World Cup

MILOS DEGENEK has revealed his Australia team-mates thought he was just trying to psych them up by telling them Tunisia were beating France.The defender is known in the squad as the motivator and his teammates thought he was up to his old tricks in their crucial World Cup group game against Denmark.
Milos Degenek was the first player to be told about the Tunisia goalCredit: Reuters
Jackson Irvine did not believe Degenek when he told them about the goalCredit: Getty
Australia went into the game needing to match or better Tunisia’s result against reigning World cup winners France in order to qualify for the round of 16.
The goal had put the African side ahead of Australia in the group meant they would qualify instead.
Fortunately, Mathew Leckie opened the scoring for Australia three minutes later, putting them back into second place.
However, during the celebrations, Degenek was called to the sidelines of Al Janoub Stadium in Doha by the team’s support staff and was told about Wahbi Khazri’s goal that had given Tunisia a shock lead.
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The assistant coach Rene Meulensteen was told of the goal by another assistant, Tony Vidmar.
Meulensteen said: “It was just a quiet word from Tony Vidmar in my ear – no more information, no reason to jump at it and panic.
“Funny thing is, about a minute later we scored.
“That is when I told Arnie [head coach Graham Arnold] to say: ‘Listen, Tunisia is winning 1-0’.
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“And I grabbed Milos Degenek to say: ‘Get in a huddle and tell the players to make them sure they know where we are […] we have to win, we have to keep a clean sheet’.”
Degenek then grabbed his teammates and said: “If we don’t win, the Tunisians will sneak through to the round of 16 on goal difference.
“The boys thought it was my psyching them up so we won’t lose. But it was actually me being serious.”
Meulensteen admitted that the idea to tell say Tunisia were winning would have been Degenek’s motivational idea, even if they weren’t.
He added: “That’s the type of guy he is, that’s unfortunate for him.
“So he had to pull out everything to make sure that it was real.”
However, some of the players did not believe him, as Jackson Irvine said: “In the back of my mind I was actually like: ‘Well done, Milos, that’s a good idea, tell the boys that we need a win, absolutely’.
“And then you find out later on [he was right].” More

JAPAN are looking to complete the job and qualify for the knockout stages after their surprise win over Germany.The Japanese could have been home and hosed by now, but were stunned by Costa Rica in the second game.

The Japan XI that lost to Costa Rica
Spain will be heavy favourites to qualify, especially if they show the class that saw them blow away the Costa Ricans in their opener.
A draw against the Germans in their second match means the job is not yet complete.
But it would take a highly improbable sequence of results for Spain to be knocked out.
SunSport takes a look at what to expect from Japan vs Spain including our score prediction.
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How are they getting on?
Japan: Samurai Blue produced one of the shocks of the tournament to beat Germany 2-1 in their opening game.
But a lot of that good work was undone with a shock 1-0 loss to Costa Rica in the second match.
Read the full Japan vs Costa Rica report…
Spain: La Roja hammered Costa Rica 7-0 in their first match to put themselves among the tournament favourites.
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However, a 1-1 draw with Germany means there is still a little bit of work to be done.
Read the full Spain vs Germany report…

The Spain XI that drew with Germany
Any injuries to worry about?
Japan: Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu is a doubt with a hamstring injury, as is former Marseille right-back Hiroki Sakai.
Spain: Teen sensation Gavi is a doubt after missing training with a minor injury.
Who to watch
Japan: Tomiyasu will be crucial for the Japanese if he is fit.
Spain: If Gavi is out then his Barcelona team-mate Pedri could be the key man.
Permutations
Japan will qualify if they win.
Should they draw, they need to hope that Costa Rica vs Germany ends in a draw.
Defeat will see Japan eliminated from the competition.
Spain will be through with a point in this one.
If they lose, they will still qualify if Costa Rica fail to beat Germany, unless Germany win with an eight-goal swing.
What’s the head-to-head?
The sides have met just once, with Spain winning 1-0 in a friendly in Cordoba in 2001.
Odds
Japan 15/2
Draw 7/2
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Spain 2/5
SunSport prediction
Japan 0 Spain 2 More

WORLD CUP 2018 semi-finalists Croatia and Belgium face off in a match that is highly likely to see one team go home early.The Croats are the favourites to go through after picking up four points from their first two games.

