We're down to the Round of 16 in the World Cup, and it's been downright thrilling so far. The first half of the Round of 16 was played over the weekend, and here are the results:
July 4:
Canada 0 - 3 Morocco
Paraguay 0 - 1 France
Morocco and France will meet in the quarterfinals on July 9
July 5:
Brazil 1 - 2 Norway
Mexico 2 - 3 England
Norway and England will meet in the quarterfinals on July 11.
Today we have these matchups:
2 P.M. Central: Portugal v. Spain (the Iberian Derby!)
7 P.M. Central: United States v. Belgium
I have nothing to say about the politics of the USA/Belgium game, but that was a stupid and unjustified red card, and I'm glad it got overturned.
Here are the lineups for the Iberian Derby. These are two big-time teams:
PORTUGAL:
GK: Diogo Costa, Porto (POR)
DF: Joao Cancelo, Barcelona (ESP)
DF: Ruben Dias, Manchester City (ENG)
DF: Renato Veiga, Villareal (ESP)
DF: Renato Veiga, Villareal (ESP)
DF: Nuno Mendes, Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
MF: Joao Neves, Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
MF: Vitinha, Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
FW: Pedro Neto, Chelsea (ENG)
FW: Pedro Neto, Chelsea (ENG)
MF: Bruno Fernandes, Manchester Utd (ENG)
FW: Joao Felix, Al-Nassr (KSA)
FW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Captain), Al-Nassr (KSA)
FW: Joao Felix, Al-Nassr (KSA)
FW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Captain), Al-Nassr (KSA)
SPAIN:
GK: Unai Simon, Athletic Bilbao (ESP)
DF: Pedro Porro, Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
DF: Pau Cubarsi, Barcelona (ESP)
DF: Pau Cubarsi, Barcelona (ESP)
DF: Aymeric Laporte, Athletic Bilbao (ESP)
DF: Marc Cucurella, Real Madrid (ESP)
MF: Pedri, Barcelona (ESP)
MF: Rodri (Captain), Manchester City (ENG)
FW: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona (ESP)
MF: Dani Olmo, Barcelona (ESP)
MF: Alex Baena, Atletico Madrid (ESP)
FW: Mikel Oyarzabal, Real Socieadad (ESP)
As the home team, Portugal is in all red. Spain is in all white.
ReplyDelete1st Water Break: Portugal 0 - 0 Spain
ReplyDeleteCristiano Ronaldo, who has never been popular with the English press, is now 41 years old, and the English media use every opportunity to tell us that Portugal are throwing away their chances to win the World Cup by starting him.
ReplyDeleteThere's a tremendous amount of drama here, because if Portugal loses, this game will be Ronaldo's last appearance for Portugal. On the other hand, a Portugal win would be perhaps its greatest victory ever at the World Cup.
ReplyDeleteThis game is in JerryWorld, and it is packed to the rafters.
ReplyDelete30 minutes: Portugal 0 - 0 Spain
ReplyDeleteIf you remember when A-Rod played for the Yankees, that's very much how the British press covers Ronaldo.
ReplyDelete40 minutes: Portugal 0 - 0 Spain
ReplyDeleteThe all-time record between these two nations is 17 wins for Spain, 6 wins for Portugal, and 18 draws.
ReplyDeleteThis is only the second time they have met in the knockout rounds of the World Cup. The last time was in the 2010 Round of 16. Spain won 1-0 on its way to the title.
ReplyDeleteHalftime: Portugal 0 - 0 Spain
ReplyDeleteThe Guardian reports, "This already has the feel of an extra-time and penalty-kick marathon." I agree.
ReplyDeleteThe Mexico-England game was wonderful because both Mexico and England treat soccer primarily as a game of passion. But Spain and Portugal -- while their fans undoubtedly have passion -- prefer to treat it as a game of tactics.
ReplyDelete55 minutes: Portugal 0 - 0 Spain
ReplyDelete60 minutes: Portugal 0 - 0 Spain
ReplyDeleteIn 2010, Spain won the World Cup. Here were their scores in the Knockout Rounds:
06/29/10: Spain 1 - 0 Portugal
07/03/10: Paraguay 0 - 1 Spain
07/07/10: Germany 0 - 1 Spain
07/11/10: Netherlands 0 - 1 Spain (after extra time)
The tournament was about as exciting as those scores indicate.
Spain scores in injury time to beat Portugal 1-0. It wasn't much of a game, but the repercussions are enormous. Spain advances to the quarter-finals, and Ronaldo's World Cup career is over.
ReplyDeleteWe will not be live-blogging the US-Belgium game.
ReplyDeleteUNITED STATES:
ReplyDeleteGK: Matt Freese, New York City F.C. (USA)
DF: Tim Ream (Captain), Charlotte F.C. (USA)
DF: Chris Richards, Crystal Palace (ENG)
DF: Alex Freeman, Villarreal (ESP)
DF: Antonee Robinson, Fulham (ENG)
DF: Sergino Dest, PSV (NED)
MF: Tyler Adams, Bournemouth (ENG)
MF: Weston McKennie, Juventus (ITA)
MF: Malik Tillman, Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
FW: Christian Pulisic, AC Milan (ITA)
FW: Folarin Balogun, Monaco (FRA)
BELGIUM:
ReplyDeleteGK: Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid (ESP)
DF: Maxim De Cuyper, Brighton & Hove Albion (ENG)
DF: Nathan Ngoy, Lille (FRA)
DF: Brandon Mechele, Club Brugge (BEL)
DF: Timothy Castagne, Fulham (ENG)
MF: Nicolas Raskin, Rangers (SCO)
MF: Amadou Onana, Aston Villa (ENG)
FW: Leandro Trossard, Arsenal (ENG)
MF: Youri Tielemans (Captain), Aston Villa (ENG)
FW: Dodi Lukebakio, Benfica (POR)
FW: Charles De Ketelaere, Atalanta (ITA)
Well, that was pretty embarrassing. The Americans have lost in the Round of 16 in 1994, 2010, 2014, and 2022, so we are used to this sort of thing -- but we've never lost this badly. Belgium hammered the Americans 4-1, and honestly they could have scored 7 or 8 goals if they had wanted. For long stretches of the game, Belgium looked like a professional team hosting a local college for a practice session. Honestly, I think Belgium intended to win the game 2-1, but the Americans simply gave away the last two goals, and it would have been cruel on the Belgian players not to take them.
ReplyDeleteAnd so the quest to reach the Round of 16 in 2030 begins tomorrow.
ReplyDelete