World Cup 2018 Group A (Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay)

[jts1882]

It's a soft group. Russia opening against the poorest team in the competition and playing them during Ramadan made it easier still.

Or maybe not.

 

[milo]

Or maybe not.

It was a soft group and a soft opener for Russia

 

[Spurs7891]

Disappointing performance and result by Russia but not really surprised about them losing to Uruguay. Not sure why Russia rested their key player Golovin as their attack looked toothless without him. They were not helped by having a player red carded which meant they had to substitute their top scorer Cheryshev as well. Maybe Golovin was rested to prevent him getting another yellow card which will mean being suspended for the Second Round match. Or maybe they wanted to lose and finish second behind Uruguay which will mean easier half of the knockout draw. On paper, Russia would have had more chance to beat Portugal in the Second Round as they have won twice against them in recent years. In contrast, Russia has never beaten Spain in any matches before this but have drew 3-3 in a friendly last year. Uruguay are proving to be dangerous darkhorse as they have yet to concede any goals so far. The last time Uruguay didn't concede any goals in the group stage in WC 2010, they reached the semi final. Can see Uruguay troubling any team in the knockout stages.

Saudi Arabia deserves some credit for beating Egypt as they have played well in all their 3 matches in this World Cup. Saudi Arabia's win continues the good peformance of the Asia teams in this World Cup. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Japan have all won 1 of their matches while Australia drew 1 match. South Korea is the only Asian team who have lost all their matches so far. Egypt continues to be the biggest bottlers as they have lost all their matches here and are still without any win in 3 World Cups in their history.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Disappointing performance and result by Russia but not really surprised about them losing to Uruguay. Not sure why Russia rested their key player Golovin as their attack looked toothless without him. They were not helped by having a player red carded which meant they had to substitute their top scorer Cheryshev as well. Maybe Golovin was rested to prevent him getting another yellow card which will mean being suspended for the Second Round match. Or maybe they wanted to lose and finish second behind Uruguay which will mean easier half of the knockout draw. On paper, Russia would have had more chance to beat Portugal in the Second Round as they have won twice against them in recent years. In contrast, Russia has never beaten Spain in any matches before this but have drew 3-3 in a friendly last year. Uruguay are proving to be dangerous darkhorse as they have yet to concede any goals so far. The last time Uruguay didn't concede any goals in the group stage in WC 2010, they reached the semi final. Can see Uruguay troubling any team in the knockout stages.

Saudi Arabia deserves some credit for beating Egypt as they have played well in all their 3 matches in this World Cup. Saudi Arabia's win continues the good peformance of the Asia teams in this World Cup. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Japan have all won 1 of their matches while Australia drew 1 match. South Korea is the only Asian team who have lost all their matches so far. Egypt continues to be the biggest bottlers as they have lost all their matches here and are still without any win in 3 World Cups in their history.

Ah Australia ... that great Asian nation

 

[Spurs7891]

It's a soft group. Russia opening against the poorest team in the competition and playing them during Ramadan made it easier still.

This was not really a soft group. Russia as hosts were always going to lift their game, Uruguay have won the World Cup twice and are always tough to beat and Egypt came with a big reputation due to Salah. Saudi Arabia was supposed to be the weakest team but they played well in all their matches. I think England's group is the most weakest in this World Cup. Tunisia(7 goals conceded) and Panama(9 goals conceded) are easily the worst teams in this World Cup. In fact, 2 incidents will prove Panama is the worst team ever to play in the World Cup history : 1.they celebrated wildly after scoring their goal despite losing 6-1 to England, 2.while England were celebrating their goal, Panama restarted the match on their own without referee's permission and tried to score on their own before being stopped by the referee - how stupid and embarassing was that ? Panama doesn't even know the basic rules of football !