The Croatia XI that beat Morocco
But they will beware of a wounded animal, with Belgium currently sitting third in the group.
The Belgians appear to be falling apart at the seams with reports of a mega fallout within their squad.
However, despite the country’s Golden Generation appearing to be in crisis, a win will still be enough to send them through.
SunSport takes a look at what to expect from Belgium vs Croatia including our score prediction.
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How are they getting on?
Croatia: The Croats looked anything but impressive in an uneventful 0-0 draw with Morocco.
But they showed their quality in their second game as they repeatedly carved Canada open to win 4-1.
Read the full Croatia vs Canada match report…
Belgium: Three points from two games really flatters them.
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Earned a 1-0 win after being battered by Canada before deservedly going down 2-0 to Morocco.
Read the full Belgium vs Morocco match report…

The Belgium XI that lost to Morocco
Any injuries to worry about?
Croatia: The Croats have no fresh injuries to contend with.
Belgium: Romelu Lukaku came off the bench against Morocco after missing the opening game with a hamstring injury.
Amadou Onana is suspended after picking up two yellow cards.
Who to watch
Croatia: When Luka Modric is purring, Croatia are very hard to stop.
Though he will have to be careful as he is on a yellow card.
Belgium: Kevin de Bruyne is key to Belgium’s success but has spent most of the first two games sulking.
The Red Devils will need him to be much more like the player he is for Man City if they are to win this one.
Permutations
Croatia will qualify with a draw.
They will also win the group if they win by the same margin as any Moroccan win against Canada, or if they draw and Morocco fail to win.
Croatia can go through in second if they lose and Morocco lose, provided the margin of their defeat is no more than one goal greater than Morocco’s.
Belgium will guarantee qualification with a win and be eliminated with a defeat.
If they draw they will need Morocco to lose by four goals if they are to go through.
What’s the head-to-head?
Croatia have won three, drawn two and lost three against Belgium.
Their last meeting saw Belgium win 1-0 in a pre-Euro 2020 friendly in Brussels.
Competitively they last met in 2013 in a World Cup 2014 qualifier in Zagreb with Lukaku scoring a brace as Belgium ran out 2-1 winners.
Odds
Croatia 17/10
Draw 9/4
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Belgium 13/8
SunSport prediction
Croatia 1 Belgium 1 More

CANADA head into their final group match against Morocco with only pride to play for after being knocked out of the World Cup.The Canadians were hugely impressive in their opening game against Belgium without taking their chances.

Canada’s XI for their defeat to Croatia
But in the second fixture a Croatian midfield led by Luka Modric proved too much for them, meaning they will be flying home early.
Morocco meanwhile know they need just a draw to qualify after stunning Belgium to move into a qualification place.
The Atlas Lions have yet to concede a goal and will be hopeful of making it to the knockout stages for the first time since 1986.
SunSport takes a look at what to expect from Canada vs Morocco including our score prediction.
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How are they getting on?
Canada: A missed Alphonso Davies penalty cost them dearly in a 1-0 defeat to Belgium where they largely outplayed their more illustrious opponents.
Talisman Davies partly redeemed himself with a goal one minute into the second game against Croatia, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a crushing 4-1 defeat.
Read the full Croatia vs Canada match report…
Morocco: One of the worst matches of the tournament for the neutral was their 0-0 draw against Croatia which admittedly gave them a platform to build on.
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And then in the second game the Atlas Lions’ free kick routines bamboozled Thibaut Courtois to secure a famous 2-0 win.
Read the full Belgium vs Morocco match report…

The Morocco XI that beat Belgium
Any injuries to worry about?
Canada: John Herdman’s side have a clean bill of health for this one.
Morocco: All eyes will be on goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who sang the national anthem against Belgium then went off injured before kick-off.
Who to watch
Canada: Alphonso Davies has had a mixed tournament so far, but the Bayern Munich star is still the man who can make the Canadians tick.
Morocco: The defence deserves huge credit for comfortably keeping Croatia and Belgium out, but Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech is the man who can win a match in a moment.
Permutations
Morocco will qualify with a draw, regardless of the result in the other match.
If Morocco lose by less than three goals, they will qualify if Belgium fail to beat Croatia.
Morocco will also qualify if they lose to Canada but Croatia lose to Belgium by two goals more.
Canada are out and can finish no better than third in the group.
What’s the head-to-head?
Canada and Morocco have played three times, with two Moroccan wins and one draw.
All three matches were international friendlies.
The last meeting between the two sides was in 2016 when the Moroccans ran out 4-0 winners in Marrakech.
Odds
Canada: 27/10
Draw: 23/10
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Morocco: 11/10
SunSport prediction
Canada 2 Morocco 1 More

