Pre-World Cup Friendlies

[mikel_012]

This is me literally. Friendlies may seem interesting to many people but not to me because the countries that may be playing don't have the players I need to watch. Also, the players are playing for fun, not for a tournament that there will be winners or losers in the tournament. Friendliness are a test of strength and which team will play better in the world cup. Coaches also use friendlies to test a tactics or formation.

And how it is not interesting if its a test of strength and coaches use it to test tactics or formation? You will maybe watch a crazy game with a lot of different things from the conventional national games or lots of goals because the teams are testing new things

For the last brazil vs panama game, it was a really fun game with a 6-2 score and many goals from the second team, showing that the players want to play as better as possible to get more play time in the official games, like a hungry dog chasing attention

[AprilioMP]

This will be a topic that will only last until the start of the World Cup
To keep things organized and only talk about the friendly matches that will be played until the start of the competition

Today I'm going to watch the Brazil X Panama game
I'll try to watch Germany X Finland too

I want to watch the most important games to see how the teams are doing before the start of the World Cup, since I'll be placing a lot of bets hehehe

Brazil will still be without Neymar, but coach Ancelotti said he wants to test all the players today
Note: There will be friendly games every day until June 11th

These friendly matches are always interesting because they give coaches a chance to test different players and tactics before the World Cup starts. But honestly, my biggest concern is injuries. I just hope some key players don't end up picking up injuries during these friendlies and miss the tournament. Because we have seen it happen many times before where a player is in great form, gets injured in a warm-up game and then misses the World Cup completely. Hopefully all the teams can use these matches to prepare well while keeping their star players fit and healthy for the main competition.

Teams that have played or will play in the World Cup will play cautiously. That doesn’t mean they aren’t taking it seriously.
The squad that has been announced to bolster the national team won’t be forced to play the full 90 minutes by their coaches, and this is intended to prevent injuries. But rest assured that some teams will get that experience during friendly matches.

Take Brazil, for example, in the friendly match they played a few days ago. In the second half, almost all the players were substituted. This is part of the coach’s strategy to test and implement his tactics.

[ottogary]

Its so boring to watch, no doubt about that, but its important for them to train because without them training, they won't give the fan's what they are expecting of them. That is why its crucial for them to play and to also get to test their ability and know how to scale through during the competition and you know, practice makes perfect, even though humans can still make mistakes, its still important for them to keep practice and make the next competition an excellent one.

The friendly match not really high target for every team and the manager trying new formation giving opportunity for second composition team, I fully agree about not any interested from the friendly match and the players always try to protect their self avoid from injury and absent at World Cup. International matchday near future with World Cup I think too risky for the manager keep playing the main players for friendly match, its not good ideas taking risk by playing them because kick of World Cup just few days later and if players getting recovery need one or two weeks later return back from injury.

FIFA rank most influence for friendly match but I don't think good ideas by playing regular players for the match not really important yet, the manager have priority with World Cup just few days left and avoid them have absent at the early round.

[Agbe]

USA 3-2 Senegal

I didn't place any bet on this game but I only verbally predicted that USA would win the match or they draw with Senegal and my analysis is simple. USA hosting the world cup will not be an easy team for any National Team to beat and Senegal who is the champions of Africa so the prediction was doubting but luckily USA won the match with 3-2.

[Lucius]

~snip~
And once again here we are commenting on a World Cup
I hope your Croatia doesn't beat my Brazil again, hehehe

In 2018 we beat Argentina, and at the next World Cup we beat Brazil - but those were the best years that will be hard to repeat considering we have a lot of young players with a few seniors who don't want to retire yet. Brazil recently beat Croatia in a friendly match, so I think it's better to avoid you as long as possible

There's a very interesting game tomorrow:
Croatia vs Belgium
I'll watch it, I want to see how both teams are playing
~snip~

These are two very equal teams, at least if you look at the FIFA ranking 11 vs. 9, and if we look at the statistics, it is slightly on the side of Belgium, which has 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. In a match that does not have an imperative to win with these two teams, it would be logical for it to be a draw.

It's lucky that the match is played today at 18:00 local time, because already tonight a serious change of weather is coming with heavy rain and wind.

[Moreno233]

USA 3-2 Senegal

I didn't place any bet on this game but I only verbally predicted that USA would win the match or they draw with Senegal and my analysis is simple. USA hosting the world cup will not be an easy team for any National Team to beat and Senegal who is the champions of Africa so the prediction was doubting but luckily USA won the match with 3-2.

I was surprised to see USA beat who are the current African champions. Senegal have a very solid team with a mixture of old and young bloods that should be able to challenge any of the teams going to the world cup. Sadio Mane may be a little old but his energy is still full and he still play very well. The same thing goes for lots of their players including their captain Kalidou Koulibaly, Ismaïla Sarr and Gana Gueye  of Everton. I find it a little disappointing that they lost to USA even though it was a friendly match.

