World Cup Recap: Late Heroics Lift England; Belgium Shows Their Might
SteemSports Presenter:@thesportsguy
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
It was another eventful day of World Cup action on Monday at the World Cup. Tunisia fought hard and were within a few moments of scraping out a point against England, only for the English Captain to come through in stoppage time for the much-deserved winner. Belgium showed their might after being held scoreless by massive underdogs Panama in the first half of their match. Sweden and South Korea got the action going and needed 20' of play just to get off the first shot. It was a big day in Russia, so let's get right to it:
We start with the final match of the day, which pitted Tunisia and England out of Group G. England came into the match ranked # 12 in the world, and the Tunisians found themselves ranked 21st. While Tunisia were a huge underdog, the smaller gulf in the rankings would suggest that a close match wouldn't necessarily be a surprise. England came out and pressured right away, getting several close-range attempts on goal in the early moments. Then the breakthrough came in the 11' off of a corner from England. The set piece yielded an effort from Stones toward the top corner, but the goalkeeper was there, as Hassen made a fine save, but Harry Kane was right there to pounce on the rebound and put it home to put England on the board. Kane just drifted into the area and then kept working toward the far corner to find himself in the right place at the right time, and did not disappoint when the opportunity came his way.
After the English Captain gave them the lead, Tunisia showed grit and attacked England and showed they were not going to shy away. After a mistake by Kyle Walker in the box, Tunisia found themselves with an opportunity to level the score. Walker was attempting to defend a cross in the box and his left arm came out and caught the Tunisian player across the face for a relatively easy penalty for the referee. It was a foul, and Walker was left with a yellow card. Ferjani Sassi stepped up to the mark and delivered a terrific spot kick for Tunisia as he kept his composure nicely and fired a strike beyond the reach of Pickford into the bottom corner. The effort equaled the score in the 35' and the match was on.
Tunisia were thrilled to get to the intermission with a level score at 1-1 and they seemed to be content to sit back and defend and focus on turning away the English attack in the second half. The pressure continued to build as the half went on, and the final 15' saw numerous opportunities for England to pull ahead. After a couple of free kicks from delicious spots just a few yards outside of the box were unsuccessful, as well as crosses in from free kicks from the sides, England continued to push forward looking for the winner. Their ongoing efforts yielded a corner in stoppage time, and they had one more opportunity to break the deadlock.
McGuire received the cross and headed it toward the back post, where Kane was left unmarked. The English Captain put it in with a beautiful header from close range that sent the English faithful into a frenzy. It was a double-dip for the England leader, and it couldn't have come at a better time - 90' + 1'. The late goal marked the 4th stoppage time goal already in the 2018 World Cup. They were the first international goals scored by Kane in a major tournament for the English side. In the end, the story-lines were altered in the waning moments by the English leader and one of the early stars of the World Cup.
In the day's second match, mighty Belgium made their debut against huge underdogs Panama. The Panama side came out looking to shock and get a point out of the major mis-match. Belgium came in ranked # 3 in the World, and the Panamanians at 55. It was one of the largest differences in the rankings for any first-round group match game. The first 12' of action saw Belgium's stars get opportunities as Lukaku put pressure on with a shot in the first minute, followed up by solid opportunities by Mertens and the Captain, Hazard. De Bruyne got his opportunity in the 22' and got a blast off from outside the box off of a corner that went just off the mark.
Panama gained their first corner in the 35' but nothing came of it. Hazard then turned in more great effort when he was able to work his way into the box and got off a blast, only to have Jaime Penedo make another top-notch save for Panama. Panama were elated to take a scoreless match into halftime, as they were quite content to sit back and defend for the first 45'. Belgium used a lot of slow build-up that produced a large advantage in possession and shot discrepancy (9-3) but were unable to find the net.
It didn't take long after intermission for the Belgians to flex their muscle however, as Dries Mertens continued his onslaught on goal with a stunner in the 47'. After a quality shot was deflected and then headed into the air, Mertens found it come back to him and delivered one of the goals of the tournament thus far on a full-volley blast. The sublime dipping volley went over the keeper and into the far corner for a firecracker of a goal and the Belgians were out in front 1-0.
Belgium weren't done, however, as in the 69' Romelu Lukaku found himself the beneficiary of a beautiful pass from De Bruyne, who gathered the ball and delivered a gem to Lukaku who headed it to the back corner for a finish at the highest level. It was excellent quality all the way around for the Belgians, as they opened it up a bit 2-0.
Lukaku wasn't done though, and in the 75' took advantage of a turnover and counter opportunity. After a bit of a sloppy turnover by Panama, the Belgians jumped on a quick counter opportunity up the near side and Lukaku found himself running freely up the side with space in front of him. The Captain, Hazard, delivered a perfect-pass in behind for Lukaku who delivered an outstanding touch into the back of the net. The attack and execution by Hazard were superb and the lofted finish by Lukaku over the onrushing goalkeeper was equally superb. Belgium were off and running with a 3-0 lead. Panama nearly got their first goal in World Cup competition in the 85' but Courtois took the ball off of the foot of the Panama player to end the threat. After Escobar smashed a low one off a free kick in the 89', Courtois was once again up to the task and Belgium kept the shutout in place, and completed an impressive opening-match victory. The win meant the Belgians are the only team ranked in the FIFA top 6 in the world that WON their first match.
We finish up with the first match of the day, which pitted Sweden and South Korea. The other two members of Group F were considered afterthoughts after Mexico's triumph over Germany yesterday provided all of the headlines coming out of this group. In a match that was less than-pleasing to the eye, it took 20' before the two could even get a shot off. The first half ended with 23 fouls between the two clubs - most out of any match thus far at this year's World Cup - and 0 goals.
After South Korea continued to live dangerously by breaking up numerous Swedish efforts with sliding tackles in the area, one finally caught the ire of the referee and provided Sweden with the opportunity they desperately needed. After a replay, the penalty was awarded and Swedish defender Andreas Granqvist stepped up to the spot. Granqvist calmly delivered for Sweden as he slotted the ball nicely into the bottom right corner as the goalkeeper dove the opposite way to put Sweden out in front 1-0 in the 65'.
While it was Sweden's first win in an opening match at a World Cup since they won their opener as hosts way back in 1958, it wasn't their finest showing. They got the three points they needed out of the match, and will rejoice with the win, but one has to wonder if Sweden is actually better off without legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the team claims. A win is a win, especially at the World Cup, but Sweden will need to be in much better form against Mexico and Germany.
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