World Cup Day 8: France through, Croatia routs Argentina to advance taken at BSJ Headquarters (Revolution)

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Revolution

World Cup Day 8: France through, Croatia routs Argentina to advance

By Sean Sweeney

Jun 21, 2018 • 5:11 pm

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Couldn't keep up with all the action in Russia today? BostonSportsJournal.com has you covered with all the highlights in quickie form, complete with BSJ insight and analysis.

FOUR THOUGHTS ON THURSDAY'S ACTION

Croatia is through: We'll get to what's on everyone's minds in a minute, but let's give all the credit to Croatia, which thoroughly deserves to go through to the knockouts with two wins, and one match to go against Iceland next Tuesday. Both teams had great opportunities -- and great misses -- at each end of the pitch through the first 50 minutes, but Croatia's Ante Rebic, on a rather poor giveaway by Argentina goalkeeper Willy Caballero -- the backup keeper at Chelsea -- buried a bullet from 15 yards away in the 54th minute, and that amped up the pressure on a certain striker from Rosario. Croatia managed to thwart Lionel Messi, crowding him when he tried to get into the penalty area, and when Argentina did get in -- like the way Gonzalo Higuain motored in and centered to Messi -- Croatian keeper Danijel Subasic was there to deny. And it wasn't until the last gasps of the 80th minute when Luka Modric delivered a curler from 19 yards to give Croatia insurance. Ivan Rakatic ended it in second-half stoppage time.

Argentina is in serious trouble: They were finalists in Brazil four years ago, finalists at the Copa America Centenario here in the States two years ago ... and now Argentina is in danger of not getting out of the group stages for the first time since '02. It's absolutely unthinkable to those in that South American country, so I'll say it: Is this the end of the Messi era at the international level? It sure feels like it. While the Albicelestes haven't been eliminated, one has to wonder what exactly will happen back in Buenos Aires should that indeed happen next Tuesday. Will the Argentine Football Association blow the entirety of the program up, much in the same way as Germany did after failing to advance from the group at Euro 2000 (and what US Soccer should do here, but what do I know)? Is this the last international competition for certain players (like Messi, Higuain, Sergio Aguero, Javier Mascherano, et. al), seeing as the average age of the team it brought to Russia is 30? And remember, Argentina finished third in CONMEBOL qualifying with 28 points in 18 matches (it was at 16 points through the first nine matches... what happened after that? A 3-3-3 record), with Messi scoring a hat-trick in the final qualifier to secure third. They barely got here, and now the Argentinians need to wait and see what happens Friday between Iceland and Nigeria: if Iceland wins to go to four points, and with Argentina holding a minus-3 goal difference headed to Tuesday, some anti-football between Croatia and Iceland could conceivably knock it out ... unless Messi, who had difficulty against a well-organized Croatian side, puts the team on his shoulders again. And even that may not be enough.

France also on to the Round of 16: Seconds after nearly scoring on a cheeky pirouette-turned-backheel near the spot, it was 19-year-old Kylian Mbappe of Paris-Saint Germain (for now) who made no doubt about it as he tapped in Olivier Giroud's deflected volley in the 34th minute to put Les Bleus ahead by a goal to nil at the half. Peru had some opportunities and had a good chunk of the ball, but could not break through as France parked the bus in the second half en route to a 1-0 win. France is en route to the knockout stages, and really only needs a draw against Denmark on Monday to take the top spot in Group C. Peru is now eliminated.

Danes, Aussies end level, 1-1: Denmark opened the scoring seven minutes in as Tottenham's Christian Eriksen buried a left-footed dagger from 15 yards away, but Australia, which started to get a foothold in the match around the half-hour mark, leveled through the penalty spot. Video review showed that Yussef Poulsen -- who had handled in the Danes' match against Peru and will now miss the match against France with yellow card accumulation -- handled, and the referee wasted no time in his review and pointed to the spot. Mile Jedinak pounded the ball into the net in the 38th. Both teams came close to winners in the final 25 minutes, including two brilliant shots by Australia in the 88th minute that Kasper Schmeichel denied. It's still a massive point for Australia, who have yet to score from open play; with the France result, Denmark can now play for a draw to advance -- but can beat France to go top of the group.

OFF THE PITCH


  • Morocco accused American referee Mark Geiger of improper conduct and asked FIFA for an inquiry into whether or not Geiger asked for a Portuguese player's jersey following Wednesday's match. Here's FIFA's response:





  • Exiled (read: disgraced) FIFA president Sepp Blatter is supposed to stay away from football until 2021, but that didn't stop him from coming to Russia. On Thursday morning, Blatter visited Russian president Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin and discussed Russia's solid start to the World Cup. He also attended the 1-0 win for Portugal over Morocco and is expected to attend Brazil-Costa Rica on Friday.

  • And in a bit of a shock, the 82-year-old Blatter said that England should get the World Cup hosting duties the next time Europe is up to host, which more than likely will be 2034: Qatar and the Middle East get 2022, while North America gets 2026. A joint bid by Uruguay and Argentina is expected to be put forth to co-host 2030, the centennial year of the World Cup (Uruguay hosted in 1930). England is looking into a joint bid with other Home Nations for 2030. Morocco is also bidding for 2030.

  • The BBC reported England midfielder Dele Alli was not available to train with the squad Thursday, and he's doubtful now to take part in the Three Lions' match against Panama on Sunday. The Tottenham Hotspur man suffered a thigh injury in England's 2-1 win against Tunisia.

  • Hold on to your cold ones, folks: dwindling stocks of ammonia -- the main ingredient for CO2 -- are affecting beer and soda availability throughout Europe... including the World Cup.

  • Croatia's Nikola Kalinic was removed from the squad and sent home after refusing to go on as a substitute against Nigeria.


STATS OF THE DAY


  • In 16 prior World Cup appearances, Argentina has failed to get out of the first round/group stage four times.

  • Australia has now played 12 World Cup matches. It has kept no clean sheets -- a scoreless draw against Chile in 1974 doesn't count -- and have been scored on 24 times.

  • Mbappe became the youngest goal-scorer for France in international competition: He's only 19 years, 183 days old.


PLAYER OF THE DAY


Kylian Mbappe, striker, France


Derek Rae
Aly Wagner


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