With the teams confirmed and minute-by-minute coverage launched, it’s time to wrap up a day of VAR controversy fall-out and discussion of Belgium’s nefarious team selections.
Here’s the pieces you really should be reading. First, David Squires.
Next: Argentina in meltdown.
And a request for your valuable support.
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The teams are in for both matches in Group C.
We now have our line-ups for #AUSPER!
— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 26, 2018
👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/r58W7JbDc2
And a much-changed France team.
TEAM NEWS // #DENFRA
— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 26, 2018
Thoughts on the selection? #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Til1gIraiY
And Jonathan Howcroft for the Socceroos moment of truth in Sochi.
Join Barry Glendenning here for buildup for the match in Moscow.
Great video from our man in Sochi, Christopher Knaus, ahead of Australia v Peru.
The scene on Sochi's main waterfront strip last night. Incredible atmosphere. Shot by Thomas Hobbs. pic.twitter.com/OfLrUyf2Vy
— Christopher Knaus (@knausc) June 26, 2018
Aussie fans are fearing that France and Denmark will play out a draw in Moscow, meaning that whatever they manage against Peru becomes immaterial. The World Cup has an uncomfortable history of such events, and one game above all others comes to mind.
It is fair to say that Ronaldo is not universally loved.
@JohnBrewin_ Don't understand the anger about Ronaldo's non-red yesterday. It was a debatable decision, but Pique should inarguably have walked & the Iranian penalty was never a penalty. Those were the 2 bad #VAR decisions. Is it just because people hate Ronaldo & Portugal?
— Martin J Gilbert (@Mad_iguana) June 26, 2018
Paul Pogba chose a typically understated means by which to look ahead to France playing Denmark.
Rdv France 🇫🇷 x 🇩🇰 Denmark demain.@equipedefrance #FiersdetreBleus #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/WzPfiSb76w
— Paul Pogba (@paulpogba) June 25, 2018
From last’s night podcast.
#WorldCup Football Daily: ahead of #Den v #Fra, @maxrushden + @bglendenning discuss the ethics of playing out a meagre draw in order for both to qualify https://t.co/63kPqptWGi pic.twitter.com/dTNZQM5BEb
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) June 26, 2018
The social media hype is in full flow ahead of Australia’s big match. Unused sub Tim “#timcahill” Cahill has posted a picture of him sat on a bench.
Let's do this AUSTRALIA 🙌🏼🌏🏆 #FEARLESS #TOGETHER pic.twitter.com/z3i9m5Mu59
— TIM CAHILL (@Tim_Cahill) June 26, 2018
Here’s today’s World Cup Fiver, as penned by Rob Smyth.
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Rob Emsley emails in from lovely Newquay with a suggestion of how to liven up England v Belgium, the game that nobody, least of all Spanish Bob, seems to want to win.
“Hello there, John Brewin. Have you considered the solution for Thursday that England and Belgium consent to switching ends and each attacking their own goal, thereby treating us to a spectacle of a properly fought-out game with the added bonus of goalkeepers who wouldn’t be allowed to handle the ball?”
More on footballers being nice in real life. Presumably, this is isn’t Sir Gareth’s actual brother in law.
@JohnBrewin_ I don't care what anyone says, Gareth Southgate would make a fine brother-in-law.
— Richard Moore (@moore_rl) June 26, 2018
Here’s Guardian Australia reporter Christopher Knaus, who is in Sochi as a Socceroos fan, with a taste of the atmosphere ahead of the match with Peru.
It’s a tense atmosphere for Australian fans in Sochi this morning. The green and gold of the Socceroos is noticeably outnumbered by the red and white of the Peruvians, who are in typically high spirits despite being out of the tournament. All week, Peru flags have been raised atop the cabanas along Sochi’s main waterfront strip, which looks out to the Black Sea. The Peruvians have packed out the bars and restaurants since the weekend, and break out in spontaneous singing and dancing on the beaches. Fans are just beginning to leave for the hour or so drive out to Fisht Stadium, part of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics complex. The Peruvians are confident. I haven’t met a single one who doesn’t ardently believe they will smash the Socceroos and go home with pride.
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When the World Cup and the transfer window collide. Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini had said he will reveal on Sunday whether he stays at Manchester United. “I know where I will be playing next season and I will announce it in the coming days,” said the Low Countries’ answer to Antoine Griezmann and Lebron James. “I’m at the end of my contract and I want to be free in my mind. That’s why I’ll be announcing it next week.” Asked if he would reveal those plans on Sunday, July 1, he replied: “Yes.”
