Can England go all the way in Qatar?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup got underway this past weekend as hosts Qatar suffered a 2-0 defeat in their opening game against Ecuador to make unwanted history at the global showpiece. Fenerbahce striker Enner Valencia turned up in sty le for the South American nation as he broke Qatari hearts, while England laid down an early marker with their convincing 6-2 thrashing of an Iran side coached by former Bafana Bafana head coach Carlos Queiroz. Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions dominated proceedings with free-flowing, attacking football, but can they replicate that sty le throughout the tournament? Soccer Laduma’s international team reviews the first few fixtures of the Beautiful Game’s biggest competition, with there being many more mouth-watering games fans can look forward to over the coming weeks.
Qatar make unwanted history!
Qatar kicked off their World Cup campaign with a disappointing and underwhelming display against Ecuador, a performance some fans felt wasn’t worthy of their time. Around the 60th-minute mark, cameras at the Al Bayt Stadium showed Qatari fans exiting the ground early while the South Americans led 2-0, perhaps frustrated as the effort put out by the team didn’t match the 12-year anticipation since the awarding of the tournament to the Middle Eastern country. Leading up to the competition, there was plenty of talk of the massive investment made in Qatar’s football, but that wasn’t enough to prevent 33-year-old veteran Valencia from breaking the hosts’ hearts just minutes into the encounter. After the former West Ham United forward had an early goal disallowed due to offside, he was on hand to put the South American nation ahead in the 16th minute through a penalty he won, and doubled his tally 15 minutes later as Qatar became the first host nation to lose the opening match of the 92-year-old showpiece.
England turn on the style
A clash that was previewed as a David-versus-Goliath battle proved to be a tie that saw the giant not only win but outclass their opponent in a manner fans have not been accustomed to in recent months. Gareth Southgate, at times, has been a victim of revisionism, with many critics having lambasted his pragmatic approach despite those same tactics leading the nation to the final of the 2020 UEFA European Championship and a semifinal appearance at the 2018 World Cup. While cynicism appears to be the narrative directed at the head coach, the World Cup opener has perhaps marked the beginning of a new era. The clash on Monday served up eight goals as Bukayo Saka and Iran’s Mehdi Taremi each bagged a brace while Jack Grealish, Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford also found the back of the net. The 6-2 thumping of Carlos Queiroz’s Iran also signalled something more significant than their World Cup title hopes. It showed that England are, if not at the peak of its powers, then in the process of reaching their optimum level. This is evident as paranoia about the opposition’s strengths turned into charisma, passive sideways passes became progressive and line-breaking, and the much-maligned 3-5-2 formation turned into a dynamic 4-3-3. An example of the team’s cut-throat manner was their sixth goal scored by Grealish.
In three passes, England were able to dismantle Iran’s defensive shape, and it was a goal that had the hallmarks of all that is good about this England side: Eager to win their 50-50s, ruthless in exploiting space, dynamic running and calm in their decision-making. At the centre of it all was Bellingham, who continues to exceed expectations by dictating the midfield with the intelligence of a veteran, and the 19-year-old will be pivotal to this newfound formula. There is no doubt England will face tougher teams in this tournament, but for the first time in a while, the Three Lions were a joy to watch.
Netherlands leave it late against Mane-less Senegal
The African champions made an impressive start to their opening encounter in Group A, perhaps surprisingmanyaroundtheworldwith their structure and discipline, even without star player Sadio Mane. The Bayern Munich winger was ruled out of the tournament due to injury after he picked up a knock to his leg while representing the Bavarians in the Bundesliga earlier this month. Mane’s absence threatened to overshadow the Lions of Teranga’s first match, but there were plenty positives for Aliou Cisse to take away from the game despite the Netherlands clinching a late 2-0 victory. Louis van Gaal’s side defended against Senegal’s attacking trio of Ismaila Sarr, Boulaye Dia and Krepin Diatta relatively comfortably, with captain Virgil van Dijk an ever-calming presence in the Dutch backline. Struggling to create clear-cut chances of their own, Ons Oranje required a moment of brilliance from Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong deep into the second half, when his pinpoint ball into the box found its away perfectly on to Cody Gakpo’s head and past Edouard Mendy. With the 23-yearold marking his World Cup debut with a goal, the PSV Eindhoven attacker has now scored four times in 10 international appearances as he continues his upward trajectory. Substitute Memphis Depay, who wasn’t deemed fit enough to start, was involved as the Netherlands doubled their lead through the experienced Davy Klaassen, who’d also been brough on moments earlier.
