Kaliningrad (Russia) (AFP) – England and Belgium battle it out for top spot on Thursday on the final day of the World Cup group stages as deposed champions Germany arrived home following their disastrous campaign.
Both England and Belgium — packed with Premier League talent — have sailed through, winning their two games and are now in the curious situation of weighing up whether they even want to top Group G.
Their battle in Kaliningrad follows the dramatic exit of Joachim Loew’s 2014 winners, who finished rock bottom of their group after a 2-0 defeat to South Korea, the final humiliation after a title defence that never caught fire.
Germany apologised to the country on their official Twitter account before they landed in Frankfurt.
“Dear fans, we’re just as disappointed as you,” the tweet read. “We’re sorry we didn’t play like world champions. That’s why we deserved to be eliminated, as bitter as it is.”
Defender Mats Hummels had earlier tweeted out his regrets with a succinct “sorry…” and a crying-face emoji.
German media have given a damning verdict of the campaign, which will be remembered as the first time since 1938 that the country has failed to make it past the first round.
“No words!” chided the best-selling Bild daily, over a picture of a despondent-looking Toni Kroos.
– Knockouts –
Despite a huge scare for Lionel Messi’s Argentina, who needed a late goal from Marcos Rojo to edge through to the knockout phase, all of the tournament’s other big guns are through to the last 16 in Russia.
There has even been some talk that England might have an easier route at the World Cup if they lose in Kaliningrad.
But coach Gareth Southgate said his team are focused on winning, not on plotting a particular route through the knockout stages.
“We need to keep winning football matches and we want to breed a mentality that everybody in our squad wants to constantly win,” said the manager, who has created a relaxed atmosphere for his young charges.
“We’ve not won a knockout game since 2006. Why we would be starting to plot which would be a better venue for our semi-final is beyond me really.”
England impressed in their opening two World Cup games, beating Tunisia 2-1 in Volgograd and thumping Panama 6-1 in Nizhny Novgorod.
But in Belgium they face the world’s third-ranked side, and a squad loaded with world-class talent such as Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne.
from World Soccer Talk https://ift.tt/2Izi3aA
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