FIFA World Cup 2018, Round 3 Recap: Pulsating fixtures mingle with dead rubbers

Best Game
The final round of Group B matches were pulsating affairs with both Spain and Portugal being made to work for their Round of 16 spot by Morocco and Iran respectively. Argentina’s 2-1 win over Nigeria also ranks high simply because of the sheer intensity of that second half which reached a crescendo when Marcos Rojo arrived in the box to thump in Gabriel Mercado’s cross.

Best Goal

There have been a number of great goals in the two rounds of matches before this and the third round is no different. The one that stands out is Riccardo Quaresma’s trivela for Portugal against Iran. Luis Suarez’s cheeky free-kick against Russia was also a brilliant individual effort and the same can be said about Adnan Januzaj’s curler against England. Lionel Messi exorcised his demons by opening Argentina’s scoring against Nigeria and he did so after taking two typically magical touches to control an equally impressive Ever Banega pass. A special mention has to be reserved for Paulinho’s goal against Serbia. His run and Philippe Coutinho’s defence piercing cross to make it useful is as good a move as you will ever see on a football pitch.

Best Team

Brazil completely outclassed Serbia in their 2-0 win. (Source: Reuters)

Brazil’s 2-0 victory over Serbia was somewhat ominous for those who would face them in the coming matches. Save for a 10-minute period in the second half in which they put the opposition under pressure, Serbia were completely outclassed by Brazil. It was the kind of performance that we expect from the five-time champions and it has been missing for some time now. After Brazil scored the second goal, the match ended up becoming more an exhibition of their skills than anything else. Brazil were just as swamped as any of the other big teams after a poor show in their opening match but against Serbia, they showed that they have put that behind them. Apart from them, Morocco and Iran showed incredible tenacity to keep the Spaniards and Portuguese on their toes while South Korea were quite brilliant in their 2-0 win over Germany, a result that confirmed the end of the tournament for the defending champions.

Best Player

Cho Hyun-woo made six saves to deny Germany. (Source: Reuters)

South Korean goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo had become a Mexican hero for the way he kept out the Germans. He made six incredible saves to deny the defending champions because of which Mexico went through despite their 3-0 humbling at the hands of Sweden. He was the man of the match that day and his Wikipedia page momentarily introduced him as “the Mexican Savior or the one true god” in addition to saying that he is a South Korean footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Daegu FC. Apart from that, one could choose between Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Ever Banega, both of whom wreaked havoc among the Nigerian defensive ranks.