Lionel Messi
HEROES
Maybe “heroes” is pushing it a little, but the United States finally got a grip on themselves this week after their shock defeat to Guatemala.
A thumping 4-0 win for Jurgen Klinsmann’s side in Ohio means that the World Cup qualification challenge is back in gear. And not a moment too soon. Klinsmann was already facing one of modern football’s more irritating innovations: a banner calling for his head, trailed from a small airplane above the pitch. Had the U.S. lost this game, the pilot’s sponsor may well have seen his wish come true.
Lionel Messi hit his 50th goal for Argentina on Tuesday, rounding off a much needed week of positivity for the national team. His first-half penalty secured a 2-0 victory over Bolivia, a result that would ordinarily be taken for granted. Not this year though as coach Gerardo Martino was forced to call for calm before these fixtures, such was the state of the nation’s blood pressure. However, six crucial points have lifted Argentina back into the automatic qualification spots and ensured that it’s someone else’s turn to worry about the
World Cup. Messi’s 50th was also his 499th career goal — next up, Real Madrid.
Germany, who squandered a two-goal lead and were defeated by England on Saturday, bounced back with an emphatic 4-1 pounding of poor Italy. Bayern Munich reserve Mario Gotze was actually allowed to play at the Allianz Arena for once and he made the most of the occasion with a goal on halftime. Germany have been pretty sloppy since winning the World Cup in 2014, but they can still turn it on when they want. Along with France, they must be the favourites for Euro 2016 now.
What did you get for your birthday? Whatever it was, N’Golo Kante trumped you with both a first international cap and a first international goal for France. The 25-year-old Leicester midfielder has had an incredible year, not only proving himself capable of making the step up into the Premier League, but going on to be one of its breakout stars. Now he’s doing the same thing on the international stage. He’ll have to be included in Didier Deschamps’ final squad now. And with the year he’s having, who knows what will happen after that.
A big win for Portugal and an important goal for Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed a penalty in last week’s defeat to Bulgaria. Whether you think the Fifa rankings are correct or not, Belgium are currently the top team in the world and this 2-1 result was well earned. Had it not been for Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois, the margin of victory might have been greater and Portugal manager Fernando Santos can now look ahead to the summer with a degree of confidence. That certainly wasn’t the case a few days ago.
VILLAINS
Is it possible that Brazil might miss out on the 2018 World Cup? With only two wins from six qualifying games, their progress is anything but assured. Dunga’s team needed two goals in the last 10 minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw against Paraguay, and this just days after they relinquished a two-goal cushion against Uruguay. These are deeply troubled times for the Selecao. CONMEBOL can be one of the hardest qualification sections in world football and, right now, Brazil just don’t look up to the challenge.
This has not been the most auspicious of international weeks for European champions Spain. First they were held 0-0 by an Italy team that was subsequently obliterated by Germany, then they played out a dull goalless draw against Romania. Vincente del Bosque had to cope with a number of injuries, but he still would have expected better than this. Spain have a lot of making up to do to their fans after they failed so spectacularly at the 2014 World Cup. The early signs for their next big international tournament don’t look particularly promising either.
Nigeria will miss out on the 2017 African Nations Cup after they were beaten 1-0 by Egypt. Winners in 2013 and traditionally one of the super powers in the region, this is the second time in a row that the Super Eagles have failed to qualify for the tournament. Their task was made far harder after the withdrawal of Chad inflicted a double blow of annulled points and the removal of the second-place qualification slot, but for a nation with such passionate support that 40,000 people tried to squeeze into a 16,000-seat stadium last week, this is a grievous blow.
After a promising display against Spain, Italy were destroyed by what looked suspiciously like the Germany B Team. All of the positivity and goodwill generated last week evaporated as the goals continued to fly in. Antonio Conte is not exactly Mr. Popular in Italy right now after he announced that he would leave the national job this summer, but he’ll be Public Enemy No. 1 if anything like this happens in France. A worrying injury to key defender Leonardo Bonucci doesn’t bode well either.
Speaking of burst bubbles, the “England are favourites for Euro 2016” campaign will struggle for support for a while after their 2-1 home defeat to one of the worst Dutch sides since the early ’80s. In truth, England were a little unfortunate, there was certainly a foul in the build-up to Netherlands’ winning goal, but this performance was nothing like the display they gave in Berlin on Saturday. The passing was slow and the defending was fragile. There’s still lots of work ahead for Roy Hodgson.— ESPNFC.