The call of the Andes

Denmark - Australia 1-1 (Eriksen '7 - Jedinak pen '38)
France - Peru 1-0 (Mbappe '34)
Argentina Croatia 0-3 (Rebic '53, Modric '80, Rakitic '90)

Denmark is the perfect example of how one can qualify from a group without deserving it the least bit. To sit under the cover of that one second of inspiration from Eriksen and be thoroughly dominated by Australia is almost cheating. To not show any sort of determination of will to play anything resembling football is an insult to everyone watching and I hope the Danes will be ashamed of themselves, because that was appalling. With the point against Australia they are now in a more comfortable position than they ever deserved and it is a great, great shame the Aussies didn't manage to snatch the victory in the end, a victory they would have fully deserved and they worked for way more than their opponents.

Now, was that a penalty? I'm inclined to say yes, though I will admit an argument to the contrary can be made. Fact of the matter is, the rules of the game are not clear at all in regards to 'intention to touch the ball' and 'natural position of the hand'. My rule of thumb is, if the hand is away from the body, you're always in danger of conceding a handball, and players must surely know this. No idea what Poulsen intended, but sure as hell he didn't regret hitting the ball with his hand. Or wouldn't have, should the penalty not have been awarded. Poulsen is a good player and his goal against Peru might just see Denmark through, but he is also responsible for penalties in both their games so far. That is an indication of immaturity in the game, and my good opinion of him after watching only the second half against Peru has toned down a lot by now. 

Australia might fare a lot better if Jedinak would at least try and smile every now and then. Too tense, mate, too tense. Beating Peru is still a big ask, even with the South Americans out of the competition, but I hope they can pull it off while Denmark gets a battering from France. I really, really feel for the Blanquirrojas, they deserved to qualify and it would be a real shame for their supporters to go home without a point, even though in this instance is for the greater good.

But that missed penalty proved their undoing and, unfortunate as it might be that your fate as a team hinges on such a brief moment, it's been known to happen and the Peruvian players along with the whole country that provided them a huge support so far are now learning a painful lesson about the cold-blooded pragmatism needed to go forward in a World Cup.

To be fair, they never looked like beating France, but they gave a good account of themselves. The French, meanwhile, won their first two games and are poised to win the group. Small margins, but there's something to be said about preservation of energy as well when you knew Argentina might lie in wait in the first knock-out round.

Now, about that...

One of only two players to have missed a penalty in this World Cup so far has to beat Nigeria and hope for the best from the other games to see quarter-final football. Of course, he can't do it by himself. He can't seem to do anything by himself, save for maybe sabotage the tactics of his entire team by always asking for the ball, then losing it. Truth to be said, the Croatians didn't give him too many chances to see the ball, so he lost a lot less than against Iceland.

Delightful, absolutely delightful the way Croatia just brushed past Argentina. Modric and co look a very strong proposition, and won't say no to repeating the semi-final worthy performance of 1998 when they eliminated Romania in the last 16, the bastards. Just as long as they don't meet France in the first knock-out game, though it will take some huge upsets for that to happen at this stage.

Both Croatia and Argentina showed a very strong, manly, almost brutal football at times, but it was all pleasant to the eye, it showed they're really going for it and not there just for a trip on the Federation's expense, like the Danes. The lesson to be learned for Argentina is be more disciplined and don't make silly errors, Caballero! And for the love of God, drop Messi from the team.

Just enough

Uruguay - Saudi Arabia 1-0 (Suarez '23)
Portugal - Morocco 1-0 (Ronaldo '4)
Iran - Spain 0-1 (Costa '54)

Business as usual in the seventh day of the World Cup, with all the favorites winning their games by the single goal, and with situations in the groups starting to become clear, so that Group A, for instance, doesn't even need the last game, what with Russia and Uruguay - already qualified - playing each other, and Egypt and Saudi Arabia bowing out regardless of the outcome of their game. One might wonder, with Egypt likely to win that game, just how important will be for Salah's team to go home with a win, even if that win will only count for statistics. My reckoning - not very.

