2018 was their prime.
True. The manager seemed to not be too bothered about the change. He seemed to trust his back up.
They could of played the starting keeper with poor vision tbh
He used to be the former number 1 so it helped
They had nothing in that second half. The lack of energy/legs is also startling. It just looks like the players don't work hard enough or want to work for it.
Saw that too. “Not only will I paint my nail, gonna make it a little panda, ain’t I cute”?Batshuayi's nail
I think it's a big ask. We've never scored a goal or got a point at a World Cup. Croatia finished second in 2018.
Belgium's players aren't good. Seriously, aside from KDB all these players are old and way past their best. People see player names and act like they are still good when in reality they haven't been for years. The last 2 World Cups were their chance and they blew it. The new players coming through aren't anywhere near the same level. Trossard is their best somewhat young player (if 27 is considered young) and even he is nowhere near the level of KDB or a younger Eden Hazard.
All groups ended up being tough and close, including this one. No team so far has put two good back-to-back performances other than France (and that’s why it’s the only team who has guaranteed qualification). The lower-ranked teams are competing very hard, and those who lost badly in the first game (Iran, Australia and Costa Rica) managed to bounce back with a win. Typically, that’s not what we see at the WC.
Called it
Even if it finishes any other result, they only need a draw against Canada to go the next round...
There's no extreme heat mate, the stadiums all have air con and on pitch level max it gets to is 25 degrees celsius.
I agree. They are far from their 2018 prime. Not enough new names after 4.5 years.
I would definitely say Batshuayi and Meunier were worse, but yeah KDB was shite. A part of me is always going "put in even half the effort for us as you do for City you disloyal twat", but perhaps that's the United fan in me speaking.
The old Croatian players are still good though, unlike the Belgian players. Perisic is probably a bit worse than 4 years ago but he's still pretty good. Don't think any of the other old players are past it yet. They've clearly looked after themselves. Modric at 37 is still one of the best players in the world. They also have one of the best young cbs in the world in Gvardiol. The only area they're lacking is up front. They never really replaced Mandzukic
You can observe a distinct difference in second half performances between the early fixtures and the late fixtures.
I thought they would qualify along with Crotatia and both get knocked out in the R16. Must admit I thought their team had moved on more personnel wise.
Well you can in every game though. Even the late ones...
It's becoming clear that this is a world cup for young teams. Players in their 30s are struggling, probably due to conditions. Belgium carried too many old players, Verthongen, Hazard,Alderwiweld all done. I fancy Canada to have a good cut at Croatia in the next game as well.
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The Fifa rankings are absolute horse shit. They were number 1 team for 4 years straight. Based on what? Player reputatiton? Cause it clearly wasn't performance based
