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Netherlands will be bidding to make it two wins from their opening two matches at the 2022 World Cup when they take on Ecuador at Khalifa International Stadium on Friday.

Louis van Gaal’s side recorded a 2-0 victory over Senegal on Monday, while Ecuador were also 2-0 winners in their Group A opener, beating the tournament hosts Qatar on Sunday.

Match preview

Netherlands had to be patient against Senegal on Monday, as it did appear that the points were going to be shared in their opening match, with the two teams level at 0-0 heading towards the final whistle.

Cody Gakpo sent Holland ahead in the 84th minute of the contest, though, before Davy Klaassen secured the points in the ninth minute of added time at the end of the 90, with Van Gaal’s side making the perfect start to their Group A campaign.

Netherlands will face Ecuador on Friday before rounding off their group stage against the hosts Qatar next Tuesday, and it will be fascinating to see what this group of players can achieve in the tournament, as Holland have impressed in their last two World Cups.

The national team, who have never won the World Cup, were absent from the finals back in 2018, but they reached the final of the 2010 competition before finishing third in 2014.

Should Van Gaal’s side manage to win Group A, they would take on the runner-up from Group B in the last-16 stage of the competition, which could be England, Wales, the USA or Iran.

Netherlands will not be looking too far ahead at this stage, though, especially ahead of a contest with a talented Ecuador outfit, who proved to be too strong for the hosts in the opening match on Sunday.

Enner Valencia scored both goals against Qatar, with the former West Ham United forward netting from the penalty spot in the 16th minute before making it 2-0 in the 31st minute.

Ecuador now have their toughest two games in the section, facing Netherlands on Friday before taking on Senegal next Tuesday, and the latter will be desperate to bounce back from their loss to Holland.

La Tricolor did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but they were present at the 2014 competition, being eliminated in the group stage, while their best-ever performance came in 2006, with the tournament seeing them advance to the last-16 stage before losing to England.

There had been some doubt over Ecuador’s spot in Qatar, with Chile and Peru lodging appeals due to the involvement of Byron Castillo during the qualification fixtures, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed with FIFA in saying that the 23-year-old was able to represent the national side.

Ecuador secured their spot in the finals by finishing fourth in their South American qualification campaign, picking up 26 points from 18 matches.

La Tri only lost one of their last seven matches in the qualification phase, with the run including 1-1 draws with Brazil and Argentina, which is an indication of their credentials, and they will certainly be confident of putting another victory on the board in this match.

Team News

Memphis Depay was not deemed fit enough to start for the Netherlands against Senegal due to his injury problems for Barcelona this season, but he played the final 30 minutes of the contest.

The attacker, who has 42 goals at international level, could now come in for a start here, replacing Vincent Janssen, with Gakpo and Steven Bergwijn also set to feature in the final third of the field.

There are unlikely to be any changes elsewhere, with a 3-5-2 formation set to include Frenkie de Jong and Steven Berghuis in midfield, and Denzel Dumfries and Daley Blind in the full-back areas.

Marten de Roon was an injury doubt ahead of the contest with Senegal, but the midfielder also featured off the bench last time out, and he is again expected to receive minutes at some stage of the contest.

As for Ecuador, Valencia suffered an injury to his knee during the clash with Qatar, but the 33-year-old is expected to be available to start this match.

Valencia is the national team’s all-time leading goalscorer with 37, while he now has five strikes at World Cups, so the medical team will be working to ensure that he is able to feature here.

Head coach Alfaro could make just the one change from the side that started against Qatar, with Jeremy Sarmiento potentially being introduced for Michael Estrada in what would be a change of shape.

Robert Arboleda is pushing for a spot at the back, though, and the 31-year-old will come into the manager’s thinking ahead of kickoff on Friday.

Netherlands possible starting lineup:
Noppert; De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ake; Dumfries, F de Jong, Berghuis, Blind; Gakpo; Memphis, Bergwijn

Ecuador possible starting lineup:
Galindez; Preciado, Torres, Hincapie, Estupinan; Plata, Caicedo, Mendez, Ibarra; Sarmiento; Valencia

Wales and Iran head into their Group B fixture at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Friday aware that victory could take them a pivotal step towards qualification for the World Cup knockout stages.

