Russia 2018 Finalists: International Friendlies (R)

Discussion in 'World Cup 2018 - Russia' started by Iranian Monitor, Oct 10, 2017.

  1. vancity eagle

    vancity eagle Member+

    Apr 6, 2006
    Czech Rep 2 v Iceland 1 In Doha, Qatar

    Looks like Iceland used roughly half of their starters. They play Qatar on Nov 14
     
  2. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    Iran 2 Panama 1
     
  3. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Interesting results:
    South Korea - Colombia 2:1
    11', 61' Son Heung-Min - 76' C. Zapata

    Japan - Brasil 1:3

    63' T. Makino - 10' Neymar (PG), 17' Marcelo, 36' Gabriel Jesus

    China - Serbia 0:2
    20' A. Ljajic, 70' A. Mitrovic
     
  4. Nico777

    Nico777 Member+

    Olympique de marseille
    Croatia
    Oct 19, 2017
    Milinkovic-savic and Zivkovic in the group eventually.
    Serbia becomes a real contender for round 16 if not more.
     
  5. Nico777

    Nico777 Member+

    Olympique de marseille
    Croatia
    Oct 19, 2017
    So Uruguay didn't beat Poland right?
    Just a reminder for the ones thinking that beating Poland in eastern europe will be easy.
     
  6. Every Four Years

    May 16, 2015
    Miramar, Florida
    Nat'l Team:
    India
    The assumption being that a lot of Polish fans will travel to Russia, I presume?
     
  7. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    That is indeed a surprising result, even more so since it was a clearly well deserved win based on the extended highlights I saw. The Koreans had the bulk of the chances and Colombia appeared to have done very little in this game except engage in racist taunts.

    I don't know if this match indicates South Korea have begun to rebound or it merely shows Colombia to have been particularly sub-par, but I didn't expect this result or performance by South Korea.
     
  8. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    Despite resting CR and some other first choice players, Portugal comfortably beat Saudi Arabia 3:0 in their friendly.
     
  9. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    Belgium v Mexico, which ended 3:3, must have been a fun game to watch based on the highlights.

    Other friendly results: England v Germany 0:0. France beat Wales 2:0. And, as mentioned, Poland and Uruguay also played a to a scoreless draw.
     
  10. Nico777

    Nico777 Member+

    Olympique de marseille
    Croatia
    Oct 19, 2017
    The assumption is that Poland is nowadays a solid team with one of the best strikers in the world. A team that could tie both germany and portugal in official games recently. And play them in Russia in 2018 might be even harder than it would have been elsewhere.
     
  11. Skandal!!!

    Skandal!!! Member

    Legia Warszawa
    Poland
    Apr 26, 2017
    Poland v Uruguay was very experimental - Poland lacked Lewandowski, Milik and Piszczek (that is, three of our best players), as well as Pazdan (so main CB) in defence, and played in an experimental formation 3-2-2-2-1 (or something of that shape). Wilczek was only a fourth choice striker (after the game he is probably 6th now...). On the other hand, Uruguay missed Suarez and Godin, so also very important players.

    I have no idea how Poland will play v Mexico, but probably without Wilczek...
     
  12. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    Argentina beat Russia 1:0 courtesy of a late goal by Aguero. Not a terribly exciting match, but Argentina clearly outplayed Russia. The Russian keeper looked good but overall Russia still has a lot of work if they are to impress as hosts.
     
  13. vancity eagle

    vancity eagle Member+

    Apr 6, 2006
    Dissapointed in Germany. They were missing only Mueller and Kroos and looked average against a severely depleted England side. They started well, but really faded as the game went on.
     
  14. vancity eagle

    vancity eagle Member+

    Apr 6, 2006
    Nobody said they will be easy, but can u blame other teams from wanting them as a Pot 1 pairing.

    Clearly teams want either Poland or Russia.
     
  15. Nico777

    Nico777 Member+

    Olympique de marseille
    Croatia
    Oct 19, 2017
    They can want them.
    All i was saying is that they don't deserve pot 1 less than colombia did in 2014.
     
  16. Nico777

    Nico777 Member+

    Olympique de marseille
    Croatia
    Oct 19, 2017
    Argentina is a top 5 squad. And still Russia made the match a challenge.
    Won't be the same for the teams ranked in the top 20 top 30 to beat Russia there in their world cup.
     
  17. Iranian Monitor

    Iranian Monitor Member+

    Aug 18, 2004
    Nat'l Team:
    Iran
    Well, I hope* Russia does well as hosts. I will be rooting for them but so far they haven't impressed in the Confederations Cup or their subsequent friendlies. Even their 4:2 win against S.Korea wasn't all that impressive besides the scoreline.
    ___
    *That is unless Iran finds itself in the same group. Which, incidentally, brings me to the teams I want to see Iran grouped with. In terms of top seeds, my first choice would probably be Poland and Russia would be 2nd.
     
  18. Nico777

    Nico777 Member+

    Olympique de marseille
    Croatia
    Oct 19, 2017
    None of what happened before really matters.. it's all about what will happen on the Day D.
    Russia won't win the world cup we all know that but you can be sure that they don't invest billions to lose in front of Poutine and the world against random teams in group stage.
     
  19. Nani_17

    Nani_17 Member+

    Nov 3, 2011
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Not that I put much stock into a friendly anyway, but the Argentina goal never should have counted anyway. The lead pass before the pass to Aguero was offside and by a lot also. Either way Argentina looked miles and miles more talented than an average Russia team. I do agree with Nico though, they will pass the group stage as host, and it's not like they are terrible, just average.
     
  20. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Argentina will be a top 5 squad by the time of the WC but at present they are not, there's a lot of work to be done and Sampaoli is only fixed in four or five starting spots. An Argentina still finding its way completely outclassed Russia in their home field as it stands.

    Also, all the hype about Belgium and they couldn't beat Mexico. Round of 16 at best for them.
     
  21. vancity eagle

    vancity eagle Member+

    Apr 6, 2006
    #46 vancity eagle, Nov 11, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2017
    Russia has been very poor of late, so Argentina outclassing them in their own backyard is indicative of nothing frankly. CIV and Costa Rica have also outclassed and beaten Russia in their own backyard recently, and just last month Russia could not beat Iran at home.

    You also scored an offside goal today. I expected a lot more from Argentina.

    We will see what happens when Nigeria plays Argentina in a few days. Should be a good match.
     
    zahzah repped this.
  22. zahzah

    zahzah Member+

    Jun 27, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Both teams will be drastically under-strength. No Messi on the one side, no Moses, Ighalo, Onazi and so on on the other.

    Plus both teams will likely be experimenting.

    Will be interesting, but hardly indicative.
     
  23. Nani_17

    Nani_17 Member+

    Nov 3, 2011
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    #48 Nani_17, Nov 11, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2017
    Belgium will only reach the Rd of 16 at best because they had a draw with Mexico (Decent side being disrespected) at home in a friendly match, a mother freakin FRIENDLY! Should I list the 1000 examples of poor friendly results from teams that went on to do well at the WC? It's hard for me to believe someone could type those words and not laugh knowing how silly it is.
     
    Philip J. Fry and Nico777 repped this.
  24. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Goal was not offside and the score flattered Russia if anything.
     
  25. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    If you're going to make a disparaging post, at least be a man and quote me directly.
     

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