(ESP-ENG) Trabajo duro no son sorpresas // Hard work is not a surprise!
Hello friends, good vibes to all.
Yesterday the following quarterfinal matches were completed, Brazil vs Croatia and Morocco vs Portugal. The way in which some of these teams qualified gives sense to what I said in the last publication that the real World Cup has just begun and that in this round of 16 we have seen two matches that were defined by penalty kicks, which tells us how even, or not, some of the matches were. Are these the matches I expected? - In the vast majority yes, but we must accept it and above all recognize it, Morocco's performance is not a coincidence, nor a product of luck, it is preparation, style of play and hard work, very hard work.
- [Marruecos vs Portugal]
You may or may not like the way they play, you will probably say that they did not make merits because they never attacked and in most of the second half against Spain they bet early on penalties, you can think whatever you want but the work Morocco has done throughout this World Cup is worthy of study. It is no coincidence that they are one of the few undefeated teams in this World Cup and with ONLY ONE goal conceded, this tells us that the Africans have a strong defensive block and that is their defensive block in addition to having an excellent goalkeeper. All their matches have been one on one, they qualified first in a group that was not at all favorable to them and against Spain they stood up to and completely annulled a selection that, things as they are, is a mirage.
Spain for me is not a disappointment because I never saw them as favorites, they are a very average team, it is a team that has no offensive power despite the very interesting names they have, there is no forcefulness in them, too much, too much possession to only reach Morocco a couple of times. The team of Hakimi and company gave them a reality check. Morocco always defended in a compact block, they never failed in their task of containing the opponents and that is soccer too, it may not be flashy but for them it has been 100% effective. In the penalty shootout they did it perfectly helped by a good goalkeeper and a terrible execution of the Spanish. Nothing to complain or reproach, Morocco has more than deserved their pass because they did it true to their game and that is worthy of admiration.
But if we are talking about being categorical we have to mention what Portugal did with Switzerland yesterday. A totally broken game with a Switzerland that was never a match for the Portuguese, after the match against the Serbians I thought that the resistance would be greater, but it was not. It is strange to see that the best match of the Portuguese in this World Cup has been with Cristiano on the bench, it is curious at least and it is that his replacement, Gonçalo Ramos left with nothing more and nothing less than a hat-trick. Portugal surprised me a lot yesterday because I had not seen that level in them for a long time, in fact it is not common for them to display a game as overwhelming as the one they showed yesterday. What we saw was pure forcefulness, having less of the ball and making fewer effective passes they managed to score six goals against a team that was one of the most organized in Qatar.
Throughout the World Cup they had been a little hesitant, against Ghana they were close to losing, against Uruguay they won because the Charrúas never offered resistance and against South Korea a little more of the same, there was little momentum and the attitude of the Koreans was greater. Having seen all that and the work Switzerland had done, I had some doubts about that match but nothing, Portugal was able to shut me up and now they are in the quarterfinals against the impressive Morocco. What will that match be like? - Well, not very different from what we have seen, Morocco being a block of containment and attacking when they see a free space while Portugal will go for the game hopefully in the same way they did against the Swiss. Highly guarded prediction.
- [Brasil vs Croacia]
Brazil's performance against South Korea was amazing, maybe it wasn't the hammer of Portugal but the way they played against a very tough opponent like the Koreans was impressive to watch. And I say this because for many times that "jogo bonito" that for a few years characterized the canarinha could be seen in the 974 stadium. The thing is that when these players are at their best and more importantly they are having fun I feel that there is nothing that can make them back down, Vinicius, Neymar, Raphinha, Richarlison and Paqueta himself are very fearsome players that when they merge and work by heart everything becomes very complicated for the opponent. But be careful, we did not see this convincing Brazil in the group stage either, against Serbia and Switzerland they won but those victories were not at all comfortable, in fact I would dare to think that it cost them a little to open that door of goals and good to say against Cameroon, knowing that they were qualified they lowered the pace and intensity even though they had the opportunities to win that game.
Brazil will reach the semifinals, the truth is that I do not have many doubts about it, and from there things will become more uncertain but this match against Croatia I want to think that they will pass without any problem. This national team is transformed in these instances, besides the fact that they have not been able to lift the World Cup for many years, with this one they would be four World Cups without a goal. I talk about this as if it were the easiest thing in the world to win a World Cup, but Brazil is always expected to do that and even more.
Croatia does not generate anything for me because I think they have nothing, that surprise team that reached the final of the last World Cup no longer dazzles anyone and we saw that throughout this World Cup. A draw against Morocco, a win against a Canada that, my friends, was better than the Europeans in most of the match and a boring and inconsequential draw against Belgium. It is also a very average team with a couple of names that can make a difference, but that's as far as it goes. They got to play against Japan in a very even match, there were chances to open the scoreboard on both sides, they shared the ball for several passages of the game and little else. The extra time was more of the same until we got to penalties. Here, the winner is simply the one who executes better and the goalkeeper who is in the best condition and all that went to Croatia, Livakovic was the star of that shootout demonstrating what a great goalkeeper he is.
As I said against Brazil, I don't know if they have a chance but that's what we said about Morocco and look where they got to. The thing is that I don't see these Croatians capable of containing the offensive gale of Neymar and his team, much less of generating real danger, having seen how sterile the Europeans can be in attack. Will we see another surprise then? - In short, I would say no, but the ball is round and the games have to be played. For all this we have to wait until Friday and Saturday where we will know the semifinalists who will face each other on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Two days without World Cup, that will be rare but the best is yet to come.
¡Un abrazo a todos, nos leemos en la próxima!
Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡A hug to all of you, see you next time!