Portugal, Ronaldo forced to play World Cup playoff, Leroy Sane shines for Germany, Spain book tickets, more

Whoever said the international breakup wasn’t to the point of clearly failed to notice the action over the past four days. In CONCACAF, America won a big victory against Mexico, but in Europe, there’s a LOT to digest. Make the great struggles of Portugalor web of possible eligible persons outside of Group G, where one of the countries Norway, Netherlands and Turkey will miss. There is good news for Germany and Spain, too, but Harry Maguire might want to reconsider his goal celebration if he scores again England.

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It’s Monday, and Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in world football.

Move in: Portugal, Ronaldo on the brink | Chaos for Norway, Turkey, Netherlands | Outstanding Sane | Maguire deaf to the tune | The stars arrange for Spain

Portugal on the brink… it wasn’t like this

Aleksandar Mitrovic’s impressive stoppage-time goal gave Serbia a 2-1 win over Portugal, sending Fernando Santos’s side into the knockout stages if they secure a spot in the 2022 World Cup. The play plays out like one of those nightmares where you suspect it might be a dream and you want to wake up, but Freddie Krueger or his equivalent keeps chasing you. And then you realize it’s not a nightmare; all are real.

Portugal only need a draw to secure their spot against Qatar, and they couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. Second minute of the match, Bernardo Silva swiped the ball from Nemanja Gudelj, who saved Renato Sanches to make it 1-0 for the home team. Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic was furious, feeling that Gudelj had been fouled and was given a valid card.

As a neutral, you feel it will be one of those nights where Portugal holds the ball, caresses it and an already tense Serbia loses its cool. And, maybe, Portugal will score a few more goals during the break. Instead, Serbia was sharp-eyed and proceeded with uncanny efficiency in besieging Rui Patricio’s goal. They hit the woodwork, they forced Portugal further and further back, they were the ones leading every ball.

Dusan Tadic leveled in just half an hour and still there, Portugal seemed unresponsive. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Tadic, the builders for the Serbs in the middle of the park, found they had time and space, while the Portuguese counter-attack rarely worked. And finally, we have a moment that will live on in Serb football lore. Tadic’s long-range cross found Mitrovic, who came on in the first half, and he headed home the winner for Rui Patricio.

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You can focus on that moment and say Portugal should have done better, and you were right. Mitrovic went largely unnoticed and behind him, so was Sasa Lukic. But the reality is, the goal has arrived. Just before that, it was Mitrovic who almost scored. And of course, in March, when these teams faced off in Belgrade, Serbia came back to draw 2-2 after being two goals behind, so it is necessary to draw lessons from experience.

It’s hard not to point the finger at Fernando Santos here. It’s good to be a conservative manager and find a way to attack on the counter, pick your position from the tackles and seize the opportunity He won the European Championship basically did it there. But you also have to play in a style that suits your talent so you can put your best players on the pitch, doing what comes naturally to them.

Portugal has a lot of attacking talent, from Diogo Jota to Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix to Bruno Fernandes (Cristiano Ronaldo failed, of course). In particular, the first two are used to high-energy front-foot press play at club level. Portugal’s full-backs Joao Cancelo and Nuno Mendes are also very attacking. Why not play with those strengths? Especially if you line up with the 36-year-old Ronaldo and Silva in his forward line, all three are unsuitable for performing the repetitive sprint required in counter-attacking style.

As for Serbia, this is a team that is putting together very well during the World Cup. They’re also nearing a deadline – this is just the second major tournament they’ve qualified for in the past decade. The other tournament is Russia 2018, and there are still a lot of regrets about that tournament and the late event, so late Xherdan Shaqiri’s goal knocked them out in the group stage.

Lots of mistakes make for an interesting ending to the WOOD Board

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Louis Van Gaal found a way to keep up with Dutch training after injuring his hip in a bicycle accident.

Tuesday night will be a fascinating watch in Group G, with Turkey, Norway and the Netherlands all still likely to win the group and all still likely to be condemned watching Qatar 2022. On tv.

– Dutch coach Van Gaal broke his hip in a bicycle accident

This comes after a weekend of missed opportunities. The Dutch took a 2-0 lead and took the lead over Montenegro, as two goals in the last six minutes helped their opponents equalize 2-2. Norway will also squander their chances, as their 0-0 draw against Latvia was eliminated at home by the equivalent of two dropped points. Meanwhile, Turkey beat Gibraltar 6-0 to get ahead with the Norwegians.

