Two games that went more or less according to most projections, and then one major upset on this day in the World Cup.
Who could have foreseen that Argentina would be seriously on the verge of being eliminated from even qualifying for the elimination rounds?
Meanwhile, France and Croatia both punched their ticket to at least the next round. Both sides are in the situation where if they win their next game, they will win their group and thus, apparently, will play weaker teams that did not win their division. That might be true, but as I understand it, my brother said that France will be assured a date with either Portugal or Spain. Scary prospect, either way.
But let us not get ahead of ourselves. We are still in group play, so let's review yesterday's results:
Australia 1, Denmark 1 - Denmark jumped out to an early lead when Christian Eriksen scored in the 7th minute to pull Denmark ahead.
However, Michael Jedinak tied it when he scored for Australia in the 38th minute.
That was how it ended, with a 1-1 tie. Neither team was eliminated, but neither team advanced. Denmark next plays France, with the winner taking the group. Australia has to hope for Denmark to lose, and then to take care of business themselves byt beating Peru. Australia is winless in their last five World Cup games.
France 1, Peru 0 - The atmosphere for this game was apparently incredible, due tothe passionate fans of Peru who had traveled thousands of kilometers to get here. Being French, I was pulling for France, yet it seems that Peru deserved better than such a disappointing outcome. They were unable to score a goal in this contest.
France's Kylian Mbappé scored the game's only goal in the 34th minute, giving France a 1-0 lead that, as ut turns out, would also be the game's final margin. Rather stunningly, France has not allowed a goal from a South American team since a meeting with Brazil all the way back in 1986, a game which they won! They met Brazil three times since 1986, and beat them each time. It should be noted that they had a scoreless draw with the Uruguay team back in the 2002 World Cup, and had yet another one in the 2010 World Cup. Those were the only two contests in each of those two disastrous tournaments that France did not lose.
This win clinched a berth into the second round for France, and eliminated Peru from advancing.
Croatia 3, Argentina 0 - Now we get to the big shocker of the day. Who could have foreseen Argentina not only losing, but getting blown out?
This was Argentina's worst loss at the opening rounds since a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Czechoslovakia - a country that no longer exists - all the way back in 1958. This also marked the first time that Argentina failed to win either of their first two matches since 1974.
This was Croatia's fifth match against a South American squad in World Cup play, but they had never managed to win any of the games before, losing all of their previous four matches.
The game remained tight throughout the first half, in what proved to be a tough, defensive battle. Both teams went into their locker rooms having failed to score a single point.
But all of that changed when Croatia's Ante Rebić broke though in the 53rd minute.
Argentina seemed to fall apart from there. They were unable to score any goals, and Messi looked entirely unlike himself.
Yet another upset seemed to be brewing, and this was cemented when Croatia's Luka Modrić scored in the 80th minute to give his side a commanding 2-0 lead, with time running out.
Ivan Rakitić added the dagger in the heart with Croatia's third goal in the first minute of extra time to clinch a decisive 3-0 win.
Croatia managed to clinch a spot into the elimination round, while Argentina, rather shockingly, is in big trouble, and need some serious help if they hope to have any chance of advancing to the next round.
Who could have foreseen that Argentina would be seriously on the verge of being eliminated from even qualifying for the elimination rounds?
Meanwhile, France and Croatia both punched their ticket to at least the next round. Both sides are in the situation where if they win their next game, they will win their group and thus, apparently, will play weaker teams that did not win their division. That might be true, but as I understand it, my brother said that France will be assured a date with either Portugal or Spain. Scary prospect, either way.
But let us not get ahead of ourselves. We are still in group play, so let's review yesterday's results:
Australia 1, Denmark 1 - Denmark jumped out to an early lead when Christian Eriksen scored in the 7th minute to pull Denmark ahead.
However, Michael Jedinak tied it when he scored for Australia in the 38th minute.
That was how it ended, with a 1-1 tie. Neither team was eliminated, but neither team advanced. Denmark next plays France, with the winner taking the group. Australia has to hope for Denmark to lose, and then to take care of business themselves byt beating Peru. Australia is winless in their last five World Cup games.
France 1, Peru 0 - The atmosphere for this game was apparently incredible, due tothe passionate fans of Peru who had traveled thousands of kilometers to get here. Being French, I was pulling for France, yet it seems that Peru deserved better than such a disappointing outcome. They were unable to score a goal in this contest.
France's Kylian Mbappé scored the game's only goal in the 34th minute, giving France a 1-0 lead that, as ut turns out, would also be the game's final margin. Rather stunningly, France has not allowed a goal from a South American team since a meeting with Brazil all the way back in 1986, a game which they won! They met Brazil three times since 1986, and beat them each time. It should be noted that they had a scoreless draw with the Uruguay team back in the 2002 World Cup, and had yet another one in the 2010 World Cup. Those were the only two contests in each of those two disastrous tournaments that France did not lose.
This win clinched a berth into the second round for France, and eliminated Peru from advancing.
Croatia 3, Argentina 0 - Now we get to the big shocker of the day. Who could have foreseen Argentina not only losing, but getting blown out?
This was Argentina's worst loss at the opening rounds since a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Czechoslovakia - a country that no longer exists - all the way back in 1958. This also marked the first time that Argentina failed to win either of their first two matches since 1974.
This was Croatia's fifth match against a South American squad in World Cup play, but they had never managed to win any of the games before, losing all of their previous four matches.
The game remained tight throughout the first half, in what proved to be a tough, defensive battle. Both teams went into their locker rooms having failed to score a single point.
But all of that changed when Croatia's Ante Rebić broke though in the 53rd minute.
Argentina seemed to fall apart from there. They were unable to score any goals, and Messi looked entirely unlike himself.
Yet another upset seemed to be brewing, and this was cemented when Croatia's Luka Modrić scored in the 80th minute to give his side a commanding 2-0 lead, with time running out.
Ivan Rakitić added the dagger in the heart with Croatia's third goal in the first minute of extra time to clinch a decisive 3-0 win.
Croatia managed to clinch a spot into the elimination round, while Argentina, rather shockingly, is in big trouble, and need some serious help if they hope to have any chance of advancing to the next round.
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