00:00Hello, you're watching Golf News Kicking Back. I'm joined by Sharm and Nick to talk about
00:13Day 8 of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where Morocco caused the latest shock of the tournament
00:20that has been full of surprises up until now. They beat Belgium by two goals to nil, thanks
00:25to goals by Abdulhamid Saberi and Zakaria Aboukalal. Now guys, look, Belgium were so
00:31disappointing yet again. They got to the semi-finals of the World Cup four years ago, but it really
00:37looks like that famous old golden generation of players like De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku,
00:43I mean, it looks like they're clearly at the end of the road now. They look nothing like
00:47the side that's supposed to be number two in the FIFA rankings, and they were made to
00:51look second best by Morocco, who are 20 places lower than them in those rankings. Now, Sharm,
00:56it was another very ponderous performance from Belgium, and they paid the price, didn't
01:02they?
01:03Very, very true. I mean, they were just sleepwalking through the match, actually, and they did
01:09nothing to justify that second ranking. And also, I think Kevin De Bruyne said that pretty
01:14much well ahead of the tournament that their best chance had passed four years ago, and
01:19I think he was bang on. Because what we saw here was a side devoid of energy. There's
01:27no spark in them, no passion in them, just going through the motions. And when they come
01:33across a side full of energy, something like Morocco, with the solid backing from… I
01:39mean, their support on the stands was amazing. So, when you come across a side like that,
01:46you just get steamrolled. And that's precisely what happened, actually. They were lucky to
01:50get away with a 2-0 win, actually. In fact, the margin should have been much more.
01:58Could have been. Nick, I mean, what went wrong with Belgium today? They were lucky against
02:03Canada in their first game, where they looked quite leggy and slow, and like Sharm said,
02:08you know, quite just off the boil. But today, they looked even worse. I mean, what's gone
02:12wrong with them?
02:14Well, credit to Morocco. They were strong and disciplined. And I think, you know, this
02:19is a World Cup of shocks. Maybe the lesser-known teams have got more players who are playing
02:26globally in the Premier League and everything. But, you know, and managers, they all look
02:32strong and fit, the players, and momentum is important. Remember, only two weeks ago,
02:38the Premier League was playing, so maybe there's not enough preparation. They just look like
02:43individuals, not a team, and their heads were down and everything. It was a real shock.
02:49There was no team spirit that is going to win the World Cup and do well. They were nowhere
02:55near their game.
02:56Yeah, there was absolutely none. It feels like Roberto Martinez just gets these players,
03:01top-class players, let's be fair, but it just looks like he just throws them together and
03:06he just hopes, you know, they'll just click and start to play. But they just didn't. But
03:11Tashan, Morocco, as Nick just said, were terrific. They were really good. They're sitting
03:15pretty joint-top now in Group F. They're going to be feeling really confident of getting
03:21to that last 16 now, aren't they?
03:23Very, very. And also, they have the momentum with them. And not just that there's a spark
03:28in them, they just want to do better. And when they go into the attack, you can see
03:33they're just throwing bodies into the attack. They just want to go and get it. So that kind
03:37of positive approach will take them far in the tournament, maybe at least till the round
03:42of 16.
03:43Yeah. But to Nick, Belgium's route to the last 16 is still open, but they're going to
03:49have to play a lot better when they face Croatia in their last game. Can they do it?
03:55They can. Courtois was disappointing, well at play for the first goal at the near post.
04:01Never what a goalie wants to do. But all the last games are going to get exciting and it'll
04:07come down to calculators. It'll come down to goal difference. Who knows? There are some
04:12great third games in a lot of groups, especially this one.
04:15Yeah, it should be really good. All right. We've just seen Croatia thrash Canada 4-1.
04:21Sham, I mean, Canada getting knocked out feels a little unjustified, considering how energetic
04:27they've been, how determined they've been playing. And they can leave the tournament
04:31with their heads held high, can't they?
04:34Yes. The first match, they did very well. In fact, they were unlucky to lose. But today,
04:39they were in the game for the first five, 15 minutes. After that, it was just Croatia
04:44all the way. Croatia were far more clinical. They were a lot more professional. And they
04:48just showed them their place, actually.
04:51Yeah. Nick, I mean, facing Belgium and Croatia in their first World Cup in 36 years, it was
04:58never going to be easy for them. But to be honest, I think they were a lot better to
05:03watch than quite a number of teams. They've been exciting with their attacking football.
05:07Were you impressed with the way they've been playing in the last couple of games?
05:10Yeah, I thought the first game and the first half, I think they struggled the last half
05:16to lose 4-1 eventually. They ran out of steam or whatever. But they're ones to watch coming
05:22through and well done, Canada.
05:25Yeah, they took a great lead after just two minutes. Davies scored a thumping header.
05:31But Croatia, they showed their class and quality and in the end, ran out 4-1. Winners there
05:37at the moment, top of the group. But it could all change tonight. Unfortunately, we're not
05:40going to get to talk about the game. Spain's playing Germany at 11 o'clock. Everything
05:45could change there. We'll probably discuss that game tomorrow.
05:48But earlier in the day, Japan, who had caused that huge upset by beating Germany in their
05:54first match, they failed to take another step forward after Keisha Fuller's late goal in
06:00Costa Rica. What I think we can all agree was a smash and grab victory in that Group
06:05E match. Japan dominated that game again. They were on top. They played better. They're
06:09the only team looking like they were trying to push forward and trying to score some goals.