Suarez broke the ice for this tournament with a very opportunistic goal which reminded me of van Nistelrooy. Now, despite him being a dick on a number of occasion and despite him playing for Liverpool and Barcelona, I am rather ambivalent towards Suarez. First off, he was unfairly demonized when he punched his way towards the headlines in the QF against Ghana in 2010. Many commentators saw his last resort handball in 90th minute as cheating, I saw it as taking one for the team, and show me the footballer who wouldn't have done the same to put his country in a WC semifinal. His numbers for Ajax were also impressive, what with those amazing 35 goals in 33 games in the 2009/10 season of Eredivisie. But then of course I don't condone cannibalism, specially when it's a repeat offense, nor do I condone playing for Liverpool or Barcelona. I do like Uruguay so much, however, that I can even cheer for Suarez when he scores for his country. 

The same cannot be said about Diego Costa. Once a prick, always a prick, and he proved it once again by over-celebrating a goal to which he had a rather small contribution against Iran. After riding their luck for the whole game against Morocco, which they won despite being second best, the Persians were given a taste of their own medicine, a very worthy performance against Spain coming to nowt. I do like Iran, mostly for Carlos Queiroz, and deep down I hope they can pull a miracle against Portugal and go through. It's a tall order though, as Portugal looks like the best team in the group and Ronaldo is in the mood for football, no doubt eyeing the golden boot of the tournament at the very least.

The primadonna of Funchal scored a great goal, his fourth of the tournament, to put the game against Morocco to bed early. The Maghrebians seemed to have decent spells in the game, but unlike in their first game, the 90 minutes against Portugal were a struggle that the Moroccans, however much sympathy I might have for them, were ill prepared for. They never looked like getting anything out of the game despite their numerous calls for non existent penalties. 

Group B might still be an interesting one if Iran pulls the aforementioned miracle. That would send Portugal home, which is both unlikely and unfair, as if there is a team that doesn't deserve to qualify, that is Spain. The former world champions, despite bringing another superstar team to the World Cup seem to have reverted to their pre-2010 state of also-rans. Their are not playing to their players' potential and it's only the sense of entitlement and a few lucky streaks from individual players (mostly Costa and Isco) that qualified them after two games in which they only won one and deserved neither. I would prefer them being pitted out against Russia rather than Uruguay, as luck - natural or man-made* - is more likely to even out there.

* by 'man' I mean FIFA. I know I said I'm taking a shine to Russia, but that doesn't mean I'm forgetting who we're talking about.

Polska nie walczy

Columbia - Japan 1-2 (Quintero '39 - Kagawa pen '6, Osako '73)
Poland Senegal 1-2  (Krychowiak '86 - Cionek og '37, Niang '60)
Russia - Egypt 3-1 (Fathi og '47, Cheryshev '59, Dzyuba '62 - Salah pen '73)

Oh wow, who saw that coming? With the underdogs winning in both games, Group H is turning out to be one of the most interesting ones.

Columbia was really unlucky to start the game with a huge handicap, being one goal and one man down after 4 minutes. I find it hard to blame poor Sanchez, his hand did stop a goal, though in hindsight his team would have been better off one goal down but playing 11 v 11. Even with 10 men, Columbia did great and was the better team, which makes it really unfair for them to have lost. But they do seem to be the best team in the group, and there's still time to make amends. Japan rode their luck a little bit and that never holds too long, so even with the win I don't really see them qualifying.

Poland was really poor and a real disappointment. Boasting the best generation in 40 years and some of the big stars in Europe, the Poles were unable to control the game or create any chances of note until it was too late. The second Senegalese goal was a very weird one, and should not have counted, what with Niang being off the pitch with the ball still in play. The fourth ref should have kept him on the side until the ball was out of play, though even so, Poland has very little reason to complain. There is of course a difference between a point and no points, but sometimes you have to put in the work to get anything from the game. Senegal was the most practical team and they deserved to win, though the manner it happen is indeed a shame. But the odd blunder is always meant to happen at the World Cup, and good teams shouldn't let that stop them. Hell, even England didn't let a few refereeing mistakes stop them! You want to prove your worth, Poland? Just beat Colombia.

Right, so a week ago I was very vocal against what I thought would be the Russian methods. But actually, an hour into their second game, Cherchesov's boys flipped a switch within me. Russia has actually played good football. They were by far the better team against Egypt, and they are worthy of the praise heaped upon them. They still have the toughest game in the group coming up, against Uruguay but, if Los Celestes beat the Saudis today, as they're expected to, both teams will be happy to squeeze out a boring uncomplicated draw in the last game. Or Russia could win for their public, you won't hear the Uruguayans complaining. They'll get either Spain or Portugal, so it's really not that big a difference between finishing first or second in Group A.