Bale rescues a point for Wales
While England got off to winning ways in Group B after an emphatic win over Iran, Wales played out to a 1-1 draw in their curtain-raiser against the USA. The two sides faced each other for the first time in the tournament’s history, with their only other previous meetings being international friendlies in 2003 and 2020. The USA held a slight advantage over their European opponents as they came into the match with a better head-to-head record, having beaten Wales 2-0 in 2003 and the 2020 outing resulted in a 0-0 stalemate. Tim Weah, son of Liberia legend George Weah – Africa’s
only Ballon d’Or winner to date – opened the scoring for the USA in the first half, but Wales come out strong after the break after manager Rob Page replaced Dan James with Bournemouth striker Kieffer Moore. The mounting pressure paid off for the Dragons in the 81st minute when Walker Zimmerman fouled Gareth Bale in the box to concede a late penalty. The former Real Madrid forward converted from the spot himself as his side secured a hardfought point. England currently top Group B with three points, while Wales and USA are a point above last-placed Iran following Monday’s clashes.
BIG FIXTURES TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS WEEK:
Brazil vs Serbia – 24 November (Group G) Portugal vs Ghana – 24 November (Group H) England vs USA – 25 November (Group B) Argentina vs Mexico – 26 November (Group C) France vs Denmark – 26 November (Group D) Spain vs Germany – 27 November (Group E)
never put their foot off the pedal. Boitumelo Vanrooyen, Schweizer-Reneke
The World Cup has commenced in earnest and we witnessed a beautiful game between hosts Qatar and Ecuador, one-sided an affair as it was. I don’t see the host nation making it out of the group stages because they were so lackadaisical in all departments in said match, but with Bafana Bafana in the ‘embarrassing lot’ list, they are in good company. Every Joseph and his Josephine has been asking me to furnish them with my favourite for the title, but I always desist from making such predictions because it’s a long tournament, with the expected speed humps and bends to negotiate. Usually, the teams that struggle in the group stages go on to surprise all and sundry come the knockout stages, with some going as far as reaching the final. Having said that, I’ve always been a fan of German football because they apply the basics right and can hit you by an avalanche of goals if you don’t tread carefully. I’m looking forward to an exciting tournament and I really hope VAR will do more good than harm because that was the rationale behind this innovation after all. The less said about Bafana Bafana’s drab draw against Angola, the better. Thank you for World Cup nonqualification – blushes well and truly spared. Not to mention home comfort, I suppose a time for so-called ‘Instagram stars’ to come out and play, hobnobbing from one chesa nyama to the other, glass of cerveja in hand, drop-top Beemers speeding on our highways even in the dead of night. La dolce vita, as the French call it. Good luck to all African countries, and anyone who’s Ghana be facing those Black Stars, for obvious reasons (wink, wink).
