News and comment
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Here for your inspection and pleasure is a match report:
Kane speaks
“I thought we played really well in the second half. We had them on the ropes for the first half hour of that but we couldn’t get the goal. We had that one cleared off the line .. I can’t fault the lads, we gave it everything.
We’ve closed the gap [to the best teams] but today shows there’s still room for improvement. We’ve said that all along. We’re still learning, still improving.”
Regarding the Golden Boot, in which he has a three goals lead over Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, he says: “It shows we had a very good group stage and scored a lot of goal. Obviously I’m disappointed I couldn’t get a goal in the last few games but that’s football. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ll see what happens tomorrow: if I get it, it’ll be something I’ll be very proud of.”
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Full-time: Belgium 2-0 England
Belgium have taken the bronze medal, they very least they deserve from a strong campaign. England finish fourth, equalling their best ever achievement at an overseas World Cup and surpassing all reasonable people’s pre-tournament predictions. Having said that, given how the draw panned out, this was a par result. Beyond results, however, they played or at least acted with a personality that rekindled their country’s affection for their national team and that will be the abiding memory for them from the 2018 World Cup.
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90 min: Another individuals prize that is up for grabs is Player of the Tournament. It is usually awarded to someone who has reached the final and, as such, will probably be given to Modric, Mbappe, Varane or Kante. But Hazard has been brilliant throughout.
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89 min: Dier, who has had a good second half, overhits an attempted pass to Kane, allowing Courtois to clean up.
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87 min: England, understandably, are becoming reckless in their attempt to get something from this game, leaving even more gaps for Belgium to exploit. The toll could yet increase...
85 min: Hazards leads another Belgian charge forward, zooming over the ground like a shark through water. But then he leaves his pass to De Bruyne shot, allowing England to intercept.
England substitution: Alli on, Loftus-Cheek off. If Jamie Vardy is fully fit, he’s entitled to be well peeved.
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GOAL! Belgium 2-0 England (Hazard 82)
Super goal. De Bruyne collected the ball in midfield and turned and ran at England. He then slipped ball into Hazard as Jones got his feet in a muddle. That’s something Hazard never does: instead he bore down and Pickford and picked his spot into the bottom corner.
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80 min: What a break by Belgium! With precision flick and one-time passes they hurtled from their own box into the English one, whereupon Mertens hung a splendid cross up to the far post. Meunier arrived to meet it with a firm volley. Pickford stood up to it to make a fine save!
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Belgium substitution: Dembélé on, Tielemans off. That’s a reflection of the degree of control England have managed to establish in midfield in the second half.
78 min: Dier has come on strong in this second period. He’s just flipped a nice pass from outside the D to Loftus-Cheek, who couldn’t quite get under control.
76 min: After being under pressure for quite a while, Belgium launch a counter-attack through De Bruyne, who feeds Mertens and then continues running towards the box in anticipation of a return ball. But Mertens has other ideas and fancies curling one into the top corner from 20 yards. Nope, not today, Dries. It sails about 15 yards wide.
74 min: Maguire heads wide from another Trippier freekick.
73 min: A cute chipped pass by Trippier to Lingard, who does well to hit it first-time across the face of goal. Dier meets it and sends a downwards header wider from seven yards.
72 min: Kompany turns a dangerous freekick by Trippier behind for a corner. England are turning the screw a little on Belgium. “Has a third place play-off ever gone to penalties?” asks Simon Davies. “It would feel like the most pointless shoot-out ever (and might be more fun that way).” The third-place playoff at Euro 1980 went to a shootout and Czechoslovakia beat Italy 9-8. And it was so much fun that Uefa decided to scrap third-place playoffs after that.
70 min: Lovely interplay between Rashford and Dier leaves the Tottenham player with a one-on-one with Courtois! Dier dinks it over the advancing keeper from eight yards ... but Alderweireld slides it to hook it off the line!
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69 min: Dier has a crack from long-range, but Courtois saves his low drive without ado.
67 min: Good play by England to pen Belgium back and then create room for Loftus-Cheek to cross from the right. It’s a cracking delivery across the face of goal, though a nick off Vermaelen takes it beyond the reach of Kane.
66 min: Trippier hangs up a cross to the edge of the area, where Kane had peeled off to receive it. But he botches his attempted volley, ending up on his derrière again.
Has a Golden Boot winner (unless something spectacular happens) ever had a goal drought in the same World Cup before? #WorldCup #ENGBEL
— Jeremy Allen (@jeres) July 14, 2018
64 min: Kompany produces a foxy flick at the near post to send Mertens’ corner into the mixer. No Belgian anticipated that, however, and England are able to welly it away.
63 min: A lovely Belgian move opens up England, but Delph saves the day with an outstanding last-ditch tackle on Meunier.
