World Cup qualifiers started across Europe last week, and when it started en route to Qatar in 2022 there were many games that featured top national teams. Portugal outraged Serbia in a draw on Saturday. England had two elegant wins and Germany had their best and worst weekend.
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It’s Monday and Cop Marcotti has reacted to the greatest moments in the football world since the last weekend of the European internationals.
Go to: Ronaldo angry | Portugal is poor too Kane leads England | Germany’s best and worst | Italy shows how it ended
Ronaldo has the right to be angry about the lack of VAR, goal-line technology …
Cristiano Ronaldo Was angry. He left the field on Saturday with the disgust and anger of a man convicted by a kangaroo judge and jury, Larry, Curly and Moe. He throws his captain’s armor on the ground and the cameras zoom in on the blue ribbon with the inverted “C” on the Maracana pitch in Belgrade.
– Ronaldo hit for “unacceptable” anger
– Watch: Ronaldo Leaves Goalless Call (US Only)
– UEFA World Cup qualification on ESPN +: stream and replay live matches (US only)
Stephen Mitrovic Destroyed Ronaldo’s shot. TV cameras – and Ronaldo’s own perspective – showed it was out of bounds. It was deep at the time of the injury and would have been the winner of a game that eventually ended in a 2-2 draw. But referee Danny McClellan didn’t see it over. His assistant was also absent and without VAR or goal-line technology – you would have specified the goal – nothing was done.
Portugal was angry because yes, there is really a lot at stake. You are in the World Cup qualification with Serbia, Ireland, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg: the winner goes straight to Qatar 2022 and second place goes to the playoffs. These two additional points are important: get stuck in the playoffs, anything can happen because they are one-legged playoffs. Not only is this an economic loss, but the feeling of persistent injustice is compounded, which is multiplied and increased by knowledge across the country, and you will not get another shot for four years.
There is no VAR for qualifying for the UEFA World Cup as not every stadium is suitable. Because of the sanctity of the rule, every game must be standardized and played by the same rules, i.e. VAR for all or VAR for all. However, the logistics for equipping the individual locations in all 55 UEFA countries is very complex. It was therefore decided to discontinue the plans for the VAR in the UEFA qualifying matches.
I have no problem not spending any money on housing every stadium, even though at least two-thirds of UEFA member countries have at least one stadium adapted to the VAR, so the cost is too high to introduce others to the code. Just like with the FA file, you cannot control its use when it is available. (By the way, Maracana, which is hosted by Serbia Portugal, is VAR-compliant: Used when Milan Grevena played against Svesta in the Europa League a few weeks ago.)
Most of all, something is better than anything else.
0:54
Craig Burley responded to the controversial decision against Portugal’s 2-2 draw with Serbia in a World Cup qualifier.
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There’s no level playing field argument here – not if they’re using VAR at the World Cup, what we shouldn’t forget is a continuation of those skilled players. If anything, you create a random field of play and make the referees’ job difficult: most people are used to working with VAR and then suddenly they are asked to make big calls without VAR.
According to Portuguese coach Fernando Santos, it was no surprise that referee McClellan later apologized. But to be honest, you can’t even criticize him: he was a great referee when he was on the other end of the field. Nuno mendes Ronaldo was impressed with his long pass: he couldn’t have had a clear vision, nor his assistants.
Some people hate VAR because they philosophically disagree with it (I can respect it, I disagree) or they get mad at how it works (whether it’s offside or handball or whatever). But the ship was sailing. VAR will be at the world championship. In most European leagues we watch VAR every week. It’s designed to get rid of the most gruesome flaws – like this one. It does a good job.
Oh, and while we’re at it, Ronaldo shouldn’t be riding our high horse to throw the captain’s armor and practice disrespect. It’s a piece of cloth that fits around his waist, not a sacred artifact. As my colleague Steve Nicole pointed out on the ESPN FC show, he would have thrown anything he could have thrown. You can criticize Ronaldo for many things if you like, but his country affiliation or his role as captain is not one of them.