Arsenal fans: get ready to celebrate your new signing...
More on Pepe then off-field charmer from Robert Lowery. “Your anecdote about Pepe being a decent guy when not acting like a complete $*#@ on the field speaks to a nugget of wisdom I am fond of rolling out. We build these pictures of players characters in our minds often based on little beyond how they behave on the field, what they look like and what they say in brief boring interviews. Which of the Class of ‘92 is the sound one or who from the current England team would make a good brother in law? A friend of mine was even more stark in this regard. He reckoned that it takes such abnormal ego to make it to the very top that anyone looking at a player and saying “Yeah, we’d be mates” was probably making a losing bet.”
David Penney here on Pepe. Don’t it make you feel good?
“The theory I have on Pepe is that unlike 99.9% of us he doesn’t really view football as a sport, but more as a form of entertainment, like WWE, and when he steps onto the field he’s no longer Kepler Laveran de Lima Ferreira but ‘Pepe The Heel!’ and probably has a lot of fun playing him. I imagine that he’s baffled as to why nobody can understand this, in the same way Stefan Dennis would be if ever taken to task over the misdeeds of Paul Robinson.”
The Nationalmannschaft’s most famous fan will not be attending Germany’s match with South Korea in Kazan.
According to Associated Press, Chancellor Angela Merkel, under severe domestic political pressure in a dispute over migration, was asked if she would go to the match because she might not get another chance to see coach Joachim Loew’s team.
Merkel said she has to be in parliament this week, “but of course I sincerely wish the team all the best and of course I hope for a good outcome after we all went through torture, in the truest sense of the word during the last game.”
News from the Belgium camp, via the Press Association.
Every member of the Belgium squad - apart from Romelu Lukaku, who continues to be assessed after having a scan on an ankle injury - trained on Tuesday morning.
Manager Roberto Martinez has hinted that he will make changes and midfielder Marouane Fellaini said: “If we want to go far in this World Cup, we will need every player. Everybody is ready to play, everybody wants to play. It will be an interesting game against England, but it will be a strange one also because both teams are qualified.”
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A couple of tweets from readers still exercised by last night’s VAR controversy and general ref rage. A personal view: it’s made what might have been rubbish games into some highly amusing spectacles. And there’s plenty more where that came from.
Mandatory yellow cards for simulation EVEN IF THE PLAYER IS FOULED would cut down the nonsense embarrassing drama. I.e. if Ramos fouls Amrabat who makes a meal of it, book em both. That means Neymar has one dive a game, whether or not he's fouled. @JohnBrewin_
— dan friedman (@danfriedmanme) June 26, 2018
@JohnBrewin_ the refs decisions last night were clearly impacted by the tension on the pitch. He bottled it when CR7 should have seen red, and he knew it wasn’t a pen but took so long because the emotion in the game. Lost control early and forced to make poor decisions
— Charlie Gray (@5Bullets) June 26, 2018
This was a truly excellent game. Who needed Maradona when you had Hagi?
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How about those Golden Boot standings? Cristiano Ronaldo might have been level with Harry Kane had he not missed that penalty last night against Iran.
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The Uruguay v Portugal match last-16 tie set for Saturday looks set to be true a VAR nasty, and brings back memories of the 2006 World Cup match, played at the same stage of the competition.
It ended 1-0 to Portugal in Nuremburg, but the real scoreline was in the collection of two red cards each and 16 yellows overall. The image of Barcelona team-mates Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Deco sat with each other on a stadium step watching the game play out is indelible but here’s a picture of them doing battle on the pitch and our report from that night. Nobody wants to see football played like that until the chaos descends.
After the glory of their opening two matches, Russian fans took losing to Uruguay pretty hard. Andrew Roth reports.
And on the home front, here’s some Liverpool news.
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Roberto Martínez has been speaking ahead of England v Belgium.
Asked whether English players had improved technically, he said: “Very good question. I think it’s been a huge evolution. When I started in the Premier League in 2009 it was a real contrast in styles in the league, but I think the English players have developed an incredible awareness from a tactical point of view. That’s been the biggest difference in the last five or six years. Having St George’s Park, having a real structure in the way England teams play, you’ve seen the success with the Under-17 teams, and the Under-20s, the way there is a winning culture, and probably I would say in the last six years the English players have now got that intensity and the real pace, but with a real tactical awareness, that is brought by the way teams are playing in the Premier League.”
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Kári Tulinius emails in. “One moment from yesterday that I found quite touching, but hasn’t gotten much attention, was seeing Pepe, of cartoonish football villainy fame, console an Iranian player (Pouraliganji, I think, but I’m not sure). It was a lovely, humane gesture from a source not normally associated with lovely, humane gestures.”
