(Qatar World Cup) Tournament preview: Brazil and Portugal won the group title, Ghana wants to be the biggest "dark horse"
China News Agency, Beijing, December 1 (Reporter Wang Zumin) On December 2, local time, the Qatar World Cup will have the last 4 games of the group stage.
Brazil and Portugal, who have already qualified ahead of schedule, should be able to secure the top spot in the group.
The Ghana team, which ranks at the bottom of the top 32 in the world, is expected to advance to the top 16 and become the biggest "dark horse" in the group stage.
With only 1 point, the South Korean team faces the Portuguese team, and the hope of winning and advancing is slim.
Ghana VS Uruguay (23:00 Beijing time on the 2nd)
In the first two rounds of the group stage, the darkest team was undoubtedly the "African Star" Ghana team.
Although the team reached the top 8 in the 2010 World Cup, they failed to qualify for the group in 2014 and even failed to pass the qualifiers in 2018. They are currently ranked 61st in the world and bottom of the top 32.
But it was this "underdog" who was not optimistic by the outside world. In the first game, they lost 2:3 to the Portuguese team led by Ronaldo, and almost equalized the score in stoppage time.
In the second battle, he defeated the South Korean team, whose world ranking was much higher than his own, 3:2. He scored 5 goals in the two games. The number of goals in the first two rounds was second only to the three favorites Spain (8 goals), England and France Team (same as 6 balls).
The Ghanaian team has a strong "fighting spirit" for this game that wins and qualify.
In addition to the importance of the event itself, there is also a period of "river and lake grievances".
In the 2010 World Cup, the Ghanaian team entered the quarter-finals, tying the best result of an African team in the history of the World Cup.
In the quarter-finals, the opponent was Uruguay.
After the game entered overtime, Suarez, who was still a rookie in the World Cup at that time, blocked a must-goal by Ghana with his hand. Although Suarez was sent off with a red card, Ghana missed a penalty and scored in the final point. Lost in the ball game, missed the best chance to promote the African team's best record in the World Cup to the semi-finals.
The Ghanaian team still broods about it to this day.
Its defender Diku said in an interview with the media that the experience of being eliminated 12 years ago will inspire Ghanaian players to beat Uruguay in Qatar.
This time the Uruguay team, still led by Suarez, performed unsatisfactorily and became the only team with 0 goals so far.
Uruguay, which currently has only one point, must win if they want to qualify. If South Korea beats Portugal, they will have to compare their goal difference with South Korea.
Because the Portuguese team is unlikely to lose to the South Korean team, the fate of the Uruguay team is still in their own hands.
South Korea VS Portugal (23:00 Beijing time on the 2nd)
The reason why Portugal is optimistic about not losing to South Korea is not only the strength gap between the two sides, but also because there is also a grievance between the two teams.
In the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, South Korea and Portugal were in the same group.
At that time, Portugal's "golden generation" led by Figo was at its peak and was the favorite to win the championship.
But in the game, the Portuguese team was sent off two people, and the host South Korea team won 1-0 to advance, and finally won the fourth place, creating the best record in the team's World Cup history. Headed home after the group stage.
This is also the only time the two teams have faced each other in the World Cup.
After a lapse of 20 years, they met again. Although the Portuguese team had advanced ahead of schedule, they would not give up this "revenge" opportunity.
In the first two rounds of group matches, South Korea tied Uruguay and lost to Ghana, and currently only has 1 point. If they want to advance, they must win this campaign and score as many goals as possible to prevent Uruguay from defeating Ghana. Teams compare goal difference.
But for the Korean team, defeating the Portuguese team is already an unattainable goal.
Unless the Portuguese team can let go of the "grievances" 20 years ago, follow the example of the French team that qualified ahead of schedule, rotate the lineup, wait for work, and leave an opportunity for the South Korean team to be upset (the last round of the group stage, the French team was upset 0:1 lost to Tunisia).
Serbia VS Switzerland (3:00 Beijing time on the 3rd)
After the Brazilian team advances early, another qualifying place in Group G is very likely to be produced among these two teams.
After the first two rounds of the group stage, the Swiss team had 1 win, 1 loss and 3 points. They will advance directly after winning this campaign. As long as the Brazilian team does not lose to the Cameroon team, the Swiss team can qualify for a tie.
The Serbia team, which has only one draw, has 1 point. The prerequisite for qualifying in the group is to win this campaign. If the Cameroon team beats the Brazil team in an upset, the Serbia team will have to compare the goal difference with the Cameroon team.
In the last World Cup, the Serbian team in the same group lost to the Swiss team 1:2, and finally watched the Swiss team advance to the top 16.
Today, whether it is the world ranking or the current situation, the Serbian team is at a disadvantage.
However, the pragmatic Swiss team tends to be conservative in playing style and is good at defensive counterattacks; the Serbian team is more aggressive and has stronger combat effectiveness.
In the world preliminaries, the Serbian team scored 18 goals in 8 games, and finally squeezed out the strong Portuguese team and directly advanced as the first in the group.
Therefore, in this life-and-death battle, the "Balkan Eagles" Serbia team is expected to activate greater energy and avenge the "one arrow" four years ago.
Cameroon VS Brazil (Beijing time at 3 o'clock on the 3rd)
The current situation of the "African Lions" Cameroon team can only be described as "difficult".
Although it was the first African team to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup (1990), the Cameroon team has fallen asleep since the beginning of the new century. Not only did they stop in the group stage of the World Cup, but they also failed to pass the 2006 and 2018 competitions. qualifiers.
The team is currently ranked 43rd in the world, ranking fifth from the bottom among the top 32.
At present, the Cameroon team only has 1 point. In theory, there is hope for promotion, but the premise of this "theory" is that the Brazil team must be defeated. In addition, there are three conditions: the Swiss team cannot win; if the Serbia team wins, there cannot be more than the Cameroon team. Goal difference; if the Swiss team draws with Serbia, the Swiss team's goal difference cannot exceed that of Cameroon.
Not to mention those additional conditions, it is difficult for the Cameroon team to meet the "necessary condition" of defeating Brazil.
Although there is a precedent for the Tunisian team's upset victory over the French team, if the Brazilian team wants to ensure the first place in the group, its goal difference is not enough to make it "flat".
Even if they miss the cut, the Cameroon team has gained something in this cup.
They drew with Serbia 3:3 in the second round of the group stage, ending their 8-game losing streak in the World Cup.
(Finish)