… but Portugal has a lot to discover
Ronaldo’s goal was supposed to stand, but Fernando Santos couldn’t be happier as Portugal took a 2-0 lead and fell in the second half. They only disagreed twice; Serge Milinkovic-Savic Came very close to the scores and Anthony Lopez Need a little miracle to erase Duson Tadik. Winger in the meantime Nemanja RadonjikThose who arrived in half an hour tore them into small pieces.
This is a very efficient Portuguese site, but it doesn’t seem to be balanced yet. He also plays Ronaldo as a solo striker Bernardo silva, Diogo An wen And Bruno Fernandez To support – as we saw at Juventus, you can’t get the best out of him. There has to be a way to get it Andre Silva The field of play moves forward on the field of play, even if it means sacrificing an attacking midfielder.
Kane leads England to another win as they mature in World Cup qualifiers
1:47
Janus Michalik believes fans should be delighted with England’s prospects at Euro 2020.
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You can’t easily imagine the English team freezing in a game like Sunday. Eddie Reza’s theoretical 3-4-3 was more than 5-4-1 as they properly closed the gaps and left England happy. They even gave in to fear of counter-attacks.
Then came Harry KaneThe title and everything changed in the second half when Gareth Southgate’s team won 2-0. They looked like a mature, confident team, aware of their weaknesses (Calvin Philipso or not). Declan Reis Would be wrong Kevin de Bruyne At any time, which means you can’t play a midfield killer), but their strengths: they can physically escape enemies and they can put cans of space over wide areas.
The win eases the pressure ahead of Wednesday’s game against Poland, which will be without Robert Lewandowski.
Germany was way better than the result, but they almost threw it away
1:04
Jürgen Klinsmann praised Serge Gnabri’s performance in Germany’s 1-0 win against Romania.
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When he played in Romania on Sunday, all eyes were on Joachim Lowe’s German side before moving to Euro.
If you insist on jockey hate your focus will be on the fact that given the bone head, this game could easily have ended in a draw. Leroy Sane In the last few minutes. But it can be reduced. Despite the lack of a natural center forward, Germany dominated and created many opportunities. (On the other hand, if Serge Knabri When he plays like that, he’ll do whatever you want to do as a modern striker.)
The midfield trio Ilke Kundokan, Leon Goretzka And Joshua Kimmich Not only do they hold most of the games, but they also provide the perfect “second tier” for the pressure previously applied. They could have got higher scores, and if they did, Sane’s mistake wouldn’t have scared them so much in the end. You will want to improve one of these two areas: making better use of opportunities or cutting rewards for the opposition.
At this point you want to get it
1:17
Alessandro del Piero believes Italy is going in the right direction under Roberto Mancini.
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National coaches always want more time with their players, but to be honest, it’s the clubs that pay the fees. Under normal circumstances, an international break is helpful, but it still gives you some work opportunities. The players meet on a Monday and they usually get seven fixed days out of seven. You are playing two games, when you are not playing, you are connecting, you are creating chemistry, you are trying to define your identity.
Of course, given the ongoing infection, it’s out the window. In South America they completely eliminated World Cup qualification. In Europe, they had to cut three games in eight days with the shoe and travel in between. Furthermore, they had to do so in the midst of the most crowded and most energy efficient campaign in history. The clubs looked over their shoulders and asked not to send the players back with injuries.
For example, the Italian boss Roberto Mancini invited fewer than 38 players to take a break. He started 2-0 against Northern Ireland, made six changes to the next game and beat Bulgaria 2-0. Lithuania is next Wednesday and there are six changes expected.
This is the same story for every major country, from France to the UK and Spain. They give the players run-outs and earn points in their pockets. They know this is not the time to work on or experiment with tactics. They want to get it without incident, I hope the guys will feel part of it. But as far as planning is concerned – for a long time this summer or for the euro – it wasn’t.
It’s like a trip to the DMV to renew your driver’s license: you have to fill out your forms, make sure you have supporting documents, that’s all you have to do but you won’t learn anything. That wouldn’t be that fun.
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