After attending 17 games in five days at the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena says there have not been many surprises in the global spectacle, apart from Argentina and Germany’s defeats in their opening games.
La Albiceleste and the Die Mannschaft lost to Saudi Arabia and Japan respectively but the Lionel Messi-led Argentina managed to dust themselves up and qualified for the knockout stages.
Meanwhile, Senegal are the first African representatives to make it to the last-16 after finishing second in Group B behind the Netherlands.
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“I am not surprised that Senegal are through because they were very good against Holland. They also won convincingly against Ecuador but their performance against Holland was superb. A lot of credit needs to go to coach Aliou Cisse. They are an extremely well-coached team, even without Sadio Mane they still did well,” said Mokwena.
Cisse’s side will take on England in the knockout and the Downs mentor, who has been analyzing the tournament as a pundit for SuperSport TV, reckons that the Lions of Teranga will have to prove their worth against Gareth Southgate’s side.
“It is going to be very difficult for them against England. Spain are one of the best teams at the World Cup together with France and the Dutch … you can see the experience of the (Dutch) players and coach Louis Van Gaal.
The 2010 losing finalists, the Netherlands will face the USA in the round of 16. Holland’s distinctive formation, where Van Gaal plays a back-three with Nathan Ake and Jurrien Timber flank skipper Virgil Van Dijk, makes them tough customers in this competition.
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“They use a different formation than France, Spain and England who predominantly use a 4-3-3 formation. The 3-4-3 of the Dutch is something that is extremely interesting. When you look at the gap between the major football nations and some of the minor teams, it is no longer so big because they export a lot of players to big clubs,” said Mokwena.
He adds: “There are many players who are playing in the English Premiership and these players have the experience of playing under pressure and against good quality opposition week-in week-out and that comes very handy for them in the knockout stages.”
