First up I suppose we have to talk about Mesut Ozil and his contribution, or lack thereof, in the defeat for Germany against Mexico. Germany didn’t play well on the day, but for me far too many pundits and Arsenal fans are far too quick to lay the blame at his door time after time. If I hear one more idiot saying “he’s nicking a living” I think my head will explode.
For me he was far from their worst player, but those who crave attention find it easy to single him out despite evidence to the contrary. He’s not the sort of player to grab a game by the scruff of the neck and win it on his own, but it seems nothing else is good enough than just that for some. His statistics on the day were quite good and it’s difficult to hold him responsible when others fail to finish the chances he invariably creates. Germany are far from done in this tournament though and we will probably see a lot more of them and Ozil too.
Granit Xhaka and Stephan Lichsteiner were both important cogs in the Swiss team that got a creditable 1-1 against tournament favourites Brazil. That point gives them a very good chance of progressing to the knockout stages, but they still have a tricky game against Serbia as well as a game against Costa Rica. I thought both of them played quite well without being spectacular and I have no doubt they both have more to offer.
Lichsteiner did well against Brazil’s star player considering he had to play behind Xherdan Shaqiri who didn’t offer him too much defensive cover. Hector Bellerin will still be our first choice right back, but I would have no worries seeing Lichsteiner coming into the team at any time. Xhaka can do better and I would expect to see him get more of the ball in their next two games and hopefully make a real impact on those games.
Alex Iwobi played from the start for Nigeria in their 2-0 defeat against Croatia and that defeat leaves them on the brink of exiting the tournament with games against Argentina and Iceland to come. Iwobi didn’t have too much of an impact on the game and he was substituted shortly after the hour mark. He’s another player who might still make an impact though and I hope he can retain his place for the next two games and maybe go some way towards proving his doubters wrong.
Joel Campbell came off the bench for the last 30 minutes for Costa Rica in their 1-0 defeat against Serbia. With Brazil and Switzerland still to play the chances of progression for them are slim and they could easily end up pointless when the group concludes. I thought Costa Rica looked a little sharper in attack when Campbell came on and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start their next game.
Mohamed Elneny has played two games for Egypt now and defeats against Uruguay and Russia mean their tournament is as good as over. He hasn’t played badly in their two games, but he didn’t exactly make a huge impression either. It looks like he’ll be on his holidays very soon and back to pre season training for Arsenal nice and early.
David Ospina played in Colombia’s 2-1 defeat against Japan and there was very little he could do to prevent their first goal which was a penalty. He didn’t cover himself in glory for Japan’s winner though and I thought it was a ball he should have come for and won. Colombia have an uphill task with games to come against Senegal and Poland, but they can still progress to the last 16. They weren’t helped by having to play for 87 minutes with 10 men after an early red card and the absence of star man James Rodriguez too.
Danny Welbeck and Nacho Monreal didn’t get to play for their respective countries in their first games and they can only hope they get a chance to show what they can do as the competition progresses. Both England and Spain will be expected to progress to the last 16 and there’s every chance both of them will be called upon at some stage.
That’s it for today.
See you tomorrow.
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