The time for the great battles has arrived. The selections of Brazil and France step as the top favorites for the semifinals, with an Argentina appeased by the mediocre performance, in counterpart of the Netherlands, turned into the biggest challenge when the quarterfinals of the Soccer World Cup in Qatar begin this Friday .
Although without a doubt the greatest focus is on Brazil (against Croatia), by far the great favorite to win the golden massif, it is the England-France matchup that will make your hair stand on end on Saturday.
This Friday, the “canarinha” will face a not a little feared rival, such as Croatia, the World Cup runner-up, with all the expertise and ability to send the five-time champions home, but whose task will not be less than herculean, for a ship more complete than ever in the last two decades.
Brazil, with its flagship Neymar and the powerful gunners Richarlison, Casemiro, Vinicius Júnior and an army in the best Praetorian style, deny the defeat in the match against Cameroon, with only substitutes and with nothing to risk in the closing of the groups.
The verdeamarela added 7-2 in their performance, with a lethal demonstration in the round of 16 (4-1 against Korea), despite the fact that they did not have the great handle and historic scorer, Neymar, in all its splendor.
The presence in Croatia of the already legendary Luka Modric and the deadly Ivan Pericic and Marcelo Brozovic will mean that the Brazilian task will have to be used more thoroughly for the next goal.
In the other match of the day, Lionel Messi’s Argentina returned to its times of malaria, whose head hangs in the performance of its megastar, an essential link to reach the Golden Fleece, and where they pray for the return of the great Ángel di María, In addition, the talent of Leandro Paredes and Lautaro Martínez, extremely lethal in attack when plugged in, returns.
But the bad news is that against the Netherlands, the albiceleste will have to be almost perfect, given the demonstration of offensive punctuality given by A Clockwork Orange, under the shoulders of Memphis Depay and Frenkie de Jong.
The Saturday match
The England against France -the last of the quarters- will be the dish most anticipated by diners, the final being advanced, where the superbo Kylian Mbappé will seek to maintain an offensive barrage that already scares the world.
The French “10” has five goals in Qatar (9 in the World Cup and a half), causing England to depend on its stellar defender, Kyle Walker and his amazing speed, to try to stop the highest paid on the planet.
France, although it arrived highly questioned due to its record after Russia 2014 and despite not having another lethal player like Karim Benzemá, has shown its determination to win the World Cup for the second consecutive time. Their performance index (+6) was forceful, despite losing to Tunisia, but they could have crushed Poland (3-1).
They have a squad full of their constellation, with Antoine Grizmann, the historic Oliver Giroud, Ousmane Dembélé and Aurélien Tchouaméni.
The English are not far behind, with Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford. If they deploy their arsenal there will be a lot of fire.
The match between Morocco and Portugal will open the day on Saturday, with a very close forecast, but with the Iberian favorites for the surprising display (6-1) against a rival like Switzerland, so tough from the midfield to the back, although with the unexpected leading role by Goncalo Ramos.