In an article on FiveThirtyEight titled "The 2018 World Cup: Favorites, Sleepers And Most Pivotal Games", Neil Paine listed the top ten group-stage matches to watch for. Portugal-Spain was #2, and was the first one to show up, so maybe we should be listening to him. Check out his article. In the meantime, here are the other nine matches that look good:
June 17: Germany-Mexico (#6 on the list), Brazil-Switzerland (#4)
June 20: Spain-Iran (#5)
June 21: Argentina-Croatia (#7)
June 23: Germany-Sweden (#10)
June 25: Spain-Morocco (#1)
June 26: Argentina-Nigeria (#8)
June 27: Brazil-Serbia (#3)
June 28: England-Belgium (#9)
"Aside from the few group-stage clashes between titans, such as Spain-Portugal or England-Belgium, there’s a common recipe for the crucial matches listed above: a talented underdog that can’t be overlooked by its contending opponent and that has the potential to break the knockout bracket before it’s even set."
I'll have to decide how I'm going to watch matches, since beginning tomorrow, the starting times for the first matches will be early. I'm thinking I won't set an alarm, but if I wake up at the right time, I'll watch live. Otherwise I'll play catch up on the DVR.
Egypt-Uruguay(Group A 5:00 AM (all times Pacific). Mohamed Salah is cleared to play, which is great news, because he is the #1 player I'm am looking forward to watching. Meanwhile, Uruguay has Luis Suarez, another favorite. I initially had Uruguay with a 2-1 win, but Salah could change that. I also have Egypt being edged out of third place by Russia, and that was before the 5-0 awakening. The winner of this match should take the group, which is a three-team race. I'm guessing Russia isn't anywhere near as good as the result they got today. The best thing for them is probably for Egypt-Uruguay to end up in a tie. Watch for Ramadan Sobhi for Egypt and Edinson Cavani for Uruguay.
Morocco-Iran(Group B) 8:00 AM. Morocco manager Herve Renard, appearing for the first time as a World Cup coach, is up against the four-time manager Carlos Queiroz, and he has been self-deprecating about his supposed lack of experience. But, he says, "We are not here to take pictures of the monuments in St Petersburg." I've tagged M'barek Boussoufa to score the only goal in a 1-0 win for Morocco. If either of these two teams wins, it will likely be their only one ... the other teams in the group are Spain and Portugal.
Portugal-Spain (Group B) 11:00 AM. Speaking of which. No one knows what the turmoil regarding the Spanish manager situation will mean for their on field performance. I'll go with my heart and say my personal favorites in the tournament will beat Portugal, 2-1. Yes, Cristiano Ronaldo will score, but that's all Portugal will get. I've picked David Silva and Andrés Iniesta to tally for the Spaniards. On paper, this is the first marquee matchup of the Cup, although you really shouldn't miss Mo Salah.
In the meantime, here is one of Andres Cantor's five goal calls today:
I wouldn't make any assumptions yet about the greatness of Russia ... the Saudi defense was so awful. Still the 5-0 score might come in handy for tiebreaker purposes. If they manage draws with Egypt and Uruguay, they could advance. And it's possible, although Salah is apparently healthy, which, to state the obvious, ups Egypt's chances.
Aleksandr Golovin had a great match, with 2 assists and a goal. Meanwhile, the Saudis had 61% of possession and zero shots on target.
As I noted earlier, this was a match for human rights offenders: #30 Russia vs. #32 Saudi Arabia. The leaders enjoyed the match alongside the FIFA president:
I didn't expect to talk about Spain quite this early. Here is the timeline:
May 26: Real Madrid defeats Liverpool to win the Champions League.
May 31: Real manager Zinedine Zidane leaves the club.
June 12: Spain manager Julen Lopetegui was named as Zidane's successor, to take effect after the World Cup.
June 13: Lopetegui was fired as the Spain manager. Fernando Hierro was named as his replacement.
June 15: Spain will play their first match in the 2018 World Cup, against Portugal.
Apparently, Lopetegui negotiated his new contract without consulting the Spanish federation, who found out about the move just five minutes before it was announced. Federation head Luis Rubiales said they had been "obliged to fire the national coach".
