Confident England aim to build on winning start
Confident England will start as hot favourites against debutants Panama in a Group G FIFA World Cup clash here at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Sunday. England struggled against the well organised and physically imposing Tunisian defence in their first match of the tournament. Skipper and star striker Harry Kane’s last gasp winner in second half injury time handed England a winning start for the first time in a major tournament after 12 years. England dominated the game and wasted a hatful of chances against Tunisia, and on Sunday coach Gareth Southgate would want his wards to improve on that. Raheem Sterling and Jesse Lingard were particularly guilty of spurning simple chances before Kane saved them the blushes. Kane, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League (EPL) and is a two-time EPL Golden Boot winner, lived up to his billing and performed on the biggest stage for his country with the first double by an English player at the World Cup since Gary Lineker in 1990. Southgate’s planned team was inadvertently revealed when assistant manager Steve Holland’s notes were photographed at training on Thursday. According to the notes, Marcus Rashford will replace Sterling with Ruben Loftus-Cheek stepping in for Dele Alli, who suffered a thigh injury against Tunisia. Sterling had a wonderful season with Manchester City, scoring 23 goals to help them lift the EPL title. But for England, the former Liverpool forward has been rather off the boil, having not found the back of the net in his last 21 internationals. However, Rashford refuted suggestions England are too dependent on Kane for goals. Minnows Panama meanwhile, have shown that they can keep their shape and frustrate opponents. They did well against fancied Belgium in their first game. In the first half, Belgium could not breach Panama’s defence and match their power. In the second half though, they were undone by the more skilful Belgium players and lost 0-3. Racking up goals against Panama could be crucial if England are to top Group G.Confident Japan, Senegal in crunch tie
Riding on confidence after victories in their respective opening fixtures, Japan and Senegal will lock horns in their second Group H encounter of the FIFA World Cup 2018 at the Ekaterinburg Arena here on Sunday. A win on Sunday will virtually seal a pre-quarterfinal berth for the winner. Japan on Tuesday became the first ever Asian nation to beat South American opposition at a World Cup when they pipped Colombia 2-1. The Asian giants’ win against Colombia was one of the biggest surprise of the ongoing mega event and the Akira Nishino-coached side will be eager to dish out yet another spirited show. Japan midfielder Genki Haraguchi said his side will focus on strengthening their defence on Sunday, which will also enhance their attacking ability. Meanwhile, Japan skipper Makoto Hasebe felt that despite a major win, his side has to be grounded as Senegal will be a completely different story. “We must keep our feet on the ground, we have to take into account that we played against 10 men for almost 90 minutes,” Hasebe said, referring to Carlos Sanchez’s dismissal which gave Japan the advantage against Colombia. Senegal on the other hand, too came out with an impressive all-round show against Poland, beating them 2-1. The Africans will be looking to continue the momentum from that unexpected victory into their next game. Most of the Senegal players feature in different Europen clubs and with plenty of experience, they could make life tough for Japan. After scoring his first international goal, which proved to be a decisive second for Senegal against Poland, M’Baye Niang said that the story is still not over as they have a lot more to achieve. Come Sunday, Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse would likely set a 4-4-2 formation once again and no major changes are expected in the starting XI.Colombia, Poland aim to recover from opening losses
Smarting from their opening game defeat against Japan, under-pressure Colombia will have their task cut out against wounded Poland in a Group H FIFA World Cup clash here on Sunday. Colombia’s preparations for Sunday’s crunch match got overshadowed by a police investigation into death threats made to midfielder Carlos Sanchez after he received a red card in the third minute of Tuesday’s 1-2 loss against Japan. The incident brought back memories of the killing of late star defender Andres Escobar, who was gunned down after scoring an own goal during a match against the United States which contributed to Colombia’s elimination from the 1994 World Cup. Sanchez was sent off for a deliberate handball after trying to block a shot inside the penalty area and will miss the match against Poland. Coach Jose Pekerman could play Mateus Uribe in place of Sanchez as he also has to deal with injury concerns to star attacking midfielder James Rodriguez, who was used as a 59th minute substitute against Japan as he recovers from a calf problem. Rodriguez, the Golden Boot winner at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, would be ideal along with Juan Quintero in midfield and Pekerman would be desperate to use that combination. Poland are eighth in the FIFA rankings but lost to Senegal in their opening encounter courtesy a pair of disastrous errors. Senegal’s well-drilled backline kept Poland’s star striker Robert Lewandowski subdued and coach Adam Nawalka will hope his midfield plays with more purpose to boost supply to the country’s record goal-scorer. The recall of defensive stalwart Kamil Glik, who missed the Senegal opener with a shoulder injury, would be a huge boost to Poland’s hopes of stopping the likes of Rodriguez and AS Monaco star Radamel Falcao. There are still doubts over Glik’s fitness however, so Thiago Cionek, his replacement against Senegal, may keep his starting place despite conceding an own goal in that match.(IANS)
