DHAKA: Two days of four matches of pre-quarter final matches have already witnessed enough drama, heartbreaks, controversies and tensions.
The elite groups of 16 are now reduced to 12. In another two days it will further come down to 8 and quarter final line ups will be completed.
We Bangladeshis are so emotional that in general we feel for the losers. Any team going down after fighting attracts our attention. On the first day host and hexa mission dream merchants Brazil survived by the skin of the teeth against red hot Chile. Colombia off course bamboozled Uruguay.
The South American representation became two less. Brazil and Colombia entered the VIP lounge from IP. The second day produced two spectacular matches. One of the inform team Netherland was on the age till the last few minutes of the match against a very spirited Mexico. Two goals in the last few minutes buried their dreams of going beyond the group of 16 for the first time in their history.
The lucky Orange group from the land of Tulip won through a penalty in the injury added time of the match. The other match could be the return on Greek Mythology. They were up against the surprise team of the Tournament Costa Rica. Playing with a man less for over 53 minutes they managed to keep surging Greek Warriors at bay.
In the penalty shootout Costa Rica survived continuing its fairy tale. They will now play Netherlands in the quarter finals.
All eyes will now be focused on final as teams are dropping out progressively after every match. Knock outs are virtual finals as team loosing have to pack their kit and return home.
Three of the previous champions have already gone home, Spain and Italy in the first round and Uruguay from the group of sixteen. Brazil has survived the scar of Chile. Two teams France and Germany will appear today and will have seriously tested by African challengers.
In the 19 previous World Cups the role of honor was the following. Eight different teams won the trophy of them 3 were from South America and five from Europe.
Brasil 5 (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
Italy 4 (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)
Germany 3 (1954 and 1974 as West Germany, 1990 as one Germany)
Argentina 2 (1978, 1986)
Uruguay 2 (1930 first ever 1950)
England 1 (1966)
France 1 (1998) &
Spain (2010)
Tonight at Bangladesh standard time 10:00pm France will be up against Flying Eagles and next morning at 2:00am Germany will confront Algerian challenge. The might of Europe against the wealth of Africa. This write up- will preview the match to be played tonight.
France vs Nigeria Match:
Estádio Nacional de Brasilia, Brasília
France is one of the inform team of the tournament. They are in a mission to erase the bitter memory of 2010 world cup as a one off bad dream. Les Tricolores breathed a sigh of relief after the draw of world cup being in Group E with Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras.
As expected with two wins and a draw with Ecuador they topped the group with 7 points. They blazed and burnt their European neighbor with a 5-2 battering. The boss one of the world Cup veteran Didier Deschamps made few remarkable changes in the side bringing in Mamdou Sakho and Raphael Varane in the heart of the defence, midfielder Youhan Cabaye, winger Mathieu Valbuena and striker Karim Benzama.
The depth and adaptability that France team possesses can be matched by only few teams in the tournament. Phillippe Mexes and Adil Rami worked well with Sakho and Varane. Barcary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny have great understanding. Patrice Evara also proved almost impregnable. UEFFA Golden boy winner Paul Pogba added diversity to the team.
But French mission got a setback with star striker Franck Ribery getting injury days before their world cup mission. However, maturing Benzama, Oliver Giroud and Loic Remmy have so far did not make France feel the absence of start performer Ribery. Yohan Cabaye would return to the France midfield after missing the 0-0 draw with Ecuador through suspension.
France will require be tightening the defence and move cautiously into attack or otherwise the fast moving quality Nigerian forwards will punish them. France defence looked very compact in three matches.
They only conceded 2 goals and that too against Switzerland when they went to all-out attack. France with this time appeared 15 times out of 20 in the world cup and won it in 1998.
Nigeria always promises big but could not do justice to their talent in the big stage. In 1998 Atlanta Olympics Nigeria won the Gold Medal. Since then, they bubbled under, threatening and promising something else on the way but not delivering. In four world cup appearance Nigeria advanced from group stage to knock out round twice but could not go beyond.
This time finishing second to tournament favorites Argentina they are up against one of the inform team France .They beat debutant but impressive Bosnia and drew with ultra-defensive Iran.
Flying eagles stretched Argentina to its limit in their 2-3 defeat when Musa matched Messi’s spectacular pair of goals with two of his own. They have very strong midfield and good aggressive front like. Fleet footed Moses, Emenike and Odemwingle can find space in the thickest of defence and can deliver from long range as well.
Argentina really struggled to contain quick flying eagles dared to land on their territory. Nigeria's Victor Moses had been the main injury concern the Chelsea winger trained on Saturday. Only midfielder Michael Babatunde is missing with a broken wrist.
It will be a very fast and lively match and can be anybody’s game. Nigeria will fight to their level best but France is well drilled and very organized side to get rattled. We predict a 3-2 win of France.
BDST: 1049 HRS, JUN 30, 2014