On Tuesday night in Rotterdam, the Dutch will host a Norway without Erling Haaland. A draw was enough for Louis Van Gaal’s men to qualify, but a defeat – along with a win over Turkey against Montenegro – would see them out altogether. After failing to qualify for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, it was really cruel for Oranje fans…

Germany just defeated Armenia, but it’s the familiar face Sane that stands out

With Germany already qualified for the World Cup and five players either testing positive for COVID-19 or forced to self-isolate, Hansi Flick used a trip to Armenia to try several solutions ( ish) new.

Jonas Hofmann, David Raum, Florian Neuhaus, Thilo Kehrer and Jonathan Tah all started in the 4-1 win, but perhaps the most encouraging sign for Germany fans was the confirmation that Leroy Sane is playing the best football of his career.

The Bayern winger is a somewhat odd case. A shining light at Schalke, he dominated his first two seasons at Manchester City before being slowed down by inconsistent form and injuries. That continued into last season, his first game at Bayern. Now, however, he is at the peak of his game, both with the ball (he can’t play at times) and out of it (where his movement speed and work have improved). so many, so much). He doesn’t turn 26 until January, and after his “missing season” he could be on his way back to where many of us thought he would be: recognized as one of The best wingers in the world.

Maguire can’t read the room with his goal celebration

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Don Hutchison highlighted Reece James and Harry Kane as the best players in England’s big win over Albania.

When it comes to England’s 5-0 win over Albania on Friday night, the real focus should be on how Gareth Southgate’s side – averting several cataclysms on Monday night – have qualified for the World Cup. Cup and how Harry Kane scored a hat-trick.

Kane has now scored as many England goals this season as he has for Spurs in the Premier League and Europa Conference League combined. He now has 44 goals in 66 international appearances and, at 28, looks like a safe bet to eclipse Wayne Rooney’s 53-year-old record. he got to 44.)

– Olley: Kane’s hat-trick is a timely reminder of what he can do

But it was Harry Maguire’s heavy celebration – first crouched, then with a finger stuck in – that drew the headlines. It came after the opening goal and drew criticism from pundits and former pundits on TV that Maguire had to explain himself on Sunday. “It wasn’t aimed at anyone, it was a knee slide,” he said. “I put my hand to my ear, but I’m the captain of Manchester United. Of course I get criticism when the team doesn’t play well, I fully expect that. But of course, it’s not guided. at anyone.”

Roy Keane, a United co-captain, called it “a shame.” He may be a little taller, but Maguire is clearly deaf. That kind of celebration makes sense. That’s what you do when you play badly and get booed and then score. England fans didn’t boo Maguire; United fans have, and most of them don’t care that he just scored the opening goal in a game in fact meaningless qualifier against Albania. However, they are likely to do so if he and his team-mates play away from Watford next weekend.

Sometimes it’s best to just read the room and remember who you are.

The stars arrange for Luis Enrique and Spain

It’s easy to forget how rough things looked for Spain and Luis Enrique a week ago. Has been viewed with slight suspicion by the public – despite Spain reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020 – for some of his pick decisions and his team’s classic tiki-taka tendencies (attacking possession, few goals) despite missing out on some of the regulars (Marcos Llorente, Pedri, Ansu Fati, Mikel Oyarzabal), the table didn’t go in his favor either.

Entering the international break, Spain is two points behind Sweden with two matches remaining. The two will meet on Sunday night in Seville. Before, La Roja is facing a trip to Greece – who may not have much to write home about right now, but has held him to a 1-1 draw in Spain at the start of qualifying – while Sweden, bolstered by the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, travels to face Georgia, a gimme relative on paper.

Well, on Thursday night, Spain won 1-0 in Athens, while Sweden lost 0-2 in Tbilisi. If the Swedes win, the match in Seville could be a completely different story because a draw would be enough for them to progress. Instead, they needed a win, and they made Spain suffer for long periods of time, closing in on Emil Forsberg and Alexander Isak. Meanwhile, the home team controlled the game, creating many opportunities but could not hit the target even with a single shot.

Luis Enrique’s decision to toss Alvaro Morata (aka “Mister Much Maligned”) on time, instead of trying to drag the game towards a draw, was vindicated. He introduced the ability to run into the back of the defence, sending Sweden off balance and with four minutes remaining he scored the goal that sent Spain to the World Cup.

Morata may not be a model of consistency and yes, he looks like less than the sum of his parts on many occasions, for both club and country. (Those are also the quality parts: power, speed, technical ability, movement.) But if Luis Enrique can do that, he could be the striker Spain need to win the title. won the World Cup.