Marvin Matseke-Mabula, Burgersfort Leboeng Rutseng
I hereby wish our African representatives good luck in Qatar. It was time for Africa in 2010 and this time around, BaGhana BaGhana give us slight hope. My worry is the injuries to some influential players like Sadio Mane. Yes, it’s a blow for Senegal, but they need to soldier on without the captain of the ship. Let me call on all our football ancestors to pave way for our representatives and obliterate all obstacles that can make our journey difficult. Madimetja Vic Mashamaite, Renstown
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been marred by scandals, from workers’ rights, human rights, LGBTQ+ and now the ban of the sale of alcohol at all stadiums. In our case, in the 2010 shindig, it was mainly stereotypes of Africa being a continent full of crime. What exactly did Qatar present or pitch to FIFA to host the 2022 World Cup? Hosting the tournament obviously needs accommodation and embracing everyone’s cultures without compromising oneself or being submissive to anyone – the balance. Hopefully it will be a success and football will be the winner in the end. Football relies mainly on sponsorships to function. Qatari and CR7 bit the hand that feed them. No matter their disapproval, football needs alcohol money. Still with the World Cup, it’s sad to see the French team being riddled with injuries, the likes of Kante, Pogba, Nkunku, Benzema, with Varane a doubtful starter. I feel for Benzema because he missed out on the previous World Cup gold for the current redhot player. Anyway, I’m still rooting for France and Argentina to win it, due to the African brothers in France and of course Messi. Lucky Khunou, Meriting
Looking now in the news, it seems like lobby groups from the UK are already making noise about coming from a cold climate to Qatar’s heat. Feeble excuses for “if” they get eliminated from the group stages of the World Cup. What still boggles my mind is that who in his or her sober mind awards a World Cup to a host nation that has a league that is rated as a “retirement village league”? Let’s hope Senegal surprises friend and foe and makes the dream of an African team in the semifinals come true. Jeffrey “Oarasib” Hartzenberg, Klapmuts – Stellenbosch
What a great opening ceremony of the Qatar FIFA World Cup! We must give credit where it’s due. Even though Qatar lost to Ecuador by 2-0, thus becoming the first host nation to lose their first match in the tournament, I see a lot of surprises forthcoming in this competition. Teams are well prepared and the younger, energetic generation is willing to write its own history. Ofentse Kakapa Mahatlhe, Schweizer-Reneke
Quick One-Two’s
I have been reading about and listening to commentary about the sour relations between Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United for some time. Except for when he refused to come on against Tottenham Hotspur, what wrong did he do since he returned to the club? It’s the players that felt threatened by his return and for some reason dropped their performances so that Ronaldo could be sabotaged. The likes of Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford were there for many years but never hogged the headlines like Ronaldo did upon his return. He finished as the team’s leading scorer and where were the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Rashford and others? The team’s defence has been very leaky, led by Harry Maguire. How many mistakes did Maguire and defensive partners commit that led to United losing games? But no noise was made about that. Erik ten Hag accepted the job with his mind set on letting go of Ronaldo. His comments reveal as much. He made it clear even before his first training session and obviously the players also joined in on the act and betrayed him by giving below par performances that were meant to paint Ronaldo as the bad guy. I bet even Ten Hag can’t give me a clear answer as to why he has been antiRonaldo. He is just on a mission to destroy him, but the fact will always remain that Ronaldo has been the best player for years and he is better than many current United players even at his age. Morongwa Zwee Mokgohloa,
Ga-Mokgohloa
Jomo Sono did a lot for Orlando Pirates as a player, but then that was his duty. For him to brag about himself playing professional soccer at the age of 15 and say what he said about Saleng left me with mixed feelings. I think it’s time he shows respect and appreciation to the up-and-coming players like an idol. Again, this thing of blocking players from wearing jersey number 10 is totally wrong. Yes, no one will ever play like him, but some players achieved a lot more than he did. Lionel Messi left Barcelona for PSG and that jersey number has been given to another player, but Jomo thinks he is God of Pirates. This thing sucks, Jomo. Be a man and release the jersey. Tumelo Molefe, Riverside View
After coming from behind against Mozambique, our players failed to continue where they left off as they played to a 1-all draw against Angola on Sunday. Though not a bad result, we expected Bafana to win as Angola are not rated amongst Africa’s football powerhouses and we differ greatly in terms of FIFA rankings. The visitors held their own against Bafana, unexpectedly so, and were the first to open the scoring. Our players must improve and avoid chasing games as we did against Mozambique, which is not a good thing at all as we may lose in future. It was good to see the in-form
Saleng being given a run against the Black Mambas. Broos must work on our defence as we conceded a soft goal due to ball watching. Good positioning is not only vital when we attack but also during defending of set-pieces. Our players must also practice target shooting, which is a general problem in the DStv Premiership. Williams showed maturity and experience as he kept us in the game with his brilliant saves. Bernard “Bra Ben” Tshukudu, Ga-Maria
Our DStv Premiership is regarded as one of the top 10 leagues in the world, but there’s no player currently in the 2022 FIFA World Cup plying his trade in the league. Our last hope was Ofori before he was snubbed by Ghana. I don’t see why we took a break. I also don’t understand the criteria Bafana used to select countries to play friendlies against. The person tasked with organising games for us has not been doing justice to our national team. What do we achieve by playing countries such as Sierra Leone, Botswana, Mozambique and Angola while the likes of Nigeria are rubbing shoulders with the likes of Bruno Fernandes of Portugal? Is our coach a coward and wants to protect his job by playing minnows? If he can’t get us Brazil, Germany, England, Spain or Netherlands, why can’t he play well-established African countries such as Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria and Senegal? Methinks Broos wants to be on the safe side. Lekiya Magoai, Nelly (Ga-Malope)
have continuity or if you have players that can replace those that have left. We try to see if somebody can fill up the space and if you start to complain that you don’t have this one or that one, you won’t make progress. That’s why I’m saying we will use this period to try and use that gap to see if we can progress.
