Matt Doherty's World Cup diary | 10 December
Sat 10 December 2022, 08:45|
Tottenham Hotspur
It's quarter-final time in Qatar and Matt Doherty is back with his thoughts as we hit crunch time at the World Cup.
Today’s quarter-finals
Morocco v Portugal (3pm)
England v France (7pm)
Our players in action today
Eric Dier, Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris - England v France
Yesterday's quarter-finals...
Matt: "What a day! Croatia-Brazil... myself and Deki called it early doors, we could just tell by the way the game was going, 0-0, the whole way. I wasn't impressed by Brazil for a lot of the tournament, yet I still believed they would get through. Croatia's experience and know-how, especially in midfield and out wide. They scored a really good goal, as well. In fact, both goals were really good. There was just too much pressure on Brazil in the shoot-out. I agree with the pundits on Neymar going last in the shoot-out, you have to go first and make sure you score. So, another semi-final for Croatia. Holland-Argentina, I thought Argentina would win, but at 2-1, I wanted Holland to score. It's that Orange blood in me (Matt's mum is Dutch). That free-kick to equalise was crazy! Considering the time of the game, how close it was to goal, for everyone to be on that page and for it to go in, that's one of the best set pieces I've seen in so long, when you think about the circumstances. Just incredible. I did say yesterday that if it went to penalties, Emi Martinez would come out on top. I was a bit disappointed, watching it, I kind of wanted Holland to go through, but then Messi... They now play Croatia, a huge game."
My thoughts on today's quarter-finals...
Matt: "Morocco-Portugal, that's not an easy one, but I expect Portugal to be comfortable enough. Morocco have had a good run, but I just think Portugal will have too much. England-France, massive, massive game. I know players on both sides. I probably want England to win just for the lads, but if I'm being an honest blogger, I can see France winning as well. It's going to be tough to stop the two wide men, Mbappe and Dembele. England can counter well and cause France problems as well. It will be tough for England."
The key players...
Matt: "In Morocco-Portugal, I'll go with the young striker Goncalo Ramos, who scored a hat-trick against Switzerland. Surely he starts. They can press better when he's in the team. They didn't give Switzerland a kick. Ramos looked good, all-round play, good touches, finishing, he could be a handful. England-France, four key men - Kyle Walker, Luke Shaw, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele. Whoever comes out on top in that foursome wins. So, key men in that game.
My predictions...
Morocco v Portugal - Portugal 2-0 or 3-0.
England v France - my heart wants England to win for the lads, but my head is telling me France will scrape through, I'll go 2-1 France, but I hope I'm wrong!
