Match 1: Morocco vs Portugal
Portugal is closing in on booking a spot into the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup. Ronaldo’s goal came early. A fourth-minute header after Morocco lost track of him on a corner kick, but it was enough for a 1-0 victory that put Portugal on the verge of the knockout stage.
Ronaldo became the highest-scoring European player in international soccer history. It was his fourth goal of the cup. But all Portugal did was the score, Morocco played the better football. The just have two forwards the work brilliantly. Their defense speaks for itself.
Morocco playing some of the best football I’ve seen at the World Cup. Great movement and positioning. All they lack is a goal-scorer, a finisher. Morocco in last 8 days: Cruelly 2 lost World Cup games despite playing entertaining football and one lost World Cup 2026 Bid.
It wasn’t the greatest showing from the Portuguese, as Morocco controlled possession and created more chances, but the finishing was abysmal. In all, Morocco had 16 shots — six more than Portugal — but just four went on frame.
Benatia, himself, had about three golden chances to score and wasted every single one. Atlas Lions had so many chances. They just need one person that is their finisher.
Ronaldo mostly has jogged at this World Cup. More often, he has walked. It is not that he cannot run, or doesn’t want to; he is just in no hurry until he has to be. A good striker only needs to be in the right place once or twice a game to be world class, after all, and no one in the world spots those one or two places better than Ronaldo, who ran his World Cup scoring lead to four goals in the blink of an eye.
But the match did have Ronaldo. And for him, the goal, and the result, were more than enough. Now Portugal faces Iran with a chance to win the group on Monday, while Morocco is certainly headed home after the group stage.
Man of the Match: A few Morocco fans began to boo Portugal’s anthem, but then several Morocco fans took it upon themselves to quiet them down and then applauded the Portuguese anthem.
Match 2: Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia
Luis Suárez marked his 100th international cap by sending Uruguay into the last 16 of the World Cup after benefiting from some poor goalkeeping to eliminate Saudi Arabia with a 1-0 win.
The Barcelona forward tapped in the only goal of the game midway through the first half. The goal put Uruguay second in Group A with a maximum six points and ensured qualification to the knockout phase as Saudi Arabia, who have not won a World Cup game since their debut in 1994, have yet to pick up a point.
Uruguay playing confident and having the composure a three-time world champ against the team that were decimated to bits by Russia.
Saudi Arabia, who endured a minor scare when an engine on their plane caught fire before landing in Rostov on Monday, have now failed to score in their last four World Cup games. After a 5-0 demolition at the hands of Russia in the tournament’s opening game, they performed better here but were ultimately shown up as toothless. But they show considerable improvement from their first-day fiasco. The Saudis continued to move the ball around but barely threatened a typically gritty Uruguay defense.
But Saudi Arabia’s keeper stood no chance against the mighty Uruguayan striker/ famous Jaws celebrity Luiz Suarez.
At least Suárez, who missed three good opportunities in Uruguay’s opening win against Egypt, was at his efficient best with his 52nd international goal.
Man of the Match: Luis Suarez
Match 3: Iran vs Spain.
Spain had lived, but dangerously. Iran had been defeated, but only just.
After a first half when they had the ball but were unable to produce the goal they needed, Spain got it early in the second. They needed it but had not always looked like getting it during an opening 45 minutes in which Iran had played deep, waited, defended. Spain had expected that but they had not found a solution for it.
In part, that is because Iran do it well. Unbeaten in four years of competitive matches, they had played 22 times without defeat, keeping a clean sheet in 18 of them.
What surprised perhaps was that they did not only do so when they were defensive, they did so when the game changed and they went for Spain. Ultimately, they were unfortunate not to be rewarded for it.
Hierro had insisted that he would change as little as possible but given their opponents, there was a switch here. Koke was removed from midfield, Andrés Iniesta and David Silva playing alongside Sergio Busquets. That allowed greater creativity and swifter circulation in the middle; it also allowed for Lucas Vázquez to be included up front, giving width and a willingness to run on the right. That, at least, was the theory. In practice, it was rather different.
Not Man of the Match : Diego Costa beating the shit out of Iranian players. Showing his Dark Side.
Man of the Match though : The guy who nutmeged Pique at the 82nd minute.
If Spain (vs Morocco) & Portugal (vs Iran) win/draw by identical scores Monday, then both advance, & group winner will be decided by Fair Play points. OR If Spain & Portugal lose by identical scores, then Fair Play decides which advances as runner-up behind Iran.
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