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Belgium substitution: Mertens on, Lukaku off. That’s a good decision by Martinez. Can’t be allowing one player’s pursuit of individual glory to get in the away of the team. That’s not to suggest that Lukaku has played in a seflish way - he certainly hasn’t - just that he’s been off-form today and needed to be replaced.
56 min: De Bruyne rolls a sumptuous pass through the legs of Stones and into the path of Lukaku. but Lukaku’s control’s lets him down and the ball runs through to Pickford. Both strikers have been scruffy today. Maybe the Golden Boot should roll over to the next tournament and the winner then could be presented with one for each foot?
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54 min: Lingard flashes the ball across the face of goal with a cross/shot. Kane stretches to try to apply a decisive touch but misses by millimetres. England have played with more intensity, speed and directness in this half, seemingly intent on not ending their tournament with a whimper.
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52 min: Stones booked for pulling down Hazard as Belgium broke away after clearing England’s corner. if a Japanese player had done that earlier in this tournament, Belgium wouldn’t be here today.
51 min: Trippier hoists in a freekick from the right. It’s an excellent delivery, at speed and landing teasingly close to Courtois about five yards out. Alderweireld makes an excellent intervention to stab it over the bar for a corner.
49 min: England have been brighter in this half, eager to run at their opponents. “In order to make these matches more interesting, how about from now on Fifa say that the third-place team qualifies automatically for the next World Cup.” But then you’d also have to give slots to the winners and runners-up, which take up three places at the next tournament before the qualification process even begins. Fifa might start thinking of expanding it to a 64-team tournament, if they aren’t plotting that already, the bozos.
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47 min: Kompany hurries across to disrupt a good burst down the right by Loftus-Cheek.
England substitutions: Lingard and Rashford on, Rose and Sterling off. I don’t know why Kane is still on the pitch.
“Will Kane be the least impressive golden boot winner ever?” asks Chris Foley. You mean you’re not impressed by two close-range predatory strikes, three penalties and a flukey deflection? It’s got to be down there with Oleg Salenko’s haul in 1994, when five of his six goals came against a shambolic Cameroon side. Oh, and let’s not discount the possibility of Lukaku scoring a hat-trick in this half. Or of Mbappé doing so tomorrow.
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Looking again at the chance that Kane missed, it really was a weak effort (after a nice set-up by Sterling). A very scruffy attempt, as he went to ground as he shot and wound up directing the ball several yards wide of the target. Danny Welbeck, for instance, tends to always end up on his backside after shooting but Kane, not so much. But he’s had a bad tournament.
Belgium 1-0 England
Belgium have been the better side and deserve their lead.
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45 min: Stones keeps his eye on the ball and chooses the right moment to intervene and stop Lukaku from scoring on the break.
44 min: Shoddy control or a clever flick? That’s not clear, but either way Loftus-Cheek’s touch outfoxes Vermaelen and opens up the hint of an opening for England. but Courtois is quick to spot it and dahses off his line to gather the ball before Loftus-Cheek can regain it.
42 min: “Is there a weirder spectacle than the third place playoff at the World Cup?” wonders Kari Tulinius. “ Last time around it was the last stop on the Brazilian shametrain. This one doesn’t have much of a shape yet, so far it’s a bunch of high-class players operating on muscle memory and ingrained habits. It’s a bit like watching the last contractually obligated concert of a band that has split up. Hopefully something happens to set the teams’ competitive fire ablaze.” I hear what you’re saying but I think, in this case, the fact is that Belgium want to win and are doing as much as they have to: England haven’t been good enough to force them to excel.
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40 min: A hefty touch by Sterling gifts the ball back to De Bruyne in the Belgian half. England haven’t kept the ball well enough when pressure has been applied. But at least Sterling has regularly found a way to receive a pass. Kane, on the other hand, has barely featured in this match. In fact, despite his goal tally, he’s had an inadequate tournament, if you ask me. And yes, I know you didn’t ask me.
Belgian substitution: Vermaelen on, Chadli off. Presumably that means Vetonghen will go to left wingback and Vermaelen will slot into the centre.
38 min: Belgium, temporarily down to 10 because Chadli has not yet been replaced, launch a counter-attack down the right. De Bruyne’s cross to the back post is headed behind in extremis by Trippier.
36 mins: Chadli is down receiving some vigorous rubbing, seemingly having strained his hamstring. he doesn’t look like he’s going to be able to continue...
35 min: De Bruyne pulls the corner out to Tielemans at the edge of the area. The midfielder’s miscues his shot but Alderwerield improvises impressively and almost salvages a goal, his acrobatic effort flying wide from 10 yards.