And with the first round of games gone, it's time to reassess my predictions from before the start of the tournament:

- got Group A bang on in terms of outcome, not really in terms of style though. Still, yes on Group A;

- yeah, easy one. Bar a huge blunder from Spain against Iran, it'll be Spain and Portugal, doesn't matter in which order;

- funnily enough, got Group C right too, although I take back the praise for Denmark. They were lucky to have won against Peru and if they go through it will be undeserved;

- everyone is still discounting Iceland, and I was hoping Nigeria would put on some sort of display. But now everything's still in the air in that group. Nigeria will probably go home, but they still have potential to cause trouble to the other teams. Croatia was actually really lucky to have played the first game against them. They'll be warned about Iceland now;

- my hopes for Costa Rica have come to naught. I'm saying Brazil and Serbia now, even after the Swiss' miraculous getaway with a point from Neymar & co;

- not as straightforward as I though in Group F, but it's still Germany and Mexico. In reverse order;

- bang on about Belgium and England, but it's an easy one, really;

- ha! Group H. Tricky, isn't it? I'm calling it for Columbia and Senegal.

The Euros

Sweden - South Korea 1-0 (Granqvist pen '65)
Belgium - Panama 3-0 (Mertens '47, Lukaku '69 '75)
Tunisia - England 1-2 (Sassi pen '35 - Kane '11 '90)

A day of clunky football in the World Cup, but for better or worse Europe came out triumphant against representatives from almost all the other continents.

Sweden opened the day's proceedings in a game that lived down to its non-glamorous billing. South Korea is a team that's more often than not present at the World Cup, but they were never capable of any notable performances bar the outrageous referee-propelled trajectory on home soil in 2002. Bar a miracle, they will hold a firm grip on the last place in the group. Sweden was by far the better team of the game, but didn't look good enough to scare either Mexico or Germany, so I think they'll struggle. They've got the defending champions next, and it would be kinda funny to send them home, but anything less than victory against the Germans spells a plane to Stockholm. They deserved to win today, though the manner in which they did it was far from spectacular. Deserved penalty, yes, and luckily VAR managed to turn the referee, but they should really have scored more by the look of the game. They seem to be missing a poacher, a genuine front-of-goal striker. No Zlatan no party.

Belgium played just one half against inferior opposition. Weirdly enough, the second. The Belgian team looks good, they connect well, their game flows fast and free and their front line - that includes Hazard, de Bruyne and Lukaku - spells danger for anyone. Panama held their own for half of the game but they don't have the quality to resist a serious football team. Happy for the two Lukaku goals, though on the other hand it's a bit of a shame the goal came so quickly, it would have been fun to watch the likes of Hazard and de Bruyne increasing the fury of their attacks in proportion with the time passed from the game. As it was, the Red Devils had an easy day at the office.

Which does not bear true for England, who had to sweat their victory out of Tunisia. Persistence paid off, what with Harry Kane scoring in injury time, and I'm glad Sterling and Walker brought their piss-poor performances on the world stage. How Sterling gets picked ahead of Rashford is unfathomable.

VAR got a moment in the sun again, with the twitter-sphere furious about Kane not being awarded a penalty. He should have been awarded two, actually, but the trouble with VAR is that it will always be imperfect as long as a human decision is still involved. For better or worse, the result was a fair one, even if England were made to sweat for it a bit more than they were expecting.

It says Harry Kane deserved a penalty

I am sorry for the young Tunisian keeper Mouez Hassen, he did great in the quarter of an hour he was on the pitch, and I'm hoping he can be ready for the next game. Apparently he's got a bit of a habit of faking an injury to get an Iftar break for the team. I believe this is a matter that should be addressed by the Arab nations, as it doesn't seem fair for their players to be at such a huge disadvantage for the month of Ramadan. Far as I know, Islam is quite flexible in regards to the daily prayer and makes provisions for people who cannot respect the prayer time for objective reasons. To my knowledge, provisions are also made for Muslims to eat during the day over Ramadan as long as there are sound health reasons for it. Surely the pride of the Islamic world is grounds enough?

Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship. (Surah Al-Baqarah (2), verse 185)

Surprise!

