The Nation Newspaper

Tag: world cup

  • How Port Harcourt fans booed Argentina out of World Cup

    The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. That was the slogan of the day at the This Is Naija fan park in Port Harcourt on June 30, 2018.

    Bearing deep grudges from the Nigerian team’s loss to Argentina on Tuesday, June 26, Port Harcourt fans understandably in their thirst for vengeance supported the French team. However, the Messi faithful refused to be intimidated, for despite being outnumbered, they showed up to support their legend.

    The seating arrangement at the fan park was designed such that the French supporters sat on the right while the Argentina supporters sat on the left. The French drew the first blood through Atletico Madrid’s talisman Antoine Griezmann who sent the keeper the wrong way to bury a penalty and the French side who were the majority celebrated while trolling the Argentine supporters. That did not last long though Angel Di Maria pulled one from the top drawer to level the game and the Argentine side returned the trolling favour.

    The second half saw Argentina take the lead but it did not last long as French Teenager, Mbappe restored parity. Further goals came from the French side who sealed their quarter final place by running out 4-3 winners and the Port Harcourt fans were delighted as they finally got the revenge they were after.

    Even though  the national team has been eliminated from the tournament, This Is Naija fan parks are still open to football lovers across the country as well as on mobile through the Kwese iflix app. Catch all the actions of the Mundial at the fan parks and on the app because as a football lover, no elimination can stop our love and passion for the beautiful game. After-all as we proudly say; “This Is Naija, Where Football Lives”

  • World Cup: Sweden into quarter-finals, Switzerland out

    • SWEDEN 1-0 SWITZERLAND

    • Forsberg nets opener (66)

       

    • World Cup round of 16

       

    • Sweden to play England or Colombia

       

    FT: There we have it, a fairly dull game until the second half added time, and it’s Emil Forsberg’s deflected goal that seals Sweden’s spot in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1994.

    Switzerland had their chance to press but their finishing was poor, and they have been punished. Home time for Shaqiri and co.

    GOAL! SWEDEN 1-0 SWITZERLAND (Forsberg, 66)

    FINALLY! There’s a breakthrough and hopefully it inspires a bit of quality in this now!

    Toivonen slips the ball to Forsberg across the top of the area who takes a few strides before striking – but the ball takes a big deflection off the foot of Akanji on the way through and beats Sommer in the net.

    A cruel blow for Switzerland but they have plenty of time to get back into this yet.

    HT: Chances for both sides in that first half, but there has been some terrible finishing plus a good save from Yann Sommer to keep Marcus Berg from netting the opening goal.

    As expected before the game, it has been tight between the two and this game is there for the taking. We have to have a winner this afternoon!

    WITZERLAND TEAM NEWS

    Team to play Sweden: Sommer, Lang, Djourou, Akanji, Rodriguez, Behrami, Xhaka, Shaqiri, Dzemaili, Zuber, Drmic.

    Subs: Mvogo, Burki, Moubandje, Elvedi, Freuler, Fernandes, Zakaria, Embolo, Seferovic, Gavranovic.

    SWEDEN TEAM NEWS

    Team to play Switzerland: Olsen, Lustig, Lindelof, Granqvist, Augustinsson, Claesson, Svensson, Ekdal, Forsberg, Berg, Toivonen.

    Subs: Johnsson, Nordfeldt, Olsson, Helander, Krafth, Jansson, Hiljemark, Rohden, Durmaz, Guidetti, Thelin.

    FOUR SWISS SWITCHES

    Switzerland have made four changes from their late 2-2 draw with Costa Rica last time out.

    Captain Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schar are suspended, so Michael Lang and Johan Djourou come into the XI. There are also changes up front with Bree Embolo and Mario Gavranovic making way for Steven Zuber and Josip Drmic.

    ONE SWEDEN CHANGE

    Sweden have made one change from the side that beat Mexico 3-0 in their final group game, with Seb Larsson suspended. He is replaced by Gustav Svensson.

    Captain Andreas Granqvist is in the XI with his wife due to give birth today.

  • Budweiser Contest: Kanu Surprises Fans with Free World Cup Tickets

    Though Super Eagles are out of the ongoing FIFA World Cup, but for football legend, Kanu Nwankwo, Nigerians are still open to experience football action live at the Russia mundial.