What will this mean for Spain's chances? I've been assuming they would make at least the quarterfinals, and I don't know that this changes anything. But I also assume they will beat Portugal on Friday, and the margin for victory there is small enough that this could affect the result. And of course, Portugal's star, Cristiano Ronaldo, plays for Real Madrid, which may be meaningless but I bet it gets talked about a lot, nonetheless.
Women athletes in these programs are deeply alienated from the federation’s administrative structures. Women athletes in these programs see no future for themselves—not on the pitch, not as coaches, not in any of the structures that govern the game. If they are lucky, they leave their country. Or just make peace with it, stick with a grassroots sports scene, and do something else with their lives.
Many women’s teams have every right to just flat out strike. FIFA’s structures force women’s programs into a deeper part of its sewer—where men are coerced into complicity with FIFA’s corruption through the promise of fame and financial fortune, women are coerced into silence with the threat of being removed from the game altogether.
The more people who stand with these athletes, right now, the better.
The debate over turf is important, however, as a symptom of something much larger: the ongoing inequalities in support for women’s and men’s soccer programs globally. The artificial turf is a metaphor, a very visible and inescapable reminder many ways in which institutional forces continue to hold back the development of the women’s game, quite literally impacting its most brilliant and inspiring players
Things look good for the USA because they have a relatively easy path for awhile. They haven't played particularly well, but they have time to get where they need to be.
Saturday's matches:
Germany-Sweden. Germany does not have an easy path. Sweden beat them only three months ago. On the other hand, 10-0. The Germans have won two of the last three Cups, including a finals win over Sweden in 2003. Germany is favored, and they should be, but Sweden could pull the upset.
China-Cameroon. These are two of the lesser teams remaining in the tournament. Watch for Gaelle Enganamouit. I have no idea who wins this one, but I predict the winner will lose in the next round.
The USA plays Colombia on Monday. The Colombians are the worst team still remaining, and they'll be without suspended first-team keeper Sandra Sepulveda. I told you the Americans have an easy path.
There were four World Cup matches, two in the Copa América, and some Men's World Cup qualifiers. One match stood above the others, Chile-Mexico in the Copa. This is a good place to see all six of the goals in the 3-3 draw, plus you get to hear Ray Hudson screaming and babbling as only he can (the video clips for some reason are not in chronological order):
In the WWC, both Group A matches ended in draws, so Canada and China are through, the Netherlands are well placed in the "best 3rd-place race", and New Zealand goes home. In Group B, the expected teams coasted. Thus, Germany and Norway advance. Thailand has a slim chance in the 3rd-place race, and the Ivory Coast goes home winless, having been outscored 16-3.
Now it's the Americans turn. The USA faces Nigeria, and a win sends the team through. They are currently atop the group, and could still advance even if they lose, but Nigeria is unlikely to win. Meanwhile, Australia advances with a win or draw against Sweden, while the Swedes need a win. (Again, there's always the third-place route.)
Finally, Kate Fagan wrote an excellent piece for ESPN:
Think about the subliminal message here: Being a woman -- or even like a woman -- is essentially a disadvantage. And being "like a man" is supposedly so advantageous that FIFA has created a policy to expose any female athlete deemed "too manly."
Today's viewing is made difficult because the USA-Nigeria match begins at 5:00, but Argentina-Uruguay in Copa América begins at 4:30. I'll probably take in half-an-hour of Messi, then switch to the USA.
Yesterday, there were four Women's World Cup matches, the opening match in Copa América, two Men's World Cup qualifier, three round-of-16 matches in the Men's U-20 World Cup, and a friendly between the men's national teams of Spain and Costa Rica. And that's just the matches I could watch legally. Toss in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, and it's a wonder I ever left the house.
Today? Four more WWC matches, including USA-Sweden, five UEFA Euro qualifiers, a Copa América match featuring Mexico, and a Men's World Cup qualifier.
Of course, I pick and choose. Today, my must-watch match is USA-Sweden, and two other WWC matches (Australia-Nigeria and Japan-Cameroon) will get as much attention as I have time for.
I'll be on the road this weekend and will miss everything until the Warriors on Sunday evening. At least the WWC takes Sunday off.
Boo hoo, I know.
Sweden coach Pia Sundhage, former USA coach, decided to make some less-than-complimentary remarks about a few of the players she once coached. There seems to be no reason for this, and the only possible result is likely that she's fired up the Americans. My prediction is a win for the U.S.