AP's Russia 2018 Report
The 2018 World Cup has reached the end of its
journey and what a tournament it has been from start to finish.
Congratulations to France who won their second
World cup in 20 years, they truly deserve it.
Before the tournament began, people were wondering
if we were still going to have an exciting World Cup and they got their reward
as most of the matches were entertaining, particularly the 3-3 draw between
Portugal and Spain where Cristiano Ronaldo produced a magical free-kick in the
88th minute to rescue a point for his country.
Coming back to France, Kylian Mbappe has been an
absolute star and is now up there with the likes of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
If you have watched all of France's games including the final, his pace caused
nightmares for the opponent’s defence. He has been the talisman of France's
success and deserves the Fifa Ballon d'Or.
However, you must feel a bit of
sympathy to Croatia as they had fought incredibly hard to reach the final,
especially having won two penalty shootouts against Denmark in the round of 16
and Russia in the quarter-finals. They also played an extra 30 minutes against
England in the semis, so you could clearly see that the final was one step fo
far for them as France had spent less time on the pitch than Croatia did and
that may have had an impact on the outcome of Sunday's final as they could not cope with the speed of France's style of play.
Let's talk about England. Despite the loss to the
Croatians in the semis, Southgate and his boys have a lot of positives to take
from their first World Cup. Yes, you could say that they were helped a little
by finishing second in their group, which made the draw slightly easier for
them, but what stood out for me was their character, especially in the game
against Columbia in the round of 16 where England won a penalty shootout for
the first time ever.
Jordan Pickford was sensational in that game as well as
the quarter final against Sweden. Those saves he made in both of those matches
kept our World Cup hopes alive. Therefore, I am a little surprised that Thibuat
Courtois was awarded the 'Golden Glove' as I thought Pickford was the busier of
the two and made more saves which were ultimately game changers especially
against Sweden and Columbia. Courtois is still a world- class keeper make no
mistake about that, but I thought it was a bit harsh to not give to Pickford as
it was his first ever tournament. Perhaps if England had been in the final or won the third-place play-off match, he may have got it ahead of Courtois.
I also like the way Southgate was brave enough to
change the style of the way England played which was to have three at the back.
if I was to be extra critical, I thought he could have used players such as he
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jamie Vardy a lot more than he did but on the other hand
the team he picked through much of the tournament were a success so why change
a winning team? I don't like the fact the he was a bit too reliant on Raheem
Sterling who has not really performed to his potential in ant of the last three
tournaments in which England were in, that's why I think he is overrated. He
may go on to have a really good season for Manchester City, but that does not
change my opinion about him.
As for Belgium, for me they were the team of the
tournament. it's such a shame that they had to play France in the semis rather
than the final, it would have been a great way to end the World Cup as both
team are packed with class and talent on and off the pitch, especially the
Belgians who had Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard this would have
been a cracker of a final.
It would be interesting to see what happens in Euro 2020, will France make it a double World Cup and European title? Will it be Belgium's year? Will England ever overcome the ghost of '66?