    Hence, the former Nigerian international who threw his weight behind Budweiser World Cup contest, has rewarded its winners with return tickets to watch the ongoing FIFA tournament in Russia which is now at the quarter-final stage.

    Kanu handed out the free World Cup tickets after they emerged winners of Budweiser “Light Up the FIFA World Cup” global contest held during the group stage of the tournament.

    The football fans compete against five other participating countries in the contest that quelled the fans of their excitements and also not shout or scream during their national team’s matches.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deiBcPymkT4

    The Nigerian Super Eagles fans won the contest as they were able to abide by the rule not to scream during their national team matches, and they were rewarded with a special surprise visit of football legend, Kanu Nwankwo, who now handed them the free tickets to go watch the remaining FIFA 2018 World Cup matches in Russia.

    “Nigerian football fans are some of the most passionate and spirited fans in the world. They sing, jump up, pray and doing everything possible to cheer their team on. So, it was crazy to see them watch our team compete in the World Cup without making any noise or lighting up Budweiser’s Red Light Cup,” said, Kanu while presenting the World Cup tickets.

    He continued, “I had such a great time partnering with Budweiser, a brand I enjoy, ‘Don’t Light It Up.’ Getting to go to the World Cup is special and it means so much to these lucky fans to win a trip from Budweiser. I could see it on their faces. I could see how happy they are, and to be able to see the World Cup live, that’s awesome!”

  • World Cup: Belgium fight back to beat Japan 3-2

     

    • Belgium 3-2 Japan
    • Haraguchi with opener (48)
    • Inui with superb strike (52)
    • Vertonghen’s bizarre header (69)
    • Fellaini header levels (74)
    • Chadli wins it late (94)
    • Winner plays Brazil in QF on Friday
    • Japan have never reached QF

     

    GOAL! BELGIUM 3-2 JAPAN (Chadli 90+4)

    WOW. WOW. WOW. WOW.

    UNBELIEVABLE FINISH TO THIS GAME!

    Courtois collects the corner, and forms a blistering counter-attack. Japan, granted, have far too many men forward.

    Courtois rolls it to De Bruyne, who runs 50 yards and feeds Meunier, and Lukaku’s dummy finds Chadli at the back post to turn into the empty net!!

    GOAL! BELGIUM 2-2 JAPAN (Fellaini 74)

    BELGIUM BACK ON TERMS! WHAT A WORLD CUP!

    Hazard does superbly as De Bruyne finds him on the left… he twists, turns and crosses brilliantly with his left foot, and it’s Fellaini (who else?!) who rises easily above the Japanese defenders to nod home!!

    GOAL! BELGIUM 1-2 JAPAN (Vertonghen 69)

    Bizarre entry back into the game for Belgium! Japan fail to properly clear a corner as Inui’s punt rises high.

    Vertonghen is wide on the left of the box, around 18 yards from the goal, but somehow his header loops over Kawashima and into the far corner of the net!

    Surely, surely he wasn’t going for goal?! Belgium within a goal of Japan now!

    GOAL! BELGIUM 0-2 JAPAN (Inui 52)

    Oh my lord! Belgium are completely stunned, and this is a brilliant strike from Inui.

    Make no mistake, Belgium need to pressure Kagawa as he takes the ball down from the air and flicks it back for Inui.

    He has so much time to line up an effort from 25 yards, but he finds the far right corner with a brilliant right-footed strike. What a goal!!!

    GOAL! BELGIUM 0-1 JAPAN (Haraguchi 48)

    Wow. This wasn’t in the script! Belgium try far too much up the other end again and Japan can break.

    Inui does well to roll his man and find Shibasaki then plays Haraguchi on the right in space, and Vertonghen takes an age to get over. 

    Haraguchi composes himself and finds the bottom left corner brilliantly!

     

    Japan have never reached the quarter-final of international football’s elite tournament, while expectation of Roberto Martinez’s Belgium has gone through the roof after three group stage wins.

    BELGIUM v JAPAN TEAM NEWS

    Belgium welcome back several names following the 1-0 win over England; Courtois keeps his place, with Vincent Kompany starting for the first time at the World Cup.

    For Japan, Okazaki was a doubt and doesn’t make it for the starting XI, and they make six changes.

