Peru’s the best team at the World Cup.
Technically, only one team can win the tournament. Only one team will have its name engraved on the Jules Rimet trophy (2.0) come mid-July. But there’s more than one way to win the competition.
Belgium is ranked No. 3; Panama is ranked No. 55. Yet for the first 45 minutes the two were equals in Group G action at the World Cup on Monday. Then came the Dries Mertens goal vs Panama that completely changed the narrative of the match.
Panama held Belgium at bay for the first half of the match. Near the end of the first half, the favored Red Devils looked to be running out of ideas as the Concacaf side swatted away every attack. Goalkeeper Jaime Penedo looked like a Gianluigi Buffon doppelganger out there.
In the build up to the World Cup, Zlatan had been quoted as saying that there is no such thing as a World Cup without Zlatan. This led many to believe that he would come out of international retirement and play for Sweden in its first World Cup since 2006. Although Sweden manager Janne Andersson ultimately decided to go with the group that got through qualifying, this Zlatan tweet shows that both sides have officially moved on.
No event escalates individuals to the status of national hero or global villain as dramatically as the World Cup. The idolatry that follows success and the stigma that follows failure are woven into the fabric of history, and the repercussions will typically follow footballers for the rest of their lives. Daily, we’ll take a look at who played the role of hero and who played the role of villain at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The original game plan for Brazil had to have been work an opening with Neymar on the ball, twist and turn into some space and then put it in the net. That almost happened in the game’s opening stages, but Paulinho somehow missed from a couple yards out. This is probably the miss out the tournament so far (from open play).
SO. CLOSE.
Paulinho *just* misses wide for Brazil! pic.twitter.com/vxIPwa4wVr
A massive Mexican contingent of fans at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow (Fox’s Kasey Keller went as far as to say it was 80 percent El Tri fans vs. 20 percent German) was on hand to watch Mexico defeat defending world champions Germany 1-0 thanks to Hirving “Chucky” Lozano’s goal in the 35th minute.
Rafael Márquez set a new World Cup record on Sunday. The legendary Mexico defender became the third player to appear in five World Cups when he came in for Andrés Guardado in the 74th minute for El Tri against Germany. More impressively, by taking the captain’s armband from Guardado, Rafa Márquez became the first player to captain five teams at the World Cup.
Time after time, Germany has found itself shook by Mexico’s lightening pace on the break. If not for some more assured decisions in the final third, El Tri could’ve certainly opened the scoring before Hirving “Chucky” Lozano beat Manuel Neuer in the 35th minute.
No matter.
Mexico is playing some lovely stuff with Lozano taking the game to the much-heralded Joshua Kimmich, Hector Herrera hasn’t put a foot wrong in midfield and Chicharito looks sharp up top.
The opening goal was a microcosm of Mexico’s play on the whole. It’s been simply breathtaking at times.
After getting thumped 4-1 by Germany’s B team at the 2017 Confederations Cup, Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio has surprised many by selecting a forward-thinking starting XI against Die Mannschaft to begin El Tri's 2018 World Cup campaign.
A front three of Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Carlos Vela will look to get after Germany’s vaunted backline of Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels and obvious “weak link” Marvin Plattenhardt. Usual left back Jonas Hector is reportedly sick.
You don’t stand in the way of an Aleksander Kolarov rocket. That’s a well-known fact, and if you’re the least bit ignorant about that, you’re dead. Just look at what happened to this ref back in the day.