting football through and playing fair. "
FIFA stated that it had no intention of changing its fair play criteria.
READ | The unpredictability of the 2018 FIFA World Cup ™ means that all the best teams in the mix
"This is the first time (the fair play rule) has been used in A senior World Cup this way.Colin Smith, the head of FIFA tournaments and events, said on Friday that African nations are hocking their wounds after the elimination of Senegal, which means that no Mainland team has reached the second round of the tournament. "Didier Drogba, who competed in three World Cups with Ivory Coast, said the African teams had made a" big step backwards ". in Russia
"Africa will succeed one day but we need to think again how we approach these great competitions," he told the BBC in his televised pundit role.
Source link
