itsbeautifuloutside

3rd Place Play Off

Zenit Arena, St Petersburg

1500, 14 July 2018

Seconds Out! Round Two!

The Preview

IBO Reporter: spot51

I haven't done the maths but I suspect it is only possible to play against someone from the same Group again in one of the last 2 matches. Poor Panama and Tunisia were on a hiding to nothing with 2 semi-finalists alongside them in Group G. Belgium and England will be satisfied to have come so far at Russia 2018 but, of course, both would rather be playing Sunday, not Saturday.

The 3rd/4th Place match has been played in 18 of the previous 20 world cup finals. In 1930 and 1950, USA and Sweden were adjudged to have come 3rd based on different criteria. Those 18 matches have seen 12 different winners, with Germany (who they?) the most successful:

• 4 Germany
• 2 Brazil, France, Poland
• 1 Austria, Chile, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Turkey, Netherlands.

The losers of this play off (finishing 4th) were:

• 3 Uruguay
• 2 Brazil
• 1 Germany, Austria, Sweden, France, Yugoslavia, Portugal, USSR, Italy, Belgium, England, Bulgaria, South Korea, Netherlands.

It is difficult to assess how much effort each nation has put into these matches. Some, upset about not reaching the final, use the game to reward squad members without game time. Others go for it, all guns blazing. At France 98, Croatia's win over the Dutch is regarded as that country's greatest sporting achievement (although that is about to be surpassed). Our protagonists lost on their only appearances in consecutive world cups: Belgium 4-2 to France in Mexico 86 and England 2-1 to Italy at Italia 90.

Interestingly, in their 3rd Group match with both sides already qualified, both Belgium and England sent out 2nd string teams - Januzaj scoring the only goal. I rather suspect that their second meeting could be more competitive. When interviewed on the Zenit pitch right after Tuesday's defeat, Martinez was already talking about winning this match. Whilst he'll need to take his star players with him, Belgium's squad is so strong pretty much any XI they send out will give England a game.

Imagine for a moment, that one of England's previous world cup squads had reached this stage. Yes, I know it is hard but bear with me, please. Do you think their sense of self-importance and entitlement would allow them to compete in the "Loser's Final"? Probably not. Yet I believe Gareth's young squad are cut from different cloth. Their coaches will know the best way of putting Wednesday's defeat behind them is to end with a win.

If England and Belgium both go for it on Saturday we could have a classic. Sometimes these matches are the best games at the World Cup. In Sweden 58, France 6 West Germany 3 is ranked as one the greatest ever World Cup games. Turkey 3 S Korea 2 in Daegu in 2002 was another cracker. What is certain is that one of these nations will improve their World Cup record by finishing 3rd. Indeed, for Belgium the prize is even greater. Unlike England, they have never reached a World Cup Final so winning on Saturday would be their best ever finish. I rather think their "Golden Generation" would want that.

Match Report

IBO Reporter: spot51

3rd/4th Place Match: BELGIUM 2 ENGLAND 0

Zenit Arena, St Petersburg

1500, 14 July 2018

It was chilly in St Petersburg on Tuesday. Mid-afternoon on Saturday the temperature was similar to Wimbledon on Ladies Final Day. Belgium and England met here for the second time in Russia in front of the biggest crowd yet in this stadium. Their earlier meeting in Kaliningrad had been a 1-0 win for Belgium with both sides making wholesale changes. Both coaches spoke positively before this rematch. England could achieve their best ever finish outside the UK; Belgium their best ever. Both sides opted for their changed strip, red for England and gold for the Golden Generation.

Belgian made 2 changes from their semi-final XI: Meunier, back from suspension, replaced Dembele and Tielemans came in for Fellaini. England replaced Walker, Young, Henderson, Alli and Lingard with Jones, Rose, Dier, Delph and Loftus Cheek. The ref was from Iran: the ITV pundit was Hoddle (FFS!)

The game had barely begun when Belgium moved the ball out of defence. Chadli headed the ball to Lukaku then scampered the left to collect the return pass. His drilled cross was met by Meunier who ran past the jogging Rose and scored from close range. 4 minutes gone: 1-0 Belgium.

England tried to get into the game but neither side were able to create much till, on 10m, Trippier sent a free kick into the box but Courtois grabbed it. Sterling was seeing a lot of the ball but kept losing it. England were lucky that a resulting Belgian break ended with De Bruyne scuffing a shot which Pickford held. England finally got a shot on target on 14m but Delph’s tame effort failed to trouble Courtois. A minute later, RLC got down the right crossed to Sterling whose header drew another routine save from the Belgian keeper. On 19m RLC won a corner off Kompany. Courtois was called into action again, this time fielding Maguire’s header.

Belgium then kept the ball for long periods. When we recovered possession Dier’s super pass found Sterling who, in turn, set up Kane. His effort was wide of the mark prompting discussion of his fitness and the fact he hadn’t got a thing on target since the penalties against Colombia. TBF he looked a shadow of his earlier self. Soon afterwards, Sterling’s speculative effort sailed wide.

