World Cup Group Stage Takeaways: Groups E-H
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That was one of the best World Cup group stages I can remember. Every group was hectic as all hell.
And with the round of 16 starting tomorrow morning, it’s a late night post to finish up the rest of the group stage takeaways.
Here is what we learned.
Group E
We’re all, myself included, surprised that the Germans did not make it out of the group while Japan and Spain did.
But should we be?
This German team does not exactly inspire hope of success.
Neuer, despite being a legendary goalkeeper, is 36 years old.
Their backline does not compare to the other European superpowers.
Their center forward position might as well be non-existant.
Only when Costa Rica desperately needed a goal and threw everything at the wall did they find success in the attack.
Part of that is injuries, but another part is our lofty expectations.
Why are we shocked Germany didn’t make it out of the group stage?
Because we simply didn’t pay enough attention.
Group F
I predicted that Belgium and Canada would get out of the group.
Morocco and Croatia ended up advancing.
Whoops.
Let’s discuss Belgium first.
Needing a win against Croatia to advance, they barely even tried to start attacking until late in the game.
And when they did, Romelu Lukaku had a nightmare in front of goal and just could not get the ball in the net.
The Belgian golden generation is officially dead.
It was partial bad luck, and partial apathy.
As for Canada, another manager deemed significantly better than Gregg Berhalter left everything he once knew.
Canada under John Herdman in World Cup qualifying started really quick in attempt to get the first goal, and then sat back and defended and hoped for counters.
Against Belgium, they attacked like crazy but never found the goal. Against Croatia, they got the goal! Time for the plan to come into action.
Except they didn’t. They changed it around.
Herdman kept Canada attacking, and in return an old and frankly weaker midfield got torn apart by the Croatians.
Why they made this switch, I’ll frankly never know.
But it was a huge mistake.
Group G
The Switzerland and Serbia game today, with both teams needing a win in order to advance, was incredibly drunk and fun.
But as expected, the Brazilians breezed through the group without much difficulty until today when Cameroon shocked them, but I chalk that one more up to Brazil knowing they were through and with a great chance of winning the group as opposed to a crack in the armor.
Group H
Never rest on your laurels.
This tournament will humble you, very quickly.
That’s the lesson Uruguay learned today.
With Uruguay up 2-0 at halftime, they appeared to be advancing to the knockout stages.
After all, South Korea needed to beat Portugal, and that wasn’t happening.
And since Ghana also needed a win, Uruguay slowed things down and made defensive substitutions.
Well, South Korea came back and won, and suddenly Uruguay needed a goal.
And this is where the beauty of the World Cup comes into play.
Remember the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?
Ghana was mere inches away from the World Cup semifinals, when Luis Suarez blocked the shot with his hands off the line.
It was a clear penalty, but Suarez did his job.
Ghana missed the penalty, Uruguay won in the penalty shootout and advanced.
Safe to say, Ghana does NOT like Luis Suarez.
So today, down 2 goals and knowing that if they scored 2 goals they would advance to the knockout round of the World Cup, Ghana decided to time waste.
That’s right.
They accepted that their World Cup was over, but they were going to drag Luis Suarez and Uruguay down with them.
It’s a level of petty we can only inspire to.
Tomorrow begins the round of 16, and if the knockout stages are anything like the group stages, this corrupt and filthy World Cup might just end up being one of the most memorable.
