WC 2018, Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay

I will post the same thing I posted in the prediction thread and that is Russia finishing first and us second. Victory against Egypt and draws against Russia and Uruguay should be enough for a second place for us in the group. Last time we played Egypt in a competitive match we destroyed them 5-1 in the confed cup , we have played Uruguay twice resulting in a victory and a draw and Russia was the weakest seed after Poland and they are not unbeatable they lost to Iran away and barely drew their b team at home.

 

I said it in another thread. For some reason Uruguay starts off very slowly in World Cups and Copa Americas. They can't afford to do that against an Egypt team that matches up very well with them.

Also, no one is really mentioning this but Suarez is really looking ordinary lately for Barca. He is looking slow, he is not positioning himself as well as he did in years past and some are even saying he is looking a bit on the fat/pudgy side.
I think we all know that he is the engine of this team and the way he plays will be integral within their results and possible progression.
Maybe by June he will be in better form. Maybe he will be like Superman and when he puts on his Uruguay costume he will lift up his game & play out of his mind (he has done it before).
But at the end of a long , grueling Spanish and (one would assume) Champions League run I don't know what to expect.

 

Egypt lost Uruguay 2-0 in Port Said, Egypt in 2012
Egypt lost to Saudi 5-1 in 1999. 3 Egyptians were sent off that game.

 

This group is certainly doable for the host nation Russia and it certainly could have been worse,but it will still be hard foe them to get past Egypt and Uruguay.

I fear meddling from the refs and or video replay to ensure Russia goes through.

 

The scenario I expect :

Russia vs Saudi Arabia : a victory for the opening game for the host
Urugay vs Egypt : Draw, slow start from Uruguay + both teams are more defensive than attacking and they won't take many risks in the first game

Russia vs Egypt : "surprising" victory for Egypt
Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia : large victory for Uruguay who will need to compensate the draw in the 1st match

Egypt vs Saudi Arabia : victory for Egypt
Russia vs Uruguay : a little help from the ref to the host country who will win a short victory

Egypt 7pts
Russia 6 pts
Uruguay 3 pts
Saudi Arabia 0 pts

 

For me it's pretty clear Uruguay and Egypt are a class above the other two sides. Maybe home field can help Russia, but it didn't do much for South Africa in 2010, a team of similar level to the current hosts. Don't know much about Saudi Arabia but don't really expect much from them.

 

How is Egypt superior to Russia? I don't get it. Egypt has Salah and Elneny but the rest of the players are just mediocre I believe. Also the Stoke City player, forget his name.

Russia has Cheryshov, Kokorin, Dzyuba, Akinfeev, and others. I don't know either of these teams that well, but I suspect Russia would be quite a bit superior and plus home advantage would send them through.

 

Also what makes you think Egypt can take a point off Uruguay? Since when were Egypt that good? I mean I am not saying they aren't good, but I don't really think they are that great of a team. Maybe there is something I don't know, but I would think Uruguay would win easily.

Also Uruguay is not just Suarez. They got Suarez, Cavani, Godin, Gimenez, Caceras, Bentancur, Pereira, and Muslera.

 

For crying out loud do you have to underrate every African side and overrate every European side.

Egypt finished second at the ANC.

THey beat both Ghana and Morocco in that competition, they also beat out Ghana again to qualify for the WC.

Many of their players are based in Egypt which is pretty much the strongest domestic league in Africa and was able to produce a team that won 3 straight ANC's.

What the heck has Russia done lately ? They have been crap. Can't even beat teams like Iran at home. Even lost to the likes of CIV and Costa Rica at home recently. You really think a team that finished dead last in their last Euro group, an average one at that, is better than a team that finished #2 in the African cup. You are suffering from severe Euro bias my friend, it is laughable.

Egypt is easily better than them. Uruguay will definitely also not beat Egypt easily.

 

LOL I did not know, ok? That is why I was asking. Seriously though I don't think any African team would be able to beat Uruguay right now. Uruguay has some really talented players right now, and has even won 2 world cups in the past.

 

Well thats what I hope happens. I wish every European side advances, and every African side fails. Thats what I hope, but I know it won't happen.

 

Uruguay is one of the top 3 south american nations.
Egypt one of the best african teams.

So if this is doable for Russia it means Russia at home is more dangerous than people said and they changed their mind.

 

Uruguay
Egypt
Russia
Saudis

 

Uruguay has some very talented young players coming through at the moment. Torreira, Valverde, Bentancur, Nandez, Maxi Gomez, Lemos, De Arrascaeta. Basically their whole midfield has changed. The only starting midfielder left that played the whole qualifiers is Vecino who is playing very well at Inter at the moment. Will be interesting to see how these young players cope with a world cup

 

I didn't say Egypt was superior to Russia, I only predicted a "surprise" victory for Egypt which is different.

The Stoke City player is Ramadan Sobhi and he's not in their usual starting 11.

 

I don't only see the names, I watched both team play a lot of games and I think their play style + the fact they face each other on an opener makes the draw scenario pretty plausible. I don't expect an open game between them.

 

I said it is doable, not necessarily likely.

I rank Egypt as #4 from Africa in this WC. I think Nigeria, Senegal, and Morocco are all better. Also I think Colombia is better than Uruguay.

Saudi Arabia is likely the worst team in the tournament.

The fact is that Russia got almost as good a draw as they could have hoped for and qualification is still far from certain.

On neutral ground both Egypt and Uruguay are better teams.

If I was Egypt or Uruguay Id actually more worried about funny business from the refs than Russia having a home advantage.

 

Colombia ended behind Uruguay in the commebol league. Uruguay finished second there. Very tough team with 2 world class strikers and promising youngsters.

Egypt should not be easy to deal with either.

Russia is even not a top 10 uefa squad at the moment but at home they are more dangerous than it seems.
It's not an easy group for them. They would rather have faced peru or switzerland along with costa rica.

 

Are you sure Morocco is better than Egypt? I think Nigeria and Senegal are the best and then Egypt, and Morocco fourth.

I doubt Colombia is better than Uruguay. Uruguay has 2 world class players up front as well as some good defenders. Godin is one of the best defenders in the world. Gimenez is also really good and Caceras is alright. Bentancur is a new midfielder that plays quite often for Juventus and has promising talent.

Colombia is alright. James Rodriguez is not in the form he was 4 years ago. Falcao was great last season but have no idea how good he is this season. There is also Bacca and Jackson Martinez as well but I am not sure how good they are doing. Cuadrado gets playing time for Juventus, but honestly he shouldn't. On a national team level he is reasonably a good player though. There is also Guarin and Zuniga but I have no idea how they are doing right now.

Anyway I just think Uruguay have better quality on paper. Definitely a better defense, in fact I think Uruguay's defense is up there with Germany and Italy on paper. I'd say the national teams with the best defense are: Germany, Italy, Uruguay, Switzerland, and Spain. Their defense plus Suarez and Cavani is a really good team, and Bentancur adds to their midfield.

 

Colombia is not better than Uruguay. Uruguay finished clear second in the qualifiers. They beat Colombia 3-0 (without Suarez and Cavani both suspended) at home and drew 2-2 in Colombia.

 

The fact Egypt eliminated Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nation's 1/4 earlier this year should prove you right even if it was a tight game that could have as well ended with the opposite result.


But Morocco has improved a lot since then while Egypt's level seems to be the same (I watched both teams games since). Morocco has played that AFCON without Belhanda, Boufal, Ziyech, Amrabat, Tannane and El Haddad due to injury and ended with a squad without wingers in Gabon. Today I wouldn't be so sure about Egypt being better than Morocco.