Spain, Portugal set for cards clash?
Hungarian Jozsef Nagy set the trend as early as the 1938 World Cup. As Sweden coach, he suffered a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Hungary.
Chennai: If two teams in a group finish with same points after the end of the round-robin league, Fifa will consider goal difference followed by goals scored and head-to-head record to separate them. If the teams still remain deadlocked, then their disciplinary record will come into play. According to Fifa’s stipulation, a team will be deducted -1 for a yellow, -3 for an indirect red, -4 for a direct red and -5 for a yellow and a direct red in the same match.
For example, Portugal and Spain are inseparable after two rounds in goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head. If the fierce Iberian rivals match each other’s record in the final round on Monday, their disciplinary record will be decisive. What would happen if disciplinary records are also similar? A draw of lots will decide the group winners. Meanwhile, yellow cards received in two different games in the group stage will mean automatic suspension of the player for one match. But a yellow card from the group stage will not carried forward beyond the quarter-finals.
It’s not Argentina’s world Cup
Dutchman Bert van Marwijk steered Saudi Arabia to the 2018 World Cup only to fall victim to the whims of the Gulf country’s notorious football administration. But Australia came to his rescue by appointing him as their World Cup boss. Argentina’s Juan Antonio Pizzi got lucky despite his failure to lead Chile to Russia as Saudi Arabia replaced Van Marwijk with the South American. But the event in Russia hasn’t been kind to Argentines who, at five, make the majority of the coaches. Pizzi, Ricardo Gareca (Peru) and Hector Cuper (Egypt) have all failed to progress to the next round while the fate of Jose Pekerman (Colombia) and Jorge Sampaoli’s Argentina is hanging by a thread.
Iran coach Queiroz all out to hurt his home country
History will not be on the side of Carlos Queiroz when the Portuguese attempts to beat his country as the coach of Iran in a crucial Group ‘B’ match on Monday. So far 19 coaches have faced their home countries in World Cup history and they have won only five matches with Frenchman Bruno Metsu masterminding the most famous result at the 2002 World Cup (Senegal 1 France 0). Hungarian Jozsef Nagy set the trend as early as the 1938 World Cup. As Sweden coach, he suffered a 5-1 mauling at the hands of Hungary.
Queiroz, who was at the helm of Portugal at the 2010 World Cup, is hoping for a miracle that will see Iran edge out Portugal for a place in the round of 16. Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson has the distinction of facing his home country as England boss twice in the World Cup (2002 and 2006). Even if Queiroz gets Iran into the next round, there is little chance of his winning the World Cup because no foreigner has taken a team all the way in the 88-year history of the World Cup.
It’s all in the family
When Morocco’s Sofyan Amrabat replaced Noureddin Amrabat against Iran in a Group ‘B’ match on June 15, he became the first player in World Cup history to come on for a sibling. The Amrabats aren’t the only siblings in the 2018 edition as midfield maestro Eden Hazard has his brother, Thorgan, in the Belgian squad. Colombian superstar James Rodriguez had been married to his goalkeeper David Ospina’s sister but they are separated now. Australia coach Bert van Marwijk has a relative as an assistant coach he would never mess with: his son-in-law, Mark van Bommel.