HiveBuzz World Cup 2022 - Group C and Group D Discussion, France and Argentina Are Ready to Challenge Top 8
Yesterday I talked about the Group A and B, today our topic is group C and D. The situations are quite similar, which everyone's favorite Argentina and France manage to sit at the top of their group as predicted by many people. However their journey are not that smooth, they have their own problem in the group stage. Let's talk about that
THE GROUP C RESULT
| Rank | Team | Win | Draw | Lost | Points | Goals | Conceded | Goals Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
| 2 | Poland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | Mexico | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | (1) |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 1 | - | 2 | - | 3 | 5 | (2) |
Argentina comes as the group leader, leading with only a lost from their first disappointing match against Saudi Arabia. It's a sad thing to see Mexico fails to continue their World Cup 2022 journey due to a goal difference. Who ever thought that on 95min in that injury time, Saudi Arabia Salem Aldawsari's consolation goal ended Mexico World Cup 2022 saga.
My opinion about Argentina : They are one of this World Cup contenders so from their goal keepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards, all we can see are top notch talents. However for me, they are disappointing because with those talents they have, they are still very depended on Lionel Messi who has passed his prime.
My opinion about Poland : This is a one man team, everyone relies so much on Robert Lewandowski. Most of their plays are based on effective and efficient direct counter attacking. The good thing about him is that he is not after some personal record or glory such as Christiano Ronaldo, so our Robert guy has really been making a lot of goal scoring opportunities for the team.
THE GROUP D RESULT
| Rank | Team | Win | Draw | Lost | Points | Goals | Conceded | Goals Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | 2 | - | 1 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Australia | 2 | - | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | (1) |
| 3 | Tunisia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 4 | Denmark | - | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 3 | (2) |
France dominated this group from every aspect. They lost the last match however in that match they only put their reserve team against Tunisia. On the other side, Australia has been performing amazingly. They lost badly on their first match against France, after that somehow they became a whole different team and beat out Tunisia and Denmark confidently.
My opinion about France : Without Benzema, Pogba and Kante, France is still very strong and they have shown to the world how the World Cup contender should play. I believe this team will keep on going to the final, or maybe until they will meet other real contender who can stop their World Cup journey.
My opinion about Australia : This is one of a fairy tail in World Cup 2022, an underdog team with no stars at all manages to pass the group stage and now they are in top 16. Honestly I do not know any of their players, not like in the past when they had their golden generation of Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Tim Cahill and others. This time they have nobody but they play very solid.
THE MATCH #3 Argentina VS Australia
This is a funny match you know, one team carries the heavy weight of high expectation and the other one has nothing to lose. I think Argentina will win 3-1 or 3-2 on this match. Australia fairy tale will end here.
- The skill gap is too big. Argentina has not been playing convincingly however they have players such as Lautaro Martinez, Di Maria, and Lionel Messi who somehow when they turn on their beast mode, they are unstoppable. No matter how solid and discipline Australia Defense is, those Argentinian stars can somehow be unstoppable.
- Football Culture. For Argentina, football is their life. Meanwhile in Australia, people are not taking soccer as their mainstream sports. It's very unlikely a non football country can beat a footballing country in the knock out stage. Getting into knock out stage is already a big surprice for Socceroos.
MAN TO WATCH - LIONEL MESSI
This World Cup might be everything for him, and the last missing piece in his whole career as The Greatest of All Time. It's a sad thing that Lautaro Martinez who is one of the best striker in Seria A Italy is underperfoming in this World Cup. Initially Lautaro Martinez was one of the candidate for World Cup Top Goalscorer, and now he still has 0 goal scored.
How far can La Pulga carry Argentina on his back?
THE MATCH #4 France VS Poland
Poland has nothing to lose in this match, we can expect they will be performing their best however I think that would not be enough to defeat France. My prediction is 2-0 for France because France will manage to completely shutdown Robert Lewandowski.
- One Man Team Is Outdated Style. In past we might be able one superstar carries his team to the final. The best one man team I have personally seen are Gareth Bale - Wales and Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Sweden. People have learnt how to stop this kind of team, how to shut down that "ONE MAN". To put this worse, Robert Lewandowski was a very great player, but the problem is he WAS, not he is. None can fight AGING.
- Ambition. This is a match between a Team who wants to win the cup and a team who wants a great fun time in the tournament. In group stages, or in a league format this kind of ambition might not play great part... However in knockout stage, mentality is everything. Someone who wants to win so badly will come with more preparation than people who just looking for fun.
MAN TO WATCH - OLIVER GIROUD
Without any doubt, Kylian Mbappe is the most promosing talent in the France Team. Most people will go for Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann, however I have firm decision that Oliver Giroud is the one whom we should watch.
Olivier Jonathan Giroud currently plays for AC Milan. He is 36 years old and some even questioning whether he still fits to play on highest league or World Cup. He has passed his prime, now a bit declined however I think without Karim Benzema, Giroud is still one of the best post player in the world. He isn't as good as Poland Robert Lewandowski, but France still needs him badly.
In my opinion, Giroud existence as the post player in the center is the reasons why Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele can perform well in National team. He links well with those two and most importantly as the most experienced post player in this tournament, he is showing us how to score and how to disrupt opponents backline perfectly. He is the true menace in shadow.
CLOSING AND CREDIT
This post is made as my participation in HIVBUZZ WORLDCUP CONTEST x OCD, which the more detailed one can be found here: https://peakd.com/@hivebuzz/wc2022
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