World Cup 2018 Round of 16 – Lionel Messi would have to wait a few more years for his opportunity to grab World Cup glory. Argentina were sent home early along with Portugal and Spain.
By Dave Bowler
France 4 Argentina 3
The grotesque, shambling, undead monster that modern day Dr Frankenstein, Jorge Sampaoli, somehow fashioned from some rather more appealing raw materials than his fictional predecessor ever had at his disposal, was finally put to rest in the first of the last 16 fixtures at World Cup 2018 by a rather more lively and coherent French side as the knockout phase got off to a spectacular start.
That Argentina had made it that far at all was through force of will rather than force of football. All their myriad failings were laid bare by a French side that demolished them. The beating was far more comprehensive than the final 4-3 scoreline suggests.
When they sit down to assess the game, that will be the disappointment for a French side. They looked outstanding in so many ways. The midfield of Kante, Matuidi and Pogba, rose to the occasion and showed why so many think so highly of them. They ran the show, didn’t give Argentina a kick, and were endlessly creative. Then up front, in their contrasting ways, Griezmann, Giroud, and the enthralling Mbappe were simply unstoppable.
Defensive questions surround France
How then, were France not already out of sight before Di Maria rifled one in from 30 yards to equalise for Argentina? And how did they somehow find themselves 2-1 down early in the second half?
They’ll be able to point to the way they then responded. How they tortured Argentina and, fully rampant, scored the best goals of the tournament. They turned the game around in a handful of minutes, and that was huge for self-belief. But conceding three goals to a side as dysfunctional as Argentina was problematic. You need to question your ability to see off a proper team.
Mbappe Threat
Certainly, as an attacking unit, they were fearsome. Griezmann’s ability to link play together was outstanding. Gironde offered a mobile and intelligent focal point. Mbappe made it clear that he was a Ballon d’Or winner in waiting. His electrifying pace and directness demanded the early penalty, which Griezmann dispatched supremely. His superb running off the ball and hunger to get into position allowed him to complete what was an exceptional move. His predatory instincts were also present in sniffing out a chance in the box. He produced a fine first touch and a decisive shot.
Add to that Pavard’s magnificent spinning, swerving strike from the right after Argentina had been opened up by Hernandez down the left, and you had a lethal-looking attack. But if you can’t keep the back door shut, history suggests you can’t win. There was work still to do on the training ground for Deschamps and his men.
Lionel Messi’s continuing (comparative) failure in the Argentina shirt represented a problem. The World Cup had at this point been usurped by the Champions League as the arbiter of greatness. Whatever happened over the last fortnight, Messi’s status as one of the all-time greats was assured. Would he return for a fifth crack at the World Cup four years hence? We all know the answer to that. But for now, his reputation rested on football played at FC Barcelona, none of it on his work at a World Cup.
Messi misses out on World Cup glory, for now
Except for George Best, that was a pretty much unique position. Brazil and Pelé really invented the modern version of the competition in 1958. Since then, the litany of the absolute giants – Pele, Bobby Charlton, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Maradona, Zidane, and Brazilian Ronaldo – have been anointed at World Cups. The crowning glories of great careers. Others, such as Zico, have been denied access to the pantheon thanks to underwhelming World Cup performances.
Messi had, by those standards, been mediocre at the greatest show on earth. Cristiano Ronaldo was another failure in World Cup terms. But he had the consolation of winning the Euros to ease his disappointment. He had built his memorial by scoring goal after goal and winning game after game for his club in the Champions League. Messi would have to wait for his moment to shine on the world stage.
Uruguay 2 Portugal 1
There would be no World Cup crown for Ronaldo either. He was largely underwhelming, much like his team. Uruguay were everything that Argentina hadn’t been. They embodied that dogged South American spirit, allied with a sound game plan. They were organised, and everybody was aware of their job and did it well.
They had perhaps the best defender at the competition in Godin. In Cavani and Suarez, they had two world-class strikers coming to the boil at the right moment. The two played an outrageous long-range one-two over 60 yards back and forth. It ended with Cavani pounding a leaping header into the roof of the net.
Then, after Pepe had dragged Portugal back into it with an equaliser, Cavani found a sumptuous finish from the edge of the box to win it. That he limped off injured was the only blot on the landscape for Uruguay. For if he missed the quarterfinal, their chances would diminish sharply.