    JAPAN TEAM NEWS

    Team to play Belgium: Kawashima, Shoji, Nagatomo, Sakai, Yoshida, Shibasaki, Haraguchi, Kagawa, Inui, Hasebe, Osako

    BELGIUM TEAM NEWS

    Team to play Japan: Courtois, Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen, Meunier, De Bruyne, Witsel, Carrasco, Mertens, Hazard, Lukaku

    CONTEXT

    Belgium will have a refreshed side to choose from as they face Japan tonight.

    Roberto Martinez left most of his first-choice players on the bench on Thursday against England, but still came away with a 1-0 victory to uphold their 100 per cent record in Group G.

    Belgium are looking to reach the quarter-finals for only the second time since 1986, while Japan have never reached the last eight of the tournament, appearing at this stage two times previously.

  • Russia Shocks Spain in World Cup Knockout

    Russia are through to the quarterfinals of their own World Cup after eliminating 2010 winners Spain on penalties. The game finished 1-1 after Spain struggled to break down the resolute hosts.

    Fußball WM 2018 Spanien vs Russland (Reuters/C. Recine)

    Spain 1 – 1 Russia (Russia win 4-3 on penalties), Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
    (Ignashevich og 11′ – Dzyuba 41)

    It didn’t quite have the thrill-a-minute feel of Saturday’s round if 16, but there was drama aplenty as Russia and Spain battled it out in the capital.

    In a World Cup rapidly becoming known for own goals and set-piece efforts,  Sergei Ignashevich ticked both boxes when his flick of his heel handed Spain the lead with 11 minutes played.

    The 38-year-old was so intent on preventing Spain’s Sergio Ramos from getting on the end of Isco’s free-kick, he lost sight of the ball before unwittingly turning it into his own net.

    Russia responded well to falling behind and, buoyed by the boisterous home crowd, enjoyed promising spells. Fast-paced wing play elicited panicky defending, while Aleksandr Golovin curled just wide with their best sight of goal.

    The hosts were handed a lifeline on the stroke of half-time though, when Gerard Pique’s handball led to referee Bjorn Kuipers pointing to the spot. Artem Dzyuba made no mistake to move on to three goals for the tournament and restore parity at the break.

    The excitement of the first half dissipated soon after the restart as the game fell into a rather dull rhythm of Spain dominating possession without truly threatening.

    Even the introduction of Denis Cheryshev and Andres Iniesta either side of the hour mark failed to spark the encounter back into life.

    That was until the 85th minute, when after nearly 30 minutes without a significant chance on goal, Iniesta stung the palms of Igor Akinfeev, who completed a fine double save to deny Iago Aspas on the follow up, sending the tie into extra time.

    There was little change to proceedings in the extra period as Spain continued toying with a deep-lying Russian side. Akinfeev had to deny both Pique and Rodrigo late on, but his real heroics came in the shootout as he saved spotkicks from Koke and Iago Aspas to send Russia into the quarter finals.

  • Russia 2018: NFF to review Eagles’ performance

    Bitrus Bewarang, the Chairman of Technical Committee of NFF, has said that the federation would be meeting to review the performance of Super Eagles at the 2018 Russia World Cup.

    Bewarang, who spoke with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Hilton Hotel in St. Petersburg, said the federation was yet to do a review of the Eagles’ matches at the Mundial.

    ‘‘On returning home, NFF will meet to do a review of Super Eagles’ ouster in the competition with a view to avoid a re-occurrence in future.

    ‘’This will enable the federation to know the strength and weaknesses of the team, do a surgical operation with a view to moving forward,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that the Super Eagles lost the first Group D match 0-2 to Croatia in the opening game, won their second match 2-0 against Iceland but failed to qualify to the round of 16 after a 1-2 loss to Argentina.

    He said that it was unfortunate the Nigerian system thrived on fire-brigade approach to things.

    ‘‘Ordinarily, like most advanced countries do we are supposed to start preparing for the next World Cup now, but Nigeria will wait till the eve of another one before swinging into action,’’ Bewarang said.

    He said that the NFF seemed to emphasise on the development of age grade players, where there would be U-13 and U-15 competitions.

    ‘‘For instance, if a player is U-15 now, in four years he would be 19 years old. This was what happened in the case of Kylan Mbape of France who has the energy and skill to perform,’’ he said.

    Speaking on the needed synergy between the Coach of the team, Garnet Rohr and the Technical Committee, Bewarang said that the relationship existing was not too cordial.

    ‘‘Personally I have relationship and access to Rohr but it is not official. There must be a situation whereby my committee will be able to make input into what he is doing.

