Football Extra: England survive almighty scare – but their next challenge will be even tougher
This World Cup just keeps on delivering classic matches.
The knockout phase always changes the tempo but it has been a joy to see the likes of Japan, DR Congo and Paraguay pushing the more established football nations to the brink – and sometimes beyond.
England beat a courageous DR Congo in the end, despite the heroics of goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi, who was outstanding.
It was a brilliant game that had everything: the drama of a lively underdog going ahead and almost going two up – what if Yoane Wissa had not hit the post from close range? – multiple chances for Jude Bellingham and the penalty not awarded to Harry Kane.
The referee not even going over to check the replay of that controversial incident was weird. Inexplicable, even.
Having been in Harry’s precise position many times I know exactly what happened. He obviously taps the ball beyond the goalie, then leaves his legs in a position to take the hit. He doesn’t try to run on. He is looking for and waiting for the contact, but he still isn’t actively initiating it.
In that situation I would give the penalty, but if Harry had deliberately moved his legs toward the keeper, then I would have been with the referee and played on.
It didn’t matter in the end. Kane scored two fine goals and justice was done.
Without being sparkling, Tuchel’s men had enough fizz about them and deserved it. Now they go to Mexico, with the heat and altitude – and being the away team.
If they thought DR Congo was a tough one, I suspect they ain’t seen nothing yet! I’m almost certain of another classic to come.
Ground zero for the World Cup contagion
In the later kick-off, Belgium and Senegal tried to produce a more lacklustre knockout game – and then failed miserably by becoming seriously exciting at the end.
Out of nowhere, the Europeans fought back from the brink with just five minutes left, scoring two to draw level before winning it with a penalty in the final second of extra time. Even the game that promised to be the least interesting became riveting.
After that I popped out to a New Jersey bar with my 5Live colleagues Alistair Bruce-Ball and John Southall to sample the passion of the Americans watching their team battle against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
To be fair Buddy’s bar got quite animated when Folarin Balogun scored. Our waitress, Charlie, momentarily dropped her delicious too-cool-for-school schtick to smile beatifically at the patrons.
The atmosphere was happy if not euphoric. But if the USA keep on winning, even with 10 men, this country could well get hooked on this soccer thing.
I will admit to willing them on and with co-hosts Canada and Mexico still in the fight, it feels good over on this side of the pond. Though to be honest I bet it feels much more exciting in football-mad Mexico City.
A royal variety show
Football has a habit of surprising you. Just when you thought you had a handle on the styles and trends that the game is following, off it veers in a totally different direction.
European football had become increasingly smitten by what I would call the Barcelona bug. You know the sort of thing, different versions of tika-taka, ‘keepers over-playing it out from the back and being relied on to be exceptional footballers – which they rarely are.
Pep Guardiola’s practices had taken on the ideas of Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels ideas and run with them. Well, passed them forward intricately, maybe.
La Liga, the Premier League and the Bundesliga all fell under the spell of this cerebral style and I suspected we would see it slavishly copied in this World Cup, but it turns out it isn’t adored everywhere. There are cultures out there that still practice other ways of beating people.
Watching Paraguay was a trip into the past with their old school 4-4-2. They showed some tough tackling straight out of the 1970s, hard but not vicious most of the time. They play with a passion that seems missing with some of the European football aristocrats.
The Germans for their part went down the route of POMO – the position of maximum opportunity. This technique would have had Pep Guardiola apoplectic. This lumping the ball into the box for the big guys to attack is the antithesis of Pep’s plans, but Kai Havertz scored with a header and many would argue Jonathan Tah should have won it for them with the same ploy.
The Mexicans and Columbians are different again, but then so are the French. Fortunately Kylian Mbappe and Co seem to be looking more to the current Paris St-Germain style which is a delight to watch, rather than the now-tired looking gang of Guardiola wannabees.
The World Cup was initially supposed to be a battle of different cultures and styles but there was in danger of it becoming homogenised. I reckon that danger has passed with this World Cup and I am delighted about that.
Changing of the guard?
I haven’t been brave enough to say it more than once on commentary for the BBC commentaries, but I have been thinking it – and I bet many of you have: is this the year the big guns’ domination of the World Cup is finally broken?
Germany and the Netherlands have gone, Brazil hung on by a thread against Japan. Could there finally be a path that the outsiders might be able to navigate?
France still seem the likely winners but would you really be surprised after what has happened if say, England lost to Mexico, or Brazil lost to Norway?
This one could get weird and because there are so many knockout games and the gap is shrinking, you just never know now…
Keeping out of the limelight
Harry Kane is rightly now in the race for the Golden Boot at this World Cup. The superstars are all jostling for position. Will it be Harry, Lionel, Erling, Kylian, Vinicius or Ousmane?
This question may dominate much of the rest of the tournament and I am as interested as anyone in the outcome. For the moment however I would like to shine a light down the other end of the field.
The ‘keeper who has the most clean sheets will be rightly praised at the end of the tournament, but some of these men between the sticks have to do a lot more than others.
Mike Maignon looked like he could have had a little snooze during parts of France’s last match against Sweden. He has had a couple of clean sheets already, but is that better than the insane performance by Cape Verde’s 40-year-old Vozinha stopper against Spain? He had much more ordnance coming his way but he dealt with it all.
I also think Paraguay’s keeper Orlando Gill ran him close, maybe surpassed him, with his display against Germany earlier in the week. It was a stunning once-in-a-lifetime performance that came from way out of left-field. He wasn’t even first choice a few weeks back!
I do also feel sorry for DR Congo’s Lionel Mpasi. His astonishing run of saves to deny Kane, Bellingham and Rashford will have already been forgotten by many because they narrowly lost and the narrative has moved on.
Kane has the headlines and Mpasi is heading home but this is harsh on what was a breathtaking performance for most of the game.
I should be brave however and finally say who I think will be top scorer.
Actually, I seem to have run out of space on the page, so I’ll get back to you on that one…
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