Good evening sporting friends!

Here's the analysis of the first two quarter-finals of this Russian 2018 edition of the World Cup, the games were played on Friday, July 6. The matches concerned are France - Uruguay at 4 p.m and Brazil - Belgium at 8.00 p.m.

Have Suarez and his teammates been able to win the transalpine battleship? And who will have won the technical challenge between Brazil and Belgium? The Brazilians or Lukaku and companions? I don't want to anticipate anything, enjoy the reading!

France - Uruguay 2-0

The goals 40' Varane (F), 61' Griezmann (F)

France (4-2-3-1): Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, L. Hernandez; Tolisso (79' Nzonzi), Kantè; Pgoba, Mbappè (88' Dembelé), Giroud; Griezmann (93' Fekir)

Coach: Deschamps

Uruguay (3-5-2): Muslera; Caceres, Godin, Gimenez; Laxalt, Vecino, Torreira, Bentancur (59' Rodriguez), Nandez (72' Urretaviscaya); Stuani (58' Gomez), Suarez

Coach: Tabarez

Proof of the strength for France that in Novgorod imposed itself for the 2-0 on Uruguay and reserved the pass for the semi-finals.

The game was not very exciting and not very spectacular, but very hard and tactical with both teams closed and studying their opponent. In fact, the match was resolved by a still-football and by a...mistake.

The beginning is Uruguayan: the South Americans immediately try to frighten the French, but too timidly. On the other hand, the most active of all is Mbappè who, with his speed, creates confusion between the blue jerseys of Tabarez's defense. However, the errors follow one another on both sides, both for the tension and for the fear of making mistakes in such a delicate match; moreover, the excellent positioning of the players on the field contributes to making the game unpleasant as seen from the stands. As already said before, to unlock the match there is a kick placed, to be precise a free kick on which Varane heads and bags the goal.

Caceres came close to a draw shortly after but Lloris was careful on goal and he wasn' surprised: both teams went to the interval 1-0.

In the second half, the game seems more exciting, perhaps because of the advantage of France which broke the pattern a bit and made the two teams expand. With a bit of luck at 61', the Transalpines find the second goal: Griezmann shoots from outside the central area and Muslera, in an attempt to reject a ball that is a child's play for a goalkeeper of his level, intervenes clumsily with his gloves and the ball enters the goal.

So the French just have to manage the result for the remaining half hour of the game, with the South Americans who despite Suarez's attempt to overturn the game by adding fresh forces cannot make themselves dangerous.

Fatigue was felt in the final minutes and the Uruguayans gradually surrendered to their fate: the match ended 2-0 and the French in the stands could finally rejoice.

And here it is, the Deschamps team, among the top four in the world and waiting to know who between Brazil and Belgium will be the upcoming challenger in the semi-finals. Moreover, the Transalpines were already favored before the start of the competition and have confirmed the predictions with the performances shown so far. They didn't shine against Uruguay but were able to demonstrate lucidity and concreteness in managing the advantage. Now the last effort in order to fly to Moscow and then play for everything in the final.

So the dream of the glory of Tabarez (most likely at his last world championship) and his boys vanishes. The South Americans played badly against France and never gave the impression that they really deserved the victory and the passage of the round. Even the defense, much praised in previous matches, on Friday evening, failed, especially Muslera with his mistake closed the possibility of a boarding at the end of the race. Could it be because of the absence of Cavani? I don't think so, it certainly would have been an extra weapon but El Matador couldn't have skipped the entire French defense (or maybe he could...) by his own.


Brazil - Belgium 1-2

The goals 13' Fernandinho (Aut.) (BE), 31' De Bruyne (BE), 76' Renato Augusto (BR)

Brazil (4-2-3-1) Alisson; Fagner, Thiago Silva, Miranda, Marcelo; Paulinho (73' Renato Augusto), Fernandinho; Neymar, Coutinho, Willian (46' Firmino); Gabriel Jesus (58' Douglas Costa)

Coach: Tite

Belgium (3-4-3): Courtois; Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen; Witsel, Fellaini, Meunier, Chadli (83' Vermaelen); De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku (87' Tielemans)

Coach: Martinez

Incredible at the Kazan Arena: Belgium regulates Brazil 2-0 and puts the arrow in the direction of the semifinals.

Pyrotechnical start with occasions on both sides, with Brazil particularly dangerous on inactive balls (a pole hit by Thiago Silva). In the 12th minute, however, it was Belgium that took the lead and it was right on a stationary ball: on a corner kick taken by Chadli, the ball bounced on Fernandinho, who unintentionally scored on his own goal. The goal demoralized the Brazilians who lowered the rhythm and could not start again, leaving room for the Belgians.

So at half an hour, De Bruyne scores the second one, with a shot from outside the area after a splendid action set by Lukaku. Brazil is sleeping and its star Neymar does not turn on: the first half ends 2-0.

The second half obviously began with Brazil in attack, in search of a goal that could reopen the match. The Selecao looks more fit than during the first half, manages to build the game and is more organized in the construction of the maneuver. Tite tries to shake his team up and put the ductile Douglas Costa in place of Gabriel Jesus and the change seems to have its effects. However, Belgium does not intend to give up and played in defense to bring the result home, putting the shivers to Alisson in a counterattack on several occasions. The Brazilians are still stunned because of the goals and make too many mistakes, while the Belgians dominate the field. Then a quarter of an hour from the end Tite plays his last card Renato Augusto, who repays his coach with a sweetened head that is worth 2-1, the goal of hope. But it is too late, ends 2-1 for Belgium to the amazement and disappointment of the 20,000 Brazilian fans arrived at the stadium.

Congratulations to Mr's Martinez Belgium, who beats Brazil to conquer his first world semifinal in history. It was a practically flawless match on Friday evening, perfect from defense to attack.

The potential for the final victory is there and these guys are taking full advantage of it: the bad performance against Japan is now just an old memory.

Surprisingly the Selecao is out. Tite's team played an opaque game and was outclassed by the Belgian's determination and courage. A huge disappointment for his fans, this year seemed to be the right time to redeem the bad impression made during the last home world championship.

And yet the previous performances had given certainties, especially in defense: but football is not known to be an exact science.

The first semifinal will, therefore, be between France and Belgium, scheduled for Tuesday 10 July in St Petersburg.

An all-European challenge: Griezmann against Lukaku, Lloris against Courtois, the concreteness and solidity of Deschamps' team against the creativity and agility of Martinez' team. Both have taken out 2 South Americans in the quarterfinals and it will be curious to see who of the two will win. France is slightly favored for its technical caliber and experience, but we must not underestimate the young Belgium, which, by qualifying for the semifinals, is outperforming its historical record.

Today we have another 2 great matches, Sweden-England at 4 p.m. and Russia-Croatia at 8 p.m., two games that will unveil the other 2 contenders to the title that will continue on the path to the semi-finals.

I hope you enjoy it and I'll meet you at the next analysis (maybe tomorrow afternoon). See you anon!

Source: Massimoc23

This is a translation of the post made by @Massimoc23 on Steemit, and he authorized me to translate and publish his post in here. This is my sixth collaboration with him, and more articles will follow!

I also advise every one of you to ask for permission before translating somebody's post because you risk being accused of plagiarism if you don't, especially if the article is from famous journals or magazines


All images used in this post are free from copyright and I advise you all to start using images that are not copyright protected!