    ‘’Though, they say there is a subsisting contract with him, the agreement must be such that will accommodate the contributions of the committee,’’ he said.

    He cited example of the arrangement before U. S. ’94 World Cup where even though Coach Clemens Westerhof already had his team intact but still bent backwards to accommodate some other good players.

    ‘‘You can recall how the likes of Sunday Oliseh, Chidi Nwanu and Mike Emenalo, who were discovered to be good later, were absorbed to earn better result to the benefit of the country,’’ he said.

    This, he said, led to the spectacular performance of Nigeria in that edition of World Cup where Super Eagles stunned to the globe to reach the round of 16.

    NAN reports that after the Eagles’ brilliant performance leading to Nigeria’s qualification to the World Cup, NFF renewed Rohr’s contract for another two years, an agreement ton end in 2020.

  • World Cup ouster

    To many a football fan, Nigeria’s June 26 ouster from the 20th FIFA World Cup in Russia, was an end — end of the umpteenth Nigerian dream to boss the world in football. It came crashing, yet again, with the controversial 2-1 defeat by Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

    But that end could well turn to a new beginning of future glories. It all depends on making the right conclusions, and taking the right positives, from what not a few still insist was a debacle. It was not, though the early exit galls.

    For starters, Nigeria always exits every major competition with cries of “lack of adequate preparations”. This Russia 2018 campaign was a welcome exception. The team didn’t only play quality, Grade A matches to prepare, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) sorted out the crucial player participating and winning bonuses, well ahead of the championship. Bonus was the well established grave of previous World Cup campaigns.

    Still, it was obvious from the preparatory friendlies that the Super Eagles might not have been fully ready for that big stage — the biggest in global football, with even well-drilled teams, with established stars like Germany, the defending champions from Brazil 2014, having early showers after the first round of matches.

    That the team was youngest among all the qualified nations at Russia was a thing of quiet national pride. But behind that pride and feel-good strutting was the fear that the team was not quite mature enough. Those fears led to palpable worries, as the Eagles stuttered in the friendly losses: 0-2 against Serbia, 1-2 against England, and 0-1 against Czech Republic.

    Even the lone victory (1-0 against Poland), resulted from a spark of individual brilliance from Victor Moses (who earned a penalty and converted it), rather than any discernible cohesive team play. The 0-0 draw with DR Congo in Port Harcourt was neither here nor there, while the 4-2 win over eventual nemesis, Argentina, much earlier, ironically in same Russia, was a worrying reminder of a once vibrant and promising team, collapsing on the eve of the big stage. That made not a few to quietly arch themselves for a most disastrous of campaigns in Russia, despite the loud patriotic din about “winning the World Cup”.

    Yet, that disaster never came. Indeed, win or lose, the team competed well, sending Argentina into severe panic; in those breath-sucking last 10 minutes of the match of June 26. The only evidence of non-readiness was a sluggish first half, that cost Nigeria dear in all the matches.

    But as it was the pattern since after the England friendly at Wembley, a redemptive second half always followed a dry first. The moral is simple: get the team more welded together, get rid of that tentative start, and watch them, other things being equal, explode, perhaps in 2022 in Qatar.

    Still, what makes this team different from the previous others, as to warrant such optimism? A comparison here is apposite.

    Take the debutant, history-making USA 1994 World Cup squad. It was a product of six years, getting to the last four of three consecutive African Nation’s Cup. By the sixth year of consistent team-building, they won AFCON in Tunisia. But for tactical naivety in the closing minutes against Italy in the Second Round, they would just have made it to the quarter-finals — and who knows what could have happened? But that was the peak. By France 98, that team was in descent, despite the record-setting win against the star-studded Spain.

    In Korea-Japan 2002, another bunch of rookies were cobbled together in three months, after the disbanding of the Oliseh-led team that got bronze at the Mali 2002 AFCON. They shimmered and dazzled at pre-World Cup friendlies, beating the likes of Scotland. But at the World Cup, they fizzled out: two losses and one draw. The only gain from that campaign was young Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, who would keep that shirt for years after, after brilliantly keeping out England, in a 0-0 draw, in the last group match.