[Creeper0]

I was surprised to see USA beat who are the current African champions. Senegal have a very solid team with a mixture of old and young bloods that should be able to challenge any of the teams going to the world cup. Sadio Mane may be a little old but his energy is still full and he still play very well. The same thing goes for lots of their players including their captain Kalidou Koulibaly, Ismaïla Sarr and Gana Gueye  of Everton. I find it a little disappointing that they lost to USA even though it was a friendly match.

I don't give importance to these matches at all. I consider friendly matches before a tournament as practice matches, whatever the result of this match, it will not have any impact on the main stage of the tournament. Senegal is a great team, who are capable of doing well in the tournament. Even if they lost in the preparatory friendly match before the World Cup, it is not surprising. Because they played this match as safely as possible. If a player of the team faces injury while giving importance to a match before the main stage, then it will definitely not be positive.

[juttsab@]

USA 3-2 Senegal

I didn't place any bet on this game but I only verbally predicted that USA would win the match or they draw with Senegal and my analysis is simple. USA hosting the world cup will not be an easy team for any National Team to beat and Senegal who is the champions of Africa so the prediction was doubting but luckily USA won the match with 3-2.

USA won 3-2 against Senegal in friendlies. Dest scored the first goal in the 7th minute of first half for USA and Pulisic doubled it in 20th minute . For Senegal Mane stepped in scored a brace 44th and 52nd minute and equalized. But just after 9 minutes Balogun scored the 3rd in 63rd minute  for USA. On possession Senegal lead with 53 percent 2.23xG , 3 big chances created and 7 of total shots on the other hand USA with 47 percent created 5 big chances 17 total shots and 2.27 xG . Pulisic is named as player of the match.

[Silence Scream]

USA 3-2 Senegal

I didn't place any bet on this game but I only verbally predicted that USA would win the match or they draw with Senegal and my analysis is simple. USA hosting the world cup will not be an easy team for any National Team to beat and Senegal who is the champions of Africa so the prediction was doubting but luckily USA won the match with 3-2.

USA won 3-2 against Senegal in friendlies. Dest scored the first goal in the 7th minute of first half for USA and Pulisic doubled it in 20th minute . For Senegal Mane stepped in scored a brace 44th and 52nd minute and equalized. But just after 9 minutes Balogun scored the 3rd in 63rd minute  for USA. On possession Senegal lead with 53 percent 2.23xG , 3 big chances created and 7 of total shots on the other hand USA with 47 percent created 5 big chances 17 total shots and 2.27 xG . Pulisic is named as player of the match.

The USA can do great things in this tournament. They have good players and will be playing at home. I think they will make the most of their home advantage and finish in the top two of their group, along with Turkey. After that, it will depend on the draw. If they are lucky and get a good draw, they might advance another round. Their victory against Senegal is, in my opinion, a pre-tournament success for the USA.

[Varnquister]

The match between Croatia and Belgium was incredibly dull. We can say it was a good result for Belgium, who won the match by scoring one goal in each half. As for Croatia, they’ll need to learn from this and prepare for the World Cup accordingly. The scorers for Belgium were Youri Tielemans and Romelu Lukaku. Belgium was the better team, and frankly, I wasn’t surprised they won. Of course, since it was a friendly match, it doesn’t really matter much.

[Nalain420]

USA 3-2 Senegal

I didn't place any bet on this game but I only verbally predicted that USA would win the match or they draw with Senegal and my analysis is simple. USA hosting the world cup will not be an easy team for any National Team to beat and Senegal who is the champions of Africa so the prediction was doubting but luckily USA won the match with 3-2.

I was surprised to see USA beat who are the current African champions. Senegal have a very solid team with a mixture of old and young bloods that should be able to challenge any of the teams going to the world cup. Sadio Mane may be a little old but his energy is still full and he still play very well. The same thing goes for lots of their players including their captain Kalidou Koulibaly, Ismaïla Sarr and Gana Gueye  of Everton. I find it a little disappointing that they lost to USA even though it was a friendly match.

There was nothing in the game between these two that USA was defeated, rather USA scored 3 goals and won. Their players started this rain at 7 minutes and stopped it at 63 minutes. Senegal also scored 2 goals but they were not ready to win. The way their team is, it does not show that they can challenge anyone. I mean, what is the use of an old man in football. They should not keep an older player who has to work hard to compete on the bench and mostly the younger players should be put forward. Yes, there is not much difference between them. If the USA players did not see the win, they could have tied in the form of a draw, which I do not like because either you win or you lose.

[meser#]

The match between Croatia and Belgium was incredibly dull. We can say it was a good result for Belgium, who won the match by scoring one goal in each half. As for Croatia, they’ll need to learn from this and prepare for the World Cup accordingly. The scorers for Belgium were Youri Tielemans and Romelu Lukaku. Belgium was the better team, and frankly, I wasn’t surprised they won. Of course, since it was a friendly match, it doesn’t really matter much.

