dt news€¦ · 07/03/2018 · pekerman captain radamel falcao best finish quarter-final 2014...

18TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2018

England Colombia

Colombia England

Nickname | The Three Lions Nickname | The Coffee Growers

P O S S I B L E L I N E - U P SFact box

» Colombia fell to a 2-1 loss to Japan in their first match, but recovered well to beat Poland and Senegal to progress as group winners. They haven’t been at their best, however, and the absence of James Rodriguez, even accounting for the form of Juan Quintero, is a blow.

» England finished second in Group G, which should hand them an easier route to the semi-finals, but they mustn’t take Colombia lightly. Failure to take any threat from their South American counterparts serious-ly will likely result in their elimination from the last-16.

» Of the eight upcoming matches, this is the hardest to predict. It could go all the way.

Can they cage the lions?Reuters | Repino, Russia

For all the talk about England’s progress under Gareth South-gate, his youthful side have yet

to be truly examined in this World Cup but today’s last 16 opponents Colombia will certainly ask the right questions.

With or without their talented number 10 James Rodriguez, the South American possess plenty of talent and their run to the quarter-finals in Brazil four years ago showed they are capable of something England haven’t man-aged in 12 years — winning i n t h e knock-o u t

stage.England qualified from Group G

thanks to wins over Tunisia and Pan-ama and with their place booked they fielded a second-string side in their 1-0 defeat to a similarly weakened Belgium in a strange final group game that nei-ther side showed much desire to win.

The ‘prize’ for finishing second in the group, was to be in the easier half of

the draw but all the talk of a ‘path’ to the final risks under-estimating the difficulty of their immediate obstacle.

Rodriguez, whose involvement is questionable as he is suffering from swelling in his leg, was the Golden Boot winner in 2014 with

six goals and before his fitness problems was showing signs of that form again.

Radamel Falcao’s failure to make a strong impact in the Premier League during spells with Manchester United and

Chelsea, should not disguise the fact that he is a prolific finisher and a real threat.

Likewise winger Juan Cuadrado’s disappointment at Chelsea needs to be set against his impressive perfor-mances in Serie A for Juventus and his importance to Jose Pekerman’s Colom-bian side.

E n g l a n d right-back K i e r a n T r i p p i e r, w h o i m -p r e s s e d s o much in the opening two games, says the players are well aware of the challenge facing them.

“We have done a lot of work on them. When you look at the players they’ve got in the team and the way the quali-fied in their group as well, they’ve got some quality players and we need to be aware of that,” he said.

Trippier suggested England will con-

t i n -ue with the approach they have shown so far in this tour-nament and indeed South-gate is expected to return to line-up that he started with in the opener against Tunisia.

It means Dele Alli should be back in his supporting role to five-goal striker Harry Kane at the expense of Ruben Lof-tus-Cheek.

Colombia defensive mid-fielder Carlos Sanchez expects a tight encounter.