Rose, way too casual, was robbed by Meunier. Fortunately, his cross sailed over Lukaku. Belgium then began to dominate and Stones did well to block Tielemans’ effort. England were obliged to chase their opponents until another Stones block, from Hazard, went for a corner. De Bruyne found Tielemans whose chip to the back post reached Toby who turned and fired over.

On 36m De Bruyne found Chadli who cut inside, feeding Hazard. Maguire blocked his run and shepherded the ball out. Chadli however was down hurt. With him off the pitch, England attacked but De Bruyne brought the ball back, winning a corner off Trippier. Vermaelen came on at the back with Vertonghen going to wing-back. England cleared the corner and enjoyed some possession. Sterling’s nightmare continued as he could not retain the ball. On 45m Belgium got forward. Hazard found De Bruyne but Maguire’s timely block prevented him for shooting.

In the 2m added, RLC won a leg race with Vermaelen but the eager Courtois came to his defender’s aid. England had had plenty of possession but were so slow moving forwards. Dier and our back 3 kept having to go sideways as there was so little movement ahead of them. Half time brought blessed relief.

Rose and Sterling were hooked at half time. Delph moved to wing back with Lingard into midfield and Rashford up front. England were immediately moving better and looked more threatening. On 50m a Vermaelen foul gave Trippier the chance to cross. Vertonghen did well to stick it over his own bar. Courtois rose high to gather the resulting corner.

As Hazard looked to break Stones dragged him back and was shown yellow. There was a short delay as Kompany had treatment after appearing to get a poke in the eye defending the last corner. On 54m Tripper’s throw found Lingard and his cross was decent but Kane could not connect. Then, on 56m, a delightful defence-splitting pass by De Bruyne gave Lukaku a great chance but his poor control allowed Pickford to collect.

Lukaku was looking as bad as Kane. On 59m Stones took the ball off him and dribbled away. A minute later he was off with Mertens coming on. He was soon a threat. On 62m Toby found Hazard with a fine long pass. His captain fed Mertens but only a timely block put the ball out for another corner. Mertens took it along the ground. Kompany tried an audacious back-heel but England cleared their lines.

The game was much closer now. Trippier’s next cross earned a corner. Belgium brought it out but Mertens misread De Bruyne’s intentions and England nicked the ball. In our next attack, RLC played in a super cross but Kane stood and watched it fly past. On 70m, England should have levelled. Dier played a lovely one-two with Rashford and burst into the box. He lifted the ball over Courtois only for the retreating Toby to hack it off the line.

England kept pressing. Kompany fouled Rashford, then headed Trippier’s FK for a corner. Toby headed Rashford’s cross for a throw. The ball was fed to Lingard whose measured cross was met by Dier: his downward header flew wide. A Witsel foul saw another cross into his box. This time it was Maguire on the end, but the result was the same. On 76m RLC went down, expecting a foul but the ref let Belgium break, Mertens shooting wide. Maguire slagged the ref sufficiently to join Stones in his book. Dier was having his best England game. His lovely pass to RLC deserved a better result. On 78 Tielemans came off with Dembele coming on to help tighten Belgium’s midfield.

On 80m a superb Belgium move involving De Bruyne and Mertens saw the latter’s cross pick out Meunier. His powerful volley was palmed away by the diving Pickford. Both ITV and BBC pundits said it would have been goal of the tournament. Twice in the following minute, Rashford had shots that were saved by Courtois.

Suddenly Belgium scored a second. De Bruyne drove forwards in the inside left position, sending a neat pass towards Hazard. Jones tried to intercept but could only deflect the ball into the stride of Begium’s captain. Hazard controlled it, looked up then slotted it past Pickford. 2-0.

Gareth immediately sent on Alli for RLC but Belgium looked like running away with it. Another smart move saw Hazard find De Bruyne but only Stones’ great block saved us. Belgium gradually stopped going forwards, content to knock the ball around. In the added 3m, Hazard and De Bruyne launched a final raid with no end product. With about 5 seconds left, Witsel stupidly got booked for stopping England taking a free-kick. Moments later, the Iranian ref blew full time. The Golden Generation (including Thierry Henry) then collected their Bronze medals.

Harry Kane’s post-match interview was the best thing he did all afternoon. It was optimistic and improvement focused. Unless there is a hat-trick in tomorrow’s final he will win the Golden Boot – largely for putting the minnows to the sword. That is something England do routinely in qualifying for tournaments. Staying to the last weekend in tournaments is rare – it has happened just 3 times in my lifetime. I'd have been more excited about 1966 if I knew then what I know now.

Martinez seemed very happy Belgium had delivered their best ever WC performance. The key, he said, was keeping concentration - and a clean sheet. He failed to mention the performance of his 2 world class players who exposed the real difference between his charges and our younger, less experienced team.

The ITV panel were concerned that England won’t develop players like Hazard and De Bruyne while our clubs can buy the real thing. Phil Foden is the great hope to become a ball-playing #10 to orchestrate England’s attacks. No-one thought he’d get opportunities at the Etihad while De Bruyne was there. He needs to get out on loan: nobody said “at Southampton” but that is what I was thinking...