My friend, the World Cup starts in two weeks. Players in teams playing friendly matches don't push themselves too hard. They're afraid of injury. Many footballers currently in the national team have played at least 40-50 matches throughout the season. If they get injured in a friendly match, they'll miss the World Cup. Our team played against North Macedonia, but many of the players on the field will be substitutes when the group matches start. Montella is saving his key players for the group matches.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

I think this thread will be very short lived since the cup starts in 1 week, so almost all the friendlies should all have been played by now.
Just saw that Germany has another final test against USA this Saturday, which kinda surprises me to have a test this late. This is pretty risky I think since any injury is always just around the corner and you don't want to pick anything up like 1 week before you play your first game.

[Jostern]

I saw a goal from Alexander Isak, against Norway and I was wondering is that the same Isak that have been very terrible with his performances last season, then I remembered his been injured on so many occasions throughout the past season, and I can’t really blame him, he didn’t have a very season because of injury.

I have never been disappointed with his signing because I know there is a reason why Liverpool paid £125m for his signatures, he will come good as soon as his fit and free from injury his going to come back stronger and very fit to deliver for the season.

[Jossque]

Denmark will face the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Denmark failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup. Denmark, which reached the final against the Czech Republic, lost to its opponent in a penalty shootout. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the other hand, has qualified for the World Cup. Although one might expect the opposite, Denmark is likely to emerge victorious in this matchup between the two teams. Since Congo’s first World Cup match will be against Portugal, the performance they show in this match will be crucial as they prepare for that game.

[Iranus]

USA won 3-2 against Senegal in friendlies. Dest scored the first goal in the 7th minute of first half for USA and Pulisic doubled it in 20th minute . For Senegal Mane stepped in scored a brace 44th and 52nd minute and equalized. But just after 9 minutes Balogun scored the 3rd in 63rd minute  for USA. On possession Senegal lead with 53 percent 2.23xG , 3 big chances created and 7 of total shots on the other hand USA with 47 percent created 5 big chances 17 total shots and 2.27 xG . Pulisic is named as player of the match.

I expected Senegal to win or  draw the match. But the result was completely opposite. USA played very well and managed to secure a 3 -2 victory in the match. USA team seems to be quite strong. Their performance against senegal was well-organized. Both their match strategy and gameplay were good. They  were able to attack a lot.

On the other hand, senegal is completely dependent on Sadio mane in this world cup. It is very difficult to  perform well on a platform like the world cup by relying on only one player. Senegal has strong teams like France and norway in their group in the world cup. If they can not play well, it is not possible for senegal to qualify for  the next round.

[Daniel91]

The match between Croatia and Belgium was incredibly dull. We can say it was a good result for Belgium, who won the match by scoring one goal in each half. As for Croatia, they’ll need to learn from this and prepare for the World Cup accordingly. The scorers for Belgium were Youri Tielemans and Romelu Lukaku. Belgium was the better team, and frankly, I wasn’t surprised they won. Of course, since it was a friendly match, it doesn’t really matter much.

Honestly, I'm very disappointed with the Croatian national team's performance.
They played too slowly and predictably and with such a game it is unlikely that they will repeat Croatia's great results in the last 2 world championships.
Croatia has a lot of old players in their team and I think it is time for the coach to give more trust to the younger and faster players, who are the future.
I agree, a boring match without much excitement.

[Jossque]

The Netherlands will face Algeria. Naturally, given the difference in squad quality, the Netherlands are heavy favourites for this match. As for Algeria, I think it will be a good warm-up match for them. Both teams will use this pre-World Cup friendly to assess their players. Avoiding injuries will naturally be the Netherlands’ top priority, so they may well consider resting some players. I expect the match to be a high-scoring affair.

[Ever-young]

I don't give importance to these matches at all. I consider friendly matches before a tournament as practice matches, whatever the result of this match, it will not have any impact on the main stage of the tournament. Senegal is a great team, who are capable of doing well in the tournament. Even if they lost in the preparatory friendly match before the World Cup, it is not surprising. Because they played this match as safely as possible. If a player of the team faces injury while giving importance to a match before the main stage, then it will definitely not be positive.

Its important for teams to play this friendly matches for their own good, as to prepare themselves for the World Cup competition. But they are to play it safely, as not to acquire any injuries that will cut off their plans short, because that is what makes some players do not participate in some tournaments after the friendly matches due to how injured they might be and this is the major reasons why there is friendly match, so the manager can coach them on what to do and how to play, for them to prevent some injuries.

[KTChampions]

I think this thread will be very short lived since the cup starts in 1 week, so almost all the friendlies should all have been played by now.
Just saw that Germany has another final test against USA this Saturday, which kinda surprises me to have a test this late. This is pretty risky I think since any injury is always just around the corner and you don't want to pick anything up like 1 week before you play your first game.

This thread can be extended to most of the group stage games for obvious reasons 
As for Germany, their first official game will take place on June 14th and their opponent will be Curaçao. What should they do all this time? Play two-way games with the national team players? This is a pointless exercise. Friendly games are less risky in terms of injuries because players aren't playing at 100%. And, in general, a friendly against the USA would be more useful for testing their strength than an official game against Curaçao.