    In Brazil 2014, after an earlier exposure at the Confederations Cup in Brazil in 2013, you could see the team was struggling to barely make the mark. It eventually managed one win (Bosnia-Herzegovina), one loss (Argentina, the match Ahmed Musa got his other World Cup brace in a 2-3 loss, before Russia 2018’s 2-0 win against Iceland) and a draw with Iran. After ouster with a 1-3 loss to France in the Round of 16, that team had exhausted its potential, and dissipated.

    But this Russia 2018 team is different. Though it stormed through the Africa World Cup qualifiers with beauty and fury, leaving in the lurch Cameroon, Algeria and Zambia, African footballing powers in their own rights, it is less than two years old. Even then, if you remove the “Oyinbo wall” of Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong, the defence that qualified Nigeria for Russia wasn’t the same that turned up at the opening match against Croatia.

    The defensive midfield suddenly saw Ogenyi Onazi give way to block-busting Oghenekaro Etebo, after Onazi’s Wembly fumbled. The flux, in the starting eleven, would continue into the championship proper, with Kelechi Iheneacho displacing the rather turgid and slow-thinking Odion Ighalo, in the last two matches against Iceland and Argentina.

    So, this is a young team, basically still experimental, that should be left to grow under the same technical inputs, that fired it to the World Cup. In four years, it may well better the Clemens Westerhoff six-year welding that paid off so handsomely in USA ’94. Just get a faster-thinking striker, build the play-making around Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi and you could well land a tantalising side that could send the football globe into sheer delirium.

    These are the positives to take away from the Russia campaign, not any blame-game panic that suggests going back to ground zero. It is heart-warming the NFF is going along line. That way, you have two AFCONs, and one Olympic Games to further expose the lads and gift them vital experience.

     

     

  • World Cup: Messi ‘woeful’ only plays well against Eagles – Siasia

    Samson Siasia, former Super Eagles’ Coach- could not hide his feelings about Lionel Messi, following the Argentine’s unimpressive outing in the ongoing World Cup in Russia.

    Though Messi did score against Nigeria leading to the three-time Africa Champion’s ouster, but that did not tickle the fancy of the former Nigerian international.

    “…he has not been spectacular for me. He only played well against Nigeria. In this tournament,  I will score him below average. Though he is an inspiration for his team but that was not enough to make him go far in this world Cup,” Siasia said on Super Sport.

    Messi- arguably world best- was shown the exit door from Russia on Saturday following his team’s 4-3 defeat by France.

    In Saturday’s seven goals thriller, the 33-year old only had an assist to his credit but 19-year-old France ace, Kylian Mbappe stood tall on the spotlight scoring two of the goals in the 64th and 68th minutes respectively.

    Messi failed to improve his goal drought in the battle of Kazan as the Barcelona forward could only manage to get an assist in the 90 minutes encounter.

    France international Mbappe stole the show with two goals and also won the opening penalty that Griezmann stuck away.

    Argentina was 2-1 up at one stage with goals from Di Maria (a thunderbolt) and Mercado.

    France however came to the party with a stunning strike from Pavard and Mbappe’s double. Aguero set up a grandstand finish but Messi and his teammates failed in their bid to find a late equaliser.

  • World Cup: Messi others set for Round of 16 showdown

    Without further ado, the 16 teams that have qualified to play in the second round of the ongoing World Cup are set once again to do battle with each other for the quarter-finals slots.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup to jostle for the eight semi-finals slots.

    While the other 16 teams, including the Super Eagles that did not qualify for the round of 16 have since departed Russia to their countries.

    Now that the World Cup is now in the knockout stage, the issue of projections would have no bearing on the match pairings because each of the teams would have to decide their destinies through outright victory.

    With the benefit of hindsight it is assumed that the coaches of the 16 gladiators would have worked on their perceived weaknesses before the commencement of hostilities to decide the quarter finalists.

    The Lionel Messi inspired La Albiceleste that barely escaped elimination from the hands of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, would surely want to make amends by defeating Les Bleus of France for the quarter-finals ticket.

    But France under the tutelage of 1998 World Cup winning captain, Didier Deschamps, also have their sights fixed on the quarter-finals slot which the Jorge Sampaoli coached Argentina are also eyeing.

    Argentina have one of the most fearsome attacks in the world but so far, Sampaoli has not been able to get the players to click, maybe this crucial showdown will bring out the best from Sergio Agüero, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuaín and Ángel Di María.

    Deschamps has one of the most talented squads at the World Cup, but they were underwhelming at the group stage and seem to lack consistency…maybe the France showdown may provide the spark needed to propel their campaign.