Costa Rica - Serbia 0-1 (Kolarov '56)
Germany - Mexico 0-1 (Lozano '35)
Brazil - Switzerland 1-1 (Coutinho '20 - Zuber '50)

With only 4 goals in 3 games, one could be thinking there wasn't much to see in the World Cup today, but one would then miss what I think was the most exciting day so far.

Costa Rica - Serbia was almost a straightforward win for the Serbs, but Costa Rica is known to spring up a few surprises. This is a poor Costa Rican side, however, despite incorporating players with higher profiles than they've ever had. I thought Serbia controlled the game pretty much beginning to end. It started out as balanced, but the Serbs got the initiative and the majority of chances quickly, and despite being goalless at half time they were always looking the likelier to score. Eventually they did via a brilliant free-kick by Aleksandar Kolarov, 10 minutes after the break. Costa Rica proved unable to switch modes from defense to attack even after the introduction of Arsenal's bench-warmer Joel Campbell. Trouble is, the Serbs also became a lot more economical with their game after the goal and even if they still looked the better team and closer to 2-0 than their opponents were to a draw, the game ended with just the one goal that sets the group to rights. 

In group F, regardless of how big of a surprise is Germany losing to Mexico, few things will change, as Loew's boys will win the other two games. But the manner in which the Mexicans won and their approach to the game are admirable. No regards for the name of the opponent, keep calm and do your regular game. Helped by a poor positioning of the German squad, who left a huge gap in front of the central defenders, Mexico was also the team who looked likelier to score for 2-0 and I think Chicharito was denied a penalty when Boateng crushed into him in the box. It was spectacular to see the Germans furiously attacking Ochoa's goal, specially in the last 20 minutes, only to be met with a calm and composed team that was always ready to throw a ball forward where the Chicharito and Miguel Layun were ready to prey on the lonely central defenders. Loew will have learned his lessons from this game, but now Mexico seem to have the first chance of winning the group.

And if so far we've had more penalties than we probably should, today we saw teams being denied a few. Chicharito and the Mexican squad aren't gonna lose too much sleep over theirs, but there's a chance Brazil will come to regret not being granted what I thought was a clear-cut penalty on Gabriel Jesus with the score at 1-1. I have to say, Brazil looked pretty goodand yes, drawing Switzerland is a huge surprise, but just like Germany, they'll still go through their group. This result only complicates things for Serbia, who will have to make sure they beat Switzerland now to qualify. There's the option of a draw and then hoping you'll get something from Brazil while at the same time waiting for Costa Rica to show up against the Swiss, but who would bet on those odds?

Credit to Switzerland, they were brilliant today. Utterly dominated, but that was always going to be the case against Brazil. They conceded an undefendable goal, but for all the rest of Brazilian chances the keeper stood firm, even when he was betrayed by his defense, as was the case for both Thiago Silva and Neymar's headers, respectively. 

So not only is this World Cup not boring, it might just be one of the most exciting yet, with Brazil, Germany and Argentina all dropping points in their first games.

Don't cry for me Argentina

France - Australia 2-1 (Griezmann pen '58, Behich og '81 - Jedinak pen '62)
Argentina - Iceland 1-1 (Aguero '19 - Finnbogason '23)
Peru - Denmark 0-1 (Poulsen '59)
Croatia - Nigeria 2-0 (Etebo og '23, Modric pen '71)

I've seen a lot less than I would've like from the 8 hours of football yesterday, but there's been some great moments in there, so I'm hoping to recover between the games today. I haven't, for instance, seen any of the France-Australia game bar Griezmann's penalty. Which was not a penalty in my opinion, just as Ronaldo's against Spain was not, despite what VAR might say. Contact, yes, but there's hundreds of contacts in the box throughout a game. And I think, if more and more penalties are being given as VAR is relied on more and more, the face of the game might very well change, which could be this World Cup's legacy, just as the marking foam was the legacy of the 2014 World Cup: defenders are going to be more and more weary of touching forwards in the box, meaning it will be harder to get in the box; defensive lines are going to be stretched along the 18 yards line, which means midfielders will have to be pulled back resulting in a more defensive game; most goals will then be scored from penalties and long range shots and, hopefully, skill will start to matter again, as taking out a man from a defensive system will be an increasingly valuable asset. This is is all yet to be seen, of course, but so far I tend to be rather disappointed with the VAR technology, as no matter how many cameras you put on a field, it is still the refs in front of the screen who make the decision. No chance of error with goal-line technology, for instance, where the computer is the sole decider.

