It’s all about the set pieces
Early tournament trend has been lack of scoring during the run of play
VOLGOGRAD, RUSSIA— The possession football championed by coaches such as Pep Guardiola is supposed to produce esthetically pleasing goals. Against strong defences and worldclass goalkeepers, sometimes you need to go back to basics.
This World Cup has started with a spate of goals off of set pieces and penalty kicks, as many teams have struggled to score in the run of play.
Inevitably, superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been part of the story, on opposite sides.
Ronaldo’s delivered with artistry, curling in a free kick as part of a hat trick in Portugal’s draw with Spain. Ronaldo famously hones his kicks with long hours of training, using his trademark wide stance from all angles so he is ready for the moment on the big stage.
Ronaldo’s goal was one of three free kicks scored in the opening four days in Russia. That’s as many as the entire 2014 tournament in Brazil.
It started with Aleksandr Golovin arcing the ball into the net in Russia’s win against Saudi Arabia on the opening day. Aleksandar Kolarov scored on a free kick in Serbia’s win over Costa Rica on Sunday.
Long before he failed to stop Ronaldo’s free kick, Spain goalkeeper David de Gea was grumbling about the Adidas ball developed for the tournament.
“It’s really strange,” he told Spanish newspaper AS in March. “It could have been made better.”
Be that as it may, the tactical script is following the trend from four years ago. Eleven per cent of all goals in Brazil came from corner kicks, while 18 of the 32 headed goals were from set pieces.
“The importance of set pieces has increased tremendously and every team used this tactic as a valuable attacking tool in their game,” FIFA’s 2014 World Cup technical report concluded. “Defending teams tried to avoid any kind of free kick situations close to their penalty box, fully aware that they created danger. The vanishing spray also helped to ensure that there were no discussions, disruptions or encroachments at free kicks.”
The new technology this time is VAR. Video assistant referees should ensure more free kicks, corners and penalties are awarded.
They weren’t called into action to help Croatia beat Nigeria 2-0. Oghenekaro Etebo’s own goal came from a Croatia corner and Luka Modric scored off a penalty.
“We worked hard on those elements on the training ground,” Modric said.
There are no highlights of slick moves for the purists to pore over, but Croatia is top of its group ahead of Argentina.
“Corners and penalties are part and parcel of football,” Dalic said. “It doesn’t matter how you score, what matters is you score. There was some luck there, but we earned our luck. Of course we want to be more efficient on attack, but we are not going to split hairs about the way we scored.”