Insallah

Spain - Cape Verde 0-0

Wow, what a great day for underdgos, what a great day for Muslim countries! 

There isn't much history to Spain v Cape Verde except Spain tried to score, and couldn't. In part due to the amazing Vozinha, the keeper the Internet is going crazy about. He's 40, yes, but for a keeper that's not really unheard of. Raul Jimenez or Lukaku scoring at 35 or 33 respectively is a bigger story imho. I'm looking at the Portugese second league table. Chaves, that Vozinha plays for, conceded 40 goals in 34 games last season. Finished 9th. So he's not all that extraordinary. Maybe Spain just wasn't that good.

And in truth, what in heaven's name is the manager thinking, not starting Yamal? He is clearly Spain's best player, and one of the world's best. He did make a difference, although not enough for Spain to get the three points on this particular occasion.

And very good that they didn't. Besides the nice underdog story, for all the love I have for the people of Spain, the last time I liked their national football team was last century. This result will do them good, they'll realise they have to actually work to qualify.

As for Vozinha, good on him for cvatching the highlights! I hope he'll have a great tournament, rather than just this one game. Even so, I still think the tournament will only be 3 games, I don't see Cape Verde getting out of their group. But you don't need to in order to cover yourself in glory.

Belgium - Egypt 1-1

Emam Ashour

Now, normally this might be another great underdog story. Except Egypt was the better team, and Belgium was lucky to get away with a draw. 

Oh, by the way, Giroud is not only one of the greatest footballers that ever lived, he might actually be a God. As soon as he said 'Why don't they bring Lukaku in?', Lukaku came in and scored in under a minute.

I have mixed feelings about Big Rom. He is one of ours, once a Red, always a Red and all that. And I think he enjoyed his time with us. But he's been around so much that his career will be tied much more to Chelsea or Inter Milan for instance, and he never declared any special love for United. But, you know, he didn't need to. He's a man doing a job and that's that. And at 33, he can still do a better job than Doku or Trossard, who were quite pale in front of the Egyptian defence.

My other thing is that Belgium should start Lammens in goal. For all of 'Courtois is the best keeper in the world', Lammens is younger and more in form. I'm not saying he would've changed the result, just that he'd give a better performance. 

Anyway, Belgium keeps being Belgium, a collection of stars but never a team. Lucky for them, the reservoir of stars seems to be still producing, so they need a manager capable of making them into a team. But that's gonna be for the future now, and that's gonna be without de Bruyne.

As for Egypt, I'd say the biggest pleasant surprise for me so far. Australia beating Turkey 2-0 was a shock, but mostly because I expected more from Turkey. But Egypt? I thought Salah and that'a about it. And while Salah is undoubtedly an important player, he wasn't their best player by a long chalk. Emam Ashour of Al-Ahly was certainly the MotM for me, not only because he scored the goal, but because dude absolutely owned the left side of the pitch. Even after Belgium drew level, Egypt looked like the team more in control of the game and with the bigger chances. And it wasn't just Ashour either. Marmoush was also great, while the Egyptian defense was so calm and so well organised, it reminded me of Italy or one of those teams that know how to grind you down. 

So all in all, it was Belgium taht was lucky to get a point from the game. My prediction of Belgium and Iran going throuhg might still stand, but Egypt already proved me wrong, and I love to be proven wrong. Iran and New Zealand will have a tough life.

Saudi Arabia - Uruguay 1-1

Wow, what an assault! This is what the defenders of Constantinopole must've felt like in 1453! Saudi Arabia scored first, and good on them for doing that. Great timing too, 5 minutes before the break! But they were not ready for what followed. The most one-sided game I've seen in a long long time. Muslera must've been calling his family, told them how his holiday is going, because I didn't see much of him in the second half.

Bielsa is dubbed as crazy, and his teams play crazy football, and this game totally cemented that reputation. Uruguay scoring was inevitable, but they were unlucky they didn't score twice. It feels like a weaker Uruguay team than usual (I mean, come on, Ugarte is one of their best players), but when they play like that, it's pretty hard to resist the assault. It took another brilliant goalkeeper performance from Al-Owais, and a rugged, 10-men defense to get a point from them.

I mentioned the likes of Owairan and Al-Jaber, and it's true that was a great generation forn the Saudis, but even with a team of unknowns, palying mostly in the domestic league, they were still able to beat the *ahem* world champions Argentina 4 years ago, and squeeze a point from Uruguay yesterday. So, you know, maybe the Saudi league is growing. Maybe all those hundreds of millions of dollars do help.

Beat Cape Verde and you're through, as Sky Sports says? I mean, sure. It's just that, as we've seen, beating Cape Verde might not be as easy.

Iran - New Zealand 2-2

Unfortunately, slept again, so I haven't seen any of this game. But it looks like it was another great game. Four draws, a 0-0 and only 8 games in 4 matches, but this was a great day of football. Certainly the best so far, but I mean, one of the greatest in a while. Capable underdogs, great football, insane attacking and super-organised defending and 4 surprise results. A bookies' dream.