FootyDream

Ecuador’s “Superman” captain Enner Valencia led a feisty fightback on Friday as the South Americans drew 1-1 with the Netherlands in Group A to keep both teams in the running for the last 16 while ending hosts Qatar’s chances of qualifying.

Valencia, 33, tapped in his third goal of the tournament from a rebound in the second half after Cody Gakpo had put the Dutch ahead in the sixth minute with a sizzling shot in a result that advanced both sides to four points.

Qatar lost their second successive game at their debut World Cup earlier on Friday to Senegal and are eliminated. The African champions are third in the group with Ecuador to come in Tuesday’s final group games.

Ecuador had a subdued first half as Louis van Gaal’s side looked comfortable but unhurried. But the South Americans, roared on by a large yellow-clad contingent at the Khalifa International Stadium, stepped up a gear in the second half and could have won it when Gonzalo Plata’s strike hit the crossbar.

Plato thrashed a powerful shot onto the woodwork in the 59th minute as the South Americans went from strength to strength, consistently hustling the Dutch off the ball by applying a physically-demanding press that did not allow their opponents to play their usual flowing game.

“They had a few biters, guys who are hot on your heels. Then you have to act quickly, and (we) could have dealt with that better. We should have done better in possession of the ball,” said Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk.

It had started out most promising for the Dutch, looking for their second win of the tournament that would have ensured they were the first team to qualify for the knockout stages, when Gakpo scored.

A stray ball back to his defence by Moises Caicedo was stolen by Davy Klaassen, who then left Gakpo to take over possession and slam a left-footed rocket into the net.

But that was as good as it got for Louis van Gaal’s side. Valencia’s clever pass in the 24th minute sent Caicedo away down the left and, although his touch was heavy and allowed the Dutch to intercept, it provoked a burst of noise from the large number of their fans that injected energy into the Ecuador players.

PRESSURE

Valencia cut inside to fire a shot that forced a full stretch save out of Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert soon after the half hour mark and, as they kept up the pressure, Ecuador had the ball in the back of the net in first half stoppage time as Pervis Estupinan deflected the ball home.

However, it was ruled out because Jackson Porozo was both offside and standing in front of the goalkeeper and blocking his line of sight.

The equaliser four minutes into the second half was always on the cards, as Ecuador stole possession in midfield and fed Estupinan for a stinging shot on the left that Noppert did well to parry but with Valencia pouncing on the rebound.

The 33-year-old, who went off near the end of the game, has now netted Ecuador’s last six World Cup finals goals – three at the 2014 tournament in Brazil and three in Qatar.

©Reuters

Mohammed Muntari has made history by becoming the first player to score for Qatar at the World Cup.

The Ghanaian-born forward scored the consolation goal for Qatar in their game against African champions Senegal.

Muntari gave the World Cup hosts some hope after scoring in the 78th minute, but an 84th-minute strike from Bamba Dieng took the game beyond Qatar.

Boulaye Dia and Famara Diedhiou scored either side of halftime to give Senegal a comfortable lead.

Muntari grew up in Kumasi before he was scouted by the Aspire Academy at a young age. He moved to Qatar before deciding to switch allegiance to play for the Asian country.

Senegal has become the first African team to win a game at the World Cup after defeating the Gulf nation.

The West African nation will round up their group with a game against Ecuador on Tuesday.

Not many had predicted Saudi Arabia to top Group C after the first round of matches, but KSA produced an absolute shocker in their opening match. The Saudi Arabian team notched up one of the biggest upsets in Football on Tuesday. They defeated Argentina by 2-1 in their opening game of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Lionel Messi scored the first goal of the match from the penalty spot after ten minutes into the match. Saudi Arabia scored twice in a gap of ten minutes at the start of the second half. They held on to their lead brilliantly for the remaining 40 minutes to cause a huge upset. Saudi Arabia had 2 shots on target throughout the match and both went inside the nets whereas Argentina had 6 shots on target and none ended up on the goal.

Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari were the goal scorers for Saudi Arabia. Prince Mohammed’s brother Prince Saud posted pictures on Instagram after the victory. The picture showed the crown prince prostrating in thanks to God in a room after the match.

Public Holiday

For their performance in the game, Saudi Arabian King Salman declared a public holiday in the country on Wednesday and now the King has decided to reward FIFA World Cup-bound players of the Saudi Arabia team with a Rolls-Royce Phantom each.

This will not be the first time that the Saudi King will reward football players with such a big award. Back in 1994, its forward player Saeed Al-Owairan also received a Rolls Royce as a reward.

