Gareth Southgate defends selection
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And that’s your lot on an evening of mixed emotion for England. Their year-long unbeaten run has come to an end. On the flip side, they will be looking at a draw that has opened up a world of possibilities: if they can get past Colombia and either Switzerland or Sweden, they’ll be in the semi-finals. One step at a time, and it could all go wrong quickly, of course, of course ... but what’s the point of sport if you’re not allowed your dreams? Enjoy them. Nighty night!
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The impressive Trent Alexander-Arnold speaks. “I’m very disappointed. We wanted to win the game, and we didn’t. But at the end of the day we’re still in the Round of 16 and that’s something to look forward to. We had our chances and never took them; they had one big chance and took it. It was a good goal. We can only regret the chances we didn’t take. Getting out of the groups was the first objective of the team. We’re England and we want to win every game possible, we’re disappointed. You don’t want to go into a changing room and see smiles because you’ve got a potentially easier route; you want to win every game. And at a World Cup you’re going to come up against the best teams in the world. There are no easy games we can see ahead of us. Colombia will be very tough, it’s not going to be easy at all.”
Elsewhere in Group G ... Tunisia came from behind to see off Panama. In doing so, they won their first game at a World Cup finals since 1978. Paul Doyle was watching that one.
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And here’s a word with Gareth Southgate! “I think it was a pretty even game. I thought they had the better controlled possession, and the better chances in the first half. But we had a couple of good ones in the second. So it was a good test of us. We had half an eye on the knockout. Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy kept running. It didn’t happen for them tonight, but we don’t suffer for it. We want to win football matches, so we’re not happy to come away from here having been beaten. But what that means for the next round, we don’t really know. The knockout game is the biggest game for a decade, so we had to make sure our key players were preserved. We created openings to get something from the game, but we have to keep improving. I think the supporters know what the most important thing is.”
Who wouldn’t want to relive that match again!? Here’s the big event in pretty pictures.
Here’s our snap match report. Daniel Taylor’s take from Kaliningrad will follow shortly.
Looking On The Bright Side with Guardian readers. First from the Belgian perspective: “Brazil kicked us out in 2002, with that goal of Wilmots disallowed,” recalls Wouter Deceuninck. “And it took us 12 years to get back on the big stage. Time for payback! Yes, we (read I) want the difficult side!”
And now Nick Smith with England’s point of view: “On the plus side, if this is our B team, then at least we know we’re picking the right A team.”
FULL TIME: England 0-1 Belgium
And that’s that! Adnan Januzaj’s excellent goal has decided Group G! Belgium top it, and will face Japan on Monday in the second round, with either Brazil or Mexico waiting in the quarters if they make it. England - who have lost for the first time in a year - are runners-up, and will play Colombia on Tuesday in the last 16. Switzerland or Sweden to follow if they clear that hurdle, but one thing at a time, eh.
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90 min +2: Thorgan Hazard slips one down the left for Fellaini, who ripples the side netting with a powerful but inaccurate strike.
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90 min +1: A preposterous scramble in the England six-yard box, after Batshuayi dribbles into it from the right. The ball breaks to Fellaini, who should poke home. He can’t sort his feet out, though. Neither can Mertens. Finally the referee blows for a foul on the prone Pickford.
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90 min: There will be three added minutes. “I’m concerned that England is leaving it too late,” frets Marie Meyer. “They should get their own goal in now, before Belgium beat them to it.”
89 min: Mertens, on the right-hand corner of the England D, sends a pearler towards the left-hand side of the goal. Pickford does well to punch clear, though the ball nearly falls to Fellaini, eight yards out. England survive that one.
87 min: Rose has been busy and productive tonight. He earns a free kick off Dendoncker down the left, near the corner flag, and slips a quickly taken one along the byline to Welbeck, who from the corner of the six-yard box flicks a shot wide left. Belgium were sleeping there. Meanwhile here’s cynicism’s Brian Draper: “The perfect scenario would surely be for England to score a late and morale boosting equaliser and then to accrue ten yellow cards with the entire outfield team taking their shirts off in a gratuitously jubilant celebration.” You’d pay good money to witness a grift like that, wouldn’t you.
