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The climax of the FIFA World Cup is approaching, when the top eight teams remain. The semifinals kick off on Friday, August 11. Sports experts Jonne Kunnas and Maija Saari guess and justify which countries will reach the medal games.
Spain–Netherlands 11.8. at 4
Municipality: Spain. A very even match. Holland has been good throughout the Games and has been able to improve. Spain’s weaknesses were revealed in the final round match against Japan. However, Spain is able to freeze the Netherlands with ball control and versatile creation of scoring opportunities. Now they have also found ways to prevent counterattacks.
Shin: Netherlands. Before the tournament, I would have guessed Spain, but the team has not convinced – the defensive game has been on a really fragile basis. Holland has played evenly and they have the whole thing better under control. There needs to be more improvement in Spain’s game, although of course they have a lot of skilled individuals. Holland’s defense hasn’t really been tested, but I don’t think Spain can break it.
The teams’ matches in the World Cup:
Spain: 3-0 Costa Rica, 5-0 Zambia, 0-4 Japan, 5-1 Switzerland. Goal difference 13–5.
Holland: 1-0 Portugal, 1-1 USA, 7-0 Vietnam, 2-0 South Africa. Goal difference 11–1.
Japan–Sweden 11.8. at 10:30 a.m
Municipality: Japan. In the quarterfinals, Sweden stood in the defensive block against the United States for 120 minutes and succeeded well. The team will do the same against Japan. The match measures Japan’s ability to play with the ball. In the opening group match against Spain, the team played without the ball, while in the quarter-final against Norway, Japan had the ball – yet the team won both games. Japan has been able to recycle players and is in such a good attack that it finds ways to break Sweden’s tight defensive block.
Shin: Japan. The versatility of their attacking game has convinced. The team has reacted well to the challenges and made the right changes. They are able to play against different teams. However, it should not be forgotten that Sweden has been strong in special situations, and Japan is a rather small team. However, Sweden showed in the match against the United States that there are no problems in defense or goalkeeping, so it is expected to be a tight game.
Japan: 5–0 Zambia, 2–0 Costa Rica, 4–0 Spain, 3–1 Norway. Goal difference 14–1.
Sweden: 2–1 South Africa, 5–0 Italy, 2–0 Argentina, 0–0 (rp. 5–4) USA. Goal difference 9–1.
Australia–France 12.8. at 10 o’clock
Municipality: Australia. Gets to play the kind of football they excel at. The team defends closely and does it very well. Australia also attack very dangerously. France have improved, but there are problems with their balance of play and Australia’s forwards are taking advantage of that.
Shin: Australia. The team has been convincing and crushed the reigning Olympic champion Canada in the first group. Although they lost to Nigeria in the final round, the team managed to handle the situation well by the time they reached the quarterfinals. Australia is well aware of its strengths and has found its own game identity. France has been a bit shaky and defensive play is a question mark, as the team conceded three goals against Panama.
Australia: 1–0 Ireland, 2–3 Nigeria, 4–0 Canada, 2–0 Denmark. Goal difference 9–3.
France: 0–0 Jamaica, 2–1 Brazil, 6–3 Panama, 4–0 Morocco. Goal difference 12–4.
England–Colombia 12.8. at 1:30 p.m
Municipality: Colombia. From the quarter-finals, I bet Nigeria will knock out England and I will continue with the same line. Colombia freeze England’s attacking play, attack with quality and Linda Caicedo takes his team towards their dreams.
Shin: English. Colombia is pretty much at the limit when the team has had to play through the tournament with the same lineup. For example, in the quarterfinal match against Jamaica, the first change was made only in the 87th minute of the game. They might run out of power. Of course, England also played 120 minutes and ten players for more than half an hour in the Nigeria match, but they have a wider circle of players. Although England haven’t played any top-flight football so far, they have a tactical wizard aka head coach Sarina Wiegman.
England: 1–0 Haiti, 1–0 Denmark, 6–1 China, 0–0 (rp. 4–2) Nigeria. Goal difference 8–1.
Colombia: 2–0 South Korea, 2–1 Germany, 0–1 Morocco, 1–0 Jamaica. Goal difference 5–2.