Morning.
A quick Sunday round-up for you. It was not a good evening (although it was afternoon there) for Viktor Gyokeres and Sweden. The Arsenal man had an early chance and a couple of decent first half moments, but at the other end the defending was all over the place and two goals from Brian Brobbey put them 2-0 down inside 17 minutes.
The Netherlands were well on top until we got the FIFA mandated ad-break, after which the momentum of the game completely changed. Unfortunately for Sweden, they couldn’t make a first half break through, conceded two more in the second half with the defending questionable again, and although Anthony Elanga got one back with half an hour to go, it was barely a consolation. Cryscencio Summerville wrapped up the scoring for the Dutch to make it 5-1.
Sweden play Japan next, who demolished Tunisia 4-0 last night, with former Gunner Takehiro Tomiyasu starting that game. There was also Arsenal interest when Kai Havertz and Germany took on Ivory Coast. He had a goal disallowed in the first half, but it was fellow striker Deniz Undav who made his mark, first with an equaliser just a few minutes after coming on, then with an injury time winner to ensure Germany’s qualification for the knock-out stages.
But the big story overnight is Curucao holding Ecuador to a 0-0 draw in Kansas City, in no small part thanks to their goalkeeper Eloy Room. The 37 year old made a record breaking 15 saves in the game (Tim Howard once made 16 but that game had extra time), and if we thought their goal against Germany was a beautiful moment for them, then this is something else entirely. Ecuador had 27 attempts on goal but just could not find a way through.
Having ended up on the end of a 7-1 thrashing against Germany, this was a hell of a way to respond. Dick Advocaat, head coach of Curacao, said:
“I’m so proud. We have come from nothing and they fought like lions. It will be a big party on the island tonight and they deserve it.”
So, the ball is in Cape Verde’s court now. They just have to go and beat Uruguay later and the story of the underdogs and the goalkeepers of a certain age will continue. You’d love to see it (unless you’re Uruguayan, of course). There’s Arsenal interest later with Leandro Trossard’s Belgium taking on Iran, as well as our Spanish lads in action as they look to respond to their disappointment against Cape Verde when they face Saudi Arabia.
Speaking of the Arsenal contingent there, David Raya spoke to Sid Lowe about his place in the Spanish squad, as well as how much losing the Champions League final hurt:
“The thing is that when you lose a Champions League final, when you get there for the first time in 20 years and then you lose on penalties, it destroys you inside. I left there with my head held high because of the work we had done all year but I was broken inside because we were so, so, so, so close … “
He talks well about that, and the pecking order at international level, but it must be difficult to be the best goalkeeper in the Premier League for the last few years and to sit on the bench for a World Cup. That’s how football challenges you, I suppose. The final game overnight is New Zealand against Egypt.
Right, I’m gonna leave it there. The sun is shining here in Dublin, a modicum of summer has arrived so I’m gonna sit in the back garden, read a book, fire up the Weber and cook some food this afternoon. Whatever you do, I hope you have a great Sunday.
Till tomorrow.