06:13Costa Rica were quite happy just to sit back. But then Fuller scored a lovely curling effort,
06:18which probably the keeper, Godo, should have saved. It looked like he dived a bit early.
06:21It looked a bit flat-footed and he unfortunately couldn't get there in time to tip it over.
06:27It means Japan have lost. Costa Rica, who had lost their first game 7-0, have suddenly
06:32got themselves back into the group. Now, Asham, following their shock win over Germany, did
06:38you expect Japan to do, at least to win today?
06:40Yes, I thought so. I thought Japan would win simply because if you look at the match, Costa
06:46Rica lose the match 7-0 and Japan has a rousing win against actually a giant killing act.
06:53So you would think the momentum is with them. But Costa Rica came back in the match to salvage
07:00some pride and they did. And if you could look at the way they played, they played with
07:06five defenders at the back, which means they didn't want to concede anything more. In fact,
07:13they scored against the run of play. So I actually expected Japan to win and I was sad
07:20to see that they lost. Not just that, it throws a lifeline to Germany now.
07:26Definitely does. It definitely does do that. They needed that result, so they've got that.
07:31But now they'll have to make sure they get their own result tonight. But Tanik, that
07:35was Costa Rica's first shot on target at the World Cup. And in the end, that's all they
07:40needed. They only needed that one goal to beat Japanese.
07:44Well done. And it just shows you really that any team can beat any team apart from perhaps
07:53the few at the elite with so many shocks to today. And it got a slight deflection, maybe
08:00the goal by Fuller, but it was enough for another shock of the day.
08:06All right. Yeah, indeed. Another shock of the day. Tomorrow, there could be more shocks.
08:11We've got four more games. Brazil's playing Switzerland. Now, Switzerland will be pleased
08:16with that win over Cameroon, but they look to be quite an average team. Brazil won't
08:22be having Neymar up front. He's injured. We know that. He picked up that injury in the
08:26first game. His ankle was swollen like a balloon. But they've got Richarlison, who's got nine
08:30goals in his last seven games for Brazil. So with him leading the line and with Vinicius
08:35Junior-Sham, there's just way too much quality, surely, in that Brazilian team to have any
08:39trouble against Switzerland tomorrow, surely?
08:42Surely, they won't have any trouble against Switzerland because they have so much quality
08:48in attack. But what is something is Danilo's absence, more than Neymar, Danilo's absence
08:54is a bit worrying simply because they don't have a proper replacement there. And at the
08:59right back, that would be the only right back in the side is Danny Alves. Danny Alves, we
09:06know, is an aging warrior. So do you really want to put him there?
09:10He looks aged.
09:17So I don't think they want to put him there. But I also read that he might even put Miltau
09:24over there. He is supposed to be favouring Miltau for that position. And I hope Miltau
09:31feels that adequately until Danilo returns from injury.
09:37Nick, I mean, they're missing a couple of key players below that. But against Serbia,
09:41they took a while to get going. It was until Richarlison broke the deadlock with his first
09:45and got that lovely overhead kick, which secured the point. Do you think it could be another
09:49struggle tomorrow against the Swiss?
09:51No, Brazil all the way. Brazil, for my mind, are going to be there at the sharp end, the
09:58business end of the tournament in a few weeks. And they've got strength in depth. No worries.
10:04Watch Brazil.
10:06Yeah, I think we all agree Brazil should cruise through that one, probably win all three games.
10:10The other one tomorrow to look out for is Portugal against Uruguay. Now, obviously,
10:14we know what's been going on with Portugal. Ronaldo has been dominating the news. And
10:17in that last game, he won that penalty, scored the penalty as well. But do you know what?
10:23If he keeps diving around like he does, he's going to get quite a few penalties, isn't
10:26he? Nick, I know you're quite annoyed with the penalty decisions being given at the moment,
10:29very soft decisions for quite a lot of them. Do you think Ronaldo could be up to his old
10:34tricks and could that determine the game tomorrow?
10:37Well, we'll see. I hope not. I'm not that impressed with some of the VAR and the penalties
10:48and those that are given for the wrestling in the box and those that are given for hardly
10:52a tap on the ankle. But let's hope football comes through rather than VAR and the odd
10:57penalty decision that seems a bit unfair. There have been a lot. Is it a dozen so far?
11:02It's certainly over 10. And we'll see. But let's hope football comes to the fore tomorrow
11:08with Portugal. And I see Portugal winning.
11:12Hopefully. I mean, Sean, these are two really good teams on paper, at least. You know, with
11:16the attacking qualities of Portugal and Uruguay, we know how good those squads both are. Are
11:21we? Could we be in for a goal fest tomorrow?
11:25Not really. I am calling Portugal-Uruguay a 1-1 draw.
11:29Ooh, a 1-1 draw.
11:31Yeah.
11:33All right. Well, let's see. The other two games tomorrow are South Korea against Ghana
11:36and Cameroon against Serbia. That's all from us for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow night
11:40to see how all those four matches go on. In the meantime, you know what to do. Head to
11:44golftunes.com for all the latest news and videos and reviews. Check us out on our social
11:48media as well. There's plenty of stuff going on over there. That's all from the guys and
11:52we shall see you tomorrow night.
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