After Iran had lost 6-2 to England on Monday, Wales came from behind to earn a deserved share of the spoils against USA later in the day.

Match preview

After England had thrashed Iran, Wales and USA went into their respective game in Al Rayyan knowing that they could ill-afford defeat, and a 1-1 draw would have been the most popular prediction pre-match.

Nevertheless, neither side particularly played in a manner where they were settling for a point, and Wales were fortunate to still be in the contest come the half-time whistle.

In the second half, it was a different story, the Dragons squandering a number of openings before Gareth Bale scored his first-ever World Cup goal from the penalty spot.

While Wales’ star man was below his influential best, his confident effort from 12 yards has put Wales in a position where their fate will be in their own hands if they can defeat Iran.

However, despite the draw being regarded as a point gained in the grand scheme of things, Robert Page’s side are now winless in six outings and have only prevailed once in nine matches.

Iran’s Mehdi Taremi celebrates scoring their first goal with Mehdi Torabi on November 21, 2022© Reuters

Form counted for little as Iran were thoroughly outclassed by England, Carlos Queiroz’s side looking a shadow of the team that had previously collected a win and a draw from Uruguay and Senegal in September.

To Team Melli’s credit, they never gave up and scored two consolation goals in the final quarter, the second coming from an extremely debatable penalty decision based on the threshold which had been used previously in the match.

Mehdi Taremi’s double highlighted his threat in the attack, and a substitute outing from Sardar Azmoun after injury will only encourage Iran ahead of this contest.

Despite the presence of the aforementioned duo, Iran have not netted more than twice in a game in nine attempts, something which is ideally required as they look to reduce their negative difference.

Team News

Page has a number of selection dilemmas ahead of this encounter, including whether to include Kieffer Moore from the start after his impact against USA.

Although Daniel James would be favourite to drop out, Page may want to manage fitness levels, with Harry Wilson also in contention to drop to the substitutes’ bench.

Ethan Ampadu’s ankle knock will be monitored, with Joe Morrell on standby to deputise, while Joe Allen is back in contention after not featuring since September due to injury.

Iran will be forced into a change between the sticks due to concussion protocols after Alireza Beiranvand’s head injury against England.

Hossein Hosseini is in line to take his place, and Queiroz has a decision to make over whether to start Azmoun from the opening whistle.

Although three changes were made at the break on Monday, Queiroz may favour familiarity, although Ali Gholizadeh will hope for a start after supplying the assist for Taremi’s first goal.

Wales possible starting lineup:
Hennessey; Mepham, Rodon, Davies; Roberts, Ramsey, Ampadu, Williams; James, Bale; Moore

Iran possible starting lineup:
H. Hosseini; Moharrami, Pouraliganji, Cheshmi, M. Hosseini, Mohammadi; Jahanbakhsh, Noorollahi, Karimi, Gholizadeh; Taremi

Premier League legend Alan Shearer disagrees with the penalty awarded to Portugal in Thursday’s 2022 World Cup match against Ghana.

The contentious decision aided the former European champions’ 3-2 victory over the Black Stars at Stadium 974.

Portugal dominated possession but had nothing to show for it until Mohammed Salisu was adjudged to have fouled Ronaldo in the box in the 63rd minute.

Although replays showed that Salisu got to the ball first and did not trip Ronaldo, American referee Ismail Elfath insisted without consulting the VAR monitor.

Ronaldo converted the penalty, and after that, both sides scored two goals apiece as Portugal got off to a winning start, leaving Ghana in a difficult position to advance to the knockout stages.

The decision elicited several reactions, including Shearer, who tweeted “No” in response to a BBC Sport question about whether the decision was correct.

World Cup hosts Qatar face Senegal in a crucial Group A match at the Al Thumama Stadium on Friday.

Both nations are playing catch-up following opening day defeats at the finals.

Match preview

Qatar let themselves down massively in their clash with Ecuador on Sunday which kicked off the tournament, falling to a 2-0 loss to the South American side.