86 min: Mertens comes on for the goalscorer Januzaj.
85 min: Loftus-Cheek embarks on a power dribble down the right. It’s a fine run, but one spoilt when he reaches the edge of the box and sends a cross-cum-shot sailing harmlessly over the bar.
83 min: Maguire lifts a pass down the left for Rose, who earns a corner. The ball drops to Welbeck on the edge of the box. Welbeck arrows a low shot towards the bottom right. It’s going in, but Fellaini sticks a leg out and diverts it wide left of goal. Nothing comes of the second corner.
81 min: A free kick for England, 30 yards from goal, just to the right. Rashford stands over it. He looks for the top-right corner, but it’s always going over the bar. Time running out for England if they want to go down that Japan-Brazil route.
79 min: Alexander-Arnold, who has had a decent game and leads the “key passes” stat, whatever that means, is replaced by Welbeck.
78 min: Rashford goes racing down the left in the hope of busting free of Chadli, but he ends up fouling his man. He’s looked lively all evening.
76 min: Alexander-Arnold sends the free kick to the far post. Maguire rises highest, but his looping header is easily plucked from the sky by Courtois.
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75 min: Kompany comes on for Vermaelen. Then Rose is barged off the ball by Fellaini as he romps down the left. A chance to curl one into the mixer.
73 min: Delph and Vardy attempt an elaborate, high-speed one-two down the inside-right channel. A neat idea, but not quite.
71 min: Loftus-Cheek has another crack from distance, but there’s nothing doing, and no great urgency. Both teams seem happy enough with the situation right now.
69 min: Nothing is happening. England pass it around for a bit, but they can’t be bothered to launch an attack right now. So here’s Peter Oh. “Batshuayi hit in the coupon by his own ricocheting celebratory shot off the post? Wild stuff! Yesterday, Korea’s Yong Lee took an attempted German cross full in the family jewels. This World Cup is bowling us over with its nutty comedy.” Yes, it was marvellous, though in terms of golden-era-Hollywood-style slapstick, nothing will ever beat Laurent Di Lorto in 1938. Enjoy.
67 min: From the set piece, Loftus-Cheek has a dig from distance. Nope.
66 min: So having said that, England launch their best attack of the evening, Vardy spinning into space in the middle of the Belgian half and releasing Rashford down the inside-left channel with a perfect pass. Rashford, one on one with Courtois, should score, but his attempted curler into the bottom right is fingertipped round the post by the keeper. It might have been going wide anyway.
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65 min: Meanwhile on the pitch, we’ve slipped back into Friendly Mode. A bit of whistling from the stands, who have paid Fifa top dollar to watch this nonsense.
63 min: The Belgian fans are in Party Mode right now. They don’t appear particularly bothered about a potential quarter-final with Brazil. It’s almost as though they’ve realised it’s far better living for the moment, because you never know what’s coming down the line.
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61 min: Loftus-Cheek goes on a dribble down the right, but can’t find anyone with his dinked cross. Then Alexander-Arnold sends Jones, of all people, zipping down the same flank. He hoicks the ball over the bar from the touchline. He can’t have been shooting, surely? He might have been shooting, you know.
59 min: Vermaelen will be OK to continue, after being dabbed with the magic sponge.
57 min: Vardy and Vermaelen go up for a high ball, and crack heads accidentally. The Belgian defender comes off worst. Lucky he’s wearing a red shirt, because there’s a lot of claret jetting out of his neep right now.
56 min: Belgium take possession of the ball and keep it awhile.
54 min: Alexander-Arnold, who has taken just about every set piece tonight on his competitive England debut, smashes the free kick straight into the wall. Here’s Matthew Turner: “Awww, just when I was looking forward to England livening this up a bit by intentionally getting four yellow cards over the remainder.”
53 min: Well that’s changed the picture. Belgium are now top of the group, and heading for the supposedly harder half of the knockout draw. England look to bounce back, Loftus-Cheek powering down the middle. He’s upended by Dembele.