I am told, by friends who have spoken to him on a regular basis, that Pepe is actually a really nice bloke. My own interaction with him is limited, but when it comes to turning down a chat in a mixed zone there are few more polite in delivering their rebuffs.
Anywhere, here’s an image to perhaps change some minds.
Saw this video of Iran's player crying on Pepe's shoulders. Heartbreaking stuff. They did great tho and should be proud of themselves. #IRNPOR pic.twitter.com/cHOFGpfO7r
— Shamim Malekmian (@ShamimMalekmian) June 25, 2018
There have been some cultural issues Down Under.
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From elsewhere in the world of football, Suzanne Wrack has news on Sheffield FC.
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Spain got lucky last night against Morocco and they know it.
Somehow, they managed to top Group B and will face Russia in Moscow on Sunday. AS and Marca had identical headlines declaring: “Long Live VAR!” Consummate diplomat Sergio Ramos is asking for everyone to cool their boots, while admitting that there is much to be ironed out.
“We got through and won the group, that was the objective, but the game wasn’t good at all for us, it’s a night for everyone in the squad to take a look at themselves, we need to get ourselves into gear,” the Kop’s pariah said. “There’s no need to panic, but we do need to evaluate ourselves generally and individually, we can all contribute more and be more balanced defensively and solid so we can make the difference in attack.”
Defence looks to be Spain’s biggest problem, judging by their three group matches.
“When you play in a team that causes so much damage in attack you have to be a little more careful, that’s what makes the difference, we need to be more solid, there’s no margin for error now, one mistake will throw you out,” Ramos said. “We prefer to do our talking on the pitch and I hope we can have a great game against Russia, who have been playing at a very high level. I hope we can impose ourselves on them, we need to show who we are as soon as possible.”
All you hip young gunslingers who use Instagram should sign up to the Guardian Sport account for great stuff like this.
David Squires’ latest is here for your amusement and delectation.
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David Penney emails in. “One reason I love the World Cup is to discover great players that I previously was unaware of. Last time it was Mexico’s Andres Guardado, who is a cracking player. This time, coincidentally another left winger, Denmark’s Pione Sisto; seems like a real handful! Can’t wait to see how he fares against France.”
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Pre-tournament darlings/cynical hatchet men on our brave boys (delete where applicable) Panama are going home, but not without a final fixture with Tunisia in Nizhny Novgorod. Here’s where pride can be salvaged, in the style of Saudi Arabia’s defeat of Egypt on Monday.
Their goalscorer in the 6-1 defeat to England, Felipe Baloy, who will be retiring from international football after the match, has been talking. “We’ve studied Tunisia, who are a difficult rival, but still it is an opportunity to achieve a historic win,” he said on Tuesday. “The experience in Russia has been top-notch, we hope that Panama can keep growing. As a group we’ve had a good coexistence in which we’ve spent time with the youngest players, who will stay on.”
Morning all, let’s begin this session with a quiz. “What happened next?” was always the best round of Question of Sport. You’ll have to imagine David Coleman’s gleeful chuckles yourself, though.
That’s all from me as I prepare to pass the baton smoothly over to the enlightening John Brewin for more news, quips and commentary on what has been a brilliant World Cup so far. Thanks for your company, and your emails. Goodbye
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It’s Denmark v France at 3pm BST today and the French press have added a bit of needle by dragging up some pre-tournament quotes from Åge Hareide. The Denmark insists his comments were taken out of context, but could the fact he said France were “nothing special”, they lacked a “leader such as Zinedine Zidane” and Pogba only cared about his haircut come back to bit him? As Ed Aarons reports, these teams have history …
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Is Jorge Valdano’s damning take on the ugly obsession with winning that is crippling Argentinian football the best football article ever written? Big talk, you say, but Gary Lineker has gone that far …
This just might be the best piece on football I’ve ever read. Written by a great player, one of many in Argentina’s so called one-man team in 1986, @ValdanoOfficial 👌🏻 https://t.co/1iAh9WfiN8
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 26, 2018
Don’t cry for me Argentina, read it and weep …
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Belgium could make as many as 10 changes against England, with Roberto Martínez intent on keeping competition for places fierce …
The Group G decider seems to be the match noon is too bothered about winning, and here’s why:
The Guardian’s top man in Russia Daniel Taylor reckons Gareth Southgate faces a dilemma over Harry Kane for Thursday’s final group game against Belgium. To play or not to play is the conundrum for the waist-coated one:
Mark Pearson reckons that it’s not the on-field referees who are to blame for the VAR fails, it’s their fully-kitted friends in the studio. Don’t hate the player, hate the game is the general gist of his email:
“In defence of the referee (not something I ever thought I’d say) last night, he got the decision right in the first instance. He was then told by a team of officials with access to multiple replays that he should have another look, which inevitably plants the suggestion in his mind that he got it wrong. From the replays we were shown at home, angle A made it look like a handball (it looked like it dropped straight onto his arm rather than being headed against his arm), where as angles B, C, D, etc, made it very clear that it was accidental. For some reason, the poor ref was only shown the same few frames from angle A again and again, rocked back and forth with the ball hitting the arm. Based on the evidence he was shown, it looked like a stonewall penalty. So the fault is with the guys in the VAR room, not the ref. Another example of VAR poorly implemented.”
