Enner Valencia was the star of the opening day and moving on, it is time for other players to make their names heard in the three FIFA World Cup games set to be featured today as action continues in the global competition.
Group A
Following Ecuador’s win over host nation, Qatar in yesterday’s opening fixture, it becomes very difficult for either of The Netherlands or Senegal to lose this clash because that could end up hurting their chances, albeit both are still expected to progress.
African Champions, Senegal are the underdog against Louis van Gaal’s side and will be pleased to get a draw but their opponents will be looking for all three points to boost their chances of finishing as Group winners.
After dominating the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year and doing enough to see off Egypt to book their place in Qatar, a lot is expected of Senegal and after been drawn in a group they are, the expectations grew even stronger.
Maybe the Lions of Teranga will go on to become the first ever African country to reach the last four of the competition. Who knows.
They are been on form this year, only losing one of their 13 games played. The only loss came in a 1-0 defeat to Egypt, of which they came back in the second leg to win by the same score line and book the ticket to Qatar on penalties.
However, the big loss of Sadio Mané to injury will definitely affect their performance but all of Senegal as well as Africa will hope the effect won’t be too devastating, so they Aliou Cisse’s men can reach the ultimatum in Qatar.
Group favorites, the Netherlands surely have the better players and will be looking to make it count when they kickoff at the Thumama Stadium in Doha.
Their 3412 set-up is good enough to wreck havocs on any side and with quality players to execute the setup, Van Gaal might however have to go through this first game without Memphis Depay but in Cody Gakpo, Steven Bergwijn and Noa Lang, he surely have capable legs at his disposal to get through this clash.
Group B
England vs Iran
England’s Three Lions will head into this clash as heavy favourites and if nothing goes wrong, it should be about by how many goals will they win against an Iran side least ranked in the group.
Though the Asian have improved in their performance and even defeated Uruguay and Nicaragua in their warm up games recently but England, despite their poor pre FIFA World Cup form will be expected to come out in flying colours.
Top ranked in the group, the objective of Gareth Southgate and his minions will be to finish as group winners and avoid the other top team in the other group.
In thr likes of Harry Kane, who will be eyeing his country’s all-time top scorer record as he is just two goals away from equaling the current holder, Wayne Rooney.
Kane was also the top scorer in the FIFA World Cup four years ago in Russia with six goals as England finished fourth after losing the third place match to Belgium.
Iran is a great opportunity for him to achieve great in this edition of the tournament again and he will be hoping that the creativity of the likes of Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and others can get him up and running this afternoon.
Of course Iran have capable goalscorers of their own and Jordan Pickford will surely be asked questions at some point in the match. Mehdi Taremi has been sensational for Porto and being the star for his country and leading the attack, he will at some point in the match be presented a chance or more.
18 goal contributions in as many game for the Portuguese champions, Taremi will be hopeful of adding to his 28 international goal even if not against England, then before the end of the tournament in Qatar.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Saman Ghoddos are also experienced players who are playing in Europe and have or currently play in the Premier League, so they have very familiar with the English play and players. They will be the main source of threat for Carlos Queiroz in today’s game.
England however should be able to get the win in this one and turn focus on their next game against the US Men National Team, which will be more of a test for them.
USA vs Wales
What a match we have in our hands. It is very easy to pick England as favourites against Iran but not so much with this clash between two nations, with new set of players looking to write their names in history books.
Wales have qualified for the FIFA World Cup for just the second time in the country’s history and the first time since 1958 when they reached the quarter finals.
For The US, they have appeared more in World Cup finals than their rival, with this being their eleventh time. Their best finish came in the maiden edition in 1930 when they reached the last four and finished third after beating Yugoslavia in the third place match.
However, the US have never past the round of 16 since reaching the quarter finals in 2002.
With new set of players, history awaits in Qatar and it appears only the winner of this meeting with the able to go further than the group stage this time.
Wales and their coach, Robert Page will be counting on Bale. Also the form of the likes of Brennan Johnson, Kieffer Moore and Daniel James, who just scored before the break in club football can help them achieve their target in Qatar.
The experience of Aaron Ramsey in the middle of the park, Ben Davies in defence and Wayne Hennessy in goal will make them even better when they have the ball while Joe Rondon and Ethan Ampadu are also decent players.
For the US, Brenden Aaronson, Giovanni Reyna, Tyler Adams and Christian Pulisic are the main men, while Antonee Robinson and Sergino Dest can also be handful on the overlap.
It is a tricky contest, one in which the winner has literally taken in all albeit it’s only their first game in the tournament but a draw will mean both have to avoid a heavy defeat against England, if they both find the Three Lions too strong to conquer.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