GOAL! England 0-1 Belgium (Januzaj 51)
Out of nothing, a gorgeous goal! Januzaj cuts in from the right, drops a shoulder to waltz past Rose, and curls an unstoppable shot across Pickford and into the top left! Batshuayi celebrates by catching the ball as it springs from the net and battering against the post. It rebounds into his startled coupon. Entertainment worth waiting for!
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50 min: Delph is robbed by Tielemans, 30 yards from his own goal. The Belgian has an easy pass to release Januzaj on the right, but allows Maguire to intercept.
48 min: Good hustling by Vardy down the left. He feeds Rashford, who enters the area, opens his body, and looks to sidefoot a curler into the top left. Not quite, but a decent enough effort flies wide.
47 min: Belgium stroke it around the back awhile. No urgency whatsoever. No surprise, seeing they’re currently destined for the supposedly easier side of the draw. Blaise Baquiche has some better ways of separating teams with the same goal difference in the group stages: “In this order:
1) How high the players can do a standing jump immediately after the conclusion of the national anthems
2) Quality of haircuts to be judged by Garth Crooks
3) Lower GDP (making it more impressive for the underdog)
4) Lots.”
There’s not much to argue with there, is there.
And we’re off again! Maguire is on for Stones. Belgium get the party restarted. “That was the most disgraceful 45 minutes of football since France v Denmark,” writes Caetano Machado. “Switching to Panama v Tunisia now.”
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Half-time reading: For England fans starved of entertainment tonight ...
HALF TIME: England 0-0 Belgium
The referee lets four seconds of added time elapse, thinks “bugger this”, and blows for half time. The crowd whistle their displeasure. As things stand, England will top Group G, Belgium having picked up three more yellow cards over the piece. Another 45 minutes of this excitement coming up! You can’t leave me here alone, you have to stay.
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45 min: Something happens! Delph curls one in from the right, earning a corner off Boyata. But Alexander-Arnold’s delivery is, for once, extremely poor.
44 min: Well this hasn’t been very good, on the whole. The crowd, having given it their all for the majority of the half, begin to whistle as the square root of eff all unfolds on the pitch.
42 min: The ball drops to Loftus-Cheek on the edge of the Belgian box. He has the chance to shoot, but hesitates, takes a heavy touch, and the chance is gone.
41 min: England are struggling to keep hold of the ball right now. They punt long towards Rashford, who flicks on and nearly finds Vardy. But Courtois is off his line quickly to deal with the situation.
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39 min: Hazard attempts another spectacular one, a scissor kick from a position out on the left. No sir.
37 min: Thorgan Hazard looks for the top right with a curler from 25 yards. No, no, no. “Are Belgium playing for bookings?” wonders Julian Farino. “By picking Fellaini they still have that one in hand.”
36 min: Januzaj has a shot from distance. It’s deflected wide right for a corner. Boyata gets his head to the set piece, but not to any great effect. “Please please let someone who doesn’t really want to win score a goal and then appeal to VAR that ‘but guv, I was offside’ or ‘no sir, I used my hand’,” writes Robin Hazlehurst. “Then football would have jumped the sh(V)ark.”
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34 min: Alexander-Arnold wins a corner with the free kick, then takes that as well. He finds Loftus-Cheek by the near post; he whacks a header wide left of goal.
33 min: Denconcker is booked for a late clatter into Rose, who was making his way down the left. Belgium are now three yellow cards worse off than England in this World Cup, should it come to that. As things stand, England are winning this group because of their superior disciplinary record.
31 min: Alexander-Arnold strides down the right, then very nearly sends an Accidental Ronaldinho into the top left from an absurd position. For a second, Courtois was backpedalling in a frantic manner there, but the ball ended up clearing the bar easily enough.
29 min: That’s two very tatty incidents in the England box now. Some uncertain defending by the second string, though Cahill and Alexander-Arnold will be pleased enough with their goal-line heroics, so in that sense it’s swings and roundabouts.
27 min: Suddenly a purposeful run, as Batshuayi goes for Stones down the inside right. He wins a corner, from which there’s an almighty scramble in front of Pickford. Fellaini hoicks goalwards. Alexander-Arnold clears off the line. Januzaj latches onto the rebound, but can’t get a shot away. England survive.
