Group A: Final Round Preview
Group A: Final Round Preview
The two games on Monday, 25th June are:
1. Saudi Arabia v Egypt in Volgograd
2. Uruguay v Russia in Samara
The first game is irrelevant as neither can qualify for the last 16 now. So, I will only be reporting the game as a matter of fact, rather than with any interest.
The second game in the group has rather more riding on it. Although both teams are already through, this will decide who finishes as the group winner and who will face which team next. The winner of this group will play the runner-up in Group B at Sochi, which is going to be either Portugal, or Spain and there is not a gnat's hairs width between either of them at the moment. The runner-up in Group A will play the winner of group B at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, so you can see that strategically there is nothing to be gained, other than the venues.
I would hazard a guess that the organisers were betting on Russia finishing second in the group, so they could play the Last 16 game in Moscow, so it might be seen to be a bit inconvenient to have to travel to Sochi, from Samara, rather than 'come home' to the capital.
Whereas Uruguay have performed pretty much as expected so far, the Russian team has been performing way above expectations. I expect the game between the two to go to the form team so far and for Russia to meet Portugal in Sochi on June 30th.
The two games on Monday, 25th June are:
1. Saudi Arabia v Egypt in Volgograd
2. Uruguay v Russia in Samara
The first game is irrelevant as neither can qualify for the last 16 now. So, I will only be reporting the game as a matter of fact, rather than with any interest.
The second game in the group has rather more riding on it. Although both teams are already through, this will decide who finishes as the group winner and who will face which team next. The winner of this group will play the runner-up in Group B at Sochi, which is going to be either Portugal, or Spain and there is not a gnat's hairs width between either of them at the moment. The runner-up in Group A will play the winner of group B at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, so you can see that strategically there is nothing to be gained, other than the venues.
I would hazard a guess that the organisers were betting on Russia finishing second in the group, so they could play the Last 16 game in Moscow, so it might be seen to be a bit inconvenient to have to travel to Sochi, from Samara, rather than 'come home' to the capital.
Whereas Uruguay have performed pretty much as expected so far, the Russian team has been performing way above expectations. I expect the game between the two to go to the form team so far and for Russia to meet Portugal in Sochi on June 30th.
