Criticism of Lionel Messi has become harsh, but how much of it is warranted, and what’s off base? Mario Kempes, star of Argentina’s first WorldCup-winning team, on home soil in 1978, said stayed alone in his hotel room during a team and family barbecue after the Iceland tie. To advance, Argentina needs to beat Nigeria on […]
World Cup Watch
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Coach who started out in the USA aims to take Mexico to new heights
Mexico’s excellent start to Russia 2018 under Coach Juan Carlos Osorio is arguably El Tri’s best ever at a World Cup, although Mexico does have a long history of impressivegroup-stage performances while reaching the knockout round in its last seven World Cup appearances. In Russia, El Tri has beaten defending WorldCup champion Germany, 1-0, and […]
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Croatia evokes memories of 1998 semifinal squad
It’s been two decades since a World Cup debutant rolled all the way to the semifinals before losing to the eventual champion. Playing in its first World Cup since gainingindependence from the former Yugoslavia, Croatia finished second to Argentina in Group F and knocked off Romania (1-0) and Germany (3-0) before falling to France and […]
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Maradona backs Messi, slams Sampaoli after slow Argentina start
To kick off the World Cup with a 1-1 tie against Iceland in which Lionel Messi failed to convert a penalty kick triggered a typically Argentine reaction. Shock. Outrage.Accusations and recriminations. In other words, the usual. The result dropped Argentina into a tie with Iceland for second place in Group D, which is headed by […]
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Spain-raised Denis Cheryshev has Russia flying high
Denis Cheryshev has already scored more goals at the World Cup than he did for his club in the 2017-18 season. The 27-year-old is second behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the Golden Boot race with three goals — all excellent strikes — in wins against Saudi Arabia (5-0) and Egypt (3-1). For Villarreal last season, he scored […]
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Coach Tite revived Brazil — now comes the biggest challenge
Like many Brazilian boys his age, Brazil coach Tite first experienced the thrills of international soccer through the radio during the 1970 World Cup at age 9. Growing up in afamily with humble means, they had no TV, but his family still swarmed around the radio to listen to the World Cup games. “It was […]
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Large Panama contingent heads MLS representation
A fleet of MLS players were on the field Sunday and Monday as Costa Rica and Panama, respectively, kicked off their World Cup campaigns. Costa Rica has five current MLS players as well asthree other players with MLS experience. Panama head coach Hernan Dario Gomez named 13 current or former MLS players to his 23-man […]
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Germany needs another reboot after woeful performance from Rio heroes
After winning the 2014 World Cup, Germany started using analytics software and hardware that so impressed the New York Times, it headlined its article: “A Scary Thought: Germany Is Better Prepared Than in2014 “The Mexicans used different tactics than we expected that we partly didn’thave the means to deal with.” The German media agreed that […]
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Group G Preview: England and Belgium are clearly a class above
Like Group B with Portugal and Spain, this group is composed of two heavyweights — Belgium and England — and two outsiders. Unlike the Iberian rivals, they do not meet in thefirst round of games. They play on the final day of group competition and are not only expected to advance but also take care […]
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Group H Preview: Colombia has the edge among balanced quartet
One of the World Cup most balanced groups might also prove to be the most exciting, with each team having a serious shot to top the group while fielding an array of attacking talent. Colombia,the darling of 2014 World Cup, returns to the world stage in perhaps better shape than four years ago. The 2014 […]