Forty-eight games in 13 days, from 32 teams, in an Arabian setting, in the heart of the European winter. The first round of the World Cup in Qatar made history as the competition entered the home stretch yesterday with a ’16’ phase and knockout matches that also have…salt and pepper.

More or less, the favorites have confirmed their title, apart from the resounding departure of Germany for the second World Cup in a row, as well as the homecoming of teams that have traditionally had continuity, such as Belgium, Mexico and Denmark.

“K” asked the opinion of Michalis Grigoriou, who summarizes the first photo we received from this tournament. Teams that show they can go all the way and lift the prize trophy, underdogs that can deal…damage, players that push, coaches that checkmate come off the bench.

“Apart from some isolated surprises in specific matches, such as the match between Saudi Arabia and Argentina, I think everything was pretty much predictable in terms of the teams that qualified. We have also seen some very good games separately, such as South Korea v Ghana or Cameroon v Serbia, but I was expecting a better show considering the players are in the middle of the season. However, the pace was not the same, and perhaps the fact that the first concern was to get out of the groups, which forced the teams to be careful, avoiding risk, played a role in this, ”explains an experienced technician.

“The trio dominates defensively, even in aggressive teams like the Netherlands.”

“Outside of Brazil, the traditional powers have not impressed. Instead, I would go up against Ghana, Senegal and the US for how they handled the games. Against theoretically superior opponents such as Portugal, Holland and England, they were not afraid, they claimed victory, they were convincing. Also Morocco, who have always been a good team, but the mentality of their players in the past did not allow them to take an extra step.

Football greats such as Messi, Mbappe, Giroud and Modric will now be called upon to make a difference by helping their teams, according to the 49-year-old manager.

“But we have seen players such as outstanding US defensive midfielder Tyler Adams, who impressed me with the way he combines defensive and attacking functions, Dutch goalkeeper Andries Knoppert with his physique, Ajax midfielder from Ghana Mohamed Kudous, who has excellent goalscoring ability. points and technical training.

So far, the World Cup has not shown us any innovations in terms of tactics and systems,” emphasizes the Greek coach.

“The Trinity dominates defensively even in aggressive teams like the Netherlands. It’s nothing new, it’s just applied in a more sophisticated way, with the three on the attack for teams on target. For example, we saw this in Spain’s match against Japan, where the Japanese played in a 3-4-3 formation. I think a lot of their victory and turnaround both in this game and against Germany was due to their coach Hajime Moriyas turning the game around with the changes he made in the second half. For me, he was the best coach in the tournament and Aliou Cisse from Senegal followed him and had the same impact on his team’s performance.”

Possible final Brazil-France

A pair of Brazil-France in the final is very likely for M. Grigoriu. “The teams that will make it to the end, I think, are Brazil and France, who can also be a couple of the finals. They have the depth in the squad and above all the quality that Germany lacked and so they were eliminated. Spain was lucky, and no one can take chances from Argentina. If we see the Brazil-Argentina final, the atmosphere of war will prevail. From now on, Croatia is a team that few people believe in, but for me it is a big outsider. Thanks to her participation in the previous finals, as well as her awards in recent years, she has acquired the fabric of a big team. Whatever the outcome, I hope we see something different in terms of entertainment.”