Stakes high for Belgium, England inn easy drdraw
WAITING TO STEP UP Onus on European sides to realise potential as Panama, Tunisia look short on experience
The dark horse, the perennial underachievers, the new comers and an inspired African side constitute World Cup 2018’s Group G. The first two --Belgium and England -- are certainly favoured to make the round of 16 as opposed to Panama and Tunisia, but the manner in which they do it, if they can do it, could catalyse or curtail their eventual progress.
For Belgium’s golden generation, boasting the Premier League’s finest talent among others, Russia 2018 may be the last shot at realising their potential. Their qualifying campaign saw them score 43 goals, win nine of their 10 games and Romelu Lukaku become the country’s all-time leading scorer with 34 goals.
But their last few friendlies, a 3-3 draw against Mexico last year and a barren stalemate against a Cristiano Ronaldoless Portugal, will be a reality check.
Kevin De Bruyne, the Premiership’s top creator and a champion, seems to have taken up an unassuming leader’s role. Belgium’s major issues though, remain in the defence. And despite the likes of Vincent Kompany --- now injured --- Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld playing, coach Martinez’s inability to organise the backline could lead to their downfall.
Under Gareth Southgate’s tutelage, England have lost only two of their World Cup preliminaries. Playing in a more experimental 3-4-2-1 formation, they boast of a new-look and youthful squad. Their most experienced players come in the form of Gary Cahill (32), Manchester United’s Ashley Young (32) and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy (31). But eventually, all hopes will rest on Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling.
For Panama, their first World Cup campaign is likely to be a learning experience. But if the Central Americans are to cause a stir, they will look to midfielder Gabriel Gomez for creativity.
Tunisia make a return to the World Cup after a 12-year absence. A turbulent start to their qualification campaign saw coach Nabil Maaloul take over in April last year. For a country looking to register its second victory in the World Cup, it fits to have a coach whose philosophy stresses on attack. But with important players such as Youssef Msakni and Taha Yassine Khenissi missing out due to injury, it will be an uphill task. Ottorino Barassi, the Italian vice-president of FIFA and president of FIGC, secretly transported the trophy from a bank in Rome, hiding it inside a shoe-box under his bed to prevent Adolf Hitler and Nazis from taking it. Brazil captain was requested for a view of the trophy by photographers. He lifted it up. Every Cup-winning captain has repeated the gesture t sincei th then. VIENNA: Germany were the first team m to lift the new FIFA World Cup trophy for the first time e. Germany became the first nation to win the new trophy for the third time. The actual new trophy, called ‘FIFA World Cup’ cannot be won outright anymore and remains in FIFA'S possession. Instead, the World Cup winners are given a goldgold-plated replireplica. The vertical alignment of the champions’ engraved names have been redesigned to fit future title holders. The list of world champions since 1974 was rearranged into a spiral to accommodate the names of winners of future editions of the tournament.