Spain and Portugal really played down to their competition yesterday. The question becomes if both teams have peaked in terms of performance which would be a bad thing or is there still another level they can get to advance further in the tournament. We can only wait and see.
All credit to Iran and Morocco. They played like there was no tomorrow.
As for the controversy yesterday regarding Ronaldo whether he should've been sent off. I do agree that if it was a lesser known player--he'd be sent off. If anything it becomes referees perogative to call it. VAR obviously saw something different and wanted him to call it but he wouldn't. This is where it becomes grainy. Who are we supposed to trust? The guy with all the cameras or the guy that's on the field?
I personally believe that the Iranian player diving like he just died the cruelest death played a part in the decision. I don't agree with how VAR is implemented after the fact but I certainly don't agree with theatrical diving. So in my view, it cancels out. But once again, any other player, it's for sure Red.
Saudi Arabia, who I thought was the worst team going in to the tournament beat Egypt who many favored would get out of the group. So it does show that I don't know everything. :/ Egypt really were underwhelming.
Russia's hosting nation power they possessed is quickly coming to an end. Uruguay proved they should no longer be considered underdogs, but dark horse favorites. I think Portugal is going to have to play extremely well to get past them. Russia will have to hang in there with a hopefully motivated Spain.
Tomorrow's batch should be good, especially in the latter half. Denmark - France should be a rather politeful affair considering both are through, might be a game where the coaches test out different lineups or rest players. Australia - Peru: I'd be dissapointed if Peru never got a point in their return to the big stage. There will be a lot of channel flipping with Group D matches. I will say Argentina, even with how bad they've played can still salvage this train-wreck and advance if they play as a cohesive unit. Iceland will be in tough against Croatia who seem to be rolling atm.
The tournament has been great so far. A goal in every game. High drama. Lots of national pride shown whenever I head downtown. All over a couple of players, a ball and a net. You can't tell me the Super Bowl competes with this. Haha