34 min: The probing concludes with De Bruyne picking out Hazard, who had dashed into the box. Stones flings himself in front of the shot to deflect it out for a corner.
32 min: As if trying to contradict my previous entry, Meunier aims a nothing-cross into the English area. It’s easily cleared. but Belgium regain the ball and resume probing in the manner described.
30 min: Belgium enjoy a spell of possession. Their movement and passing is significantly sharper and crisper than England’s are when England have the ball.
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27 min: Lukaku pounces on a loose ball midway inside the English half. He lays it off to Chadli, who seeks Hazard, who wriggles his way into the English box before knocking it back for Tielemans to have a bang. Tielemans’ shot is charged down (by Stones, I think).
25 min: England have steadied themselves over the last few minutes and played the ball around quite nicely, although you do get the sense that Belgium are happy enough to allow them to do that in innocuous places with a view to nicking it off them and striking on the counter. “About Danny Rose’s socks,” begins J Walker. “I think it’s because they are too tight on the calves so the holes relieve some of the pressure. He had the same look in the last match.”
22 min: After good English play, featuring a canny pass by Dier, Sterling tees up Kane, who slashes a bouncing ball wide from 16 yards.
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20 min: Maguire towers above Kompany and gets his header to a corner about 10 yards out. It’s straight at Courtois, who again saves easily. “Any idea what’s going on with Danny Rose’s socks?” asks Mark Childs. “I’m transfixed by the holes...” He does have big holes in the back of his socks but I’ve no idea why. Symbolic of the gaps in England’s midfield and defence, perhaps?
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18 min: Stones joins an English attack, receiving the ball about 15 yards outside the Belgian box and knocking it on to Delph, who shows nifty foot work to help it on to Sterling. But the third of the Man City players is quickly surrounded by Belgians, who prevent him from turning on the penalty spot and getting off a shot.
17 min: De Bruyne splits England’s defence open with a gorgeous pass through the legs of Dier. Lukaku just fails to collect it after making a smart run behind Trippier.
15 min: Kompany pokes the ball off the feet of Kane, who barely been visible so far. Trippier retrieves it wide on the right and crosses quickly to Loftus-Cheek, who meets it with a respectable header from 15 yards. But it had neither the power nor the precision to stretch Courtois.
14 min: Delph has a go from 20 yards, a low, curling effort with his right foot. It’s on target but too weak to trouble Courtois.
13 min: De Bruyne and Hazard again revel in the space where England’s midfield should be, but this time Jones helps out Stones and England manage to stop Hazard’s run at the edge of the area.
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11 min: Hazard pings a low pass to Lukaku, who sends it on to De Bruyne thanks in part to more jittery English defending. De Bruyne sends a sidefooted shot from 16 yards goalward from the left-hand side of the box. It takes a deflection ... and forces Pickford to show his agility and a strong hand to bat it away!
9 min: A setpiece for England! A freekick to the left, mid-way inside the Belgian half. Trippier curls in an in-swinger. But it’s not one out of the training ground playbook, as it floats well beyond any English player, and Vertonghen nudges it back to Courtois.
7 min: Tripper sends in a reasonable low cross from the right but Belgium clear without fuss.
4 min: That was a nicely-constructed goal by Belgian and well finished by Meunier, albeit with his shin. But England’s resistance was very flimsy. There were huge holes in midfield as hazard slashed through it and Rose was caught unaware as Meunier stole in front of him.
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GOAL! Belgium 1-0 England (Meunier 4)
Meunier pokes home from six yards after a cross from the right by Chadli!
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2 min: Some bright early play by Rose, wins the ball off De Bruyne and then steads himself and plays a careful pass to Stones, allowing England to begin a bit of possession play.
1 min: Three, two, one ... we have kickoff! Belgium, wearing yellow shirts and black shorts, do the honours.
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“It’ll be interesting to see if Belgium can do the double over England today,” muses Peter Oh. “I’m surprised to see Trippier in the starting lineup. On Wednesday it looked like his legs were practically falling off at the groin. Pickford looks as confident as ever. He doesn’t seem fazed by squaring up against a keeper of Courtois’s stature.” And there’s a fair chance he will literally square up to him at some point.
Here come the national anthems, which, in many countries’ cases, tend to be more arrogant and offensive than any tune written by a pair of comedians.
“I think the so-called ‘arrogance’ of the English media could be to do with so many people knowing English and the fact that so many other countries follow English social media,” reckons Kate Snowdon. “The first world cup I watched consistently was 1974 when England didn’t qualify and Scotland did. The whole Grandstand team wore tartan rosettes and wanted Scotland to win. I also watched the 1966 cup final at a camp site in France. Very dim memories but my elder sister says that the French wanted the English to win as it was only 20 years after the second world war.”