26 min: Belgium are hogging the ball now. And going absolutely nowhere. Not that they’re looking to advance particularly urgently.
24 min: Januzaj and Tielemans tease England down the right, but can’t piece together the move that’d unlock the defence. A bit more possession for Belgium, though, who are passing their way into this match.
22 min: We’re back in Friendly Mode. Events rocking at a gentle, summer-evening pace. To be fair, both sets of fans are giving it plenty nonetheless. A fine atmosphere in the stadium. It’s been a loud World Cup, pleasingly soundtracked by some glorious bedlam.
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20 min: Alexander-Arnold takes. Belgium deal with it easily enough, thanks to a fine clearing header by Chadli.
19 min: After a bright start, this match is in danger of slipping into Friendly Mode. Ah hold on! Scrub that! Rose picks up the pace on the left and is unceremoniously hacked down by Tielemans, who is booked and doesn’t bother complaining about it, which shows self-awareness if nothing else. A free kick, and a chance for England to load the Belgian box.
17 min: Belgium aren’t doing all that much in attack. Januzaj dinks one down the inside-right channel, in the hope of Batshuayi and Fellaini combining on the edge of the England box. But it’s not happening.
15 min: Vardy, deep on the right, rolls a pass down the wing and isn’t far away from finding Rashford on the edge of the area. Courtois comes out to deal with the situation.
14 min: Alexander-Arnold looks very bright down the right wing. He tears after a long pass and hooks a bouncing ball into the area. Vardy’s header flashes wide left of goal. England are enjoying the three-lions’ share of possession so far: 61 percent of it.
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12 min: Alexander-Arnold works hard down the right to win a corner. That set piece leads to another on the opposite side of the pitch, a Rashford shot having been deflected out of play. Alexander-Arnold takes this one, and loops it deep. Cahill wins a header at the far post, but nuts it wide, and he was pushing and shoving anyway.
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10 min: England nearly concede a farcical goal! Januzaj dinks a cross into the mixer from the right. Fellaini, by the left-hand post, heads down for Batshuayi, who tries to flick a fancy one into the goal from close range. His effort is smothered by Pickford ... who then lets the ball squirt through his arms. It’s heading over the line, but Cahill hooks off the line to save his keeper’s blushes.
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9 min: Delph hoicks long down the left wing and nearly releases both Rashford and Vardy. The England strikers are in full Scamper Mode.
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8 min: A bit of space for Rose down the left, but he can’t find anyone with his cross. The early signs suggest both sides are going for this, which is nice to see.
6 min: Belgium press and probe for the first time. Suddenly Tielemans, just right of centre, 25 yards out, snaps a shot goalwards. It’s creeping under the bar, but straight at Pickford, who stops with a strong arm. The rebound doesn’t fall to a red shirt. A fine shot, and a save to match.
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4 min: Rose rakes a long pass down the left for Rashford, who briefly worries Boyata. Rashford looks up for this. It’s been a brisk start by England, which fits in with the following theory, as reported by David Flynn: “Eamon Dunphy on RTE just speculated that Southgate knows England won’t win the World Cup and so wants to beat Belgium knowing that there’s not much between the two possible second round teams, and it would either look great if they beat Brazil or look not that bad if they lost to Brazil.”
2 min: A very uncertain start by Thorgan Hazard, who plays a blind pass back down the Belgian left and sends Vardy skittering down the wing. Vardy looks for Rashford in the middle, but his low, hard cross is kicked away by Courtois. Meanwhile a word of warning from Philip Ritson: “Didn’t Roy make wholesale changes in the last group game at Euro 2016? Look what happened next!”
1 min: England stroke it around the back awhile. Then Vardy looks for Rashford down the inside-right channel, but the pass is way too heavy. Goal kick, and a chance for Belgium to get a feel of the ball.
And we’re off! England get the party started. “Aptly enough, the shin pad font seems to be Nashville, or close to it,” spots Grant Tennille. “Pretty fitting for Fellaini, considering how he fancies working himself into your ear, albeit via his elbow.”
