Paraguay, in footballing terms, is a small, often overlooked country. Landlocked, bordered by much more famous neighbors, the Paraguayans had, prior to this week, only ever won a single knockout round game at the World Cup—against Japan, a team that has never won a knockout game in its history.
The ethos of the Paraguayan national team, both historically and in its current iteration, is roughly this: we may not have the best players. We may not play the nicest soccer. But we will sacrifice everything to defend our goal.
On Monday afternoon in Foxborough, Paraguay came up against Germany—winners of four World Cups, with a squad of players worth over $1 billion—and played them to a 1-1 stalemate over 120 grinding minutes.
When referee Jalal Jayed whistled to end extra time and send the match to penalties, the entire Paraguayan bench exploded in celebration, rallying the fans in the stands behind them. It was a sign of things to come. 15 minutes later, Paraguay handed Germany its first ever defeat in a World Cup shootout—sparking wild scenes of celebration from the Foxborough media tribune to the streets of Asunción. The following day was declared a national holiday.
After the game, Paraguay’s 63-year-old manager Gustavo Alfaro was asked what he’d said to his players to rally them to face the Germans.
“I always told them that the rivals we had in front of us, with all due respect, had been trained in the best academies in Europe,” he replied. “We, on the other hand, come from the red soil.”
Who’s Up?
- Mexico
Mexico made a perfect start to the tournament, winning all three of their group stage games, but they did so rather ploddingly: strong defending, a solid midfield, and enough offense to get by.
On Tuesday night, however, following a lightning delay at the Estadio Azteca, Mexico was electric—producing what was very likely their best half of soccer in at least a decade-and-a-half, and blowing what was supposed to be a supremely tight, intense encounter with Ecuador wide open.
Key to the Mexicans’ attacking explosion was the spellbinding play of 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, the youngest player in the tournament—so short in stature that he risked being overshadowed by the kid accompanying him out to the Azteca’s center circle for the national anthem.
Mora wove circles around the vaunted Ecuadorian defense, popping up all over the field and dictating the game’s tempo with the maturity and creativity of a player ten years older. He, perhaps more than any other figure, has allowed Mexico to dream.
El Tri’s triumph—their first knockout round victory since they last hosted the World Cup in 1986—sparked stirring celebrations, both massive and intimate, at home and here in the U.S. Mexico’s reward for their historic performance against Ecuador? A Sunday night battle in the Azteca with England, a quarterfinal trip on the line.
- The French Attack
Not since the 2002 Brazilian triumvirate of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho—and maybe not even then—has the World Cup been graced with a trio of attacking players as gifted as France’s Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, and Michael Olise.
There’s plenty of other exceptional talent in the French team, but these three are playing transcendent soccer. Mbappé has already scored six goals in the tournament, Olise leads the field with his six assists, and Dembélé has pitched in four goals of his own.
France has scored at least three goals in all of its games so far, and there is a sense that they’ve hardly had to apply themselves yet. Argentina has played superbly as well, and Spain were outstanding in their victory over Austria, but France is perhaps the team everyone else most fears right now.
- Restart Rules
I am loath to give FIFA any credit at all, but I must admit that several of the rule changes instituted for this tournament have been extremely successful.
Restarts are faster, both on goal kicks and throw-ins, and referees have consistently cracked down on any sort of obstruction of goalkeepers’ ability to move freely on set pieces—functionally outlawing the “meat wall” tactic employed most notoriously by Arsenal in the Premier League this season. Michael Caley has a breakdown if you’re interested in learning more.
Who’s Down?
- Cowards!
Throughout the group stage of the tournament, Ronald Koeman had his Netherlands team humming: the Dutch had scored ten goals in their first three games, flying forward from their 4-3-3 setup and making even skeptics believe they could be capable of a deep run.
The Netherlands’ scintillating form was one of the reasons why their showdown with Morocco in Monterrey was one of the most anticipated games of the Round of 32. But Koeman is known as a supremely conservative coach, and in the crucible of knockout soccer, his base instincts took over.
Instead of unleashing his attacking players, instead of taking the game to Morocco, Koeman inserted an extra center back, ceding control of midfield in the name of defensive solidity. The result was that the Dutch controlled just 30 percent possession and generated just seven shots in 120 minutes. They lost, deservedly, on penalties, and Koeman, defiant about his approach, resigned the next day.
Football rewards bravery. Japan, capable of playing such lovely passing soccer, took the lead against Brazil earlier in the day in Dallas, but then sat back, hoping to preserve their advantage, and couldn’t do it: Brazil made the necessary tactical adjustments and won 2-1, reserve winger Gabriel Martinelli grabbing the winning goal in second half stoppage time.
- Fernando Muslera
Yes, the players seemingly detested manager Marcelo Bielsa, and yes, the camp was in turmoil, but no matter how wretched the vibes, Uruguay still would have breezed through the group stage if not for the single worst World Cup goalkeeping performance in more than a half-century.
Fernando Muslera’s horrific gaffe at the end of the first half of La Celeste’s group finale against Spain, which allowed Álex Baena to score the game’s decisive goal, was only the last of a string of blunders that also cost the Uruguayans points against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. He became the first goalkeeper since 1966 to commit three errors leading to goals at the World Cup.
Muslera’s tournament ended a half early when he was substituted, which was apparently an act of self-sacrifice. It was too little, too late—and entirely avoidable, given that Muslera had been retired from international football for years before Bielsa decided to bring him back for the tournament.
- Bastian Schweinsteiger
African teams are enjoying their finest ever tournament—nine out of the continent’s ten entrants advanced to the knockout phase—but don’t tell Herr Schweinsteiger.
“African football… (is) a bit wild, a bit unorthodox and perhaps not so conditioned by tactics,” the former Germany star said on ARD’s coverage of the match between Germany and Côte d’Ivoire, sampling some of the oldest stereotypes about the African game.
Côte d’Ivoire’s manager Emerse Fae—who, as luck would have it, won plenty of plaudits for his tactical acumen—called Schweinsteiger’s comments racist. Germany’s tactical conditioning, meanwhile, was of little help against the dogged Paraguayans.
How’s Our Team Doing?
It all threatened to get very nervy for the United States on Wednesday night in Santa Clara when their star striker Flo Balogun was cruelly shown a red card for an inadvertent stomp on a Bosnian opponent’s ankle, leaving the Americans to defend a 1-0 second half lead a man short.
But in truth, the U.S. made light work of what for past American teams might have been an insurmountable challenge. Bosnia rarely threatened the U.S. goal, and when midfielder Malik Tillman curled in a free kick to double the U.S. advantage with just more than ten minutes to play, it was over.
The U.S. will be without Balogun when they face Belgium on Monday night in Seattle in the Round of 16, but Mauricio Pochettino’s team is playing with such clarity and confidence, there is no reason to believe they won’t be capable of reaching the quarterfinal and keeping this wonderful journey alive.
