Quite a lot of people thought that the increase in teams at the World Cup would mean more boring games and that the smaller nations would struggle to get results. Happily, I’m pleased to say that, so far, that has not been the case. Granted, Germany thrashed Curaçao 7-1, but when the minnows equalised in the 21st minute to make the score 1-1, I was jumping off my sofa.
Probably the best example so far of a smaller team holding their own against a larger nation was Spain v Cape Verde last Monday. Remember, I picked Spain as my favourites to win the competition last week. I should have said that they are slow starters and normally grow into a tournament. Let’s hope I’m not wrong!
Cape Verde, or Cabo Verde, is located 500km off Africa’s west coast and is a ten-island archipelago with an estimated population of 520,500 residing on nine of those islands. People talk more about it as a holiday destination than as a hotbed of football, so in reality they shouldn’t have stood a chance.
Spain are the current European champions, with 15 members of their squad having won a trophy this past season, and in Lamine Yamal they have a possible Player of the Tournament.
In the game itself, Spain unsurprisingly dominated, completing over 800 passes and registering 27 shots at goal. Unfortunately for La Roja, they came up against a goalkeeper who had an absolute worldie.
I guarantee that nobody out there had heard of the Cape Verde goalkeeper, Josimar José Évora Dias, widely known by his nickname, Vozinha, before the game. But you can be sure millions do now. He is 40 years of age and plays in the Portuguese second division for a team called Chaves. His performance saw him pull off a string of outstanding saves that totally frustrated the Spanish team. Before the game, as I said above, he was a complete unknown with 20,000 followers on Instagram. At the time of writing, just three days later, he now has 13 million followers! Luckily for Spain, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, who are in the same group, drew their game too, so it’s all to play for. I still expect Spain to come through as group winners. Next up for Spain is Saudi Arabia on Sunday at 18:00.
From Spain’s frustration we move to England’s exhilaration. Sixty years of hurt, and every tournament we hope it’s going to be our turn. My whole lifetime, as I was born in 1966, we’ve suffered countless heartbreaks. That’s why I said last week that my heart says the winners will be England, while my head says it will be Spain. But in Thomas Tuchel, England have a ruthless winner who has, without doubt, been brought in to win the competition. Croatia have delivered some of those heartbreaks in the past. In 2007 they knocked us out in the qualifiers for the European Championships, and in 2018 they beat us in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia.
The first half on Wednesday night was a mirror image of how England normally perform. There were flashes of great attacking ability, with Kane scoring twice, but they were let down by some poor defending. It was a great game for the neutral, but for us England fans, as usual, it was nerve-racking. We went into half-time all square at 2-2.
Without doubt, Tuchel gave the team a rocket at half-time, and they produced a stunning second-half performance. Jude Bellingham silenced his critics with a barnstorming run and finish to make it 3-2. Then, in the closing moments, substitutes Saka and Rashford combined to make it 4-2 and complete a very satisfying second-half performance.
A great start for England, but let’s keep a lid on the celebrations and simply be happy that we’ve started well. There’s a long way to go yet, but it’s certainly a promising start.
Next up for England is Ghana next Tuesday at 22.00.
Dad Taxi Mallorca 