On Monday, the battles for places in the quarterfinals of the World Cup continue, lrt.lt wrote. The first of the tickets will be fought over by the teams of Brazil and Mexico, while the other will be contested by the teams of Belgium and Sweden. The matches that took place on Sunday in the round of 16, when the Spaniards had to say goodbye to the tournament, and the Croats nearly reached them, showed that there are no longer favorites at this stage of the tournament, so both the Brazilians and the Belgians are facing very challenging matches. Watch them on LRT - the official broadcaster of the championship.
It's time for the Brazilian star to redeem himself
The "Selecao" will have two tasks in Samara on Monday. One of them, of course, is to advance to the next stage, and the other is to show their true face. Tite's squad started the championship disappointingly. They started with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, followed by a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica only in the final moments, so the fate of this team was decided in the last match against Serbia.
Here, the South Americans finally show their strength, defeated the Europeans 2-0, and secured the first place in Group E, which football specialists promised to this team even before the tournament began. However, they did not expect such insecure play.
Their opponents in the quarterfinals are the dark horse Mexican team. In the first match, the Latin Americans defeated the defending champions Germany 1-0, later they beat South Korea 2-1, but in the last group match, they were defeated by Sweden's eleven with a score of 0-3.
The confidence in their abilities to Juan Carlos Osorio's team should be added in the final match against today's opponents. In the tournament held in Brazil in 2014, they played a goalless draw with the tournament hosts. On the other hand, it was the only time when the Brazilians did not celebrate victory.
However, the Mexicans, who can handle their pressure, will certainly seek to turn this statistic in their favor, although it will not be easy, especially when the central defender for their team, Hector Moreno, will not be able to help due to receiving yellow cards.
Predicted lineups:
Brazil: Alisson; Fagner, Thiago Silva, Miranda, Filipe Luis; Casemiro, Paulinho; Willian, Philippe Coutinho, Neymar, Gabriel Jesus;
Mexico: Guillermo Ochoa; Miguel Layun, Hugo Ayala, Carlos Salcedo, Jesus Gallardo; Hector Herrera, Jonathan Dos Santos, Andres Guardado; Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez, Hirving Lozano.
In the Belgians' path - the last representatives of Asia
The powerful attack demonstrated by the Belgian national football team in the group stage will be tested in the quarterfinals in Rostov against Japan, the last representative of Asia remaining in the tournament.
The "Red Devils" are truly ambitious. They simply crushed their opponents in the group stage. They first defeated Panama's footballers 3-0, and then trounced Tunisia's footballers 5-2. In the last group match, the Belgians only beat the English 1-0, but there in Kaliningrad, the main lineups of the teams did not meet.
So now, having finished the G group battles in first place on the tournament leaderboard, coached by Roberto Martinez, the Belgians are flying high. They will certainly aim to repeat their reaching the quarterfinals, which they did in Mexico in 1986 and four years later in Brazil. In addition, the fact that the Belgian national team has not lost in 22 consecutive matches adds to their confidence.
But in their path lies not such an easy opponent. The team coached by Akira Nishino, not considered the favorites of Group H, already surprised in the first match by defeating the Colombian team 2-1. However, later the draw 2-2 with Senegal and the 0-1 loss to Poland could have prevented their advancement to the next stage, but due to a more disciplined defense - fewer yellow cards - the ticket to the next stage was won precisely by the Asian team.
In second place in Group H, the Japanese are well aware of the 2010 championship, when they lost in the quarterfinals only after extra time penalty shootout to Paraguay. It is believed that the Japanese will start the match with a 4-2-3-1 system, which was used in matches against Colombia and Senegal, with Genki Haraguchi, Shinji Kagawa, and Takashi Inui playing important roles in the offense.
The latter has a yellow card, so he will have to be careful, as another warning would prevent him from appearing in the next stage. Of course, if Japan reaches it.
Meanwhile, in the Belgian national team, the players with penalties are Thomas Meunier, Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne, Youri Tielemans, and Leander Dendoncker. However, the match against the English already showed that the team's playing mechanism works perfectly even without its biggest stars.
Predicted lineups:
Belgium: Thibaut Courtois; Jan Vertonghen, Vincent Kompany, Toby Alderweireld; Axel Witsel, Kevin De Bruyne, Yannick Carrasco, Thomas Meunier; Dries Mertens, Eden Hazard; Romelu Lukaku;
Japan: Eiji Kawashima; Hiroki Sakai, Maya Yoshida, Gen Shoji, Yuto Nagatomo; Makoto Hasebe, Gaku Shibasaki; Genki Haraguchi, Shinji Kagawa, Takashi Inui; Yuya Osako.
lrt.lt