Des Kelly begs to differ …
All this whining about VAR is ridiculous. It’s like blaming CCTV for a burglary.
— DES KELLY (@DesKellyBTS) June 26, 2018
If a referee watches a replay and STILL makes a bad decision then that’s down to the competence of the official, not the review system.#VAR #WorldCup18
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Maradona, Henderson and a Uruguayan love affair feature in our latest World Cup gallery …
Richard Parkin earlier suggested Isco and Jamie Redknapp were separated at birth, but how about Diego Costa and Fernando Hierro. Something of a father and son combo, although I’m not sure which one’s the dad …
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Another day brings another depressing set of comments from a football dinosaur about the brilliant women who are finally getting a chance on our screens at the World Cup. “High-pitched tone” might not be what you want Jason Cundy, but low-rent sexism isn’t doing it for us …
Away from the World Cup for a moment, and Ajax have have admitted to providing “inadequate” on-field medical treatment for Abdelhak Nouri after he collapsed during a pre-season friendly last year. Nouri was living his dream, playing for Ajax, when he collapsed on the pitch and suffered permanent brain damage. Stuart James’s interview with Nouri’s family in Ajax in December was one of the most brilliantly moving pieces of last year and well worth a read …
The consensus among Guardian readers seems to be that VAR is good for offsides, violence conduct, etc. But that it falls down when it comes to matter of opinion such as penalties. “The problem with VAR decisions on penalty kicks (or any fouls) is it is simply another exercise of subjective judgement,” emails Robert F Speed. “ I see no real benefit in making a subjective decision again, what with the delays and lack of transparency involved. Better to stick with the real-time, real-life decision. If improvements can be made, focus on improving the on-field decisions (my two cents – two refs, two heads, four eyes would be an improvement in this regard). On the other hand, VAR for offside is brilliant. There are far fewer offside stoppages now – marginal decisions are delayed until the next natural stoppage, and it means the goal chances can proceed without being stopped for (often incorrect) close offside decisions.”
Johnny Bennett wants VAR ditched completely. “The problem with VAR – and it always will be a problem – is that almost all decisions made in football are subjective, meaning that a TV replay will not lead to significantly better decision-making,” he writes. “Any improvement in terms of decisions will therefore always be marginal and will never outweigh the cost to the game of introducing long stoppages and a non-human element to what is the most popular game in the world precisely because of its flowing, madcap style. Will they get rid of it before round 2?”
Morocco’s Nordin Amrabat gave his verdict on VAR after Iago Aspas’s injury-time equaliser for Spain was given – correctly – on the strength of video evidence. Warning, it ain’t pretty …
So true! #IRNPOR #ESPMAR 🤣 pic.twitter.com/gIgP0avHGU
— Jan 🤙🏻 (@SMil8Y) June 25, 2018
Thorbjörn Thordárson will be presenting the news in Iceland when around 99.6% of the nation’s tellies are glued to the other channel for the national team’s decisive game against Croatia tonight. Paul MacInnes has tracked down the man no one watches, and asked if he has the loneliest job in the world …
Bob OHara was aghast at the award of Iran’s penalty last night, but thinks we are training our anger in the wrong direction. “Was VAR really the problem with the handball last night?” he says via email. “I agree with everybody [except the ref] that it was the wrong decisions, but is the problem that the interpretation of the handball rule?”
Fair point Bob. There was a similarly ludicrous handball penalty given in the Saudi Arabia-Egypt game yesterday. Players have arms Fifa, deal with it.
