‘Viral’ Wales video hangs over World Cup clash with England
Dutch on cusp of ‘advancing’
DOHA, Qatar, Nov 28, (AP): The Netherlands are on the verge of reaching the knockout stage at the World Cup and an overwhelming favorites in their final Group A match on Tuesday against host nation Qatar.
If the Dutch advance it will put more focus on 71-year-old coach Louis van Gaal, who stepped out of retirement just over a year ago to take over the national team while being treated for aggressive prostate cancer.
Host nation Qatar have lost their first two matches and already missed their chance to move on from the group stage. But coach Felix Sanchez says his team will be prepared to face one of soccer’s traditional powers.
“When you play against a team such as the Netherlands, you don’t need any motivation,” Sanchez said. “It’s a challenge for our players to face such a team.”
“This was a very demanding group for us,” Sanchez added. “We’ve competed with our ups and downs. We’d have preferred to be in a better situation.”
For the Netherlands a draw will suffice to advance and put the team into contention again in a World Cup after failing to qualify four years ago. The Dutch could even get through with a loss if Ecuador beats Senegal in the other Group A match.
In the round of 16, the Netherlands would face one of the top two teams from Group B, where England is the favorite with Iran, Wales, and the United States scrambling for a spot.
Van Gaal said before the World Cup that the Netherlands can win it all, although few see this as one of the country’s best teams. He repeated it on the eve of the Qatar game.
“I think you always have to identify the goal, the purpose for which you are here, and then you can work your way toward that purpose. If you say ‘well, the round of 16 is enough, the quarterfinals are enough’, that isn’t the right way to do things,” Van Gaal said.
“The right way to do things is to think you will become champions,” Van Gaal added. “I never said that we’re going to become world champions, but that we can become this.”
He has reason to be optimistic. The Netherlands is on a 17-game unbeaten run since Van Gaal returned to lead the team for the third time. Qatar, Nov 28 (AP): If England need any added motivation ahead of their final World Cup group game against Wales on Tuesday, they only have to watch a certain video from 2016.
Footage of Wales players celebrating wildly as their UK neighbor crashed out of the European Championship after losing to Iceland went viral at the time.
England were humiliated. Wales, which lost 2-1 to the Three Lions in the group stage but went on to reach the semifinal, was jubilant.
Much has changed since then - a point England forward Marcus Rashford made ahead of the Group B match.
“I don’t think it takes a genius to see how we’ve improved since 2016. For me it feels like a completely different team. We’ve come on so much. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves along the way,” he said.
“Back in 2016, if you look at that performance when we got knocked out the Euros, it is a million miles off where we are now. You cannot really compare the two situations.”
That sentiment is backed up by England’s tournament performances over the last four years - reaching the semifinals of the World Cup in 2018 and the final of last year’s European Championship, which they lost on penalties to Italy.
England are among the favorites to triumph in Qatar and only need a point against Wales to guarantee qualification to the knockout stages. Depending on goal difference, England could still progress even if it loses that match.
For Wales, the jeopardy is much higher.
Bottom of the group with one point from its first two matches, Wales must win to have any chance of reaching the round of 16 at their first World Cup since 1958.
“That’s the hurt at the moment,” said midfielder Joe Allen. “It’s a feeling of missed opportunity in the first two games.”
“Our focus now moves onto getting on the training pitch, putting in the work and preparing for the performance of our lives against England,” he added.
Wales will be looking for inspiration from Gareth Bale if they are to win against England for the first time since 1984.
SOCCER
The Los Angeles FC forward came into the tournament on the back of just one game since the start of October and has looked labored in his performances.
Meanwhile, England’s Harry Kane is yet to score at this World Cup and was off the pace in his team’s 0-0 draw with the United States after hurting his ankle in the previous game against Iran.
The Golden Boot winner from 2018 is just three goals away from overtaking Wayne Rooney’s total of 53 to become his nation’s all time leading scorer.
“He’s enjoying his football,” said Rashford. “But for any forward you want to be scoring goals. I’m sure if he keeps doing what he’s doing he’ll score.”
TENNIS
Auger-Aliassime then finished off his superb second half of the season by completing a perfect week in Spain. He twice had kept the Canadians alive after Shapovalov dropped the opening singles match, and on Saturday he replaced his weary teammate to join Vasek Pospisil for the decisive doubles point.
This time, Auger-Aliassime made sure the doubles match wouldn’t even be necessary. After his teammates poured onto the court to celebrate with him, they got up and danced around in a circle.
Canada had reached the final only once, falling to host Spain in Madrid in 2019, when Rafael Nadal beat Shapovalov for the clinching point after Auger-Aliassime had lost in the opening match.
But with Auger-Aliassime having since surged up the rankings to his current spot at No. 6, the Canadians are a much more formidable team now. They won the ATP Cup in January and finally added the Davis Cup crown to the junior Davis Cup title Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov led them to in 2015.
Australia was trying for its 29th title and first since current captain Lleyton Hewitt was part of the title-winning team in 2003.
But it was finally time for the Canadians, who were given a wild card into the field when Russia was suspended because of its invasion of Ukraine.
But Canada will be tough to beat as long as Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov play.
Shapovalov is just 23 and Auger-Aliassime 22, but both already have been Grand Slam semifinalists and AugerAliassime ended 2022 as one of the hottest players on the ATP Tour. He won all of his four titles this year, including three straight weeks in October.
He also beat Carlos Alcaraz in the previous Davis Cup stage in September, just after the Spaniard had won the U.S. Open to rise to No. 1 in the rankings. That victory helped send the Canadians into the quarterfinals, which they started this week by edging Germany.