World Cup Day 11: Harry's hatty lifts England; Poland crashes out taken at BSJ Headquarters (Revolution)

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Revolution

World Cup Day 11: Harry's hatty lifts England; Poland crashes out

By Sean Sweeney

Jun 24, 2018 • 4:48 pm

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Couldn't keep up with the goings on in Russia on Sunday? Don't worry, BostonSportsJournal.com has you covered with all the highlights in quickie form, complete with BSJ insight and analysis.

FOUR THOUGHTS ON SUNDAY'S PLAY

Three Lions advance with punishing 6-1 performance over Panama: Some will make this an indictment against CONCACAF, but quite frankly, England was just thoroughly dominant, as if this were UEFA qualifying instead of the World Cup itself. The Three Lions withstood early pressure from Los Canaleros and scored eight minutes in, as a thoroughly unmarked John Stones' cracking header off a corner put the English ahead by a goal to nil. Harry Kane then buried a 22nd minute penalty with absolute authority after Jesse Lingard found himself taken down in the area, and England were practically in the knockout round. Lingard got in on the scoring with an absolute cracker in the 36th minute, and the result was practically out of doubt at that point; Stones completed his brace four minutes later, and Kane made it 5-nil with a second England penalty just before the half. Kane would get a hat trick just after the hour, and it was 6-nil; that goal moved Kane ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku in the Golden Boot race. Panama were industrial at times when it got into the attacking third, but lacked the finish -- until the 78th minute, when defender Felipe Baloy scored the first-ever Panamanian goal at the World Cup.

Japan, Senegal battle to 2-2 draw: An already tight Group H got tighter during the lunch hour. Even though the first half wasn't exactly brilliant, Senegal opened the scoring 12 minutes in, as Liverpool's Sadio Mane knee'd home the rebound at point-blank range, before Japan's Takashi Inui scored on a beautiful strike in the 34th minute, leveling the match at 1-up. And while the second half was better in terms of chances and better technical play, it was Senegal getting the go-ahead tally as 19-year-old Moussa Wague slammed a cheeky backheel in front of the net into the roof of it in the 71st minute. Seven minutes later, it was late-sub Keisuke Honda, after some chaos in the box, pounded home a failed clearance and a cross to re-level the match at 2-up. Both are in prime position to advance, but ...

Colombia sends Poland reeling: Even with four corners apiece, the defending of both Colombia and Poland denied anything to come from them. In other words, there were no shots on target -- until Barcelona's Yerry Mina rose and thumped home James Rodriguez's cross in the 40th minute to give Colombia a rather deserved goal to nil lead, as Los Cafeteros had most of the possession over the previous 10 minutes. Colombian keeper David Ospina would make a brilliant rush off his line, slid, and denied Robert Lewandowski of the equalizer in the 58th minute. Then, with 20 minutes left, the venerable Radamel Falcao took Juan Fernando Quintero's pass and made it 2-nil with a tight slot into the corner, sending the Poles crashing out of the World Cup. Jose Cuadrado then made it three on James Rodriguez's helper, and it was time for Colombia to dance.

Stop the arrogant thinking that the US deserves a spot in this World Cup: Over the last 11 days, there has been a lot of squawking about how the US men's national team is better than X, Y, or Z, and that they would perform at this World Cup in place of X, Y, or Z. Enough. Stop. Just stop. They did not qualify, which is why they are not here. The Old Guard of the United States, the same players that were good enough to get out of the group in '14 and '10, and were good enough to get us to Italy in '06, were simply not good enough to get us out of CONCACAF and to the World Cup this time around. They couldn't beat Costa Rica in New Jersey, couldn't get a draw against Trinidad & Tobago on the road when it really mattered. They failed. If you think they should be in every World Cup, then start holding US Soccer and the players accountable on July 16. Stress that the players get better technically on the ball, and that there is a rotation of players so that they continually stay young and fresh. No more of the DeMarcus Beasley and four World Cups. Start building around Christian Pulisic, and make sure you have more than one Christian Pulisic once every generation.

OFF THE PITCH


  • Talk about devotion to football: A pair of England fans biked to Russia. Seriously. After a ferry to France, it was nearly 4,000 kilometers through all kinds of weather, and they made it to Russia in time for England's first match against Tunisia; who greeted them? A Red Sox hat-wearing Russian who followed their trip on Twitter. In fact, they were in the front row, behind the goal, when Kane scored the winner.

  • Croatia may sit out some of the first-choice players on Tuesday, which would complicate matters for Argentina. Six players are sitting on a yellow card, which is erased after the group stage. However, a second yellow means a suspension for the Round of 16 match. The Croatians are top of Group D, with Argentina needing Croatia to beat Iceland to have a chance of advancing from the group. The Croatian players who may get the nod Tuesday include players who have not taken part in a major tournament such as the World Cup.

  • Former Spain/Arsenal midfielder and current Chelsea back-up Cesc Fabregas threw a little shade toward Tottenham Hotspur Sunday when he said that Kane is "ready to go to a proper big club." Microphone, dropped.

  • Sunday was Lionel Messi's 31st birthday.

  • Liverpool/Egypt's Mohamed Salah is reportedly thinking about retiring from international football.


STATS OF THE DAY


  • Kane's brace against Tunisia was the first for England at the World Cup since Gary Lineker scored one against Cameroon in the '90 World Cup in Italy.

  • England has not lost in over a year: in 12 matches played, the Three Lions are 9-0-3.

  • The last time England scored within the first 10 minutes of a World Cup match? It was against the US in '10, when Steven Gerrard scored in the fourth minute.

  • Honda has either scored or assisted the last 10 World Cup goals for Japan.

  • Senegal is unbeaten in the Group Stages in two World Cup appearances (2-0-3).

  • We are through 32 matches of the World Cup, and we haven't had a 0-0 scoreline at full time yet.

  • Sunday's 14 goals mark the third-highest total in a single day for the World Cup. The highest was 18, and that hasn't been achieved since 1982.


PLAYER OF THE DAY


Harry Kane, striker, England




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