Group C: The Monster, The Elegant, The Dark Horse, The Underdog
Photo credit: Nazionale Calcio
Some of the World Cup’s groups have a colloquial or implicit name given by the audience determined by the quality of the teams that compose them.
In this case, Group C is baptized as the dynamic group. France, Denmark, Australia and Peru are attractive teams to watch with a combination of frontal styles, elegant ball treatment and physicality that might make us witness games with high scores.
The Monster: Another golden French generation lead by Antoine Greizmann is a solid candidate to take the tournament.
France is a vertical squad that knows how to exploit their offensive speed on both sides; it has a talented midfield not just to create, but also to contain. France displays a spectacular game when they have ball control; the offense shows any variation.
They dominate every offensive angle of the game. They are proficient by attacking from the sides, constructing through the middle and accurate from long distance.
France works almost perfectly as a team on every line; they have defensive order and sacrifice. And in case the game situation is not going as planned, they have four individuals in Démbéle, Mbappe, Griezmann and Pogba who can solve any outcome against them. According to FiveThirtyEight, Les Bleus have a 56 percent chance to win Group C, which is the third-largest prognostication margin, and an 83 percent chance to advance to the round of 16.
The Elegant: After Michael Laudrup, Denmark didn’t have a “heavyweight” referent until Christian Eriksen rose.
Denmark occupies the 14th place in the FIFA rankings; they qualified to the playoff matches against the Republic of Ireland after finishing second in the European eliminatory.
It is a team with a complicated defensive system to break. Smeichel, Kjaer, Christensen, Jorgensen and Vestergaard keep the Danish first line out of trouble. Denmark is a cautious team; the physical strength and the good tactical skills of their defensive line are advantages between them, Peru and Australia.
Denmark’s offense is directed by one of the best players and midfielders in the world, Christian Eriksen. Eriksen is an exquisite style of a footballer. He is fast in the short run, extremely technical and has a very accurate long-distance shot. He’s also proficient in the one-v-one situations.
On offense, they covet a high-pressing game. Eriksen connects very well with the wingers, Sisto and Poulsen, and acts as a free player while being protected by a very efficient central midfielder in Krohn-Deli.
But Denmark lacks a high-quality striker to associate with Eriksen, and that may play a role in the most important soccer tournament. However, FiveThirtyEight gives Denmark a 60 percent chance to advance to the second phase of the competition.
The Dark Horse: After being absent for 36 years from the World Cup, Peru is the unknown rival that might surprise the group.
“I’m sitting down here today because I believe in the Peruvian player,” were the words that the Argentinian Ricardo Gareca said when he signed with the Albirroja in 2015 to become the new coach of the Peruvian national squad.
Peru rose from the ashes of CONMEBOL to reach the World Cup with a compelling style. The physicality of the players, offensive speed, treatment of the ball during the transitions and a magnificent striker like Paolo Guerrero are the best antidote for a black-horse script.
The difference between them, Denmark and Australia is that Peru played against elite squads like Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia and Chile twice during the qualifiers. It is a team that likes to have the ball and is enjoyable to watch.
However, Peru is a team that concedes many goals. In CONMEBOL, Peru conceded 26 goals in 18 matches during qualifying, but is also efficient in the dead-ball situations.
Peru is already making history by participating in the World Cup, but they won’t stop there. Gareca has enough tactical weapons to send Peru to the next round.
The Underdog: In 2006, Australia moved from the Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian Football Confederation with the goal of improving the level of the national team. They haven’t missed a World Cup ever since that move.
The Aussies are the live representation of an underdog story. In 2006, Australia appeared for the second time in a World Cup tournament. They qualified to the second round and lost against Italy with a polemic penalty.
Australia displays a compact style; it is a team that knows how to hold its lines while waiting for the opponent to commit a mistake.
They are led by historic striker Tim Cahill. Cahill is more than just the top scorer of the Aussies. He was the first player to score a goal in a World Cup for Australia and he can become the fourth player — along with Pelé, Klose, Uwe Seeler — to score in four World Cups.
Cahill is a different man in a squad that doesn’t generate a broad about of chances, but Australia knows how to score on the main stage. The Aussies scored 11 goals in nine games during the last three World Cups; Cahill netted five of those 11.
According to FiveThirtyEight, Australia is the least favorite squad to qualify to the round of 16 out of Group C with a 21 percent chance. However, Cahill and his desire for making history can cause trouble in the group. Even if Asutralia doesn’t win a match, a few tallies could cause a goal differential issue for the other three sides.
Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.
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