Getting thoroughly outplayed by CONMEBOL’s weakest qualified side gave a true indication of their stature on the global stage, but luckily for them, they still have time to prove people’s perceptions wrong.

However, the facts will say that Qatar are the first host nation in World Cup history to lose their opening fixture.

Not only that, the Maroons are also the first hosts not to have shot on target in a match at the finals since the USA failed to do so in their last 16 defeat to Brazil in 1994.

Manager Felix Sanchez claimed his side were “nervous”, and their performance did represent the look of a side who froze on the big occasion.

The fact that they were seemingly incapable of doing the basics such as passing and pressing suggests it was some sort of mentality issue, because this was a side that won the Asian Cup in 2019.

They were top scorers in that competition and repeated the feat at the 2021 Gold Cup which they were invited to take part in, but attacking duo Almoez Ali and Akram Afif were bystanders in the game with Ecuador.

Another poor defeat here will only enhance the arguments against them being hosts in a footballing sense, as they have yet to show themselves as worthy of competing at this level.

Meanwhile, while suffering the same fate as the hosts, Senegal had a lot to be impressed with in their performance against the Netherlands on Monday.

Their build up play in attack was easy on the eye and, for the most part, they were solid defensively.

However, two huge errors from Edouard Mendy cost the Lions of Teranga heavily as they also fell to a 2-0 defeat.

Cody Gakpo’s 84th-minute header for the opening goal was the first shot on target the Dutch had in the match, which again illustrates how well Senegal did to stifle them for much of the game.

A first clean sheet in nine World Cup finals matches looks more likely for Senegal here though, given the opposition they will be facing.

Their defensive record in Africa has been impressive, as they conceded just twice on their way to Africa Cup of Nations glory at the start of the year and let in just three in six games afterwards before this tournament.

However, to claim a vital three points, they will need to find a clinical edge, and not having Sadio Mane poses a huge dilemma for Aliou Cisse’s side.

Even when Mane was fit, Cisse struggled to settle on a regular starting striker, as their top scorer from qualifying, Famara Diedhiou, has had injury troubles this year.

Team News

Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb looked very ropey in the match with Ecuador, and both back-up keepers have featured in pre-tournament friendlies.

If Sanchez opts to make a change, then Meshaal Barsham is the obvious choice given he saved the deciding penalty in their Arab Cup final victory over Egypt in 2021, and is seen as less erratic.

Al Sheeb was one of four players booked on Sunday, so they all run the risk of suspension in the final game against the Dutch, with striking pair Ali and Afif as well as Karim Boudiaf also on a yellow card.

Captain Hassan Al Haydos is set to earn his 171st cap for Qatar here in midfield as one of five centurions expected to start.

Senegal have revealed that Abdou Diallo is fine to return to training immediately despite going off with muscle cramps against Holland.

That will be a relief as Diallo has filled in as a makeshift left-back given the injury to Fode Ballo-Toure in the lead up to the finals.

However, Cheikhou Kouyate is not as fortunate, as the Nottingham Forest midfielder was stretched off with a muscle problem of his own and will miss this fixture.

It is rumoured that Edouard Mendy could be dropped after his horror show on Monday, with Queens Park Rangers’ Seny Dieng waiting in the wings to take his place.

Qatar possible starting lineup:
Barsham; Pedro Miguel, Khoukhi, Salman, A Hassan, Ahmed; Al Haydos, Boudiaf, Hatem; Ali, Afif

Senegal possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Sabaly, Koulibaly, Cisse, Diallo; I Gueye, N Mendy; Ndiaye, I Sarr, Diatta, Dia

Experienced English Premier League referee Mike Dean has slammed American referee Ismail Elfath for awarding Portugal a penalty in their 3-2 win over Ghana in the Group H opening game at the FIFA World Cup.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the opening goal from the penalty spot, hammering in after the referee awarded a highly contentious penalty for Portugal after an apparent dive from the former Manchester United forward following a close incident with Mohammed Salisu.

The American referee immediately pointed to the spot resisting all attempts to have a second look at the incident on the video assistant referee despite protestation from the Ghanaian players.

