World Cup 2018: Group E Preview

As the domestic season comes to a close attention is quickly turning to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In order to get you ready for the month-long festival of football Marking The Spot will provide you with in-depth previews of each group highlighting the players to watch in Russia this summer.

Lets take a look at Group E.

BRAZIL 

Brazil go to Russia defending their status as the greatest nation in the history of the World Cup. They have triumphed a record five times, finished runners-up twice and are the only ever-present finalists.

Beyond the statistics, Brazil have also brought their Jogo Bonito (Beautiful Game) to the World Cup through their explosive technical brilliance of legendary players such as Pelé, Garrincha, Didi, Romário, Bebeto, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. The latest superstar is Neymar, who made his finals debut on home soil in 2014 and cemented his reputation with the penalty that won Olympic gold for Brazil in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Brazil football developed at the end of the nineteenth century, prompted by migrant British workers with league established in Rio and Sao Paulo by the turn of the century. The national team entered the competitive arena at the South American Championship in 1916. They competed modestly at the 1930 and 1934 World Cups, then reached the semi-finals in France in 1938 before losing to champions Italy.

A golden age then followed between 1950 and 1970. Brazil, as hosts, were World Cup runners-up to Uruguay in 1950, reached the quarter-finals in 1954 and then won for the first time in Sweden in 1958. A forward line featuring Garrincha, Vavá, Zagallo and the 17-year-old Pelé strolled to a 5-2 win over their hosts in the final. In Chile, in 1962, an almost identical team, minus the injured Pelé, beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 to defend their title.

Brazil clinched a hat-trick in Mexico in 1970. The brilliance of Pelé, supported by the likes of Tostao, Gérson, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto, earned Brazil the right to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy forever. Further success was achieved in 1994, against Italy in Pasadena, via the first penalty shoot-out in a final. Title number five, secured with a win over Germany, was inspired by Ronaldo in 2002 at the finals hosted by Japan and South Korea.

Brazil are still awaiting their sixth crown. The quarter-finals were the end of the road in 2006 and 2010, and the team ended in fourth place when they played host four years ago. A 7-1 hammering at the hands of Germany in the semi-final prompted major changes both on and off the field. Luiz Felipe Scolari was succeeded as coach by Dunga and then by Tite after Brazil fell short in both the 2015 Copa América and the 2016 Copa América Centenario.

Under Dunga, Brazil had made a slow start to qualifying for Russia with a 2-0 defeat in Chile and draws against Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay in their first six matches. By the time qualifying resumed, in September 2016, Tite had taken over. Brazil duly won all of their next nine qualifying ties to secure their place in Russia with four games remaining.

Gabriel Jesus and Neymar scored six goals apiece with midfielders Willian Philippe Coutinho contributing four each. Brazil also owe their place in Russia to solid defensive work. Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Miranda and Marquinhos offer enormous international experience behind hard-working midfield cover from the likes of Paulinho, Fernandinho, Renato Augusto and Casemiro.

The sum total of all these talent was evident in the outcome of the South American qualifying section: Brazil finished top ten points clear of Uruguay. Now their fans will want them to match that form in the finals.

Some 16 years have passed since Brazil last reached the World Cup final – too long if you’re a fan of the Seleção.

This Brazil side isn’t short of talent, improvements have been made in their defensive efforts since 2014 and their hard working midfield will look to create chances for Brazil’s all-star attacking force. Talisman Neymar is returning from injury having undergone surgery for a broken metatarsal, he hasn’t played competitive football since March. Nevertheless Brazil should easily top this group and look certain to feature come the business end of the tournament.

The Coach – Tite (Adenor Leonardo Bacchi)

Tite, 58, celebrated his first achievement as national coach after only eight months in the job when Brazil secured their place in the finals last year. He had taken over from former World Cup winning captain Dunga in June 2016. Tite spent 11 years as a defensive midfielder with home town Caxias do Sol, Esportivo, Portuguesa (Saom Paulo) and Guarani. He began a 28-year coaching career with Caxias. Most notably, he guided Corinthians to success in the Brazilian championship twice as well as the Copa Libertadores and the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup.