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“They make you feel like a criminal because you lost a game,” said Jorge Sampaoli yesterday so who knows what he will face if Argentina go out tonight. They must beat Nigeria for a start, and Sampaoli used his pre-game press conference to hit back at reports that a squad mutiny tried to force his sacking. Ed Aarons has the story …
Undoubtedly my favourite VAR moment so far was when the referee in the Brazil v Costa Rica game overturned his decision to award a penalty for a ‘foul’ on Neymar. The PSG striker had tried to con the ref – and succeeded – but the ref had the last laugh once he saw the replay. Neymar’s brilliant, no doubt, but his theatrics are infuriating, and if VAR stamps out some of that sort of thing then that must be a good thing. Let us know your best VAR moment. In the meantime thanks to Ian McCourt, formerly of this parish now swanning around Germany last we heard, for this little titbit …
This made me laugh pic.twitter.com/QxIGyseQQD
— Ian McCourt (@ianmccourt) June 25, 2018
Thanks Richard and welcome one and all, wherever you are. Respectably-weathered I don’t know but it’s roasting again in London today. Today’s hot topic is VAR again – where will it end you say! – and no one is hotter under the collar than Alan Shearer, whose MOTD meltdown was something to behold after Iran were awarded a penalty for handball against Portugal’s Cédric Soares.
If he [the referee] thinks that’s a deliberate handball then he’s crazy. In his rule-book, every time it hits a hand it’s a penalty. It’s ridiculous. How can he do anything about that? He’s half a yard away and the defender’s eyes are closed. There’s no way on earth that’s a deliberate handball. That was my fear coming into this tournament, that you’re going to get decisions like this. It turns the game into an absolute farce. It’s nonsense, it’s utter nonsense. I’m trying to keep calm without swearing. I’m getting angry here because that’s just a ludicrous decision.”
Oh Alan, for once you are so right.
And on that note, I think it’s time for Guardian’s mobile floating station off the coast of Australia (where it’s currently hailing) to hand over to somewhere more respectably-weathered.
One last correspondence:
Hey Richard, this is Arun from Bangalore. What are the chances that France and Denmark will play out a “mutually beneficial dishonourable boring draw” today and kick the Aussies out of the competition? At the same time, if by any chance, the game actually does end in a draw, what chances that both will be accused of colluding?
Cheers Arun, it’s a good question. But rest assured. No two European nations have ever colluded at a World Cup to produce a result that benefits them both to the detriment of a plucky upstart nation; or so my Algerian friend informs me.
Thanks for your company today - apologies for the terrific tweets/emails we couldn’t pack in but please keep them coming for Rob Bleaney, who will be your man in the hotseat shortly.
Alle les Bleus, boo-es les Danes, los geht’s die Socceroos!
A little gem that’s surfaced over the past 24 hours is this tweet from 2017, which is entirely hilarious (unless you live west of the Odra/Nysa river), from Poland’s captain, Robert Lewandowski.
As we mentioned on this blog when Sergio Ramos was remonstrating with the match officials accusing his Real Madrid buddy Cristiano Ronaldo of simulation during Spain vs Portugal, there are few things more enjoyable than when club-mates become international rivals.
We’re calling this some Bayern-on-Bayern banter backfire:
Hola mi Hermano @jamesdrodriguez, I remember your great goals during the last World Cup. I hope you will remember mine from Russia #WC2018 #Russia2018 #PLCOL
— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) December 1, 2017
(*Ron Howard voice*) “He didn’t”.
And with Cristiano Ronaldo having avoided a ban yesterday, for those following #XhakaShakirigate (or no -gate suffix, depending very much on your perspective) there has also been confirmation from Fifa that the two Swiss players have escaped a ban over their goal-celebrations from the match against Serbia.
Fans of Germany, Mexico, Sweden or even (albeit remote) South Korea take note should the Swiss qualify, for when the knockout pairings for Groups E and F are decided.
Now if you’re a Group D devotee and you’re worried that we haven’t raked the coals sufficiently about Iceland or Nigeria’s chances in today’s match, this is for you - it’s Guardian’s World Cup Football Daily with very special guests Aanu Adeoye and Maggi Mar Einarsson to give some expert insights into their nations’ chances:
It’s truth perhaps, amid all the amazing stories that are exploding out of this World Cup thus far, that we’ve hardly spoken about everyone’s favourite little Scandinavian nation that could - Iceland; punching above their weight and threatening to send home Argentina at their first ever World Cup.
It’s a remarkable story, and as commenter Zepp rightly points out:
Iceland, with the exception of Icelanders, has to be everyone’s second favourite team in this world cup.
You’d have to be a herring-hating Norwegian to disagree with that statement, one would imagine.