The teams are out! We’ll be off soon, but first it’s time for the national anthems. La Brabançonne bumps along with a quiet dignity. ♭♮♯ Noble Belgium, O mother dear / To you we stretch our hearts and arms / With blood to spill for you, O fatherland! / We swear with one cry – You shall live! ♭♮♯
And now please be upstanding for England’s equally glorious rallying call. ♭♮♯ Kick, kick, kick, kick / Kick, kick, kick, kick / Kick, kick, kick, kick / Kicky, kicky, kick, kick ♭♮♯
Roberto Martinez talks! “Every player who has been fully fit to start a game will start in the outfield positions. We feel the goalkeeper should have some continuity in a tournament like the World Cup. I don’t think Vincent Kompany is fully fit to play 90 minutes so that is why he is not starting.”
Gareth Southgate speaks! “We’re a team and we have got to this point because of the performances on the pitch, but also the collective behind that. We’ve got some very good players who deserve the chance to play in a World Cup. And we’ve given ourselves the opportunity to do that. The other part is, we’ve some players who if they played again tonight and then a knockout game in maybe three days time, you’re building up a risk of injury. So for us it was a no-brainer to make some changes. I don’t think we can look at [possibly facing Japan in the next round]. We just want a good performance.”
So England will be playing in their very fetching first-choice white shirts. Belgium are to be decked out in their equally pretty red tops with fancy early-80s-style flash. “Can’t we just skip the game, assume England pick up another yellow, and draw lots?” wonders Robbie Schwieder. “Would probably be the fairest outcome at this point, given the travesty of non-competition they seem set to put on. And who wouldn’t like to see a little lot-drawing? Give the people what they want!”
Siddharth Singh adds: “Swearing at the ref or each other (we need Dele Alli for that) might be an option but surely the tactic is for the players to go shirtless last minute of the game?”
A peek inside the England dressing room. It’s very futuristic, isn’t it. I prefer a nice relaxing wood panelling myself, but each to their own.
Meanwhile Belgium’s kit comes packaged in an equally futuristic plastic parcel, like an unsatisfactory airplane blanket. Personalised shin-pads too, but no consistency of font across equipment.
Pre-match excitement (in descending order of rabidity): “As sure as the objective stance is that England should play to lose, and therefore win the weaker side of the draw, I completely reject that theory,” begins Hubert O’Hearn. “You know as well as I do that if England lose all we’ll hear about is ‘England are horrible; they only defeated two absolute minnows.’ Worse than our hearing it, the players will hear it too. In creeps self-doubt, in creeps conservative play, out thuds England. Win the damn game because ... IT’S COMING HOME!”
Steven Hughes adds: “Football teams have pre-match plans on who’ll take the penalties, who’ll take the free-kicks, corners, perhaps long throws so maybe Southgate will also have detailed two or three players to use the F-word and C-word at the referee, in order to get themselves booked and England to an arguably easier half of the draw? Maybe Roberto Martinez will have anticipated this with some players of his own to unleash some profanities and counter-swear? It might be like a David Mamet play out there if it’s a draw after 80 minutes.”
And finally Paul Griffin: “Only a Thameslink journey standing betwixt me and tellyside glass of Chablis with my beloved at kickoff. So if you need any colour on the ionisation of trackside metal, or the half-life of gravel, I’m your man. ‘It’ might be coming home. I might not be.”
It might also be worth noting that England have only lost to Belgium once. If you discount a defeat on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the 1998 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament, that is, which all right-thinking people surely must. That loss occurred in 1936, Hendrik Isemborghs of Royal Beerschot the two-goal hero of Belgium’s 3-2 triumph. (George Camsell of Middlesbrough and Harold Hobbis of Charlton netted for England, for the record.) Meanwhile here’s some more TV riffin’: “So Thursday night, squad players getting a chance to impress, and the nagging feeling that it might be better to lose than to win. Is it on Channel Five?” Gary Naylor, ladies and gentlemen, the Europa League’s official satirist.
England have played the representative team of the Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association at the World Cup on two previous occasions. In 1954, Ivor Broadis of Newcastle United and Nat Lofthouse of Bolton Wanderers scored two apiece in a 4-4 group-stage draw. England were in the habit of eight-goal thrillers back then: that game was the one which followed their record 7-1 defeat against Hungary in Budapest.
