- Belgium, who ranks 2nd in the Fifa ranking - is out
- Denmark, who ranks 10th in the Fifa ranking - is out
- Germany, the 2014 winner, who ranks 11th in the Fifa ranking - is out
- Italy, who ranks 6th in the Fifa ranking - did not even qualify for the World Cup
Creative design thanks to Canva
What a crazy World Cup year - disappointments after disappointments - banger after banger - upsets after upsets. These things may have added dismay but undeniably, it provided more excitement and spice to the fans. Everyone loves to see miracles and we are seeing that right now in this tournament. Japan, Morocco, and Australia have shocked the world with Japan & Morocco in fact top their respective group!
The Upsets
To be really honest, Belgium has been very poor in this tournament. A country with so much talent with the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, Tielemans, Witsel, Romelu Lukaku, Bashuayi, and current golden glove winner Thibaut Courtois. This Belgium team is im factworth around $500+ million which clearly indicates this squad has loaded with quality talents. For me, the biggest flop in their team is Romelu Lukaku. I hate blaming him but he has around four clear chances in their match against Croatia which could've turned the game. That could've been very the very reason for them qualifying. The way to advance to the KO stage is to beat Croatia and they failed to do that (0-0).
The picture says it all. Unfortunately, the blame goes for Romelu Lukaku has he missed 4 clear chances during the game against Croatia. Photo from The Guardian
Denmark is also out after the defeat against the hungrier Australians in their last match. I watched Denmark's matches and there seems to be no problem in terms of controlling possessions, passes, and the overall dominance. Their main problem is a prolific striker or in other words, they just can't convert. Their match against Tunisia was able to show they are lacking the finishing quality and Australia noticed that so they're trying to defend and an onslaught counter-attack. That's where Denmark's loophole was, they ended up having 2-3 players running because everyone's too focused on attacking and not able to capitalize. That's an obvious hole that Australia managed to notice.
Another shocking victim is Germany, are also out in group E in which Japan and Spain were the countries who advanced. Lucky Spain for advancing even though having the same points with Germany by virtue of goal difference. Their journey was decided after that shocking defeat against Japan. This is world cup and there's no 2nd leg, every match has to be treated as the finals.
Musiala, the German wonderkid. Broke down in tears after knowing Germany is out of the World Cup. Photo from Sky Sports
Important Lessons
The group stage has only three matches and there's no more than that. Therefore, there's no reason to relax. Treat each game like you're playing in the finals (except to the part where you're assured of a playoffs spot after 2 matches). There is also such thing as momentum so never make your moment dull, keep that inspiration and motivation for each players because there's no room for mistake.
There's no such thing as underdog in this world cup. Every team has the caliber to score so don't feel overconfident. People in this world love to see miracles to happen, so do each participating teams. Don't let ego override you because it's the root for failure. Belgium, Germany, and Denmark felt so relaxed.
Unity is more important than talent - as what they say. Hardwork beats talent when talent fails to work hard. This is football, a team sport. No matter how good an individual or a player is, without a unified team it will most likely fail. Players need to understand and fuse energy into one.
If in case you missed my other World Cup posts, I've listed it down for you below:
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Like I said in your previous post my friend, we were in for a surprise and we got it, Japan beating Spain and Germany is still a shock to me and has made the competition look more interesting and entertaining, at this point, I am ready for any surprises it brings in the future.