In regards to the result of the game, I'm glad it wasn't a straightforward one. Australia will never become a football powerhouse, but their teams have always shown great dedication to the game, they're hard-working and pleasant to watch. Maybe an infusion of European immigrants will take them to the next level?

Denmark beating Peru however, makes life very difficult for the Socceroos. I only caught the second half of the game, but from what I've seen the profiles of the two teams couldn't be more different: Peru has no big names in the team bar maybe Farfan, but they do seem to have the South American flair in their game; they play attacking football and the ball flows nicely forward, with some very good skills on display. I was impressed with Andre Carillo, and if he keeps this level up he might strike the fancy of bigger teams than Leeds, whose fans seem to have eyed him already. 

Denmark on the other hand is the better team on paper and the team sheet is peppered with some big names, but the football they've shown is ugly and highly pragmatic: defend and wait for the error or the individual piece of skill. They were lucky yesterday, as the piece of skill did eventually come in the shape of a calmly executed shot from RB Leipzig's forward Yurary Poulsen, arguably the best Danish player. Seeing the name Schmeichel in the Danish goal brings back some very sweet memories, some going back to one of the first football games I remember clearly, the 3-0 hammering of Romania by Denmark in Copenhagen in 1989, when the other Schmeichel was unbeatable. Gone are the days of the original Schmeichels, Poulsens and Laudrup brothers though, and unlikely as it was for Denmark to be crowned European champions in 1992, it is unlikelier still for this generation of Danish footballers to come anywhere near those achievements. 

It is just the naivety of the South Americans that lost them the game, and potentially the qualification. The remaining two games will be very difficult, yes, including the one against Australia, so Denmark is now in pole position to qualify alongside France. Which is a shame, as it seems they'll be getting away with it, what with the lucky win yesterday and them playing France in the last game of the group, as Les Bleus have a habit of dropping points when they no longer need them. I'd love for the Socceroos to beat Denmark, but I don't really see it happening.

Has two left feet.
Can still kick better than Messi with the right foot.

The only whole game I've seen yesterday was the most delightful one: Argentina - Iceland. The smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup is still an unknown quantity: was their great Euro performance two years ago a fluke, or there's more in store from the Vikings? Looks like the latter judging by their performance against a star-studded team that many people see in with a chance to win the competition. The quality within Argentinian ranks is undeniable and their attacking prowess is scary, though not for Icelanders, apparently. Of course Hallgrimsson's boys took to the field with the intention of holding out for a draw, but they did manage to snatch a goal immediately after Aguero's wonder opener and their game plan seemed to actually work better than the Argentinian's, what with Caballero being forced to a few difficult saves. Confronted with this unexpected sturdy resistance, Argentina resorted to a game plan that is as misguided as it's inefficient: give the ball to Messi. And, just like the goat displayed obsessively in the 2D screens around the pitch, Messi seemed to only have legs on one side. Heap all the praise you want on him, he can't shoot with his right foot to save his life. Or the three points, in this case. Yeah, yeah, you can show me YouTube compilations all you want, Sigurdsson and Arnason weren't impressed.

Not only did Iceland do a wonderful job at annihilating Messi, and thus the Argentinian threat, they always looked dangerous when counter-attacking. yeah, point me to the statistics, possession and number of passes, I'll point you to the score. And frankly, if this is the whole Argentinian game plan, I even fancy Nigeria getting something against them.

And boy, have Nigeria been poor or what? In theory at least, their game against Croatia should have been fairly evenly balanced. But Croatia controlled it start to finish and didn't even need to do much to win it quite categorically. Croatia has a better team than I expected, but against Nigeria they failed to produce too much quality football. And if even that is enough to win the game in such a firm manner, I fear the Super Eagles' plane is starting to warm up its engines.

Iceland to win the world cup? 500/1 with William Hill, thus making it 16 times more likely than Leicester was to win the Premier League in 2016.

