bookd.
San Jose Earthquakes1 - 5Minnesota United
I only caught the second half, but this is what we have been waiting for. Life from the offense, finally. Shout out to Callender for having some clutch save to maintain our momentum. Really cool to see Caldeira get his first goal.
Minnesota United1 - 2Atlanta United
Moments of promise, but the lack of finishing and missed connections demonstrate not everything is clicking and not everyone belongs. Dieng was gifted a 1v1 with the keeper and couldn’t even dribble properly? More like Mamadoodoo Dieng. I’m glad Caldeira got the start over him.
Atlanta United
Sporting Kansas City2 - 1Minnesota UnitedIt’s nice to see we are capable of moving the ball around well, but we were too casual in the attacking third. The pace of play just wasn’t there. We looked better crossing it in at the end; why not just start with that? Also, SKC had a great counter system - which we used to do. How can we not defend against that? Capita MotM because he was so dangerous. None of our guys could keep up.
Sporting Kansas City
Spain2 - 1Belgium
Belgium got outclassed, but still enjoyable to watch. RIP De Bruyne 💔
Norway1 - 2England
Boring game because of the heat. Not how I wanted to see Haaland go out.
England1 - 2Argentina
A crazy end to an incredibly disappointing performance by England. They gave up all semblance of their original plan with the goal, and the last 30 was a testament to why you don’t park the bus.
Spain1 - 0ArgentinaSo satisfying to see Spain pub stomp this embarrassment of a team. Argentina’s behavior these last few games disgusted me, and they got their comeuppance at the hands of some beautiful soccer.
SpainEngland2 - 1Congo DR
Exciting end to a boring performance from England. Looks like Tuchel finally told them to let loose. Kane is clutch.
England
Netherlands1 - 1Morocco
Fun game to watch, but I wish Netherlands had created more opportunities for themselves instead of relying on defense. There were several points where I thought they were just biding time for PKs.
Germany1 - 1Paraguay
Atrocious PKs by Germany. I expected a lot more of them from the run of play.
Ivory Coast1 - 2Norway
Norway
Brazil2 - 1Japan
I’m bummed about the results of this match. I really wanted Japan to advance because they play an interesting game with how cohesive and precise they are. I especially liked how they approached selectively applying pressure with the two center mids in their 5-4-1 are. Brazil did a good job in the 2nd half to break the low block with services between the defenders.
JapanIvory Coast1 - 2NorwaySurprised Norway came away with this. Ivory Coast looked like it had more talent and more quality chances. Nusa had a great game, Haaland scored an important goal, and the Norway keeper had a clutch game.