Record at previous tournaments:

  • 1930 1st round
  • 1934 1st round 
  • 1938 3rd place
  • 1950 Runners-up
  • 1954 Quarter-finals
  • 1958 Champions
  • 1962 Champions
  • 1966 1st round
  • 1970 Champions
  • 1974 4th place
  • 1978 2nd round
  • 1982 2nd round
  • 1986 Quarter-finals
  • 1990 2nd round
  • 1994 Champions
  • 1998 Runners-up 
  • 2002 Champions
  • 2006 Quarter-finals
  • 2010 Quarter-finals
  • 2014 4th place

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland enjoyed an outstanding qualifying campaign despite only reaching Russia via the play-offs. Stars such as Stephan Lichtsteiner, Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka will be aiming to burst through the last 16 barrier.

The Swiss have never won a major national team tournament but their consistency has been impressive down the years. They have competed in the finals of the World Cup on ten occasions and this is their fourth successive appearance.

Switzerland set a marker for the present generation by winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria in 2009. Xhaka and Ricardo Rodriguez are two of the outstanding members of that team who have fulfilled their potential at senior level and established themselves with leading clubs in Europe’s biggest league competitions.

The country has always been at the forefront of world football without ever winning any senior prizes because FIFA and UEFA have their headquarters in Zurich and Nyon respectively. The history of the game in Switzerland stretches back to the 1880s, when the British helped develop the game – as evidenced in the names of major clubs such as Grasshoppers (Zurich) and Young Boys (Bern).

The Nati were runners-up in the 1924 Olympics and then quarter-finalists at both the 1934 and 1938 World Cups. Stars of that era were the Abegglen brothers, Max and André, who scored more than 60 goals between them.

The man most responsible behind the scenes for this success was Karl Rappan, known as “the father of Swiss football”. He devised the “Swiss Bolt” strategy, which involved using a free man at the back, a predecessor of the Italian catenaccio strategy using a libero (sweeper) in defence. Under Rappen, the Swiss reached the finals of four of the first five World Cups played after the Second World War. Their best performance was in 1954 when, as hosts, they reached the quarter-finals.

After 1966, the national side suffered a reversal of fortunes and failed to qualify for six consecutive World Cups and seven European Championships. But under English coach Roy Hodgson, they staged a comeback. They narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 1992 European Championships but claimed a place at the 1994 World Cup. They returned to the European finals in England two years later.

Switzerland have been a steady presence at the World Cup since 2006 and brought that experience to bear in the 2018 qualifying campaign. They won nine of their ten games in the European Group B and went into the last match undefeated and leading Portugal by three points. The last match was in Lisbon, however, and the Swiss lost 2-0 to the European champions to be edged off top spot in the group table on goal difference. As runners-up , albeit only on goal difference, they were propelled into the European play-offs.

Haris Seferovic was Switzerland’s four goal leading scorer in the group matches. He scored the first Swiss goal in an early 3-2 win away to Hungary, two in a 3-0 home win over Andorra and another in the subsequent victory by a similar margin away to Latvia. Seferovic was unlucky in front of goal in the play-off duel with Northern Ireland but a penalty converted by Ricardo Rodriguez, in the first leg in Belfast, was enough to separate the teams and send Switzerland to Russia.

This Swiss side impressed at EURO 2016 and their qualifying form is certainly something that shouldn’t be overlooked. They are unlikely to top this group thanks to Brazil’s presence but on paper are the best of the rest. Sadly for Switzerland the last 16 looks certain to be the limit for this side.

The Coach – Vladimir Petkovic

Vladimir Petkovic, 54, was born in Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia, He played for the local club before moving to Switzerland with Chur 97, Sion, Martigny-Sports, Bellinzona, Locarno and Buochs. He then coached Swiss clubs Bellinzona, Lugano, Young Boys and Sion as well as Turkey’s Samsunspor and Italy’s Lazio. Petkovic led Lazio to victory in the Coppa Italia in his first season in charge in 2012-13 and then returned to Switzerland as national coach in succession to Ottmar Hitzfeld after the 2014 World Cup finals. He led them to the last 16 of EURO 2016 losing out on penalties to Poland.

Record at previous tournaments:

  • 1930 Did not enter
  • 1934 Quarter-finlas
  • 1938 Quarter-finals
  • 1950 1st round
  • 1954 Quarter-finals
  • 1958 Did not qualify
  • 1962 1st round
  • 1966 1st round
  • 1970 Did not qualify
  • 1974 Did not qualify
  • 1978 Did not qualify
  • 1982 Did not qualify
  • 1986 Did not qualify
  • 1990 Did not qualify
  • 1994 Last 16
  • 1998 Did not qualify
  • 2002 Did not qualify
  • 2006 Last 16
  • 2010 Group stages
  • 2014 Last 16

COSTA RICA 

The Ticos will be making their fifth appearance at the World Cup finals in Russia, and will be dreaming of emulating or even surpassing their 2014 campaign when they reached the quarter-finals.

