Egypt v Uruguay
Prediction: 3-1 Uruguay
Result: 1-0 Uruguay
Egypt thoroughly impressed with the quality of their defence and structured play. They were organised, hungry and out to prove they aren't in Russia for a Holiday. However with no Mo Salah, they lacked quality up front and struggled to get shots off.
Uruguay played as if they would simply outclass their opponents and win the game by default. The fact they played so poorly and really should have probably scored 3 or 4 goals shows their true quality. Godin played extremely well and Cavani started to wake up towards the end of the match. With this performance, Uruguay will be out for blood next time out.
Extremely unlucky for Egypt, but Uruguay showed they don't need to play well to score goals. The only positive is that Egypt probably didn't need a result today and with Mo Salah, can definitely beat Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The 5 goals for Russia may play a crucial role in deciding who finishes 2nd.
Morocco v Iran
Prediction: 1-0 Iran
Result: 1-0 Iran
Morocco were surprisingly good for the first 30 minutes. They absolutely bossed the game and didn't let Iran even touch the ball for large parts of the game. As I said in the preview of the game, Iran are very good defensively and love to hit teams on the counter which they could have done a few times in the first half. Both teams were guilty of lacking quality up front as it could have easily been 2-2 at halftime.
The second half was completely different. Morocco came out either tired or scared of Iran's counter (or both) and played much more defensively. This allowed Iran to control the pace, which meant a slow passing game with niggly fouls throughout. 2 Iranians also went off injured which could spell a little trouble for their upcoming games. A 95th minute diving header own-goal decides the game late.
Iran will be ecstatic with the result, with 3 points from this game, they only need to hold a giant to a draw to get through the group. Morocco after this result will most likely start planning their post-cup holidays. A little honor restored to Asia.
first half stats
The second half was completely different. Morocco came out either tired or scared of Iran's counter (or both) and played much more defensively. This allowed Iran to control the pace, which meant a slow passing game with niggly fouls throughout. 2 Iranians also went off injured which could spell a little trouble for their upcoming games. A 95th minute diving header own-goal decides the game late.
Iran will be ecstatic with the result, with 3 points from this game, they only need to hold a giant to a draw to get through the group. Morocco after this result will most likely start planning their post-cup holidays. A little honor restored to Asia.
Portugal v Spain
Prediction: 1-1
Result: 3-3
The final game of the day and the best of the tournament so far. An early penalty to Ronaldo forced Spain's hand into chasing the game creating a more open contest. Neither team had many shots on target but both had very high conversion rate. This means that little mistakes made by the other teams in this group will be punished with a goal.
Despite their possession Spain did not look their normal destructive selves with a lot of defensive passing and long balls to Diego Costa. Portugal seemed obsessed with finding Ronaldo in the attack to their determent in some cases. Other Portuguese players have to step up and be willing to take the game on instead of just looking for Ronaldo.
With both teams escaping this game unscathed, they will no doubt use their final 2 group games to warm-up for the rest of the tournament.
The other 2 teams in the group should be scared. The best attacking teams in this group showed they are here to score. Ronaldo also showed he is more than up to the task of putting the team on his back.
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Despite their possession Spain did not look their normal destructive selves with a lot of defensive passing and long balls to Diego Costa. Portugal seemed obsessed with finding Ronaldo in the attack to their determent in some cases. Other Portuguese players have to step up and be willing to take the game on instead of just looking for Ronaldo.
With both teams escaping this game unscathed, they will no doubt use their final 2 group games to warm-up for the rest of the tournament.
The other 2 teams in the group should be scared. The best attacking teams in this group showed they are here to score. Ronaldo also showed he is more than up to the task of putting the team on his back.
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