THE RUSSIAN VIEW: Five things we learned from the World Cup group stage

On the 16^th day they rested. The World Cup has taken a brief hiatus giving all of us a chance to catch our breath.

Cristiano Ronaldo in action for Portugal at the Fifa World Cup in Russia

Now we look at the 5 things we learnt from them because unlike you guys here at 3-mob.com we don’t really rest.

Ronaldo Wine

Ever since Cristiano Ronalod turned 30 he has just gotten better and better putting up monstrous numbers especially in the goal scoring department. He already has four at these finals and with the knockout stages coming up, don’t expect him to stop there. Ronaldo has also added other crucial aspects to his game such as leadership, this was fully on show against Spain when he stepped up in the most testing of moments to deliver the performance of a lifetime. All eyes will be on Ronaldo against Uruguay in the round of 16. Like good wine, he has aged well.

The Machines are Coming! VAR Rules

The introduction of VAR is the biggest constant talking point of the World Cup thus far. There have been a wide spectrum of opinions on the technology with some calling it the saviour of football and others its destroyer. Whatever people may think, the fact of the matter is it is here. Personally I think VAR has been a great addition but its use still needs to be refined in terms of the time it takes the referees to make a decision and the video assistants alerting the referees to some obvious scenarios we have seen go missed. VAR is here to stay. The machines rule us now.

The Playing Field is Levelling Out

One thing that’s been really evident in this World Cup is that the gap between the bigger teams and the minnows is narrowing. Germany’s exit in a group in which Mexico and Sweden qualified and other results such as Japan’s victory over a Columbia side which hammered them 4-1 in the previous edition show this shift. Europe stills rules the roost however with 10 teams in the knockout phase while Latin America boasts 5 and Asia just the one. Whatever is happening, long may it continue, we are likely to see a number of more brow raising results as the tournament goes on.

The African Plight

A big fat zero. That’s the number of teams that will represent Africa in the knockout stages of the World Cup. Senegal arguably came the closest, being eliminated via the questionable fair play method which separates teams using on field discipline. African teams conceded over 75% of the own goals scored at these finals and it’s no coincidence, we seem to spend more time perfecting our dance moves and celebrations than working on the art of defending. Our so-called big stars didn’t come to the party either. The much vaunted Liverpool duo of Mane and Salah gave us nothing to write home about , the latter exiting a tournament in which he was supposed to compete for the Ballon D’or with 0 points.

And The Best Player is…

Not Neymar, not Lionel Messi, Not Ronaldo it’s Croatia’s midfield orchestrator Luka Modric! He really does conduct the Croatian midfield, his measured passing and clever movement always ensure that Croatia dominate the ball. Added to that is an amazing work ethic which allows him to cover every blade of grass without tiring. In the first game Modric helped ensure that Nigeria didn’t play, in the second game against Argentina and their famed number 10 you would’ve thought that Modric has five Ballon D’ors and not Messi as he gave us a moment of footballing art when he scored the second goal to top an amazing performance before leading the Croats to victory against Iceland.

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Catch the coverage of the World Cup on the continent on SuperSport across six high definition channels.