Spain 1 Russia 1 (Russia win on pens)
Spain were hustled out of the competition by a side who, on paper, should not have been fit to lace their boots. Russia took the game through 120 minutes, all the way to penalty kicks. They got themseves into the last eight by playing a different style to Spain. By defending deep, defending well, and looking to cause problems on the break,
Of course, the pundits are furious, distressed that the Russians have ripped the wings off a butterfly. The truth, however, is rather different. In their obsession with possession, Spain had forgotten entirely that winning football matches has nothing much to do with the journey. It is all about the destination.
Is this the end of Tiki-Taka?
Spain had nobody but themselves to blame. At no point in this World Cup did they truly convince. At no stage other than when spurred into retaliation by their Iberian neighbours, Portugal had they looked to have any attacking venom. Instead, they had all of the ball – 79% against Russia – and done nothing with it. It was time for Spain to rethink their game. There are other, more effective ways to skin a cat than merely playing pass the parcel with it.
Croatia 1 Denmark 1 (Croatia win on pens)
Pressure was written all over a desperate encounter between Croatia and Denmark that not even Luka Modric could elevate.
Croatia seemed paralysed by the scale of the historic opportunity ahead of them. They could find no rhythm, becoming increasingly cautious as the game went on. They were unwilling to risk a mistake. This left the combative Mandzukic totally isolated against a composed and drilled Danish defence.
Ultimately, Modric set Rebic in on goal, only for him to be hacked down. Modric took a dreadful penalty that Schmeichel saved, but only after being a yard off his line when the ball was struck. How does VAR not put that right? Is there any point to this system at all? Wasn’t it brought in to deal with such obvious mistakes? Is there any point in having a rule if you’re not going to bother implementing it? They then ignored it through the shootout too, in which the bulk of the penalties were choked with tension.
In the end, it went the way of Croatia. They will know they have got away with one and will be all the better for it.
Brazil 2 Mexico 0
The Brazilians were the better side in this encounter, and the right result was reached in the end. The game was in the balance right through to the dying moments when Roberto Firmino added a second to Neymar’s opener to clinch victory. In the preceding 88 minutes, Mexico’s high energy and enthusiasm had kept them very much in with a shout. That said, Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson had little to tax him during the game.
This was a Brazilian side that defends stoutly. They were the antithesis of the David Luiz-led nervous breakdown of four years ago. They worked on a perfectly logical basis. If you don’t concede many, the odd lightning breakaway will yield enough match-winning chances to progress. So it was once again. Pick any three from Neymar, Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus, and Firmino, and you have a devastating trio. Comparable even to the Barcelona trio of Neymar, Messi, and Suarez at their most devastating.
Casemiro to miss quarter-final
It was certainly enough to dispatch Mexico with clinical efficiency. The pace, movement, and razor-sharp passing were enough to unhinge them. Neymar and Firmino were presented with tap-ins to help Brazil progress serenely enough. On the downside, the suspension of Casemiro for the quarter-final could have severe repercussions. His excellence in the holding role had been as central to their success as the strikers. That could cost them against Belgium in the next round.
For Mexico, it was another World Cup of what might have been. They would live to regret that second-half showing when they were routed by the Swedes in game three. For they would surely have loved to have been in that much weaker half of the draw. That would have been their reward as group winners. Put Mexico in that group of eight, and you’d have been looking at potential finalists.
Belgium 3 Japan 2
Japan would be regretting the way they played against Poland, too. England would have been better opponents than Belgium for them. From the outset, in their first game against Panama, Belgium have looked like a team that wants this, desperately. Against Japan, they played poorly for an hour. They looked dead and buried, but they had quality on the bench, too. The quality in depth that you are going to need to win the trophy.
As well as ability, they had character, masses of it. They had the self-belief, the intelligence, and the absolute refusal to be beaten. Those qualities could help them win their first trophy. What a shame that they would meet Brazil in the quarter-finals rather than in the final itself.
Japan gave their all and were terrific defensively for 45 minutes. Then they were absolutely explosive for 15 minutes in the second half. They scored two terrific goals through Haraguchi and Inui that put Belgium right against the ropes. But they couldn’t find that knockout blow.
Belgium bring on the big guns
Roberto Martinez brought on Fellaini and Chadli. This signalled a change in the Belgian style, going more direct to exploit their physicality. That’s when the tide began to change.