    Players like Antoine Griezman, Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar, Paul Pogba, Olivier Giroud would need to step up their game, for a likely encore of their 1998 triumph at the Parc de Prince.

    France have never defeated Argentina in a World Cup match. Previous meetings: France and Argentina have met 11 times. Argentina won six games, France two, with three draws.

    The mouthwatering showdown between Portugal and Uruguay at the 48, 000 capacity Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi, is one match that could swing either way because of the pedigree of the players in the two teams.

    It now behooves on Coach Fernando Santos of Portugal and Oscar Washington-Tabarez, to roll out their troops armed with the requisite tactical stratagem to outwit their opponents in the one-off match to decide the quarter-finalist.

    This is where we expect to see the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Quaresma, Pepe, William Carvalho…coming up with their A-game against the likes of Luis Suarez, Edison Cavani, Diego Godin.

    The obvious strength of Uruguay lies up front with Luis Suárez and Edinson Cavani forming one of the tournament’s most potent partnerships; Uruguay have yet to concede a goal in this World Cup.

    While Ronaldo is still the focal point, the likes of Bernardo Silva, André Silva and Gelson Martins have gained more experience and are able to support him better up front.

    The two teams have met twice before, the last time in 1972, with one win for Portugal and a draw.

    Without any iota of a doubt, Russia’s fairy tale campaign in the Coupe de Mundial will surely shudder to a halt, as they pit their wits against the 2010 World Champions, Spain, at the Luzhniki Stadium.

    It will be recalled that Spain’s preparations were thrown into disarray two days before their first game against Portugal when the FA sacked the coach, Julen Lopetegui.

    This was after he had agreed a deal to take over at Real Madrid after the World Cup without informing them. The stand in Coach Fernando Hierro has since steadied the ship and La Furia Roja look poised for a quarter final berth.

    As hosts, Russia will have the majority of the crowd behind them, but even they will recognise this as Russia’s toughest fixture so far, and a win will be little short of a miracle

    Russia can be rightly described as one of the “boys’’ that managed to sneak into the round of 16 alongside the super powers of world football, after their opportunistic victories against a hapless Saudi Arabia and Egypt….their 3-0 loss against Uruguay actually exposed their underbelly.

    Russia and Spain played in a 3-3 draw in November 2017, but the 2010 World Cup Champions have the better over Russia in tournament football, beating them 4-1 and 3-0 in the 2008 European Championship.

    The quarter-final ticket at stake between Croatia and Denmark at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, is one which the bookmakers have already tipped the France 1998 World Cup bronze team to pick — on current form — any team with Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic in midfield are going to have a lot of possession and create chances.

    Coach Zlatko Dalic will surely play to his team’s strength and strive for the quarter-finals slot, to emulate and possibly surpass the 1998 bronze winning squad.

    Åge Hareide has taken over from Morten Olsen and plays a more direct football than his predecessor, while setting up the team to get the best out of Christian Eriksen. Read a tactical analysis here.

    Denmark would have to bank on the dexterity of Christian Eriksen one of the best playmakers in Europe alongside Pione Sisto and defensive midfielder, William Kvist to stem the onslaught of the rampaging Croats.

    Brazil versus Mexico will be another captivating showdown between the hosts of the 1970 World Cup and the winners of that edition of the FIFA quadrennial flagship tournament.

    Since after the humiliating 7-1 defeat against Germany four years ago. Coach Tite has made the Selecao into one of the favourites to win the tournament.

    The attack is formidable with Neymar back after injury and backed up by players such as Philippe Coutinho, Willian, Gabriel Jesus and, the mercurial left-back Marcelo.

    El Tri of Mexico also fancy their chances of picking the quarter-finals ticket, but their 3-0 loss to Sweden in their last group match has certainly put their vaulting ambition in great doubt.

    The attack for Mexico looks potent with Javier Hernández the obvious focal point, but Hirving Lozano may well prove to be an even bigger threat for the Juan Carlos Osorio-tutored team.

    Osorio has not yet found his ideal No 6, with Héctor Herrera often leaving too much space between defence and midfield, which the opposition can exploit to devastating effect.

    The first time the two countries met was at the 1950 World Cup which Brazil hosted and the Selecao defeated the El Tri 4-0…the last time the two countries clashed, Brazil won 2-0 in the international friendly.

