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There are eight teams at the 2018 World Cup, 32 of them, some we have loved, others we barely remember. (Again: I will always love you, Tunisia.)
Who can really win? Who is just happy to have come all this way? Let's classify the remaining teams by the probability that they will hoist the trophy:
With the savagery of this World Cup, I will not exclude anything, but this Russian team, more than any other team, feels as a team that is simply delighted to be here. They beat Spain because A) they ran a ton – some might say a suspicious amount – for 120 minutes and B) Spain did not seem to feel the need for any of them. go somewhere and do something, lost.
Croatia, who is competing in the next meeting in Russia, may also run the risk, but Russia will eventually meet an opponent who is not afraid to pursue them, and they can not continue like this. 19659005] Sweden is good. Sweden is good. They stay organized defensively, do not chase stupid things, do not take stupid risks, and have been extremely good at blocking shots with their big Swedish bodies. They are a bit like Uruguay in that they know exactly what they are and do not try to be anything other than that. They have their creative guy – Emil Forsberg – and their big striker – Marcus Berg – and everyone is here to get rid of their buttocks and do all the good. I'm not sure it can win you a World Cup, though.
Belgium is quite brilliant and extremely exciting and she seems to be the perfect candidate to flambé dramatically during their next game. Admittedly, it's against Brazil, and Brazil is the best team in the tournament. (Sorry, warning spoiler.) But all this race at the World Cup has been to watch the Belgian manager Roberto Martinez try to model the talent that he has to match a vision of how he wants to play. When it works, it 's beautiful, and he looks like a genius. But when that's not the case, hoo buddy.
Will Martinez swallow his pride, break this wild formation in 3-4-3 attack that he likes and pulls Carrasco (or Mertens and pushes Carrasco up to the winger)? The Brazilian talent gives the impression that Belgium should play a 4-2-3-1 with Axel Witsel and Moussa Dembele in the defensive MC, then push Kevin De Bruyne higher on the field. Again, that is Martinez. It is quite possible that he remains engaged in this 3-4-3 with De Bruyne in the role of midfielder and risk Brazil to lose six. Party or famine with this guy.
5. Uruguay
Uruguay is a better team than England and Croatia, who are both ahead of them on this list. This placement in fifth is purely due to the range – for Uruguay to win, it will have to beat France, then probably Brazil, or at least Belgium. That's just to get to the final. I loved Uruguay all over the tournament because I believe it's a perfectly built team and perfectly comfortable knowing exactly who they are. They defend themselves like madmen, they fight back with brio, and they hear with the best of them. I love their chances, but, you know, it's France and Brazil. Who are very good.
4. Croatia
I love this Croatia, but this laborious performance against Denmark has made me nervous. When Luke Modric and Ivan Rakitic have the ball at their feet, anything is possible with this side. When these two do not have the ball at their feet, they look a little devoid of ideas. They also seemed too eager to own sometimes and not really try something, something that sentenced the team to Spain. That being said, they are extremely talented, and on the right side of the parenthesis.
3. England
I left England against Columbia more excited about the England team than I was going to attend. Yes, they surrendered the late goal to Yerry Mina, and needed a painful penalty kickout to get him out. I love them more, not just because they did not collapse when they gave up the late goal, which would have been something that they did in the past. I love them more because of Colombia.
Colombia has been cautious against England, and Colombia is cautious towards anyone. They played three defensive midfielders and resorted to all sorts of bullshit to try to slow down the game and stop England from attacking. They had to be mean. Of course, they missed James, but when you evolve a team like Colombia, they respect you. And England is so good right now that they deserve that respect.
Also, it really helps that they do not have to play France and Brazil as Uruguay does. Once again, Uruguay is better than England. Sorry, just need to say it again.
2. France
France is as talented as anybody, and they have a practical manager at Didier Deschamps who will be cautious and not allow them to make huge mistakes on their way to the finals. World Cup. It's probably good for ensuring a deep race, but at some point, Deschamps will have to make a decision – does he want to play smart, or does he want to try that thing? France and Brazil will probably meet in the semifinals and we'll know.
Brazil
Brazil has a lot of criteria that I look for in a team that wins the final. They have talent. So, so talented. They are deep. So so deep. (Casemiro will miss the next match because of the yellow cards, so Brazil must turn to … Fernandinho, who only leaves for Manchester City.) They know exactly who they are, with a wide variety of players all engaged in roles that they understand. They can be mean and defensive when they must be, they can do anything and attack when they must. They can beat you quickly or break you creatively. They are on the wrong side of support, and it does not matter. Brazil is the team to beat.
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