I’m back once again. And I have to tell you that I’m a bit surprised in myself that I’ve made it this far. Also, get used to me saying that in probably every blog from here on out. No one knows which will be my last. But without further ado, let’s just talk about the four games we witnessed today.

Spain 0-0 Cape Verde

Wow. What do I even write about this game? Coming into it Spain were obviously massive favorites, being one of the best teams in the world. For Cape Verde, it was already an incredible accomplishment to even make the World Cup. They are the third smallest nation to do so. So this figured to be a game where Spain would have an enormous amount of possession and put Cape Verde under constant pressure. Eventually, they’d have to find a breakthrough and then maybe add a couple more goals to get the win. But today, that just wasn’t in the cards.

I can’t say enough about the effort from every single one of those Cape Verde players. Spain did in fact end up with 74% possession and took 27 shots. They were in the Cape Verde half for virtually the entire game. But each and every member of this Cape Verde side were warriors. None more so than 40 year old goalkeeper Vozinha who made 7 saves. I know I’ve written these 9 words already over these first few blogs, but this is what the World Cup is all about. This is the height of every single one of those players’ careers. It’s the biggest sporting moment in a nation’s history. That is how much the World Cup means. There just is not anything else like it in this world.

Belgium 1-1 Egypt

I’m struggling a bit with how to feel about Belgium coming out of this one. So I’ll start with Egypt. I owe them an apology, I was not familiar with their game. Coming in, I expected them to just be all about Salah and Marmoush. The majority of the rest of the team plays in Egypt. But they actually looked really good. Emam Ashour’s first half goals was a great finish. And they really went toe to toe with Belgium. There wasn’t much between the two teams and a draw was deserved.

Now as for Belgium, what a disappointment yet again. Belgium have been in this “golden generation” going back to the early 2010s. And they have very little to show for it. Despite having star players like De Bruyne, Doku, and my favorites Aston Villa midfield duo Onana and Tielemans, they once again found it difficult to get a result on the biggest stage. I mean sure, they technically “got a result” by getting a point here but I expected much more from them.

Uruguay 1-1 Saudi Arabia

I have to start by giving a bunch of credit to Saudi Arabia. Similar to Egypt, I apologize for I was not familiar with their game. They had a great first half where they were holding their own against Uruguay. At times they looked like the better team. They fully deserved their goal in the 41st. And it looked at halftime like they were going to come away with the 3 points. But Uruguay finally turned up in the second half and dominated. They took 23 shots (8 on target) and had 29 touches in the opposition box in the last 45. Saudi Arabia had 2 shots (0 on target) and 4 touches in the opposition box in the same period. To put it simply, it was one way traffic. Uruguay eventually got their breakthrough in the 80th to come away with a point.

Without that first half performance from Saudi Arabia, there’s no way they come out of this with a point. They were never going to be able to defend like they did for 90 minutes. Not everyone can be Cape Verde. They’ll be hoping they can play more like they did in the first half in their coming games. Meanwhile, Uruguay will need to make sure the 2nd half is what is representative of how they’re going to play.

Iran 2-2 New Zealand

What a great way to end the day’s action. I wouldn’t have guessed it coming in, but this was the best game of the day. Cape Verde was the best story, but this was the most entertaining. It was also the most evenly contested game. Both teams just went for it and played direct, creating plenty of chances. For New Zealand, it primarily came through Chris Wood and Elijah Just. Interestingly it was the target man Wood who provided the assists for the winger Just. The first came just 7 minutes in. Iran responded through Ramin Rezaeian in the 32nd. Just scored again in the 54th for New Zealand but they would lose a second lead when Mohammad Mohebi leveled for Iran in the 64th.

After that second equalizer, both teams still went for it. Right up until the end. Credit to them for that. It would’ve been easy as time went on to be more conservative and play for a point out of fear of coming away with nothing. At the end of the day, a draw was the deserved result. And it ensures that both teams have everything to play for in their next two games.

Stray Thoughts

• We had the first sacking of the tournament. Tunisia fired manager Sabri Lamouchi after their 5-1 loss to Sweden. Ruthless, but probably deserved
• My guy Derek Rae got on a higher profile game for his second of the tournament. He had Belgium and Egypt today and once again showed he’s one of the best in the business
• Fernando Muslera is still around? That guy was the goalkeeper for Uruguay all the way back in 2010 when they went on that incredible run to the semifinal. By the time you read this, he’ll be 40 years old (his birthday is the 16th). And he’s still Uruguay’s number one
• Speaking of Uruguay, I’m not a fan of Marcelo Bielsa. He’s barely won anything in his entire career yet he gets praised as one of the best tactical minds. He won some titles in Argentina in the 1990s and then won the EFL Championship with Leeds. That is the height of his career achievements
• Pink uniforms for the refs in Miami? The broadcast tried to say it had something to do with the city of Miami or the refs being headquartered there (if I heard correctly). But there’s no convincing me that this isn’t just tied to Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. I’m here for that conspiracy theory
• Four draws! Four draws today, yet we had some incredibly exciting stuff. For the naysayers out there who say soccer is boring because of ties, tell me these weren’t entertaining. I dare you

So that’ll do it for Matchday 5. It was a better day than I was expecting. This tournament has been better than expected as well. That’s something I’m probably (hopefully) going to keep saying in these blogs. I’m starting to wonder if I just love soccer no matter how the game goes. Because I haven’t been bored during any of the 16 games so far. And now for Matchday 6, we get to see France, Argentina, and Norway. Two powerhouses and the best striker in the world. But I’m also sure that some other team that doesn’t jump out initially will surprise me. Can’t wait to see who it is!