August 12-18 2019 Global Futbol Matches

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2019.

August 12-18 2019

The Invitational Cup reached its zenith this week, with Russia taking on Costa Rica and Belgium hosting Brazil in the Semi Finals, before the Final on Saturday.

 

Costa Rica started with a back five, making things tricky for Russia to use the wings to effectively cross the ball in. The first real passage of attacking play came from Daler Kuzyaev, who had a quality shot blocked, before Zelimkhan Bakaev fired on goal, only for Estaban Alverado to thwart it. Eventually, Russia tightened the screws and Sergej Petrov perfectly crossed to find Artem Dzyuba’s head, who eased the ball into the goal off the bottom of the crossbar.

 

In the second half, Randal Leal caught an opportunity after defensive confusion, slotting away an equaliser. However, Russia quickly took back the lead, this time crossing from the left wing to Aleksey Miranchuk, who scored his second goal in two games. Alexei Ionov nearly made it three, only for Alverado to save to his left. Instead, it was Miranchuk again, slotting a grand goal into the net. Nicolay Komlichenko nearly scored off the bench, earning a corner. Costa Rica’s defence held firm in the following play, but they were unable to turn the game on its head as the Russians progressed to the Final as hosts in Moscow.

 

Neither Belgium nor Brazil made any significant changes to their sides as Youri Tielemans first struck towards goal, only for Alisson to parry the ball away. From the resulting corner, Belgium kept up the pressure, which lead to another Alisson save after Hans Vanaken shot for the target. Kevin de Bruyne sent an easy shot straight to the goalkeeper, before Brazil counterattacked and scored through Lucas Paquetá (as he had against Ghana the week before). Belgium were not phased, and de Bruyne and Christian Benteke soon combined to equalise. Benteke then had a header late hit the back of a Brazilian defender, and the half ended one-all.

 

Not much happened in the second half as both teams pushed forward without exposing themselves in defence. It took until the 71st minute for Eden Hazard to move from the left wing towards goal, and again Alisson parried the ball away. From the resulting corner, Yannick Carrasco’s header proved too strong as the home side took the lead. In what seemed a certain equaliser, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho combined, only for Simon Mignolet to somehow kick it away with his right boot. Two more chances came late for the Belgians as they finished coming from behind to win.

 

On the Saturday, the two sides with high possession play from their Semi Finals (Russia with 62% and Belgium with 64%) faced off in a replay of last year’s World Cup Quarter Final. Tielemans, like in the previous match, had the first chance, only for the ball to tap the post. Dzyuba had an opportunity in the 26th minute after Russia struggled to get forward on multiple occasions. At the other end, Belgium continued chipping away at the Russian defence, with Thorgan Hazard having a pop on goal. Fedor Kudryashov nearly responded from a free kick, but the ball just sailed over the crossbar.

 

The second half felt fully charged around the stadium, as Mignolet needed two great saves to stop Dzyuba and then Miranchuk. As the game progressed, Miranchuk fired with his right boot, hitting the post. The ball rebounded to Bakaev, having earlier switched wings with Ionov, and slotted into the open goal. Russia looked likely to hold on for victory, but it was substitute Axel Witsel that handed the ball to Benteke around the penalty spot, and he easily found the back of the net. Russia thought they had a late winner, but the referee deemed it offside. Ionov also had a shot closed down right at the end, and so extra time was needed to split the two sides.

 

Benteke though he had a goal early, only to be also offside. Tielemans then made a crucial slide tackle just as Miranchuk was lining up from outside the box. But extra time was not a goal-scoring feat, and penalties soon ensued.

 

Komchilenko, who surprisingly replaced Dzyuba, started with a successful penalty. Eden Hazard, Miranchuk, Benteke and Ilzat Akhmetov all slotted home easily, with Benteke pausing enough to fool Shunin. However, Shunin got one back as he picked the right way of Witsel’s penalty, and gave Russia the upper hand. Ionov calmly edged his home, as did Dries Mertens. Finally, Kudrayashov popped his penalty into the net, and Russia were crowned champions of the two-year-long Invitational Cup, with Magomed Ozdoev deemed the Player of the Match, and Dzyuba the Player of the Tournament.