TATA MARTINO took responsibility for a “huge failure” as his four year reign as Mexico boss ended in heartache.His team belatedly came to the World Cup party with a stirring second half and came agonisingly close to overhauling second placed Poland.
Tata Martino’s Mexico tenure ended in heartbreakCredit: Rex
Mexico crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage for the first time in eight World CupsCredit: Getty
But they ultimately crashed out on goal difference and did not qualify for the last 16 for the first time in eight World Cups.
Martino’s contract as coach of ‘El Tri’ is now over and he admitted at the end of a dramatic night he does not expect to be staying on.
The Argentine said: “I have no reason to think the future will be different. The contract expired with the final whistle and there is nothing else to do.
“In eight World Cups this has never happened and I take responsibility for this huge failure. It’s a great sadness.”
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Mexico had failed to score in their opening two games and it was the same story in the first half here – even though they were much improved.
But the goal their fans craved finally arrived within two minutes of the restart as a corner was swung over from the left and flicked on by Cesar Montes.
Henry Martin reacted quickly to turn the ball home from close range and suddenly there was hope.
Five minutes later the great escape was on as Luis Chavez lined up a free-kick 30 yards out and curled a sensational strike into the top corner with his left peg.
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With Argentina winning the other game by the same scoreline, there was suddenly nothing to choose between Mexico and Poland in the race for second place.
The teams were level on goals scored and goal difference while the head-to-head between them finished goalless.
At that point second place would have been decided on fair play with Mexico having picked up more yellow cards and still going out.
Only once before has that happened, with Senegal the unlucky team four years ago.
Martino said: “That’s why we went for the third goal – we knew Poland had fewer yellows and that’s why we were out – unless many players were booked.”
Incredibly, had those been level they would have drawn lots to decide who will play France in the last 16 on Sunday.
The tension was unbearable as Mexico threw everything forward – but Hirving Lozano and sub Uriel Antuna both having goals ruled out for offside.
Saudi keeper Mohammed Al Owais was getting in the way of everything – including another blockbuster free-kick from Chavez.
However with Mexico committed to attack they left gaps at the back and Al Dawsri swapping passes with Hattan Bahbri  before stroking past Guillermo Ochoa.
It was only a consolation goal for them but it felt like a devastating blow for Mexico.
Saudi boss Herve Renard – whose team famously beat Argentina in their first game – said: “Congratulations to my players, we did our best but it was difficult for us.
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“We mustn’t forget what we did together. I’m proud of their World Cup.  
“We were dreaming of reaching the last 16 for only the second time but we did not deserve it.” More

JACK GREALISH was left in hysterics after England team-mate Luke Shaw was POOED ON by a bird.Mason Mount captured the moment the defender was left with an unwanted present on his shoulder.
Jack Grealish was left in hysterics after Luke Shaw was pooed on by a birdCredit: https://www.instagram.com/masonmount
Shaw was left with a brown mark on his shoulderCredit: https://www.instagram.com/masonmount
Shaw looked up at the culprits and rubbed his shoulderCredit: https://www.instagram.com/masonmount
Grealish took joy in pointing to the birds in the treeCredit: https://www.instagram.com/masonmount
But for Grealish it was like Christmas had come early as he giggled at Shaw’s expense.
Mount took to Instagram to post pictures and videos of his time in Qatar so far.
And one of his highlights was Manchester United defender Shaw being pooed on by a bird mid-meal.
Mount shared footage of England ace Shaw wiping his shoulder in disgust and moving away from his seat underneath a tree.
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The Chelsea man then panned the camera to Grealish, who took great delight in laughing and pointing up at the suspects.
Mount showed the rear of two birds perched on a branch directly above Shaw’s seat.
Mount zoomed in on the two birds perched on a branch above ShawCredit: https://www.instagram.com/masonmount
Bukayo Saka couldn’t help but giggleCredit: https://www.instagram.com/masonmount
A fuming Shaw joked: “I’ll launch this water bottle at them now, bro.”
While Grealish could only laugh as he pointed up at the birds and said: “They’re right above you.”
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Bukayo Saka also couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched on from across the table.
The England quartet are set to return to World Cup action on Sunday.
Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Wales saw Gareth Southgate’s side qualify for the knockout stages as group winners.
Grealish and Co will now face Senegal for a place in the quarter-finals. More