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“Regarding commentators, how about the channels offer an option on the remote next tournament?” wibbles Mr Smart. “For example: 1. Wittering Cliche-fest; 2. Off/Stadium ambience; 3. Partisan foreign enthusiasm hollering; 4. ;
Disinterested jaded ex-pro ramblings; 5. Irritatingly non-partisan rules stickler mutterings.” I note you don’t have an option for fair, remarkably clever, likeable and downright life-affirming chat. Or is that what MBMs are for?
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Southgate speaks
After the ITV pundits dismiss Luka Modric’s claim that perceived arrogance by English pundits helped motivated Croatia, Gareth Southgate pops up to give his thoughts on today’s game, stressing that his team have an opportunity to become the highest-achieving England side in a World Cup bot held in Wembley:
We have two choices. We play well and finish fourth and go home having shown improvement ... Or we put on a performance and the players go home with a medal and as the best-ever team to have left our shores.
[Winning] would be lovely for the players and staff to go home knowing they have achieved something special. People can look at the route to this stage and everything else but I’m not sure anyone in our country thought we’d come here and be playing seven matches here.
Regarding his team selection, he says: “Every player was up for playing . We had to make a decision on some who we didn’t think it was right to start and try to reenergise the team. The mentality has been brilliant.”
Following on, sort of, from the previous point, has any seen L’Equipe today? The font page of their magazine is devoted to a photo of the Arc de Triomphe and the caption: “See you Tomorrow”. They’re planning their parades! Someone get Roy Keane on French TV pronto! That front page, meanwhile, is sure to have pride of place in the Croatian dressing room tomorrow ....
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“Clive Tyldesley aside, it seems to me that most of the UK commentators haven’t been too partisan despite what people have said (co-commentators are a different matter),” reckons David Wall. “It’s odd though that many are so critical of that yet praise and share clips of overseas commentators acting more like supporters than journalists (the minute’s silence on Argentinian TV, the Icelandic guy becoming incoherent, the Panamanians crying at the national anthem, and the increasingly tedious Brazilian commentators saying ‘gol’ for as long as they can, for instance ). Is it because we only ever see short clips so would hate watching entire matches like that? Or perhaps because we don’t understand what they’re saying and are amused by those ‘weird foreigners’?”
I agree it would be silly to think English commentators shouldn’t convey happiness if England score or disappointment if they lose. Why shouldn’t they want England to win? The only beef I’d have would if their preference led to dishonesty, leading them, for example, to ignore or excuse fouls or playacting by English players while condemning similar acts by their opponents. And that does happen.
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Let’s hope Kane and Lukaku prepared for this match by watching the 1958 third-place playoff, when Just Fontaine helped himself to four goals, his 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th of the tournament. Don’t think much of his penalty-shooting, mind. A touch of the Eric Dier’s about his effort here:
As you can see from the lineups below, Gareth Southgate has made fivechanges to the side that started that sad defeat by Croatia. Henderson, Lingard, Young, Walker and Alli have all dropped out - at least partly due to fitness worries - while Jones, Rose, Dier, Delph and Loftus-Cheek come in. As for Belgium, they’ve gone strong, with all their main men starting, with Meunier returning at right wingback after missing the semi-final through suspension, and Youri Tielemans coming into midfield in place of Fellaini. Belgium look to have a lot more creativity than England so Lukaku has a fair chance of emulating players such as Toto Schillaci, Thomas Muller and Davon Suker, all of used the third-place playoff to give their Golden Boot push a decisive late boost. Let’s see what Kane can do about that.
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Teams
Belgium: Courtois; Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen; Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, Chadli; De Bruyne, Lukaku, Hazard
Subs: Mignolet, Casteels, Vermaelen, Boyata, Dendoncker, Fellaini, Dembélé, Carrasco, T. Hazard, Mertens, Januzaj, Batshuayi
England: Pickford; Stones, Jones, Maguire; Trippier, Dier, Delph, Loftus-Cheek, Rose; Sterling, Kane
Subs: Walker, Lingard, Henderson, Vardy, Buland, Welbeck, Cahill, Young, Rashford, Alli, Alexander-Arnold, Pope
Referee: A Faghani (Ira)
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to the match that no one dreams of playing in but, now that Belgium and England are here, both will do their utmost to win. Hopefully. For England victory would represent their second-best finish of all time, while for Belgian it would be the country’s biggest footballing achievement ever, and give their golden generation a bronze medal to point to. As for us smile spectators, the third place playoff is usually a treat, since teams tend to play with more abandon than when the stakes are truly high: not since 1974 has one of these affairs failed to produce at least three goals. And let’s not forget that if Romelu Lukaku scores that many today, he could pinch the Golden Boot off poor Harry Kane.
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