Ten-man Germany was bailed out late by Toni Kroos, who secured a dramatic 2-1 win over Sweden to pick up its first points at the 2018 World Cup on Saturday. However, there are still a few concerns heading into the third and final group match versus South Korea.
Elsewhere, Carlos Salcedo shined for Mexico in its win over South Korea, while Belgium put on a show in its victory versus Tunisia.
Here are three winners and three losers from Day 10.
WINNERS
Eden Hazard
It’s evident that Eden Hazard wants to demolish the competition at this World Cup.
Coming off a frustrating year at Chelsea, Hazard has been re-energized in Russia. He scored twice and was lively in the attacking half of the pitch. Most of Hazard’s touches were in the final third, which resulted in plenty of dangerous chances.
Defensively, Hazard was also very disciplined, as were most of Belgium’s midfielders. The 27-year-old hustled back to cover the wing, pressured the ball when a Tunisian midfielder had a poor touch, then launched a dangerous counter-attack.
As seen below by the green “plus” signs, Hazard had five ball recoveries and showed a willingness to regain possession quickly.
Robin Olsen
A magnificently executed free kick clouded an otherwise exceptional performance from Swedish goalkeeper Robin Olsen.
The 28-year-old made six saves, the stop against Mario Gomez being the pick of the bunch, and almost clinched a monumental result versus Germany.
Expect Olsen to be busy yet again in Sweden’s Group F finale versus Mexico. If he pulls off similar heroics in that game, the Swedes will have a realistic shot at qualifying for the Round of 16.
Carlos Salcedo
The forward trio of Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez and Hirving Lozano drew many deserved plaudits. However, the man of the match might’ve been defender Carlos Salcedo.
The 24-year-old led all players in passes and was instrumental in the build-up from the back for Mexico. He had a similar role against Germany, which helped kickstart several counter-attacks. Salcedo also blocked a team-high six shots.
Mexico only needs a draw against Sweden to reach the Round of 16 for a seventh straight tournament. With Salcedo marshalling the defence, a positive result is highly likely.
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LOSERS
Joachim Low
Germany won and boosted their hopes of progressing. However, there are a few concerns surrounding coach Joachim Low.
Firstly, he’ll be missing another centre-back as Jerome Boateng will be suspended versus South Korea. Mats Hummels, who missed this match due to a minor neck injury, should return and partner Antonio Rudiger for the Group F finale.
But the issues run much deeper. Even though Germany mustered 18 attempts, none of them were particularly threatening, as evidenced by expected goals – an advanced analytic used to determine the quality of a shot.
In Germany’s defence, it consistently created separation between the Swedish defence to set up those attempts. The finishes themselves were lacking. Against South Korea, who have been error prone defensively, the situation might improve.
However, Sweden utilized a similar plan to Mexico. Full-backs Joshua Kimmich and Jonas Hector were pushed up, so the Swedes overloaded the flanks, built from the back and generated dangerous counters via the flanks.
If South Korea recognizes similar weaknesses, then Low and Germany might be headed for a group-stage exit.
Jang Hyun-soo
The 2018 World Cup has not been kind to Jang Hyun-soo.
With South Korea under siege from Mexico, Jang slid across the box – with his arm straight up – as Andres Guardado attempted a cross. The ball struck the Korean defender on the arm and the penalty was awarded.
For a side that has conceded 28 shots through two World Cup games, South Korea cannot have defenders committing egregious mistakes.
Tunisian midfield
Tunisia was minutes away from grabbing a draw with England. They weren’t so lucky against Belgium this time around.
In that 2-1 loss, England consistently scythed through Tunisia’s midfield and defence, but wasteful finishing plagued the English forwards, which is backed up by expected goals.
xG map for #Tun–#Eng. Thanks to the ref and the finishing of non-Harry Kane players, this was a very dramatic game. Over on Earth-2 it was 5-0 and people are wondering if this could be the year. pic.twitter.com/mmxEYtzww0
— Caley Graphics (@Caley_graphics) June 18, 2018
Unlike England, Belgium was clinical. Tunisia conceded several high-quality shots due to a positionally indisciplined midfield, which aided several Belgian counter-attacks.
In a 3-4-3 boasting two dynamic attackers in Hazard and Dries Mertens, this is how Belgium thrives. Welcoming spells of possession from the opposition before countering at blistering speed is how Belgium.
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