MQ: In your most previous interview with Soccer Laduma, you said you had already discussed a new contract and agreed on terms with Gallants before having to part ways. So, did you start on the same deal when you returned, or a new one was discussed?
DM:
No, no, no, we are working on what we agreed on before things changed. We are working from where we had agreed on.
MQ: You were linked with Sekhukhune United…
DM:
No, there was nothing there, to be honest. Maybe somebody was talking to somebody, but there was nothing from my side.
MQ: Perhaps the club was talking to your agent?
DM:
(Laughs) No, there was nothing. Probably, for some it would be nice to do that, but you don’t want to start running around as if you don’t know what you are doing. The timing of changing clubs and all of that must be very good when you do those things. People may not know, starting afresh is very difficult, it’s not an easy thing. Philosophies and understanding of players take time. With Marumo, it’s a different kind of a situation because I had been with the players and it was just a short period of time that I was not with them. They were probably still playing the same way I would have wanted them, with the only difference being maybe the things that I would have wanted to implement, like scoring goals and winning matches. Otherwise, changing and running around sometimes… it may be good, but it needs good timing. Preferably, you would want a situation where you start with a club at the beginning of the season. Obviously, there is an issue of players and you don’t want to just have players that were assembled for you because you may be stuck with people that do not understand you and you do not understand them as that can take time. While that is happening, the league is running and matches taking place. You would end up running a huge risk of losing matches.
MQ: Coach, we can’t end this interview without asking you about co-coaching, a set-up you were involved in at Royal AM.
DM:
Look, at first I thought I would be able to adjust very well to it and be able to deal with it, but sometimes once you get involved in something, you realise that it is not as easy as you initially thought it would be. Different minds, different ideas and different approaches – I found it to be very difficult. To be honest, obviously I’m used to a situation where I decide a lot of things. Yes, I do discuss things and even here at Marumo, I discuss things with the technical team. I discuss with Harris (Choeu, technical director) and I discuss with Ray (Raymond Mdaka), the assistant coach, the goalkeeper coach and everybody. I don’t like to do things (on my own), I’m not a dictator. I don’t come to training and tell people what to do, but I ask for their suggestions and we always discuss the sessions. I think if people are to be involved in co-coaching, they should do it, but in the end, there should be one person who has the final say, otherwise there could be arguments for days and if that happens, there won’t be any progress.
MQ: One would have thought you went there fully aware of how things would work.
DM:
No, no, no we all had to do whatever we did. You must understand that if a coach comes to a club… you know, philosophies that are used by clubs are not for (do not belong to) clubs but are brought to clubs by coaches. If a club follows a certain philosophy, they will go for certain individuals whenever they are looking for a coach and they know that it’s something that cannot come from anybody else. It then becomes difficult when different individuals get involved and have their different philosophies. It becomes difficult when a club wants a certain philosophy but won’t decide on the person to drive it. But there was nothing that was very difficult, it’s just that I felt I was a bit marginalised and not giving my best to the club and it was going to be unfair to the players and the club. I regard myself as a brand and people should identify when a Dan Malesela-coached team is playing. It shouldn’t be difficult for them to see.
MQ: Can’t wait to see Gallants playing the Dan Malesela way when the season resumes. Thanks for the chat.
DM: Sharp-sharp. ❐