Asian champions Qatar became the first home nation to lose their opening World Cup match as Ecuador won 2-0 on Sunday, with veteran forward Enner Valencia scoring twice.
England, who meet Iran in Group B, will be desperate to start strongly as they aim to end their decades-long trophy drought after two near misses in recent years.
Gareth Southgate’s men made a stunning run to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia before reaching their first major final for 55 years at last year’s European Championships. Despite his success as England boss, Southgate faced criticism for his perceived negative tactics and increased pressure after a string of poor results.
“The first thing for a coach is to enable (the team) win,” he said. “Then of course you want to play football that excites people, that the players enjoy.
“Our challenge is to give the supporters a tournament to remember. We have given them a great ride in the last two tournaments.”
With tough matches against the United States and Wales coming up, England can’t afford to get off to a slow start against Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium.
England’s opening comes against a backdrop of deadly demonstrations in the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s clerical leadership has been rocked by more than two months of women-led protests over the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman of Kurdish origin who was arrested by morality police in Tehran.
Defender Ehsan Hajsafi said: “They should know that we sympathize with them,” adding that “the conditions at home are not good”.
In the second game in Group B, the United States face Gareth Bale’s Wales, playing in their first World Cup since 1958.
Captain Bell said he hoped to inspire a new generation of Welsh footballers.
“Everyone dreamed of it for so long,” said the former Real Madrid forward. “We’ve had so many close calls. For us to be a team to get over the line was incredible.
“But more importantly, it is to inspire another generation, to develop football in our country. Hopefully, by doing so, we are going to have a stronger national team in the future.”
The Netherlands will take on Senegal in Group A, with the African champions missing their talisman Sadio Mane to injury.
The Dutch failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia but the three-time runners-up have bounced back under experienced manager Louis van Gaal, who led the team to the semi-finals in 2014.
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk said, “We have to believe in our ability and ourselves and be confident.”
“We have a fantastic manager, an experienced manager. We have players who play at the highest level, the biggest clubs in the world.”
Despite Mane’s absence, Senegal coach Aliu Cisse was upbeat about his team’s prospects.
“Of course we will not hide the importance of Sadio Mane to the Senegalese team – he is very important, a coach builds his team around his best players.
“But there’s also a group of experienced players with young players ready to step up. We’ve got to play the first game without Sadio Mane.”
No comments:
Post a Comment