World Cup Recap: Day 8
Argentina on the ropes as Croatia and France book spots into the knockout phase
Jun 21, 2018, 8:21 pm
Leo Messi and Argentina are in deep trouble. Gabriel Rossi/Getty Images
World Cup Recap: Day 8
Two big matches highlighted Thursday at the FIFA World Cup: France vs. Peru and Argentina vs. Croacia. Both would end in European victories and send heartbreak to two sets South American fans.
Denmark 1-1 Australia
Samara Arena, Samara
Attendance: 40,727
Denmark looked primed to build on their three points against Peru by following that up with a result against Australia. The Aussies would look to avoid elimination with at least a point, if not the win. Both sides came out with promising chances early before Denmark’s two best men would partner up to attain the lead in the 7th minute. Nicolai Jorgensen worked some magic inside the box, between two Australian defenders, and popped the ball over for Christian Eriksen to hit it first-time into the back of the net. The Danes would look the more dangerous side until the Video Assistant Referee would come into play. After consulting the video, the referee would recognize a handball on Denmark and award a penalty to Australia. It would be the Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak who would convert to level the score in the 38th minute. The score would remain tied at halftime.
Both sides would trade opportunities in the second half with Australia generating the more promising chances. Australia looked the part of a side not wanting to leave their qualification up to chance and forced Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to make four saves in the second half. The result would remain 1-1 with Denmark moving up to four points while Australia picks up its first and avoids elimination.
Analysis: Denmark had a great opportunity to move top of the group with a win. The Danes had a great first half and were the side with more quality overall. The decision from the VAR indeed complicated their result but Denmark still could’ve seen out a win. Australia does have to be commended for their fight because they avoided elimination despite not scoring a goal in open play. A victory over Peru could be enough to send them through, though that will be easier said than done.
Notable stat: Australia’s two goals so far have come from the penalty spot.
France 1-0 Peru
Ekaterinburg Arena, Ekaterinburg
Attendance: 32,789
France had a bit of a chip on their shoulder, garnering some criticism for winning their first match thanks to the Video Assistant Referee. Peru were staring at elimination after the Denmark-Australia tie and a win would really take the pressure off their back. Les Blues showed their talent early with Pogba getting a good look from range in the 12th minute while Raphael Varane had an excellent opportunity of a corner two minutes later. Antoine Griezmann and Paolo Guerrero would trade shots for their respective sides before Kylian Mbappe would decide this one in the 34th minute.
Peru would go down swinging. The South Americans outshot their European counterparts six to three in the second half, desperately looking to tie the encounter. Even a draw would benefit La Blanquirroja but they couldn’t find a quality shot past France goalie Hugo Lloris - who was only forced into one save in each half. Peru - with one game left to play - are eliminated from advancing to the knockout round while France begins to morph into the pre-tournament favorite they were touted to be.
Analysis: France picked up a great result against quality opposition. They face Denmark next, needing only a draw to assure themselves the top of the group. Peru will feel disappointed to come away with only a group stage appearance after a 36-year World Cup drought. Peru’s final match, against Australia, will be one dedicated to their supporters as they hope to leave Russia with a win.
Notable stat: At 19 years of age, Kylian Mbappe became France's youngest ever scorer at a FIFA World Cup.
Argentina 0-3 Croatia
Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod
Attendance: 43,319
Two talented sides, with European superstars, would face off in the likely decider of the top group spot. Argentina came in with pressure to better their form after a 1-1 draw against Iceland while Croatia looked to build on their 2-0 win over Nigeria. The first half would end in a scoreless draw as both sides had wasted opportunities in an otherwise tight encounter. Argentina’s clearest opportunity was one were a combination play saw midfielder Enzo Perez miss the open net. For Croatia, Mandzukic missed a heading opportunity - not the easiest opportunity but one that was makeable for a player of his caliber.
The second half is where Argentina came undone. Argentina’s goalkeeper Wilfredo Caballero already had some risky plays, both in the Iceland game and in the first half against Croatia, but the costliest one would come in the 53rd minute. A horrible giveaway turns into an easy score - but still beauty of a finish - from Ante Rebic. Argentina would keep pushing forward, with Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain entering the match as substitutions, to no avail. Luka Modric would then score a wonder goal from distance - equal to the caliber he’s scored for Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League - to put Croatia up 2-0 in the 80th minute. Ivan Rakitic would score Croatia’s third in stoppage time.
Analysis: Croatia left with the result they wanted, a spot into the round of 16, in what has been their best showing. In doing so, they scored three goals against Argentina. This matters because Argentina is already on the brink of elimination and in need of other results to advance. Argentina will be rooting for Nigeria on Friday to make life easier because an Iceland win would force Argentina to have work against their deficit in the goal differential. Even so, Argentina looks to have much bigger problems and it’s not a stretch to think they would lose in their match against Nigeria. So much intrigue left for the final matchday.
Notable stat: Croatian defender Vedran Corluka, who entered the match in second-half stoppage time, picked up his 100th appearance with the national team in the win against Argentina.
Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):
Friday, June 22
7 a.m. - [Group E] Brazil vs. Costa Rica (FS1, Telemundo)
10 a.m. - [Group D] Nigeria vs. Iceland (FOX, Telemundo)
1 p.m. - [Group E] Serbia vs. Switzerland (FOX, Telemundo)
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The Astros have already been swept in four series this season. They were swept in four series all of last season. As Mexico City says bienvenidos to the Astros this weekend, there are certainly more than a few folks fretting that the Astros are already close to saying adios to playoff hopes. The Astros are not at the point of no return, though one can see it out there on the horizon. It wouldn’t take another month of their garbage level 7-19 performance for the season to be essentially down the drain.
If the Astros were in the American League East, they’d already be ten games out of second place. But they’re not! If in the AL Central they’d be eleven and a half games back of Cleveland. But they’re not! Dozens of teams have rebounded to win divisions from larger deficits much later in the season than the Astros face presently. The Seattle Mariners lead the thus far weak AL West at 13-12. The Astros being six and a half games in arrears of the M’s and six back of the Texas Rangers in late April is far from optimal but nowhere near devastating.
Multiple media outlets have noted how few teams historically have started a season in as stumblebum a fashion as the 2024 Astros and wound up making the playoffs. What every outlet I have seen noting that failed to include: this is just the third season since Major League Baseball added a third Wild Card to each league’s postseason field. So, while 7-19 out of the gate is indisputably awful, it is not the death knell to the extent it has been over generations of MLB.
The issue isn’t where the Astros sit in the standings, it’s that they have played atrocious baseball and aren’t providing reason for optimism that a stark turnaround is imminent. The starting rotation is the best hope. Justin Verlander has made two starts. Framber Valdez rejoins the rotation Sunday. Cristian Javier should be a week or so away. Obviously, Ronel Blanco isn’t going to continue pitching as well as he has through his first four starts. But if he is a good number four starter, that’s fine if the top three coming into the season pitch to reasonably hoped for form.
Hunter Brown simply is not a good big league pitcher. Maybe he someday fulfills his potential, but the data at this point are clear. What can Brown do for you? Not much. Spencer Arrighetti needs better command to be a good big league starter. J.P. France was a revelation over his first 17 starts last season, but since has looked like the guy who posted underwhelming numbers when in the minor leagues. If the Astros wind up with 50-plus starts from Brown/Arrighetti/France their goose will probably be cooked.
The only MLB teams with worse staff earned run averages than the Astros’ horrific 5.07 are the Chicago White Sox (Wait! They have Martin Maldonado!) and Colorado Rockies. At 3-22 the White Sox are on an early pace to post the worst record in the history of Major League Baseball. The Rockies never have a chance to post good pitching stats because of the mile high offensive freak show environment in Denver.
Way to go, Joe
Props to Joe Espada for his conviction in making what he believed to be the right call in pulling Verlander after four and a third innings Thursday at Wrigley Field. Verlander allowed no runs but had reached 95 pitches in just the second outing of the injury-delayed start to his season. Not easy for a rookie manager skippering what has been a Titanic journey thus far to pull a surefire Hall of Famer who was two outs away from qualifying for a win. Many were no doubt poised to destroy Espada had Rafael Montero given up the lead in the fifth. Verlander was angry at being pulled from any chance at his 259th career win. Understood, but the manager’s job is to make the decisions he thinks are in the ballclub’s overall best interest. That Montero and Bryan Abreu combined to blow the lead in the sixth is immaterial.
Then there's the offense…
Six runs total the last four games. Scored more than four runs in just one of the last nine games. Timely hitting largely non-existent.
At last check Alex Bregman still hawks that “Breggy Bomb” salsa. At the plate, he’s been mostly stuck in “Breggy Bum” mode, including zero bombs (home runs). 23 games played without a homer is Bregman’s longest drought since 2017 when he had separate 35 and 27 game stretches between dingers. Bregman has a history of slow first months of the season, but never anything as inept as he’s posted thus far. A litany of lazy fly balls, infield pops, and routine grounders add up to a .216 batting average and feeble .566 OPS. Reference point: Martin Maldonado’s worst OPS season with the Astros was .573. If Bregman was a young guy handed a starting job coming out of spring training, if a viable alternative were available, there’s a chance he’d be a Sugar Land Space Cowboy right now. Bregman’s track record makes it a decent bet that he winds up with decent numbers, but nothing special. Certainly nothing remotely worth the 10 years 300 million dollars or whatever Bregman and agent Scott Boras intend(ed) to seek on the free agent market this coming offseason. Two hits Thursday did get Bregman to the 1000 hit plateau for his career.
Despite arriving south of the border with his batting average at .346, even Jose Altuve has his warts. With runners in scoring position, Altuve has one hit this season. One. In 16 at bats. Small sample size, but it counts. That’s .063. Yordan Alvarez has been no great shakes either, five for 24 (.208) with RISP.
One wonders what would happen if the Astros got a hold of and “lost” Jose Abreu’s passport/visa this weekend in Mexico City and Abreu couldn’t get back into the U.S. after the two-game set with the Rockies.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.