© GRAPHIC NEWS

Colombia v England

Recent meetings

Player to watchJuan Quintero

Player to watchHarry Kane

CoachJosePekermanCaptainRadamelFalcaoBest finishQuarter-final2014

CoachGareth

SouthgateCaptain

HarryKane

Best finishWinner

196620051998

EnglandColombia

3-20-2

ColombiaEngland

5258

106811

51%

Goals scoredTotal shots

Shots on targetPasses completed

CornersPossession

Last 16, July 3Spartak Stadium, Moscow

All-timemeetings

D2

84215

142717

55%

HEAD-TO-HEAD

COMPETITION STATISTICS

Colombia 0 England 3

JapanPolandSenegal

Match 1Match 2Match 3

1-23-01-0

LWW

TunisiaPanamaBelgium

2-16-10-1

WWL

ROAD TO LAST 16

Group Hwinner

Group Grunner-up

Source: FIFAPictures: Getty Images

SpartakStadiumCapacity:45,000

Supportersare closeto pitch,

generatingintense,raucous

atmosphere

FIFA World Cup 2018FIFA World Cup 2018

© GRAPHIC NEWS

Colombia v England

Recent meetings




CoachGareth

SouthgateCaptain

HarryKane

Best finishWinner

196620051998

EnglandColombia

3-20-2

ColombiaEngland

5258

106811

51%



CornersPossession


All-timemeetings

D2

84215

142717

55%

HEAD-TO-HEAD



JapanPolandSenegal


1-23-01-0

LWW


2-16-10-1

WWL

ROAD TO LAST 16

Group Hwinner

Group Grunner-up



Supportersare close

to pitch,generating

intense,raucous

atmosphere


EnglandJohn Stones is a doubt with a calf issue having been forced off in the 1-0 defeat to Belgium, though he should be fit to start. Gareth Southgate is expected to bring his first team regulars back into the fold, which means the likes of Harry Kane, Kyle Walker and Jordan Henderson would all return, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek will hope to keep his place in midfield. Fabian Delph will return to England as his wife is due to give birth, but will be available for the match.

ColombiaJames Rodriguez is a doubt having been forced off in 1-0 win over Senegal, with Luis Muriel set to feature in his ex-pected absence, while Abel Aguilar is likely to sit his one out.Wilmar Barrios will hope to start, though Jose Pekerman may continue with Mateus Uribe and Carlos Sanchez at the base of the midfield in a 4-2-3-1 setup.Rodriguez, Barrios and Johan Mojica are all one booking away from suspension.

Colombia: David Ospina; Santi-ago Arias, Davinson Sanchez, Yerry

Mina, Johan Mojica; Carlos Sanchez, Mateus Uribe; Juan Cuadrado, Juan

Quintero, Luis Muriel; Falcao

England: Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Kieran Trippier, Dele,

Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young;

Raheem Ster-ling, Harry Kane

I believe in the group of players we’ve got. This

will be one of the biggest games

they’ll have been involved in

ENGLAND COACH GARETH SOUTHGATE

I’m coming off the back of a

hat-trick and I’m ready to go in a very important

game for us against Colombia ENGLAND CAPTAIN HARRY KANE

Sweden offer litmus test for golden Swiss generationReuters | St Petersburg

Sweden are the underdogs going into their World Cup

last 16 match with Switzerland but are counting on strategy and trust in the collective to help them reach the quarter-finals, their captain Andreas Granqvist said yesterday.

Sweden face Switzerland in St Petersburg today in what prom-ises to be a game of fine margins.

The Swiss came through Group E unbeaten, winning once and drawing twice to finish sec-ond behind Brazil, while Swe-den, whose defensive style of play has been criticised in some quarters, topped Group F de-spite being beaten by Germany.

“We know what got us this far,” Granqvist told a news con-ference. “We know Switzerland have been playing really well over a long period of time.

“They are the favourites for the match tomorrow and that we would in any way underes-timate them is not even in the cards. We know what brought us here — very strong collective defence and the courage to at-tack as well.”

Wi t h t h e t e a m s e ve n l y matched and neither boasting a wealth of attacking options, the tie could well be decided by a penalty shootout, and Sweden

coach Janne Andersson said he had a plan for that eventuality.

“It’s my job to decide on the players who need to perform, in this case for the penalty shootout

situation,” the 55-year-old said. “We’ve talked about it in the squad... and I’m going to rank

the players, the entire squad in terms of penalties.

“We have a clear plan in place

for what we’re going to do, but I’m not going to enter into any more details.”

Granqvist, who has scored two penalties in Russia already, said he was confident of adding to that tally if it came down to it, but was hoping Sweden could prevail in normal time.

