Group K's General Discussion Thread

I was going to say Uzbekistan is the only well organized defensive team of the tournament so far (boosted by Cannavaro), but even they messed it up with the 2nd goal by abandoning defense after getting scorer's high. These gen z players have no discipline or patience.

 

I got to admit, I thought that the match between Colombia and Portugal would decide the group winner but we may see it in the second round of the group stage.

That being said, I do think that Portugal needs to work better as a team; they did not look like a team compared to Congo.

 

I still see the POR-COL match as the group decider. We've seen some big upsets so far, but Portugal dropping points to the Uzbeks seems like a stretch even for this WC. If they do, then I can see Portugal imploding like France 2010.

 

It is one of those matches in which Portugal has to take it by the scruff of the neck from the get go and score some goals. The longer it is tied or even just 1-0 then the more pressure goes on Portugal’s shoulders.

Uzbekistan is going to play this like their World Cup Final cause they know they are eliminated with a loss. But an early couple goals by Portugal would make them have all the pressure.

 

I have a feeling DR Congo will upset Colombia

 

If we're not careful, very possible. The advantages to being one of the last teams to play each round gives these teams the right mentality and understanding how this world cup can go for anyone.

 

Ronaldo with the decoy 2-0

 

This could get very ugly

 

Uzbeks were courageous, but Portugal was stronger and more talented.

 

Right now the math is pretty simple: Everyone is going through except Uzbekistan.

From what I've seen, Uzbekistan is the weakest team at this WC. Just a shocker today. They kept trying to play from the back even after almost conceding 4-5 goals doing that. At some point you have to realize something isn't working, and you don't have the quality and/or confidence to make it work.

 

Uzbekistan in these two games has played worse than Iraq and Jordan, two teams below their ranking.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo shouted to cameras: "I'M BACK!" I'M BACK!"

 

Its obvious they kept him in for the full 90 just to try to undo Messi's recent record of being the oldest player to score a hat trick in a WC match.

Portugal is through to the knockout stage, so congratulations to Ronaldo for achieving that in his second match as player-manager, but at some point playing for Ronaldo stats instead of the team is going to be Portugal's undoing.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo world cup goal history:

2006: penalty that he did not win against iran 1 total goal
2010: the 6-0 goal in a 7-0 win against north korea 1 total goal
2014: the 2-1 against ghana 1 total goal
2018: hatrick against spain (1st goal was penalty off a dive, 2nd goal was keeper amateur mistake, 3rd goal was free kick: his only free kick goal in world cup despite taking all free kicks over 24 world cup games, also the 1-0 against morocco 4 total goals
2022: the 1-0 against ghana 1 total goal
2026: 2 goals against uzbekistan in 5-0 win 2 total goals (probable)

rate: 10 goals in 24 games. 0.42 goals/game. for context: Mbappe: 16 goals in 16 games (1.00); Christian Vieri 9 in 9 (1.00); Kane: 10 in 12 (.83); R9: 15 in 19 (.79); James Rodriguez 6 in 9 (.67); Klose 16 in 24 (.67); Messi 18 in 28 (.64); Neymar 8 in 13 (.62); Rivaldo 8 in 14 (.57); Baggio 9 in 16 (.56); Tim Cahill 5 in 9 (.56); Raul 5 in 11 (.45); Zidane 5 in 12 (.42) Landon Donovan 5 in 12 (.42); Fernando Hierro 5 in 12 (.42); Maradona 8 in 21 (.38); Zico 5 in 14 (.36); Henrik Larsson (5 in 13 (.38); Platini 5 in 13 (.36); Wesley Schneider 6 in 17 (.35); Lucas Podolski 5 out of 15 (.33)

Keep in mind Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the only ones compared to all these players who took every single penalty and free kick. And many of these players were midfielders.

only 1 impressive tournament so far goal wise (2018), though in 2006 he played all around well, he was a winger during that tournament.

I am not surprised he scored today: he always scores when his team is dominating and his teammates give him the chances and the defense is weak enough to get scored on. It is the medium to tough games he has difficulty scoring in.

 

Weaker than Hati?