England I think will win group B (but wait to see match vs USA) and France group D. Argentina I think will be at best second in group, but could win next two games and surprise. That semi final path looking very easy.
I predicted Qatar moving on '19 AFC champs Gold cup semis... only b/c of missed pk vs USA Those highlight packages got me 1 team from the host region usually makes qfinals... turkey, korea 02, ghana 10, colombia, brazil, argentina 14. European world cups dont need a list lol. The Middle East throwing their support behind KSA? Iran also possible to move on
That was terrible. They don't seem to have any ideas going forward. They need to score 3 goals mimimum vs. Qatar for me to believe that they really can go far. This isn't going to cut it.
No today the forwards themselves were not the problem. They just weren’t even getting forward enough. They were slow in midfield and couldn’t find the proper passes to even get forward and in dangerous positions. I don’t remember a time they really even got near goal besides the goal they scored. After they scored, they really took their foot off the gas and lost the midfield battles. It was a terrible midfield performance. Ecuador was definitely the hungrier team after the Dutch scored.
All that to say, I think we all underestimated Ecuador. They have pace and are a young team that’s quick. Despite the Netherlands having a bad game, I do have to say, they defended very well. They just looked like their midfield had no energy and were very slow. It was an off game for them.
Ecuador were also very well managed. Despite their hunger, they did a great job positioning themselves. Played a 4 in the back vs Qatar and 3 in the back vs Holland with 2 wing backs but always held formation. They also were very effective in transition. The biggest difference, they won so many duels. There were always moving forward when the opportunity knocked.
Usually every top team as one bad game at the world cup. It is normal for a team to have one bad game in the group. 2018: France 0-0 Denmark Brazil 1-1 Switzerland Portugal 1-1 Iran Spain 2-2 Morocco 2014: Germany 2-2 Ghana France 0-0 Ecuador Brazil 0-0 Mexico 2010: England 1-1 USA England 0-0 Algeria Germany 0-1 Serbia Spain 0-1 Switzerland 2006: Italy 1-1 USA France 1-1 South Korea France 0-0 Switzerland
Exactly… the Dutch don’t like it rough. As soon as Ecuador started to put that extra oomph and cleat on every play the Dutch shrunk as they always do. This is something new from Ecuador and I think it comes from their Argentinian coach and it’s great to see.
Ecuador are NOT making things more complicated for Senegal. Senegal losing 2-0 to Holland made things more complicated for Senegal. Ecuador are doing their thing.