 

The draw for the Asian Cup in January took place this week in the United Arab Emirates after the conclusion of the Qualifiers last week.

 

Here is the following order of rankings and pot allocations after the Qualifiers for the qualified nations (with hosts UAE on top):

 

Pot 1

UAE 135th - hosts

Uzbekistan 30th

Iraq 34th

Saudi Arabia 37th

Australia 42nd

South Korea 45th

 

Pot 2

Bahrain 49th

Japan 65th

Iran 72nd

India 74th

Kuwait 89th

China 95th

 

Pot 3

Oman 130th

Syria 134th

Tajikistan 136th

Thailand 137th

Kyrgyzstan 147th

Bangladesh 150th

 

Pot 4

Malaysia 155th

Philippines 186th

Afghanistan 189th

Indonesia 193rd

Brunei 194th

Palestine 207^th

 

It is interesting to note five nations in the bottom 40 in the world have qualified for the Asian Cup. If any of these nations reach the Round of 16, they are sure to climb rapidly in the rankings.

 

Group A       Group B       Group C       Group D       Group E        Group F

UAE                Australia        Uzbekistan    South Korea Iraq                Saudi Arabia

Japan             Kuwait           India              China           Bahrain          Iran

Kyrgyzstan    Tajikistan       Bangladesh   Oman           Syria              Thailand

Brunei             Philippines    Indonesia       Palestine      Afghanistan   Malaysia

 

Inter-Nations League

After the inaugural Nations League, a competition was set up, much in the flavour of the Invitational Cup. Those qualified include the four Semi Finalists from each confederation plus three from Oceania and the four CONCACAF sides that did well at the Nations League (3 groups of six and 1 group of five).

 

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Czech Republic	Netherlands	England	Germany
Chile	Brazil	Colombia	Ecuador
South Korea	Japan	Pakistan	Bahrain
Egypt	Ghana	Côte d’Ivoire	Cameroon
Costa Rica	New Zealand	Fiji	Vanuatu
No Oceania side	Jamaica	Mexico	USA

 

·      Asian Home Games played in 2019

·      Oceanian Home Games Played in 2019

·      Africa Home Games played in 2020

·      Europe Home Games played in 2020

·      South America Home Games played in August 2020

·      CONCACAF Home games played in August 2020

·      Top 2 Progress.

·      Quarter Finals, Semis, Final to be played in September 2020 prior to commencement of the second installment of the Nations League

 

August 12 Invitational Cup Semi Finals ·  Russia 3 Costa Rica 1 ·  Belgium 2 Brazil 1

August 15 U20 Men’s Friendlies Match day 1 ·  Spain 2 Germany 3 ·  South Korea 1 England 9 ·  Greece 1 Brazil 3 ·  USA 3 Mexico 5 ·  China 4 France 4 ·  Dominican Republic 0 Japan 4 ·  Tunisia 2 Ireland 4 ·  Rwanda 3 Jamaica 0 ·  South Africa 0 Chile 2 ·  Wales 2 Italy 2 ·  Turkey 1 Slovenia 2 ·  Nigeria 1 Malta 2 ·  UAE 1 Bahrain 2 ·  Peru 1 Paraguay 3 ·  Iceland 1 Serbia 3 ·  Switzerland 1 Algeria 2 ·  Ethiopia 3 Saudi Arabia 3 ·  Poland 1 Ukraine 2 ·  Trinidad and Tobago 1 Australia 2 ·  Honduras 2 Canada 1 ·  Senegal 1 Argentina 2 ·  Thailand 1 Zambia 3 ·  Haiti 1 Czech Republic 4 ·  Tajikistan 1 Russia 3 ·  St Kitts and Nevis 0 Costa Rica 4 ·  Uzbekistan 1 Croatia 4 Latvia 2 Denmark 4

August 17 Invitational Cup Final ·  Russia 1 Belgium 1 (5-3 on penalties)   Women’s Futsal Switzerland 3-0 Argentina