Speaking as a referee expert on Bein Sports, the English Premier League referee was mystified as to why the VAR did not call the American center referee for an on-pitch review describing it as ‘scary’.

“The defender clearly plays the ball. Ronaldo then touches the back of the defender, goes down, instigated contact.

“It’s not the referee’s fault – he’s given the decision on the field of play. The VAR, in my opinion, should have got involved and invited the referee over to have a look at it.”

He added: “It’s scary, I have to say. I’m just astounded. I like to back referees all the time but you can’t support stuff like that. You can’t defend the indefensible.

“It should have been overturned. He should have gone to the screen, he should have looked at it.
“There may have been some technical glitch that we don’t know about. I just can’t understand why he wasn’t sent to the screen.

“One hundred percent it’s wrong.”

Captain Ronaldo had a couple of chances early on but a low shot was saved by Lawrence Ati-Zigi and he also headed wide at the far post.

The forward had a goal disallowed for a push on Alexander Djiku while at the other end, Ghana did not have a single shot in the opening period.

The Black Stars improved in the second half as Mohammed Kudus’ shot went wide of the post after a decent build up from midfield.

Ghana captain Andre Ayew equalised from close range as he tapped in a cross from Baba Abdul Rahman after the Portugal defence failed to deal with it.

Few minutes later, Portugal responded with two goals in two minutes to close the contest as Joao Felix converted a delightfully clipped finish and substitute Rafael Leao coolly stroking in just seconds after coming on.

With the heading to an end, Osman Bukhari headed in a late consolation for the lack Stars and there could have been real drama in the ninth minute of stoppage time as Inaki Williams intercepted a ball from Diogo Costa but the Athletic Bilbao forward slipped at the crucial moment and a feeble shot was cleared off the line.

The win means Portugal top Group H with 3 points after Uruguay and South Korea played out a goalless draw early on.

Ghana will play South Korea on Monday, November 28, while Portugal takes on Uruguay in the other Group H match.

The Spurs striker broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute, showcasing his poacher qualities by stabbing home after Vanja Milinkovic-Savic could only parry Vinicius Jr’s effort into his path.

Richarlison notched his second in the 73rd minute with a goal that epitomised the flair of Brazilian football. Vinicius laid on outrageous outside of the boot assist from the left and the Selecao’s No.9 controlled the ball superbly.

With the ball spinning up in the air, he produced the most outrageous acrobatic effort that flew past Milinkovic-Savic and grew collective gasps inside the Lusail Stadium.

The ex Everton man is surely leading the race for the 2022 World Cup’s best goal. However, he was not able to get his hat-trick after manager Tite elected to replace him for Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus.

Black Stars coach Otto Addo has bemoaned the controversial penalty decision awarded by American referee Ismail Elfath to Portugal in their World Cup group game.

He said the penalty wasn’t only dubious, but it looked like a gift the referee gave to Portuguese star Cristian Ronaldo.

Speaking to the press after Ghana’s painful loss to the Europeans, Otto said: “It was really a wrong decision (on the penalty). We played the ball. I don’t know why VAR didn’t come up. There is no explanation for me.”

Addo continued: “I don’t know whether they were not paying attention, or whether the VAR was not paying attention… I tried and asked some people from FIFA if I could speak to the referee in a calm and quiet way (for explanation). They said he was in a meeting and not possible.”

Former England striker, Darren Bent has reacted to the penalty incident in the Ghana versus Portugal clash in the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Thursday evening.

According to him, Portugal should have never been awarded a penalty kick.

The Ghana national team today locked horns with the Portuguese opponent to fight for points in Group H.

Before the game kicked off at 16:00GMT, the first Group H game between South Korea and Uruguay had ended in a goalless stalemate.

As a result, the winner of the Ghana v Portugal game was destined to go top of the Group H standings.

Although both national teams will play well in the first half, neither side could score and went into the break on level pegging.

After recess, as many as five goals were scored with Portugal getting the better of Ghana.

The 2016 European Champions took the lead in the 65th minute when poster boy Cristiano Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot.

Reacting to that penalty incident, Darren Bent posted on Twitter, “Never a pen.”

Ghana must now prepare well to win the next match against South Korea on Monday, November 28.