The hard work and key factors of VAR as a general rule in Russia

St. St. Petersburg, July 11: In the 51st minute of Samuel Umtiti's head, a corner kicked off France's lead for the FIFA World Cup finals. He not only presented the French with a date for the World Cup final, but one day after their national holiday on July 14, he also showed the importance of the sets in this World Cup.

Roberto Martinez, who was at the reception of the goal of Umtiti, was reminded at the press conference that it was the fifth goal that Belgium conceded from a set-piece in Russia. But he attacked charges that his side had defended and he was probably right, reports the Xinhua News Agency.

Belgium has players like Vincent Kompany, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen in defense, as well as Romelu Lukaku in attack and Marouane Fellaini in midfield. They are all tall and strong, and yet it is the 1.94m Fellaini who lost to Umtiti, who at 1.80m is not the biggest central defender of the World Cup.

did his homework on training grounds and Umtiti was the 69th goal out of the 158 so far scored in the World Cup, which comes from a set-piece. This is not to say that the teams are defending themselves badly, but that they are working on their training field routine and that an offensive team will always have a length ahead of its opponents. because she knows what she wants to do as their opponents are left to react.

England has up to now been the best defender of set pieces, with three of his first four goals in Russia, all coming in the next corners, while the fifth was a penalty. Since then, they have maintained their effectiveness from dead ball situations with eight of their 11 goals until the end of the quarterfinal phase from set kicks.

The last ones showed how well they worked their routine. He lined up behind Harry Kane before taking off and Harry Maguire found a free header to open the scoring against Sweden.

It helps if you have someone who can put the ball in the right place and Kieran Trippier has been very effective for English side. It also helps if you have someone like Maguire (1.87m) or Kane (1.88m) to have a head on the ball. But sometimes it is a matter of quick thinking and hard work, as evidenced by the fourth goal against Panama: a set consisting of four keys that left John Stones in the lead.

The use of VAR in Russia probably also helped. For starters, there were punishments that would have gone unnoticed and defenders know that some of the tactics they would have used to defend a set-piece now risk being punished by the referee pointing to the goal.

Purists will say that a goal of a set-piece is not as good as a goal following a flabby attack involving the first soccer ball and someone outstanding after running in space. The reality is that in these days of analysis, videos, pro-zone and other coaching tools, a good strong header from one corner is just as much: just ask in Umtiti.