Now a piece that’s been doing the rounds a fair bit among my high-browed associates of the twitter-sphere is the following, and it just so happens to be from your humble friends at the Guardian.
If you’re late to the party that is Russia 2018 and trying to understand how it is that Argentina; the Argentina; could be about to exit the World Cup today, then the following from Jorge Valdano could be a fair place to start:
Uruguay’s veteran coach, Óscar Tabárez, has been credited with overseeing a revolution of his nation’s footballing philosophy following a spell of just one qualification in four attempts. After yesterday they’ve now never NOT made it to the knockout rounds under his stewardship, thanks to a root-and-branch reform that’s become known as “Proceso de Institucionalización de Selecciones y la Formación de sus Fútbolistas”.
If, heaven forbid, Messi and friends depart today, could neighbours Argentina be overdue such an overhaul?
Stephen Holliday writes with one more fascinating aspect of the whole VAR gift-that-keeps-giving:
Brit living in LA here. Maybe my surroundings are rubbing off on me and my knowledge of anything to do with soccer, aka, football, is waning but do the six or seven VAR chaps really have to be decked out in full on refs kit?
Also, it’s not working is it? Here’s a potentially controversial decision, let’s make it more controversial by not quite revealing whether the main ref changes his mind by watching his off-pitch monitor, or whether he’s told to change his mind.
It’s an interesting point, Stephen, and as we posted earlier, one that Iran’s coach Carlos Queiroz definitely took exception to; the lack of transparency surrounding the decision making process. Will we eventually enter a brave-new-world scenario where conversation between the room of VARs and the on-field referee are played live to clarify this?
As for the necessity of the full kit for VARs, that’s one thing I hope will never change. Like your flatmate getting dressed in a full suit ahead of a cup final on Football Manager, it’s absolutely priceless.
I once took Hereford to a European Cup final in Championship Manager. I was in my dressing gown but, and we lost. Not a day goes by that I don’t look out bus windows and wonder if we’d have won that if I was in a Gareth Southgate waistcoat.
And some more of your musings.
The commenter “Nil-all” (a score you’ll remember is yet to feature in Russia 2018) poses the following conundrum:
If VAR can only review red card decisions, penalties and mistaken identity, how come CR7 gets a yellow from a VAR review?
Commenter “ollib” muses along similar lines:
I thought the Ronaldo elbow was a clear red once the ref had decided to penalise it. An off the ball elbow in the face? That’s a red all day, no?
If the ref had decided it wasn’t a foul, fair enough, it was a bit of a 50:50 decision. But if he’s going to give a card it HAS to be red for the foul he’s penalising.
Whereas “USfan” appears reasonably fatalistic about it all:
Were it not for VAR, there would be an unacceptable number of games in this World Cup whose outcome was determined by poor officiating.
As it is, there is merely an infuriating number of games in this World Cup affected by poor officiating.
All that said and done, despite VAR-cicle outcomes (real or imagined) I’m inclined to nevertheless land on this as Chris Wilson has:
What a night of football last night. What a world cup. Never end. Just, never end.
Meanwhile, a vote from our friend “Birbkamp” on the Isco/Redknapp debate:
@rrjparkin nailed on with the Isco/Redknapp thing pic.twitter.com/vjYMclNRA2
— Birbkamp (@Birbkamp) June 26, 2018
Very tidy work. I think further questions might one day be asked.
A name that’s also getting a fair bit of circulation in recent Aust-football-press is Daniel Arzani, who you might recall is the youngest player selected for any nation at this year’s World Cup.
The 19-year-old enjoyed a break-out season in Australia’s domestic A-League competition, and has certainly sparkled in his two brief cameos at the tournament thus far.
And he’s certainly caught the attention of Opta Stats, who offered this fun fact:
9 - Daniel Arzani has created a scoring chance once every nine minutes and 20 seconds at the #WorldCup, the most frequent of any player. Whippersnapper. pic.twitter.com/BMvyq4gtIA
— OptaJason (@OptaJason) June 25, 2018
Let’s hope the one-time-subject of an alleged bidding war between Australia and Iran hasn’t spent too much emotion following Team Melli’s nerve-jangling exit yesterday and is relaxed and focused for the battle with Peru.
You may have noticed Robbie Kruse’s name in that earlier list of ten most talked about footballers (from an Australian perspective) - and the much-maligned winger’s spot has definitely been under threat given the performances of young Arzani.
Unfortunately for Kruse, much of the anger comes presumably from his “backpfeifengesicht” (German: face that should be slapped) - with Kruse’s hangdog looks after another missed final-third chance perhaps overshadowing the fact that the Bochum flyer often plays a pivotal role during the build up to attacks with his clever movement and mobility, in the minds of many. I speculate.
