The government of Qatar is repressive and fascist. FIFA is corrupt and hypocritical. Simple as.
Neither match was a close one in the end today, but we have ourselves a serious showdown set in the quarterfinals here.
France vs. Poland
This was the early match of the day and defending champions France won fairly comfortably in the end 3-1, but there were undoubtedly a few moments of panic for them before and after they scored the opening goal on 43 minutes via Olivier Giroud. The Polish defense gave him far too much space and he was able to redirect a shot back across goal. Giroud actually hit the ball into the ground a bit first, which caused it to bounce over the hand of Polish keeper Wojciech Szczęsny and in for 1-0. It could be argued though that Poland should have already been ahead, and would have been if not for some goal line clearances by the French defense around the 35 minute mark. Szczęsny had been brilliant up until then, but his defense really let him down.
France were the better team on the day, as they were frequently the ones pressing the Polish and winning the ball high up the pitch to create chances. When the opposition’s front four contains Giroud, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, and Antoine Griezmann, giving the ball away to them is suicidal. The Polish were lucky to hold the French out for the first 40 minutes, and they were also fortunate to keep it at 1-0 until the 76 minute mark.
It was then that Mbappe decided to take over the game, and he did so by scoring two goals in quick succession, each of them powerful and precise finishes over Szczęsny that gave him absolutely no chance. Mbappe is one of, if not the, best players in the world right now and he showed why with those two goals. Everyone knows he’s a world-class sprinter, but he showed a real striker’s instinct and technique today too. Mbappe is the current top scorer at this World Cup with 5 goals.
Polish striker Robert Lewandowski got a goal back for his side from the penalty spot in the dying seconds of the match, and while it fooled French keeper Hugo Lloris it was nothing more than a consolation goal. Even Lewandowski knew it was just going to be one for the statistics, and of no other real significance.
France decisively move on to the quarterfinals. They look incredibly strong right now, even if it took them a while to score today. I was concerned about their injuries and team spirit coming into this tournament, but so far those worries have been unfounded. It helps that Mbappe is in absolutely scintillating form right now. Poland will be sad to be going home, but they lost to an extremely good team today.
England vs. Senegal
My stomach was turning itself inside out in anticipation of this match. England were favored coming in, probably in part due to the unavailability of Senegalese all-world winger Sadio Mané (injury) and industrious midfielder Idrissa Gueye (suspension). But the team known as the Lions of Teranga were not to be underestimated, as they are the reigning African champions.
And indeed, it was the Senegalese who were on the front foot almost from the off. They were using their pacey forwards to press England’s defense high up the pitch, knowing that England like to play the ball out from the back. This tactic employed by manager Aliou Cissé worked quite well for a bit, and they almost caught England out several times. Their best chance came around half an hour into the match, when forward Boulaye Dia found some space in the box and lashed a powerful shot towards goal that required a rather magnificent save from England keeper Jordan Pickford. He stuck out his left arm and held it firm to deny Dia, and England cleared.
England had a lot of possession in the opening 35 minutes or so, but they weren’t really doing anything with it. The middle of the park was devoid of England shirts, so there was nowhere for the center backs to pass it to. However, England finally got a meaningful attack going down the left wing on 39 minutes, and it resulted in the first goal from midfielder Jordan Henderson. A neat backheel fell to striker Harry Kane, who spotted the run of midfielder Jude Bellingham ahead of him. His weighted pass made it through the defense, and Bellingham latched onto the ball just outside the box. He ran into the box as his marker was level with him, but his cutback cross found Henderson in space. Henderson hit it first time along the ground, and it rolled into the goal just past the reach of keeper Edouard Mendy. A massive relief for England and very much against the run of play, but we’ll take it! Henderson is the 8th different English player to score at this tournament.
Senegal pushed forward to try and find an equalizer, but it was England who got an important second goal on the very stroke of halftime. England won the ball back via Bellingham after a deflected cross fell into his path, and he carried the ball forward while riding challenges from the opposition. He found winger/forward Phil Foden ahead of him to his left in a one-on-one with a defender. Foden hit a return pass into the path of Kane, who was running forward in support and unmarked. The ball deflected off a defender before falling to Kane, who took a touch and then buried a powerful shot into the net from about 12 yards out, just to the right of the penalty spot. Mendy had no chance, and Kane is now just one goal behind Wayne Rooney’s all-time England scoring record. Kane has been a wonderful facilitator of play so far this tournament, but getting him on the scoresheet today was very important. He showed his striker’s instincts with that finish, and England will need those instincts going forward.
The England fans in the stadium and around the world went from anxious to buoyant in the span of about 8 minutes! Cissé was forced into making three changes at halftime, but they failed to make much of an impact as England got the next goal on 57 minutes from winger/forward Bukayo Saka. This time it was Senegal giving the ball away in a dangerous area, with it being brought forward by Kane. Kane was tackled though and the loose ball fell to Foden, who beat a defender on the left wing before spotting the diagonal run of Saka across his man. The cross from Foden was inch-perfect, and Saka deftly lifted it over Mendy with his first touch for 3-0. England were running rampant and well on their way to the quarterfinals.
The tempo of the game slowed down a bit from there, as both managers made changes. England boss Gareth Southgate was keen to get some of his key players off to save them for the next match, while letting the talents of the bench players shine as well. Although no more goals were scored, England were closer to finding a fourth than Senegal was to finding a first. In the end it was a very satisfactory day for the Three Lions, if a bit nervy to start off.
Credit to Southgate for sticking to his guns and going with the team he felt was right. I was surprised at the omission of forward Marcus Rashford and the inclusion of Henderson in the starting line-up today, but both of those worries were without merit. It turns out that Southgate might just know what he’s doing, although I certainly could do without the slow starts in the future. In the first half hour I feared this game would go the way the one against the Americans did, with it ending 0-0 and England generally looking lackluster. But once England moved the ball up the levels of the pitch with pace and purpose, there was little Senegal could do about it. The first goal today was a product of Southgate’s system, make no mistake about it. The players’ positioning on the wings and playing the ball out from the back led to the opening for Kane to find Bellingham. The system does not always work of course, but today it did.
A special shoutout to Bellingham, who was Man of the Match (among many fine candidates) for me today. The 19 year-old Borussia Dortmund midfielder showed a range of skills today I have not seen from an Englishman since maybe…ever? He can pass, he can dribble, he can head the ball, he can tackle, he has positional awareness, and while he did not score today he did so against Iran in the first match. This lad can do it all, and he can do it all at an extremely high level. If he keeps going like this, he can develop into the best midfielder in the world. Not being hyperbolic.
CAM ON INGERLAND!!!
Quarterfinals – England vs. France – Saturday, December 10th at 11 AM PST
4-4-2 