On the fourth day of the 2018 World Cup, we got more action in Group F and a full matchday of competition in Group E, as pre-tournament favourites continued to underwhelm in their World Cup openers.
Kolarov’s class fires Serbia past Ticos
It took a single moment of class from Aleksandar Kolarov to separate Serbia from Costa Rica in the opening match of Group E. The ex-Manchester City man, who currently plies his trade for Italian side Roma, whipped one of his trademark free kicks into the top corner, out of reach of a diving Keylor Navas, to score a 56th-minute screamer that would settle things at 1-0 for the Serbs.
Mexico hands Germany earthshaking defeat
Defending champion Germany was effectively bowled over by Mexico in a first half that saw the CONCACAF side take the lead in the 35th minute through Hirving “Chucky” Lozano. The fleet-footed PSV winger, whose pace caused problems for Germany from the outset, latched onto a ball from Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez before cutting inside and firing a shot into the bottom left corner of the net. The early goal, along with Mexico’s frenetic pace, shocked the defending champs and it seemed to take a long while for Germany to recover its composure. In the meantime, Jogi Loew’s team was fortunate not to concede more goals, as Mexico continued to mount dangerous counterattacks.
Germany finally got a foothold late in the game and began to pour numbers forward to barrage Memo Ochoa’s goal. But the Teutonic breakthrough never materialized and Mexico hung on to snatch three points. The result was apparently so earthshaking that seismic activity was reported in Mexico City around the same time Lozano scored his goal.
Mighty Brazil held by the clocklike efficiency of the Swiss
Phillipe Coutinho fired Brazil into an early lead with a curling effort from his preferred top corner of the box. But Brazil was unable to build on the Barcelona man’s goal and Switzerland pulled one back five minutes into the second half, when Steven Zuber, unmarked in the box, rose to head in a corner floated in by Xherdan Shaqiri to level things. Brazil kept asking questions and had a good chance late in the game when Willian dropped a cross into the box for Neymar, who blasted his header straight into the arms of Swiss keeper, Yann Sommer. Sommer was called into action again moments later when he denied a close-range header from Roberto Firmino to see out the 1-1 draw.
Why it matters
With three out of the four pre-tournament favourites failing to win their opening games, the Russia World Cup has been thrown into a state of disarray in the early going. Serbia now sits atop Group E with Brazil in second, while Mexico top Group F and Germany sit rock bottom. It’s still early days, and one would expect the big teams to rise to the top as the tournament hits its stride. But it’s making for interesting watching and lending an air of unpredictability to this World Cup that makes you feel like anything is possible.