There’s been a very prominent campaign from outspoken pundits and former Socceroos Robbie Slater and Mark Bosnich to compel coach Bert van Marwijk to select Tim Cahill - he of the golden forehead, and scorer at three consecutive World Cups - a ploy the Dutchman has thus-far resisted at the tournament.
In fact an Australian tabloid has gone even further, laying out its stall with this front page instruction:
The front page of tomorrow's The Daily Telegraph pic.twitter.com/58IzYqPLNO
— Anthony De Ceglie (@AnthDeCeglie) June 25, 2018
In fact, so strong has been the clamour for selection of the 38-year-old Melbourne City-cum-Millwall substitute against Peru, he’s figured highly on the list of footballers Australia’s talking about at the World Cup - despite not even taking part in the action thus far:
These were the most mentioned #WorldCup players on Twitter in Australia during the second round of group games. Great to see lots of Tweets about our @Socceroos! #GoSocceroos pic.twitter.com/FuHY2jr9Me
— Twitter Sports (@TwitterSportsAU) June 26, 2018
Neymar, Ronaldo, Messi, Cahill.
Arguably the tournament’s four biggest names right there.
But enough of the past; to the future!
And for the benefit of our antipodean audience, let’s turn our attention to Australia’s date-with-destiny, and/or Peru.
So first, the permutations. How do the 43rd ranked nation navigate a way to just their second ever knock-out rounds?
As discussed yesterday, statistical wonks Nate Silver and friends at FiveThirtyEight have Australia as just a 14% probability of progressing; but as Han Solo was want to say, “never tell me the odds” - and I’m almost certain Mile Jedinak has ripped the arm off somebody after losing a game of cyber-chess, so..
Kieran Pender sees it slightly more optimistically for Australia, as he writes from Sochi:
Now a result that may have surprised some last night given their stunning form across their first two games was the capitulation of host nation Russia, who appeared to run out of juice against Uruguay, pressing self-destruct inside 45 minutes with a hapless show of defensive urgency and a brain explosion double-yellow, red, for fill-in fullback Igor Smolnikov.
Perhaps it is masterful mind-games from the wily veteran coach, Stanislav Cherchesov; lowering expectations in a fixture that ultimately didn’t matter for his side? In Russia’s defence it was a much-changed line up with an eye on yellow cards and resting veterans like Yuri Zhirkov.
And while the match as a contest may have ended relatively early on, it also gave rise to a new contest - worst barnet at Russia 2018 - as Uruguay introduced
Jar-Jar Binks
Diego Laxalt at left back.
Jérôme Boateng and Neymar emit a collective sigh of relief.
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One thing I forgot to mention earlier - so please help me settle a debate here. Isco. Is he just a poor man’s Iberian Jamie Redknapp?
Like two peas from a pod. A pod that inherited no genetic material from ol’ ‘Arry.
And if Morocco departed the tournament with their reputations and pan-African pride slightly more intact, there was no such luck for north African neighbours Egypt in Group A, who at least allowed Saudi Arabia to save face after a tournament that seemed to go downhill ever since before they even started with coach Bert van Marwijk walking out after qualifying.
We’ve seen some late goals across the tournament but 90+5 sure does seem an unnecessarily cruel dagger to take. And then there’s the fallout of whether or not Mohammed Salah has in fact played his last game for the Egyptian national side (see yesterday’s blog). Poor old Héctor Cúper. He seems a nice man. No?
The high drama of Iran-Portugal was made even more thrilling with the knowledge that simultaneously all manner of untold fresh mayhem was breaking out in the concurrent fixture between Spain and Morocco.
Morocco taking the lead? Morocco re-taking the lead late with one of the best headed goals you’ll see at the tournament? A late Spanish lifeline chalked out for offside; but then re-instated? Iago Aspas!
Dr-ah-ma. With Noureddine Amrabat on a one-man mission to just destroy people (by fair means or foul) and Gerard Pique handing out two-footed slides like nobody’s business, it only lacked Diego Costa flicking a switch to full-Hulk-mode to make this one a five-star classic.
Bad news for lovers of chiseled dreamboats, therefore. The one, the only Herve Renard has therefore had to leave the tournament. But not before he stole your heart.
Twitter and the Daily Mail certainly made a fair bit of the Moroccan coach, didn’t they? Funny, nobody seemed to mention it when he coached Cambridge United.