    The Red Devils of Belgium are also poised to take down the Blue Samurais of Japan in what may look like a one sided encounter, but the Japanese under the astute tutelage of Akira Nishino may have a trick or two under their sleeve.

    Shinji Kagawa et al must have to be at their best to undermine the Roberto Martinez’s high flying Belgium with the full complement of Belgian football parading the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku…..except by a stroke of misfortune Belgium should carry the day.

    England versus Colombia will feature two teams that will surely go for broke in the showdown for the quarter-finals ticke the last time — England played in the quarter-finals was 20 years ago in France but got halted by La Albiceleste of Argentina in a penalty shootout.

    Colombia played in the quarter-finals of Brazil 2014 and the Radamel Falcao captained squad under the brilliant tutelage of Jose Peckerman, look to reenact their 2014 feat at the expense of England, but Gareth Southgate and his young and talented squad feel they can do great things in this World Cup.

    Southgate sees the encounter as England’s biggest challenge for a decade and said:“What we have to do is to prepare for a thrilling knockout game. Our objective was to qualify from the group and we have done that.

    “We are still work in progress and that’s not a bad thing at this stage,’’ he said.

    Switzerland versus Sweden will feature two highly tactically disciplined sides that play with precision and passion to get the much needed result from a seemingly impossible position, in their respective matches against Serbia and Mexico.

    Not much has changed from the Switzerland team that contested Euro 2016, but it seems to be a bit more compact in this World Cup, their coach, Vladimir Petkovic, says the team have grown together and keep working hard for each other.

    Goals can sometimes be hard to come by and Haris Seferovic, who is likely to start up front will be relied on to deliver the goods.

    Janne Andersson’s team are featuring in their first major tournament Sweden have contested without Zlatan Ibrahimovic since 2000 in which focus is placed on the team and not an individual.

    They are extremely organised under Andersson, who prefers a straightforward 4-4-2, Emil Forsberg offers in spite of his inconsistencies will be relied on deliver the goods in a starring role Marcus Berg Ola.

    On the whole, the Round of 16 will provide fans with direct and purposeful football in which the teams are supposed to go for each other’s jugular because the competition has gone beyond the points stage — at stake is a quarter-finals ticket and may the better teams win. (NAN)

  • We can limit ‘outstanding’ Messi – France coach

    France have a number of options to limit Lionel Messi’s influence in their round of 16 clash against Argentina coach Didier Deschamps said on Friday.

    However, the French coach also resigned that he could turn the match in an instant.

    Messi has yet to light up the World Cup in a stuttering Argentina side.

    But his clinical strike in the 2-1 win over Nigeria underlined the danger the Barcelona forward will present Deschamp’s side at the Kazan Arena on Saturday.

    “Messi is Messi, look at his statistics, 65 goals in 127 matches,” Deschamps told reporters at the stadium.

    “It’s straightforward, hopefully we would like to neutralise him, but we know very well he can make the difference with very little.

    “When you play Argentina and Messi on the pitch there are several solutions to limit his impact.”

    France will look to boss the midfield in a bid to limit supply to the lethal 31-year-old, who has struggled to impose himself in the tournament.

    He will also hope their defence can continue to hold firm after conceding only one goal in the group phase.

    Deschamps said full back Benjamin Mendy had been ruled out with a “small muscle injury”.

    The Manchester City defender returned as a second half substitute in the 0-0 draw against Denmark after missing the opening games against Australia and France.

    France may face more queries up forward, however, where their array of attacking talents have yet to dominate.

    Striker Antoine Griezmann is under pressure to perform after being off the pace in the dull Denmark draw, and he has only got on the scoresheet with a penalty in the opening 2-1 win over Australia.

    Captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris backed Griezmann to make his mark at the tournament.

    “It is normal that there are expectations around Antoine,” said Lloris.

    “He’s one of the top players, he’s done a major Euro competition and feels like being one of the great players of this World Cup.”

    Although sailing through the group phase, the scoreless draw against Denmark raised concerns about Les Bleus’ momentum heading into the Argentina blockbuster.

    Lloris said his team was only looking ahead, however.

    “As we said, this is a new tournament that begins, and I think we have to depend on our collective strength, on a defensive solidity and we know our attacking potential,” Lloris added.

    “We have a lot of young but talented players who can make a difference at any moment of the game.”