In the group stage, Costa Rica found themselves in Group D with three former world champions in Uruguay, Italy and England. They defeated Uruguay 3-1 and Italy 1-0 before securing top spot in the table with a 0-0 draw against England. A shoot-out brought victory over Greece in the last 16 before they fell, also on penalties, to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

Costa Rica maintained their momentum by reaching the quarter-finals and then the semi-finals of the 2015 and 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments while simultaneously qualifying again for the World Cup finals.

Historians of football in Costa Rica claim that football was introduced in 1886 by a university student, Oscar Pinto Fernández, who returned home from England with a ball in his luggage. However, the introduction of the game moved forward only in 1894, when British engineers arrived to develop a tramcar system.

By the early years of the twentieth century, the game had been taken up by clubs in San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago. A national governing body was founded in 1921 as the Liga Nacional de Fútbol. The organisation went through a number of name changes before taking on its current title, Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (FEDEFUTBOL).

The first league champions were Club Sport Herediano, who are third in the all-time national rankings with 26 titles, behind Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (29) and Deportivo Saprissa (33).

Costa Rica’s national team have a proud record in regional competition. They won the inaugural Central American championship in 1941 and then on a further six occasions before the creation of the regional governing body CONCACAF. Costa Rica won the inaugural CONCACAF Championship in 1991 and had two more victories before finishing joint-third last year in what has now become the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The Ticos’ status in Central America has also earned invitations to guest at the Copa América on five occasions. They reached the quarter-finals in both 2001 and 2004 and were eliminated in the first round in the centenary edition of the Copa América in the United States in 2016.

By now, Costa Rica’s players had established reputations far beyond their own borders. Goalkeeper Keylor Navas became the first Costa Rican player to win the Champions League with Real Madrid, while defenders Michael Umana, Johnny Acosta, Giancarlo González and Cristian Gamboa, midfielders Celso Borges and Randall Azofeifa as well as forwards Bryan Ruiz and Christain Bolanos have all topped a half-century of international appearances.

Costa Rica’s high ranking in CONCACAF meant they did not enter the 2018 World Cup qualifying competition until the fourth round, where they topped a mini-league featuring Panama, Haiti and Jamaica to reach the concluding fifth round, a six-team round-robin with Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago and the USA.

Here they lost only twice to secure a finals place by finishing runners-up behind Mexico and ahead of Panama, with Honduras taking the play-off slot.

Costa Rica shocked the world with their run to the quarter-finals in 2014 but it must be said their performances in the knockout stages were hardly impressive. They were underrated in 2014 but won’t be afforded the same this time round. If they can draw on the experience of 2014 they could make it out of this group but face a tough task against some tricky European opponents. Should they progress I expect them to exit at the last 16.

The Coach – Óscar Ramírez

Óscar Ramírez , 53, has a long World Cup pedigree, having been a member of the Ticos squad who made their finals debut in Italy in 1990. The former midfielder played 75 times for Costa Rica between 1985 and 1997 and won a string of national and international club honours with LD Alajuelense. After retiring, he was a member of the Costa Rica coaching staff at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Ramírez guided Alajuelense to six titles and was twice named Coach of the Year before taking over the national team in succession to Paulo Wanchope in 2015.

Record at previous tournaments:

  • 1930 Did not enter
  • 1934 Did not enter
  • 1938 Did not enter
  • 1950 Did not enter
  • 1954 Did not enter
  • 1958 Did not qualify 
  • 1962 Did not qualify
  • 1966 Did not quailfy
  • 1970 Did not quailfy
  • 1974 Did not qualify
  • 1978 Did not qualify
  • 1982 Did not quailfy
  • 1986 Did not quailfy
  • 1990 Last 16
  • 1994 Did not quailfy
  • 1998 Did not qualify
  • 2002 Group stages
  • 2006 Group stages
  • 2010 Did not quailfy
  • 2014 Quarter-finals

SERBIA 

Serbia are heading to the World Cup finals for the first time since the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. Their talent has never been in doubt and they proved their resilience by topping a tough qualifying group.

