It's Judgement day in Group C and D as seven nations battle for three tickets while France seek the winner spot

By -
GROUP C


Argentina can seal top spot with a win against Poland and that will be enough to finally make fans forget their shocking loss to Saudi Arabia in their first game.

Their convincing win over Mexico has proven the loss to Saudi Arabia is only a fluke but they have to seal next round progress with a win today to completely silence their critics.

POLAND are the only unbeaten team in the group and face their most difficult test yet, the one that will determine their fate of going to the next round.

Apart from the results, the team hasn't been convincing and have been second best to their opponents so far. Argentina will not be so kind if Poland are vulnerably setup as they've been in their previous games but with the next round ticket at stake, comes the motivation to give it all until the final whistle.

SAUDI ARABIA are arguably the best team in the group. From pulling off one of the greatest upset in FIFA World Cup finals to completely dominating Poland but for the result, they have indeed given their fans more than anticipated in Qatar.

However, more success begs for more success and having fed their fans with so much delicacy, they have as well given them the appetite to get for more.

Sealing next round ticket is now a dream and they can be convinced of achieving it by beating or getting a draw against Mexico.

Not many will be surprised if they progress because they have shown they have all it takes.

MEXICO are up against it after recording just one point heading into their final group game. They might have thought they play the least difficult opposition on day three but will surely have realized the task isn't any easy

Knowing a win could be enough, they will be looking to make the chance count by putting themselves in the strong position, and wait to learn their fate when full time whistle goes off in the two stadia engaged late this evening.


GROUP D


Fate of teams here will be known before Group C kickoff. France are already through to the next round but need to seal their spot as Group winner, of which a draw in their final game against Tunisia will be enough.

There is no doubt they are favourites heading into the match and many will fancy them making it three from three while Kylian Mbappé will be looking to add to his goal tally, with Olivier Giroud also having a record to overtake.

TUNISIA have let themselves down following their loss to Australia despite holding off Denmark to a goalless draw in their first game.

Now they face France needing only a win to stand any chance of progress into the next round. It won't be easy but with France already qualified, Didier Deschamps might be looking to rest some of his players, which might give Tunisia the mindset that they can pull an upset.

They can try but it is most likely they have missed the chance to get a next round ticket.

AUSTRALIA earned a massive result to keep themselves in the hunt for a round of 16 ticket with their 1-0 win over Tunisia in their second match, which leave them now needing only a draw against Denmark to pull through.

They face a better side but the pressure on them is minimal compared to their opponent and manager, Graham Arnold will be looking to explore this weakness and pull off another upset.

Australia have scored first in their two World Cup games so far and making it a third time will put them in a comfortable position, to invite pressure and wreck havocs on the counter, which is a good plan but can be very dangerous.

It is shocking that DENMARK are still without a win in the ongoing FIFA World Cup but what will be more shocking is them finishing their final group game against Australia without a win.

Just one point in two games but a win will take them ahead of Australia, and will believe France should beat Tunisia, leaving them sealing knockout round spot without any permutation at full time.

Christian Eriksen and his teammates should help get the job done against Australia and doing that will surely be enough to deliver the ticket.



Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ralf Rangnick proffered a permanent solution but United choose to make more casualties with Erik Ten Hag

By -
Image
Ralf Rangnick appeared to have unraveled the puzzle at Manchester United during his short stint as the club's interim manager but the hierarchy did not take heed to his priceless advice. Albeit the German did not enjoy the best of time in the helm of affairs in Old Trafford, Rangnick, who had proven to be more of a administrative minded man prior to his appointment at the club did left blueprints that could have healed the club completely. Looking back and you'll realize it could have been more worth it had speculations of him becoming the club's Director after leaving the Coaching role come to pass. Even in his early days as a professional football coach, Rangnick did not have a reputation of thriving when the stake is high but he flourishes more in an environment that gives him the avenue to build from scratch. The notion was proven truth during his time at Stuttgart, Hannover and even Schalke, where he helped all these teams finesse nightmares into glamour. His appointme
Read more

Doping in sports and the popular culprits in football

By -
Image
Doping in sports is a huge crime as it damages its credibility, and athletes are viewed to have committed an offense when they test positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PED). What is doping ? According to Merriam Webster defines doping as the use of a substance (such as an anabolic steroid or erythropoietin) or technique (such as blood doping) to illegally improve athletic performance. In sports, such action is regarded as cheat, and grave consequences always come with it. Not only that, but on the players' part and their safety, as in the long run, such substances have a long-lasting side effect on the health of the players. Why do athletes dope (take illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PED)) ? There are several reasons take illegal performance-enhancing drugs, and it also depends on the type of sports the athletes in question do. The majority of the reasons is to boost performance. Athletes are also tempted when injured and do not have enough time to recover before
Read more

A sign of what is to come but no excuse for Chelsea's late capitulation in the London derby

By -
Image
Chelsea ended a run of three straight home defeats to Arsenal in an enthralling London derby match in the Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. While many will see it as a positive omen for the host, which is rightly so, it was very poor game management by both the players and the manager to allow the visitors snatch a point later on the night. Arsenal was there for the taking. It was the worst display by Mikel Arteta's side in recent years and despite having a two goal cushion, Mauricio Pochettino's side were unable to see out the win from a very comfortable position. Cole Palmer and Mykaylo Mudryk continue to show signs of finally settling into their rhythm under Mauricio Pochettino, much to the delight of the home support as the Blues were all over their rival from the North for the first 70 minutes in the Bridge. Both players also scored in either half, with Mykaylo Mudryk scoring his first ever Chelsea goal in the Stamford Bridge with a wonderful cross-cum-shot, which caugh
Read more