World Cup Russia Update for June 25, 2018 - Panama and Poland Humiliated

Another day where I got to see most of the World Cup action. But after watching the first 45 minutes of the England-Panama game, I was good to turn it off and turn on CBS Sunday Morning, because there was really no drama left in that game. England had so thoroughly dominated a completely outclassed Panamanian side, that the end result - a blowout win in England's favor - was never in doubt from about the 36th minute or so onward.

Then, Senegal and Japan had an entertaining and suspenseful match that went back and forth, with each team enjoying some momentum in what was easily the best game of the day.

Finally, the hotly anticipated clash between Colombia and Poland. Some clash, though. Poland was dominated and looked completely unworthy of their high FIFA world ranking. It got so bad, that my Polish girlfriend grew disgusted and stopped watching the match, and said that she was done with the World Cup (hopefully, it was just her frustration). 

So, let's take a closer look at this past Sunday in World Cup action:

England 6, Panama 1 - Not really all that much to say about this one.

As I watched it (first half only, because really, what was the point of watching beyond that?), I was aghast at how easily England was scoring those goals. It was 5-0 by halftime, and England had never  before scored that many goals in a World Cup game. And they did that before halftime.

The final score was 6-1, but I am quite sure it could have been far, far worse, if England had really wanted it to be.

Panama achieved a historic first by making it to the World Cup, but the celebration did not last beyond halftime of their first game. Up to that point, they had held Belgium to a scoreless tie for the first half, although the Belgians really took care of business in the second half. Now, this humiliating loss to England, allowing 5 goals just in the first half alone. This will leave a bitter taste for the Panamanians and their fans for a long time to come.

For England, this was a display of dominance. They came in without overly high expectations, because the English side had tended to wilt under those conditions, with too many things expected from them. But this year, with little to no expectations, England are cruising. At least so far, they are, although they obviously have their first truly tough test when they go up against Belgium next.

Harry Kane would score for England three times, earning the hat trick. He scored in the 22nd minute, in the first minute of extra time in the first half via penalty, and in the 62nd minute. John Stones opened the scoring for England in the 8th minute, and scored one more again in the 40th minute. Jesse Lingard scored in the 36th minute.

Panama did manage a consolation of sorts: they scored their first ever goal in a World Cup game. It was by Felipe Abdiel Baloy in the 78th minute.

This was the third time that England have won both of their opening matches on a world tournament stage (including the World Cup and the Euros). They did it in 1982, and again in 2006. This also qualified as England's most decisive win in international play.

Finally, this was the first time since that infamous thrashing of host Brazil by Germany that a side managed to score five goals by halftime.






Japan 2, Senegal 2 - Remember when these two teams were supposed to be the weakest teams in this group?

Now, suddenly, they both are tied atop the group, having defeated the favorites, and then tied one another. At least one of these teams will make it to the elimination game, and depending on how the Senegal-Colombia game goes, it is possibly that they might both make it.

Senegal showed some stuff again this time, with incredible athleticism and goal-scoring ability.

Yet somehow, Japan kept coming back.

Senegal scored a goal to take a lead, then Japan scored a goal to tie it all up. Senegal scored another goal to take another lead, then Japan scored another goal to tie it all up once again.

That was the story in this one, as neither team either advanced nor was eliminated.

This probably felt more like a victory for Japan, as it had to come from behind - twice - to earn the tie. Plus, Senegal is likely more naturally talented than they are. So, given where the Japanese were, they will take this result.

Sadio Mané scored in the 11th minute to give Senegal the early 1-0 lead, and for a while thereafter, they control the tempo of the game. But Japan's Takashi Inui answered with a goal in the 34th minute to tie the game.

Moussa Wagué put Senegal up again in the 71st minute, but this time, the Japanese answered very quickly, as Keisuke Honda got the equalizer in the 78th minute. That goal made Honda the highest scoring Asian in World Cup history.

Interestingly, Senegal has never lost to Japan in any of their four meetings, having won twice and drawn in the other two meetings. Each team now has four points






Colombia 3, Poland 0 - My Polish girlfriend was not able to watch her national team compete in that first World Cup game, and seemed to take it in relative stride that they lost, despite being favored. She joked about some of the criticisms that the Polish fans posted on Facebook and elsewhere following the 2-0 loss to Senegal last week, including one where the coach entered the locker room and did not utter a word, but merely slapped each player, repeatedly.

That was funny. But the laughs ended this weekend. She got to see her nation play in their first World Cup since 2006, and this time, it was no laughing matter. It upset her so much, that she left for other things after Colombia took a 2-0 lead. When she came back, and I told her that they had lost, 3-0, she sounded initially surprised that they had allowed yet another goal. Then she started yelling about how the Polish team had seemed to be just standing around, and did not want to win. Most of the game, she said, was spent on Poland's side of the field, defending and hoping that Colombia would not score, and allowing the Colombians to dictate the tempo of the game.

The real problem for Poland in this World Cup is something that the English side could traditionally sympathize with: overly high expectations. Poland entered this World Cup ranked eighth in the world, just below France, and ahead of some heavyweights, like Spain, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Italy (granted, those latter two did not qualify for this World Cup, but they usually are very good). So, expectations were indeed high.

Then, they had a very bad game against Senegal, but the first goal was not fully their fault, as it was kind of a fluky deflection of the shin of a Polish defender that caught the goalkeeper unawares. Then, the second goal that Senegal scored was just bizarre.

In this game, though, the results were more straightforward: the Polish side was dominated. They just played poorly, and never seemed to really want it. Never showed exactly why they got to be so highly regarded as to warrant a place among the top ten in the world in terms of rankings.

You had better believe that Poland's standing in those same rankings will take a serious dip after this tournament. They have been outscored by a combined 5-1, and have showed virtually no signs of being anywhere near the level of the elite team that they were supposed to be. They were one of the favorites within their group, yet somehow after two games have been played for each team, they are the only ones in their group to be officially eliminated. Colombia is still alive, and can clinch a berth in the elimination round with a win. Japan and Senegal are in if they win their next game. But it does not matter what Poland does in the next game. They could win 10-0, in historically dominant fashion, and the most that they will have done is possibly eliminate another team. But they are the last place team in the division, that much has been locked up. And it had been a pathetic display.