That boy Ronaldo

Egypt - Uruguay 0-1 (Gimenez '89)
Morocco - Iran 0-1 (Bouhadduz og '90)
Portugal Spain 3-3 (Ronaldo pen '4 '44 '88 - Diego Costa '24 '55, Fernandez '58)

Luckily enough we didn't have to wait too long to see good football, despite the first game of the day throwing that promise into long grass, so to speak. A lot of people speak highly of Uruguay and, while I do believe they have the potential to come out of the group (meaning, they are better than both Egypt and Saudi Arabia), they're going to struggle after. And I think Oscar Tavarez knows this, and by the look of the game today I think he's still working on the team and playing the waiting game.

Today the team looked extremely disjointed, with a very good defensive line and a scary attack (Cavani and Suarez), but not much in-between, bar Diego Godin's angry pushes forward. The frst half was surprisingly balanced and Egypt looked like they might just do the business even without Mo Salah. Second half told a different story, with the South Americans getting more and more courageous as time wore on. In the last 20 minutes or so we could clearly see the wing-backs pushing forward more and more and even though it would've made for a more interesting group, it would have been a shame for Uruguay not to win. I'm glad Suarez missed a sitter because, although I'm very sympathetic to Uruguay, I don't hold much love for Suarez. Cavani's shot in the side post was absolutely spectacular and would've probably made for a better game should it have gone it. It's nice, in a way, that a defender scored, because it goes to show that a team is more than its stars and that all 11 people in the team have to get involved at both ends of the pitch.

Somewhat surprising the absence of Mo Salah from the team, but even if he would've been present I doubt much would have changed. Cuper might do his best, but there's very little material in the Egyptian team to warrant their presence at the World Cup. At least judging by the display today.

***

Morocco - Iran is one of the least spectacular fixtures of the tournament and the game confirmed it. I have only seen bits of it, and Morocco seemed to be playing better while Iran didn't really seem to be playing at all. I thought Morocco was going to snatch it in the end, which would have encouraged them to hope for qualification, specially if Portugal - Spain would've provided a loser. As fortunes have it though, it was not to be. Scoring an own goal in the last minute of the game must be a horrible feeling, specially that Bouhadduz wasn't under too much pressure from the attacker. But such a mistake also reveals a lack of experience and a lack of game maturity which can indeed be seen every now and then even at this level of the competition but which spells an early plane ticket. Iran was very poor and unless something changes dramatically, they won't get any more points in this tournament, specially with the Iberian draw meaning group winner will probably be decided on number of goals scored.

Not to worry Dave - you won't have to see this
fucker every day in the dressing room

But beyond the economy of the group, Portugal - Spain should just be enjoyed as a beautiful game of football. I didn't expect it, and I don't have much sympathy for either team (I'm ok with Portugal, were it not for that one betrayal a decade ago), but this is the type of game that makes people fall in love with the sport. Between Penaldo, Barcelona's School of Drama and Injury Feigning and Madrid's Supermodels and Leg-breaking Academy, it's fair to say these are not the most fair-play teams one would encounter, and this has also been abundantly on display today. But there's some skills slipping between the hair gel and referee insults, and that's what we should concentrate on.

Of course it wasn't a penalty on Ronaldo's first goal, he forced the contact and he forced the fall, but the ref had a brief moment of excitement. Sure, would he not have given a penalty, Ronaldo would have given him a lesson in refereeing, as he had tried on all the occasion when the Lusitan primadonna didn't feel like running and would ask for a yellow card for the opponents instead, as was the case for the last goal.

Trouble is, he does know how to hit a ball. Laugh at De Gea all you want, but that shot for the second goal was a hard one to keep out, probably impossible to catch. The spin on the ball for the equalizing free kick was also incredible. As for the penalty, well, they don't call him Penaldo for nothing. 

Spain looked more of a team, though it was everyone's favorite villain who shone. Diego Costa is strong and can bully a defense every day of the week, but he's also quick, skilled, has a great shot and senses the goal like very few others. Both his goals have been great in different ways, though none greater than Fernandez's shot for the third Spanish goal. Spain might feel they've been a bit done-by, penalty and all, and Isco's shot was unlucky not to go in, but again, it's fair for the teams to have shared the points. I doubt either Morocco and even less so Iran can get any point from these two teams, but both will feel motivated to have a go, while Spain and Portugal now will be racing for goal difference, and with Ronaldo already scoring a hat-trick, he'll start thinking about the golden boot and other individual accolades, and hopefully this will keep hi motivated to stay in the games.

Therefore, while the group table if pretty much sorted, chances are we'll see some more good football in Group B.