PBP Thread: Denmark vs France, 26 June 2018 [R]

Job is done. Looking forward to knock out round when the game gets real.

 

No. I think they have plenty left in the tank. They have yet to get to their highest gear.

 

The Danish players were not told about the score in the Peru v Australia game, so they did not know that they actually could have been going for a win in the 2nd half ... I guess the NT coach was more interested in not risking to break that 18 game unbeaten streak, rather than letting his players push forward ...

 

If true, I find that absolutely ridiculous. The streak should be an afterthought..

Anyway, it worked out, I suppose. Would still rather play Croatia than Argentina and 90 minutes of Messi.

 

While I think France is managing the tournament, so the team is not exhausted early, one can see serious signs of a lack of cohesion at times.

According to Le Monde, the foreign press have labeled the France-Denmark the "worst match in the World Cup" so far:

https://www.lemonde.fr/mondial-2018...pour-la-presse-etrangere_5321670_5193650.html

 

Honestly, I'd prefer to face Argentina.

 

Man of the Match: N'Golo Kante. #FRA pic.twitter.com/xFnTMzfJsj

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 26, 2018

 

France were resting and testing several players from start... but so were Denmark (Cornelius instead of Nicolai Jørgensen, Braithwaite instead of Poulsen, CB Andreas Christensen instead of Kvist/Schöne in defensive midfield, Mathias "Zanka" instead of Andreas Christensen in central defense and then Viktor Fischer, Dolberg and Lukas Lerager also got the chance to prove their worth in the 2nd half ... so people who consider this to be the "worst match in the World Cup" so far also need to understand that this was more like a friendly for both teams, trying to do some tests and get ready for the next stage....

 

I think there will be many more final group games like this when we go to 48 teams and 3 team groups. It only happens now when both teams matched in the final round have had good results their opponents. It will happen much more in 3 team groups.

 

I have just read that considering how they have done so far and how they beat Iceland (that beat Croatia in the qualifiers but has never managed to beat Denmark at any point in history so far) with some of their reserves, the Croatian coach think that he can't possible see Croatia not progressing to the Quarter Finals when fielding their strongest line-up ...

Personally I think that this "we have more or less already won and progressed" mentality is typical of Croatia when they have just looked great but are about to fail misserably by underestimating their next opponent ...

 

The way France eliminated Argentina, pretty much validades the approach Haraide took in the match against France. 3 of the 4 french goals came after a breaks which led to fast counter attacks. Standing lower and more defensive was the right call - specially if you only need 1 point.

 

I didn't have a chance to say this in any of the other threads, but I think Denmark played a very good World Cup. IMO, they'd have been as worthy as Croatia of that place in the QFs.