Vertonghen’s brilliant looping, dropping header has been written off as a fluke by some. Watch the replay, however, and you see him take a look at the hopeless positioning of the goalkeeper. His celebration was one of satisfaction of a job done properly. From there, it was clear Japan couldn’t handle set pieces. It became increasingly inevitable that Fellaini would nod one in.
Extra time looked set up, but Japan had one last opportunity. A poor corner sailed into Courtois’ arms, and the keeper set his side away. De Bruyne made his telling contribution of the night. Following a searing run, he sent a beautifully weighted pass into Meunier. Lukaku had the presence of mind to dummy his low cross and there was Chadli to stroke the ball home, a beautiful goal.
Belgium had it all. Quality, character, intelligence, cojones, depth of squad, and ability to play different styles. Not even in the halcyon days of the ‘80s had Belgium ever been so well set to win the World Cup.
Sweden 1 Switzerland 0
If you’ve ever seen “Monty Python & The Holy Grail”, you’ll know the Black Knight character. “None shall pass”. Chop his arms off, his legs off, he won’t be defeated. He just keeps demanding another fight. That, pretty much, was Sweden at World Cup 2018.
They got rid of the Dutch in qualification, and Italy in the play-offs. They then saw off the Germans in the group phase, somehow recovering from that debilitating last-minute defeat to them to wipe the floor with Mexico and qualify for the last eight.
They were not a side that sparkles, not a team that was full of goals. Neither did they have any great individuals now that Zlatan had finished. They just kept going and going and going. They knew they had a special opportunity in Russia, and they wouldn’t give it up without a fight.
Swiss overwhelmed by the occasion
The Swiss knew only too well the scale of that opportunity, but the consequence of defeat seemed to overwhelm them. There was a truth for all eight teams that reached the bottom half of the draw. Anything short of a World Cup final would be considered a historic failure.
These are nations not usually at the sharp end of these competitions, not in recent times anyway. The Swiss joined the Spaniards in being beaten by that fear of failure as much as by their opponents.
Swedish spirit wins the day
For Sweden, there seemed to be no such diffidence. They recognised their limitations. They did their best to mask them and then maximise their strengths. That meant being utterly resolute and unyielding at the back. They were bloody-minded to the point of fetish, ferocious in every tackle, every loose ball, every set piece.
Sweden knew they could not afford to concede many goals, not being full of them at the other end. But against the Swiss, they had the game’s one slice of luck. Forsberg’s 66th-minute strike was horribly deflected beyond Swiss goalie Sommer and in.
From there, they fought for everything. This was once in a lifetime stuff. Not just for the players but for the nation that hadn’t reached the final since they hosted the competition in 1958. They were not going to let that chance slip. It would have to be wrenched from them.
Colombia 1 England 1 (England win on pens)
While the Swiss would rue the misfortune of that savage deflection, for Colombia the difference came before a ball was kicked. James Rodriguez was ruled out of the game through injury. They are not a one man team by any means, but losing such a crucial player was massively significant. Especially when the teams were so closely matched, the margins so fine as these,
Significant, but not an excuse for trying to turn the game into a brawl. Over the top histrionics and challenges stretched the referee’s patience throughout.
England ultimately got what they were asking for when, just before the hour, Kane was hauled to the ground. The foul occured six inches in front of the ref and the inevitable penalty kick followed. Harry Kane scored again. Thus he became the first Englishman to score in six successive internationals since Tommy Lawton in 1939.
Colombia got more fractious. England held their discipline in the face of it, but slowly lost their nerve. They dropped further back and failed to put away an opponent that was on the ropes. We had seen plenty of times in this World Cup that that strategy had no legs.
A penalty win for England, at last!
So it was that Colombia dominated the last 10 minutes against a docile England. Pickford made a fabulous save two minutes into injury time. From the resulting corner, Mina got a free header. He smacked it into the ground and up. Trippier tried to head it off the line but succeeded only in putting it high into the net.
Colombia were in the ascendancy thereafter until a late England rally. For all the preparation that sides do for them, penalties still remain little more than a lottery. For the first time ever in a World Cup, England got the winning ticket. They advanced to a quarter-final with Sweden. On the basis of this game, it was unlikely to be a cracker.