© GRAPHIC NEWS

Sweden v Switzerland

Recent meetings

Player to watchL. Augustinsson

Player to watchXherdan Shaqiri

CoachJanneAnderssonCaptainAndreasGranqvistBest finishFinal1958

CoachVladimirPetkovic

CaptainStephan

LichtsteinerBest finish

Quarter-final1934, 1938, 1954

20022001

SwedenSwitzerland

1-10-2

SwitzerlandSweden

53615

66012

39%



CornersPossession

Last 16, July 3Saint Petersburg

All-timemeetings

D7

53810

135215

55%

HEAD-TO-HEAD


Sweden 10 Switz. 11

S. KoreaGermanyMexico


1-01-23-0

WLW

BrazilSerbiaCosta Rica

1-12-12-2

DWD

ROAD TO LAST 16

Group Fwinner

Group Erunner-up


SaintPetersburgStadiumCapacity:67,000

Spaceship-likenew stadium,

designedby noted

Japanesearchitect

KishoKurosawa


SwedenSebastian Larsson was stretchered off against Mexico and there are fears his World Cup is now over, though he would have been suspended against Switzer-land, regardless. Gustav Svensson is expected to replace Larsson in midfield in what may be Jan Olof Andersson’s only change to his favoured XI. Albin Ekdal, Viktor Claesson and Mikael Lustig are all one booking away from a ban.

SwitzerlandHead coach Vladimir Petkovic will be forced into two changes when his Switzer-land side face Sweden on Tuesday afternoon. Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schar are both suspended, with Michael Lang and Johan Djourou, respectively, set to deputise. Steven Zuber is a doubt through illness, though Breel Embolo could keep his spot on the left wing after a solid showing against Costa Rica. Denis Zakaria, Valon Behrami and Xherdan Shaqiri are all one booking away from suspension.

Sweden: Robin Olsen; Mikael Lustig, Victor Lindelöf, Andreas Granqvist, Ludwig Augustinsson; Viktor Claesson, Gustav Svensson, Albin Ekdal, Emil Forsberg; Marcus Berg, Ola Toivonen

Switzerland: Yann Sommer; Michael Lang, Johan Djourou, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez; Valon Behrami, Granit Xhaka; Xherdan Shaqiri, Blerim Dzemaili, Steven Zuber; Josip Drmic

P O S S I B L E L I N E - U P S

Fact box » Sweden landed their spot in the last-16 courtesy of a 3-0 win over Mexico,

which saw them progress as group winners. Few gave them a chance of making it out of the group, let alone topping Group F, and they’ll be confident of landing a quarter-final berth at Switzerland’s expense.

» Switzerland were held to a late 2-2 draw with Costa Rica on Wednesday night. However, the absence of key defenders Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schar, who both received their second bookings of the tournament in the stale-mate, will hinder their chances of overcoming Sweden on Tuesday afternoon.

© GRAPHIC NEWS

Colombia v England

Recent meetings




CoachGareth

SouthgateCaptain

HarryKane

Best finishWinner

196620051998

EnglandColombia

3-20-2

ColombiaEngland

5258

106811

51%



CornersPossession


All-timemeetings

D2

84215

142717

55%

HEAD-TO-HEAD



JapanPolandSenegal


1-23-01-0

LWW


2-16-10-1

WWL

ROAD TO LAST 16

Group Hwinner

Group Grunner-up





atmosphere


© GRAPHIC NEWS

Colombia v England

Recent meetings




CoachGareth

SouthgateCaptain

HarryKane

Best finishWinner

196620051998

EnglandColombia

3-20-2

ColombiaEngland

5258

106811

51%



CornersPossession


All-timemeetings

D2

84215

142717

55%

HEAD-TO-HEAD



JapanPolandSenegal


1-23-01-0

LWW


2-16-10-1

WWL

ROAD TO LAST 16

Group Hwinner

Group Grunner-up





atmosphere


Harry Kane

James Rodriguez

Emil Forsberg

dt news€¦ · 07/03/2018 · pekerman captain radamel falcao best finish quarter-final 2014...

Documents