England’s World Cup is off to a promising start: their second-half performance against a quality Croatia side an especially encouraging display in what was eventually a 4-2 win.
Both teams found the back of the net twice in the first 45, but England needed a bit of luck for their goals (especially after Harry Kane got to retake his penalty that was initially saved) and generally posed less threat despite boatloads of possession when compared with their opponents’ cutting edge on the break. But the second
45 was a different story, and if that’s what is to come from Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions, they may just finally reach the promise land.
Is it coming home? It’s definitely in line at the ticket window.
England still seem a bit too dependent on Harry Kane and surely running your offense through Noni Madueke is not the ideal gameplan. But it worked today, with the former Chelsea man setting up several dangerous opportunities (though not quite managing to get a goal contribution). England do have plenty of quality of course, and the likes of Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and Marcus Rashford showed that in spades in the second half. The depth is there.
Reece James played the full-90 and though he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory on Croatia’s second equalizer, he looked good. Trevoh Chalobah was not in the squad, having just joined up as the injury replacement for Tino Livramento. Former Chelsea prospect Marc Guéhi did make a late cameo off the bench.
Next up for England will be Ghana, then Panama. Onwards!
Unlike England’s, Portugal’s World Cup campaign did not get off to a flyer. Well, it did get off to a flyer, but then it got grounded quite quickly and never found its wings in the 1-1 draw against DR Congo.
It was Pedro Neto who delivered a good cross from the left in the sixth minute that João Neves converted with an excellent header at the near post, but Portugal never really came close to scoring again, and they did, Cristiano Ronaldo kept missing. DR Congo in fact ended up with more shots and a higher xG, despite Portugal having a massive 75-25 edge in possession.
Neto would end up playing a little over 70 minutes. Renato Veiga played the full-90 at center back while João Félix was an unused substitute in yet another situation where his team sure could’ve used a goal.
