Virgil van Dijk is leader of the flying Dutchmen, Kosovo are on the verge of something special and a fed up Britt abroadWhen Gareth Southgate needed to turn the tide against Croatia at the World Cup, his options were limited by a lack of forward players on England’s bench. It was difficult for Southgate to alter the flow of the game and it was unsurprising to see his side run out of steam. Yet England have continued to progress since then and offered an indication of their greater strength in depth when they reached the Nations League finals at Croatia’s expense. What a difference it made for Southgate to introduce Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard and Jadon Sancho after Andrej Kramaric...
We rank the eight quarter-finalists in Russia with Roberto Martínez’s team at No 1 after their magnificent defeat of Brazil Would anyone have stood a chance against Belgium’s first-half evisceration of Brazil? Their front three were irresistible and in the process answered the lingering questions about Roberto Martínez’s ability to mastermind success on this stage. Martínez got his set-up spot on and, if he is similarly tuned into France’s weaknesses, his team has an outstanding chance of making the final – although Didier Deschamps will spy some susceptibility at the back, particularly when faced with pace. There will never be a better opportunity for this set of players, many of them at or approaching their peak, to confirm the promise...
Brazil lost to a very good Belgium side and we must remember the positives from the tournament as well as the negativesIt took time for Brazil’s defeat against Belgium to sink in. I felt sadness, there is no doubt about that, but defeats are part of sport. Having played in many important tournaments for my clubs and my country I know that we do not live just through wins, we have to live through defeats as well.Brazil were beaten by a team with a very good strategy and they were helped by the fact Brazil’s players were not able to finish off their chances. It was not a disaster and, even though the expectations placed on the team were huge,...
It is clear that the Brazil forward is having to deal with huge expectations but the team need to shut off the outside noise as they prepare to face MexicoBrazil are entering the business end of the tournament and with that comes added pressure. Our team, of course, who have some of the best players in the world, are used to playing under pressure and that is certainly true for Neymar.You could see that from the contrasting emotions after the final whistle in the second and the third games. Against Costa Rica he broke down in tears at the end, despite Brazil winning 2-0. Against Serbia, however, after Tite’s team had secured first place in the group, he was laughing...
In the second of her World Cup columns for the Guardian, Marta examines Brazil’s improved performance against Costa Rica and whether Neymar’s penalty was correctly overturnedBrazil are up and running with their first win of this World Cup and the most impressive part of the victory over Costa Rica was that they never stopped believing they would get a winner.Towards the end Costa Rica were under more and more pressure. Their players went to ground easier and stayed down for longer as they tried to waste time. This is not prohibited in football and is part of the game but Brazil just kept going. Related: Brazil’s Tite insists Neymar will reach his ‘best level’ at the World Cup Related: Philippe...