The match - which had gone to extra-time after a 3-3 draw under Fifa’s strange contemporary system - was transmitted live on BBC Television and had a 100 percent audience share, on account of there being no other channels yet in existence. There will be no such boast from ITV tonight, because at least somebody will be watching Tunisia-Panama on ITV4. Paul Doyle, for starters.
Then at Italia 90, David Platt scored. Here’s that.
Pretty much as expected, Gareth Southgate rings the changes. Eight bells. Only Jordan Pickford, John Stones and Ruben Loftus-Cheek remain from the XI sent out to thrash Panama on Sunday. Step forward Trent Alexander-Arbold, Gary Cahill, Phil Jones, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Fabian Delph, Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy. Harry Kane must cool his Golden Boots.
Belgium boss Roberto Martinez goes one better, with nine changes to the team named against Tunisia on Saturday. Only Thibaut Courtois and Dedryck Boyata survive the cull. In come Leander Dendoncker, Thomas Vermaelen, Nacer Chadli, Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, Youri Tielemans, Thorgan Hazard, Adnan Januzaj and Michy Batshuayi. Romelu Lukaku must cool his Golden Boots.
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The teams
England: Pickford, Jones, Stones, Cahill, Alexander-Arnold, Loftus-Cheek, Dier, Delph, Rose, Rashford, Vardy.
Subs: Butland, Walker, Maguire, Lingard, Henderson, Kane, Sterling, Trippier, Welbeck, Young, Alli, Pope.
Belgium: Courtois, Dendoncker, Boyata, Vermaelen, Chadli, Fellaini, Dembele, Thorgan Hazard, Januzaj, Batshuayi, Tielemans.
Subs: Mignolet, Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen, Witsel, De Bruyne, Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Carrasco, Mertens, Meunier, Casteels.
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia).
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The race for top/second spot: what if this match ends in a draw? Good question, because England and Belgium have identical records in Group G ... nearly. They’ve both got the same number of points. And the same goal difference. And they’ve scored the same number of goals. So it’ll be down to the fair-play record. As things stand, England have picked up two yellow cards to Belgium’s three, so they’d top the group. But that may change if anyone gets the funk on this evening. And if they can’t be separated by yellows and reds, it’ll be the drawing of lots. That would be quite something. Hey, speaking of disciplinary measures, Uruguay have been well behaved so far, haven’t they?
Group H has just been completed. So we now know the top team in Group G will face Japan in the second round, then if they get through, the winners of Brazil and Mexico. The runners-up get Colombia, and a theoretically easier run to the semis, because they’d then meet Sweden or Switzerland if they made the quarters. But, well, you know how these things have a habit of panning out, so best not to count any chickens.
Evening all!
Well, this is the sort of thing you don’t see every day: a World Cup match in which neither side is too fussed about losing. The thought process being, second place in Group G will avoid the side of the knockout draw containing Brazil, France, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez. Yay! A no-brainer! Come on, Belgium, do your worst! The lads can take it!
Though things are never quite as simple as that, are they? For a start, the other side of the draw features Spain, the hosts Russia, Croatia (who have the best midfield in the tournament) and a Swedish side that has already barged its way past four-time winners Italy and the now-deposed champions Germany. Ulp!
The other thing to be considering: momentum’s a precious commodity at a major tournament. It’s the stuff of life, the energy that takes you all the way. Belgium are coming off a match in which they found the net five times; England have just scored six. Six goals! At a World Cup! That’s another thing you don’t see every day, no matter how bad Panama are at football. It’d be quite nice to keep the mood buoyant. Both sides will have that in mind.
Hopefully we’ll still have a game on our hands, then. But no matter if not, because both of these teams are already through to the knockout phase, and whatever happens tonight, they’ll be four games away from glory. Glory! Hallelujah! Just imagine! Oh lordy. But it’s OK to dream. It’s free, they can never take it away from you, and it’s all part of the fun. Enjoy tonight. It’s on!
Kick off: 7pm in Blighty, 8pm at the Arena Baltika on Oktyabrsky Island in Kaliningrad.
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