For their splendid performance against Argentina, KSA is currently placed at the top of Group C. Saudi Arabia will next step into the ground tomorrow as they take on Poland who played a draw in their opening game against Mexico. If Saudi Arabia went on to win this match, they will be almost get qualified for the round of 16.

World Cup hosts Qatar are staring down the barrel of an early exit from the tournament after suffering a 3-1 defeat to Senegal.

Beaten 2-0 by Ecuador in their opening Group A match, a late push on Friday at Al Thumama Stadium was not enough for Qatar to claim a much-needed result.

With Boulaye Dia and Famara Diedhiou having put Senegal in control, Qatar had hope when Mohammed Muntari scored their first World Cup goal.

However, it was too little too late for the hosts, with substitute Bamba Dieng rounding off Senegal’s victory six minutes from time.

After a bright start from Senegal, the lively Qatar fans gathered behind Edouard Mendy’s goal were furious in the 34th minute, when Akram Afif was bundled over by Ismaila Sarr, but referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz waved away the seemingly valid penalty appeals.

Yet just as they had grown into the game, Qatar were made to pay for Boualem Khoukhi’s calamitous error, with his failed clearance falling to Dia, who made no mistake with a composed finish.

Qatar’s hopes were dealt a further blow three minutes into the second half – Diedhiou turning in Ismail Jakobs’ inswinging corner.

Senegal had Mendy to thank for two excellent stops as Qatar searched for a goal back, the Chelsea goalkeeper brilliantly denying Almoez Ali and Ismaeel Mohammad.

Muntari’s superb header four minutes after coming on set up a grandstand finish, yet Dieng swept home to strike the decisive blow and leave Qatar on the brink.

What does it mean? Little hope for hosts

Qatar won the Asian Cup in 2019, and given they had three more years to build ahead of this tournament, they would have been hoping to put on a show on home turf.

Yet for all their endeavour, the hosts have so far lacked the quality required.

Defeat leaves Qatar on the verge of an exit. They will be out should Ecuador and the Netherlands draw in Friday’s other Group A game, or if the Oranje win.

The only way Qatar can now progress is by hoping Louis van Gaal’s team slip up, and then go on to beat the Netherlands themselves in their final group match next week. Even that might not be enough.

Senegal find their shooting boots

Shorn of star forward Sadio Mane, Senegal and coach Aliou Cisse have had to rely on the back-up brigade in Qatar.

They stepped up and delivered on Friday, with Dia’s opener ending a run of 31 shots without a goal at the World Cup, a streak of 269 minutes.

Blunt Qatar pay the price

Ali’s shot, saved by Mendy, midway through the second half was Qatar’s first attempt on target of the tournament.

They ultimately finished with three efforts on target in this match, but the lack of composure in front of goal – and the shortage of creativity to get there on many occasions – was evident.

What’s next?

Qatar round off their group campaign against the Netherlands, and could already be out by the time that match starts on Tuesday, while Senegal face Ecuador.

Rouzbeh Cheshmi and Ramin Rezaeian both scored in stoppage time to secure Iran a famous 2-0 World Cup win over Wales and keep their hopes of reaching the last 16 alive in stunning fashion.

Wales, who had Wayne Hennessey sent off late on, had seemingly been on course to somehow avoid defeat, but two fine goals right at the end sparked bedlam among the Iran team and fans.

Iran opting to sing their national anthem after abstaining against England contributed to a charged atmosphere that brought an early flurry, including a disallowed Ali Gholizadeh goal.

That let-off and the fact Gholizadeh and Sardar Azmoun struck the post just after the break suggested luck was on Wales’ side.

But Hennessey’s red card for a wild challenge turned the tide, and Iran picked the Dragons off in ruthless and remarkable fashion.

A lively start saw Connor Roberts almost inspire an early Wales opener for Kieffer Moore with a brilliant cross, before seeing then his poor pass lead to Gholizadeh finishing off an intricate move.

Fortunately for Roberts the goal was disallowed for offside and the contest soon became cagey.

Iran finished the first half well and maintained that greater purpose at the start of the second, with Azmoun smashing against one post on the break and Gholizadeh curling against the other nine seconds later.

Wales became even less of a threat as Hennessey was given his marching orders in the 86th minute after racing out of his goal and catching Mehdi Taremi in the face with his knee.

Iran took full advantage when Cheshmi’s emphatic 20-yard strike into the bottom-right corner finally gave them the deserved breakthrough and Wales were finished off on the break.

Taremi charged forward and coolly picked out the run of Rezaeian, whose delicate finish over Danny Ward ended Wales’ hopes of a turnaround.

Off the back of an emphatic victory in their opening 2022 World Cup fixture, England will endeavour to boost their hopes of securing top spot in Group B when they lock horns with USA at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on Friday evening.