Nor was coach Carlos Queiroz too happy with VAR’s interventions, especially in the decision to award Cristiano Ronaldo just a yellow card for an off-the-ball elbow thrown at Morteza Pouraliganji.
In fairness the contact wasn’t as blatant as simulation from Pepe, but depending on your subjective allegiance the biggest name in world football could have been out of the tournament, thanks to the robot men upstairs. Imagine that. On your bike, CR7, hello VAR-heaven.
I don’t know. I seem to always get these wrong. Yussuf Poulsen’s handball v Australia was 100% a penalty for mine, and yet Cédric Soares’s one last night in similar circumstances? 0%.
Should Ronaldo have gone? Let us know. Yay. Nay.
In all honestly, after the fighting way that Iran approached that match, and the pure courage with which they conducted themselves, you can’t help but feel moved by their heartbreak.
Coach Carlos Queiroz said the team had no interest in “heroic failure” but unlucky for them; they got it in spades.
There were beautiful moments amid the sadness, the manner in which players consoled one another, with genuine sympathy and shared pain spoke volumes to the character of these Iranian men.
A lot like how Brazil’s teammates rushed to a tear-ridden Neymar.
So four cracking matches ahead. I’m still licking my lips like a kitten at milk following the sudden upgrade from three to four per matchday. But before we delve too deeply into today’s games, how bout that which proceeded last night? Phwoar.
Queiroz v his native land; Suárez v the host nation; the Red Sea derby; the Straits of Gibraltar derby (or Alboran Sea derby, if that’s what you prefer) - four great fixtures with more subplots than Cleopatra could clasp to her bosom. Iago Aspas! (A 45 year-old keeper! At the World Cup! A goal-tending Roger Milla!)
VAR reared it’s forked-tongued head not once but at least thrice in a tempestuous clash between Portugal and Iran. After 0/12 wins at World Cup 2014 the West Asian giants looked to strike a significant blow for AFC nations; and came within a veritable whisker near the end of doing so.
Fans have come within minutes of contemplating the World Cup knockout rounds without either Germany, Brazil or Argentina thus far; but imagine no Cristiano Ronaldo as well? Madness.
Poor Mehdi Taremi. We’ve seen our fair share of tears at World Cups over the years but if ever there’s been a soul who wanted the ground to just open up and swallow him whole, it was the Al-Gharafa striker, whose 90 +4 minute shot could have produced one of the all-time World Cup miracles.
If you missed any of that match, do take the time to relive the match report. High. Drama. Personified.
Preamble
Unlucky for some, that’s day 13 - and as nations from Groups C and D discover their respective fates who will emerge triumphant, and whose quadrennial dream will be shattered?
Yesterday we had 3 out of 4 of the games as “live” fixtures, ie with something very much at stake; but today we can happily report all four of our games could prove very lively, with seven of the eight nations still eyeing qualification to the knockout stages.
As pressure goes, few will be under more than Argentina’s beleaguered coach Jorge Sampaoli who has, we believe, survived a palace coup and will coach the side for their decisive clash against Nigeria. Whether or not he’s picked that side remains to be seen.
Pressure too on Lionel Messi - who hasn’t cut an entirely calm figure this tournament amid the constant comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo and the expectation that somehow his entire legacy as a player will unravel unless his underperforming Albicelestes colleagues win at Russia 2018.
First though, they have to escape the group stage. It’s not entirely in the hands of the five-time finalists, but at least they face their nearest rivals, Nigeria, directly, with Iceland’s hopes rather thin, albeit not entirely impossible.
That’s more than their close rivals (alphabetically, at least) Australia can hope for, with Bert van Marwijk’s chargers needing not just a win over an eliminated Peru, but also no acts of charity from France against their European buddies Denmark. Neither are anything near guarantees, and there might be a game-within-a-game distraction as the “will-he, won’t he” furore surrounding whether 38-year-old Tim Cahill will be allowed to save his nation once again escalates as the games near conclusion.
Day 13 schedule:
3pm BST/5pm MSK/midnight AEST: Denmark v France, Match 37, Moscow
3pm BST/5pm MSK/midnight AEST: Australia v Peru, Match 38, Sochi
7pm BST/9pm MSK/4am Wednesday AEST: Nigeria v Argentina, Match 39, Saint Petersburg
7pm BST/9pm MSK/4am Wednesday AEST: Iceland v Croatia, Match 40, Rostov on Don
So plenty in store - as always please sent your best quips, insights and conspiracy theories to us to join the conversation. Via email (richard.parkin.casual@theguardian.com) or twitter (@rrjparkin), or simply comment below the line.
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