The image of Yugoslavia as the “Argentina of  Europe” was fostered back in 1930 when they were one of only four European nations to brave the Atlantic sea crossing and attend the first World Cup finals in Uruguay.

Exports back then included inside forward Ivan Bek, who played for FC Sete in France. Bek scored one goal in a 2-1 defeat of Brazil, which put Yugoslavia in the semi-finals. Other key players were forwards Aleksandar Tirnanic and Branislav “Bane” Sekulic, both of whom were later national team managers.

Yugoslavia returned to the finals without success in 1950 despite a squad full of future managerial talent, including Ivan “Ivica” Horvat, Zlatko “Cik” Cajkowski, Bernard “Bajdo” Vukas, Stjepan Bobek and Rajko Mitic. Beaten in the quarter-finals by West Germany in both 1954 and 1958, they achieved their best finish in 1962, when they finished fourth in Chile.

In the European Championships, Yugoslavia were runners-up in the first tournament in 1960 and then again in 1968, while Red Star Belgrade, one of the country’s two leading clubs along with Partizan, won the Champions Cup in 1990-91 and were runners-up in the 1978-79 UEFA Cup before Yugoslavia broke up in the early 1990s. Serbia & Montenegro emerged and reorganised effectively enough for the national team to reach the finals of the 1998 World Cup in France. New heroes such as Dejan Savicevic, Predrag Mijatovic and Sinisa Mihajlovic led them as far as the second round.

They qualified again, in 2006 and 2010, albeit without progressing beyond the group stages. Now they return to the finals after heading European qualifying Group D. They ended the campaign two points clear of the Republic of Ireland after a testing competitive campaign also featuring Wales, who were EURO 2016 semi-finalists, and old rivals Austria as well as Georgia and Moldova.

Important results in the campaign run included a 1-1 draw away to Cardiff with a late goal from Aleksandar Mitrovic, then a 1-0 win against the Irish in Dublin. This win, as the final table proved, was crucial, with Aleksandar Kolarov scoring the only goal ten minutes into the second half. Ultimately, Serbia needed to defeat Georgia in Belgrade to clinch top spot, whatever might have happened in the other simultaneous last match between Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

There was no need for complicated mathematics, however as Serbia won on the night and overall courtesy of the relief of a 74th minute strike from Aleksandar Prijovic. Mitrovic ended as leading marksman with six goals, followed by Dusan Tadic on four and then Kolarov, Filip Kostic and Mijat Gacinovic with two each. Prijovic scored only once – but his solitary strike proved even more important than all the rest.

The Serbs thus finished clear of the Irish, with Wales third ahead of Austria, Georgia and Moldova. They were also the 20 goal leading scorers in the group to underline their right to a place back in the World Cup finals after having finished third behind Belgium and Croatia in the vain qualifying campaign for a place in the finals four years ago in Brazil.

Serbia boasts a resilient squad filled with battle hardened stars. They managed to secure the necessary results during the qualifying campaign and will prove to be a tricky opponent to breakdown in Russia. They face a tough test in making it out of this group but if they perform at their very best they could be able to secure second place behind Brazil. However, the last 16 is likely to be the furthest Serbia will go in Russia.

The Coach – Mladen Krastajic

Malden Krstajic, 44, took over as national team coach from Slavoljub Muslin after the completion of the World Cup qualifying campaign. The former central defender had played for Serbia at the finals in Germany in 2006. At club level, he won three league titles and the domestic cup with Partizan and a German league and cup double with Werder Bremen. Krstajic totalled 59 appearances, with two goals, for Serbia between 1999 and 2008. After retiring he became technical director of Partizan before later joining the national team coaching staff.

Record at previous tournaments:

  • 1930 Semi-final
  • 1934 Did not qualify
  • 1938 Did not qualify
  • 1950 1st round
  • 1954 Quarter-finals 
  • 1958 Quarter-finals 
  • 1962 4th place
  • 1966 Did not qualify
  • 1970 Did not qualify
  • 1974 2nd round
  • 1978 Did not qualify
  • 1982 1st round
  • 1986 Did not qualify
  • 1990 Quarter-finals
  • 1994 Suspended
  • 1998 Last 16
  • 2002 Did not qualify
  • 2006 Group stages
  • 2010 Group stages
  • 2014 Did not qualify

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