The Three Lions began their campaign by hitting Iran for six on Monday, while the Stars and Stripes were forced to share the spoils with Wales in their opening clash.

Match preview

Following memorable highs of reaching the World Cup semi-finals four years ago and then the final of Euro 2020, optimism surrounding Gareth Southgate’s squad had dipped heading to Qatar after a disappointing winless UEFA Nations League campaign.

However, the nation’s hopes were boosted in emphatic style as the Three Lions roared to a 6-2 victory in their opening group game against Iran, their biggest-ever win in the first match of a major tournament.

Bukayo Saka scored either side of strikes from Jude Bellingham and Raheem Sterling in a dominant first-half showing, before substitutes Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish got their names on the scoresheet after the break.

Southgate took plenty of positives from his side’s performance in a contest which saw nearly half an hour of stoppage time across the two halves, but he was left “fed up” after Porto’s Mehdi Taremi netted two consolation goals for Iran. Indeed, the England boss has called for his players to improve their focus against a “full-throttle” USA outfit on Friday.

After claiming maximum points against Iran, England will look to win their opening two group matches at the World Cup for a fourth time when they face USA, having previously done so in 1982, 2006 and 2018. Their second fixture at the last World Cup saw Southgate and co cruise to a 6-1 victory against Panama, who missed out on a place in Qatar after finishing behind USA in CONCACAF qualifying.

England have won eight of their 11 meetings with USA across all competitions, scoring 39 goals in the process, and they will be keen to increase this tally to nine on Friday as they bid to move one step closer to the last 16.

After missing out on the 2018 World Cup, USA began their campaign in Qatar with a 1-1 draw against Wales on Monday, in a game they were leading until a certain Los Angeles FC star restored parity.

Timothy Weah initially fired the Stars and Stripes into a deserved lead nine minutes before the interval, but as Gregg Berhalter’s side lost their spark in the second half, Wales stepped up their efforts and had their talisman Gareth Bale to thank for netting a crucial 82nd-minute equaliser from the penalty spot, after Walker Zimmerman clumsily scythed down the LAFC forward inside the area.

Berhalter has since been criticised back in the States, but the 49-year-old – who briefly represented Crystal Palace in his playing days – believes his team “left everything out there” and remains hopeful of securing a place in the knockout rounds.

USA managed to progress from the group stage at their previous two World Cup finals, finishing second ahead of Portugal in 2014 before securing top spot ahead of England in 2010. Indeed, a memorable 1-1 draw in their last meeting against the Three Lions – which saw Robert Green fumble a Clint Dempsey strike – helped the Americans to finish above Fabio Capello’s men on goal difference.

The Stars and Stripes head into Friday’s contest unbeaten in their previous two World Cup meetings with England, including a shock 1-0 group-stage triumph back in 1950, and similar heroics will be required if they wish to come away with at least a point at the Al Bayt Stadium.

Team News

England have been boosted by the news that captain Harry Kane has not suffered a serious injury to his ankle following a scan on Wednesday – the 29-year-old has since trained with the first-team squad and is expected to retain his place up front.

Southgate could name the same starting lineup that began against Iran, with centre-back Harry Maguire – who has recovered from illness – set to keep his place in the back four alongside Kieran Trippier, John Stones and Luke Shaw.

Kyle Walker has declared himself fit to feature against USA and has taken part in training after recovering from groin surgery, but the Manchester City defender is not expected to start, with an appearance off the bench to build up match fitness more likely.

James Maddison is yet to return to training with the Three Lions due to a knee problem and the playmaker remains doubtful for Friday’s clash, with Bellingham, Declan Rice and Mason Mount all poised to start again in centre-midfield.

As for USA, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah came off with respective groin and toe problems in the draw with Wales, but the midfield duo should be fit to retain their places in the first XI alongside captain Tyler Adams.

Indeed, Adams is one of eight British-based players at club level in Berhalter’s squad, and the Leeds United man is set to start in front of a back four consisting of Fulham duo Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson, while Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner should keep his place between the sticks.

Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic is expected to continue in the front three alongside Timothy Weah and Norwich City’s Joshua Sargent, although Borussia Dortmund’s Giovanni Reyna will be hoping to force his way into the attack after watching on as an unused substitute last time out.

Leeds’ Brendan Aaronson and Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers were both named on the bench against Wales, with the former coming on in the second half, and both players are set to begin as substitutes again on Friday.

England possible starting lineup:
Pickford; Trippier, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Mount, Sterling; Kane

USA possible starting lineup:
Turner; Dest, Zimmerman, Ream, A. Robinson; McKennie, Adams, Musah; Weah, Sargent, Pulisic