Group B: Wrap Up
This group went to form then with Spain and Portugal making it through but Iran and Spain were better than I thought they’d be.
The Portugal v Iran game was so ridiculous that I ended up losing interest. Quaresma scored his trademark trivela, which was nice, but in the second half the game degenerated into a VAR disaster. Cedric was unjustly penalised for possession of arms and Ronaldo was lucky to stay on the pitch after being overly generous with an elbow. Iran should have won it late on but hit the side netting instead. There were so many VAR stoppages in the second half (and they went on so log due to the referee being indecisive) that the football became an afterthought.
I didn’t see anything of the other game in this group, apart from the brief clips they showed during the Portugal v Iran game but that looked quite eventful too. Iniesta uncharacteristically gave the ball away in Spain’s half for Morocco’s first goal br redeemed himself with an assist for Spain’s equaliser. Morocco went ahead again but Spain came back to draw 2-2. I probably haven’t done it justice there but it’s difficult when the final group games are played simultaneously.
So group favourites Portugal and Spain progress to the next round to face Uruguay and Russia respectively. Both teams will fancy their chances of progressing to the quarter finals. Iran and Morocco will be heading home knowing that they’ve brought something to the party. Let’s just hope Iranian women don’t have to dress up as blokes to get into football from now on.
The Portugal v Iran game was so ridiculous that I ended up losing interest. Quaresma scored his trademark trivela, which was nice, but in the second half the game degenerated into a VAR disaster. Cedric was unjustly penalised for possession of arms and Ronaldo was lucky to stay on the pitch after being overly generous with an elbow. Iran should have won it late on but hit the side netting instead. There were so many VAR stoppages in the second half (and they went on so log due to the referee being indecisive) that the football became an afterthought.
I didn’t see anything of the other game in this group, apart from the brief clips they showed during the Portugal v Iran game but that looked quite eventful too. Iniesta uncharacteristically gave the ball away in Spain’s half for Morocco’s first goal br redeemed himself with an assist for Spain’s equaliser. Morocco went ahead again but Spain came back to draw 2-2. I probably haven’t done it justice there but it’s difficult when the final group games are played simultaneously.
So group favourites Portugal and Spain progress to the next round to face Uruguay and Russia respectively. Both teams will fancy their chances of progressing to the quarter finals. Iran and Morocco will be heading home knowing that they’ve brought something to the party. Let’s just hope Iranian women don’t have to dress up as blokes to get into football from now on.
