Dave’s Dribble: World Cup Day 16 – Ronaldo joins Messi at airport
Two past champions were bombed out in the Last 16.
URUGUAY 2 PORTUGAL 1
Ronaldo joins Messi at the airport
Uruguay 2 Portugal 1, just as I predicted.
The tantalising game pitted the super defence of Uruguay – who did not concede a single goal in the group section – against Cristiano Ronaldo and his potent attacking countrymen.
Not that Uruguay did not have some heavy artillery of their own with the likes of Maximiliano Gomez, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez.
It all hinged on whether Uruguay could deal with Ronaldo.
They could, emphatically. And they did it by cutting off his ball supply.
ALSO READ: 10 Things about Cristiano Ronaldo you may not have known
Time after time, C7 stood waiting patiently waiting for the ball to arrive like an Englishman waiting for the number 10 bus or a hotel guest waiting for room service to arrive.
Not so the energetic Uruguayans, who were first to score when Edinson Cavani fed Luis Suarez and kept running, meeting the return aerial ball and bundling it into the net (1-0).
Suarez shot hard but straight at Rui Patricio, while Ronaldo failed to get a free kick over the wall as the sides traded punches.
Portugal would have wished for the free-flowing type of game they had against Spain but this was rugged and physical and the South Americans were up to it, notably captain Diego Godin, who gave a coaching manual display of how to close down spaces.
Portugal did get more into the picture after the break – whether it was the team talk or the Gummy Bear juice – and they would equalise as an unmarked Pepe literally rose to the occasion, climbing high to head home a cross (1-1).
But the goal of the game – and one of the best of the tournament, came midway through the half when the tireless Nandez fed Cavani on the left.
He cut back to the right, opened up his body and curled it into the far corner.
All class and ultimately the goal that could take the Uruguayans deep into the competition.
Portugal poured on the pressure in a desperate bid to force the game into extra time but brave and brilliant defending gave Uruguay the victory they deserved.
So we start heading towards the quarter finals without (Holland and Italy) Germany, Portugal and Argentina.
And the goals just keep on coming: you just gotta love the World Cup!
FRANCE 4 ARGENTINA 3
Fantastic France stick four past ailing Argentina
Don’t let the 4-3 score line fool you – only one team was going to win the first of eight World Cup knockout games, and that was France.
Argentina were always second best, and in any event were lucky to still be in the tournament after a loss, a draw and a late winner in the group stage.
France were out the blocks immediately to stamp their dominance on the game.
The first chance came in the 7th minute when speed merchant Kylian Mbappe was brought down on the edge of the box and Antoine Griezmann rattled the cross bar with his legendary left footed strike.
It was an identical situation three minutes later but this time Mbappe ran 70 metres before Marcos Rojo nailed him inside the box.
Rojo saw yellow and Franco Armani saw nothing as Griezmann sent him the wrong way from the spot (1-0).
It was nearly a third in the same fashion, this time Nicolas Tagliafico shown yellow and Paul Pogba hitting the free kick over the wall and all.
Argentina did have a few chances against France’s many, one of which was a thunderous strike from distance by Angel di Maria as France, bent on attack, left him unmarked (1-1).
As is often the case, the level score at the break did not reflect France’s first half dominance.
It was even less credible two minutes into the second stanza when a misdirected Argentinian free kick landed at the feet of Lionel Messi and his shot deflected off Gabriel Mercado, who claimed a goal he knew nothing about as he was trying to get out of the way of the ball (1-2).
Parity was restored soon after when France’s Benjamin Pavard smacked home a long shot to even better that of Di Maria, hitting it with the outside of his foot and curling it into the top corner (2-2).
It’s amazing how often defenders have the best strikes!
Now France were on a roll and Mbappe picked up a loose ball and slammed it under the body of Armani (3-2)
The emerging star of this competition had his brace when Giroud slid through a defence-splitting pass and Mbappe did what he does best (4-2).
To all intents and purposes, the game was won, with only 10 minutes to go.
Yes, Messi did come close and Sergio Aguera put a fine header past Hugo Lloris (4-3) but this was mere consolation.
The better team won, the seven goals provided superb entertainment, and the World Cup was at last set alight!
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