The Three Front Runners of the 2018 World Cup Soccer - written by 10125 Min Gyeong Hwan

The Three Front Runners of the 2018 World Cup Soccer

written by 10125 Min Gyeong Hwan

The Russian World Cup is in less than one month. The front runners are showing their faces as well as preparing for the tournament. The three teams that many people expect to win the world cup are Spain, Germany, and France.

The first team is Germany, the winner of the previous world-cup. Having one of the best players such as Tony Kroos (28, Real Madrid) and Leroy Sane (22, Manchester city), Germany went to the world cup with the record of winning all ten games during the preliminary round.

The coach of the German national team is Joachim Low (57, Germany) who is one of the most successful coaches in the history of German soccer. He started coaching the team in 2006, and has won 94 out of 141 games, which is the record for the German national soccer team. Low’s tatic changes almost every time he faces a new team. But the most well-known tactic is the side-play. This tactic connects the ball to each side of the pitch and makes the goal either by crossing the ball low or high towards the deep lying forward of the team. This tactic works efficiently for Germany, because the players of Germany have good physical conditions and can beat the opposite team’s final defender in the penalty box.

The players most known to the soccer fans are Mesut Ozil (30, Arsenal), Thomas Muller (29, Bayern Munchen), and Matz Hummells (30, Bayern Munchen). Each players is located in the center of the attacking line, the midfielder line, and the defending line. Ozil is one of the most amazing passers in English Premier League, which is proved because of his eight assists made in this season. Muller is the best in his position, the shadow striker. On his, team his goal is to scatter the defender of the opposing team. Last of all, Hummells is the center-back of Germany, and is one of the best defenders in the Bundes Liga (German Soccer League).

The second team is the team that shows beautiful passing games- Spain. Spain won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euro Cup. Even though Spain was knocked out in the first round in the 2014 Rio World Cup, the team has recovered at their own pace. They have many players like Jordi Alba(29, Barcelona FC), Isco(26, Real Madrid CF) and Gerard Pique (31, Barcelona FC) playing on Barcelona FC and Real Madrid CF, two of the best clubs in the world.

 

The coach of Spain is Julen Lopetegui (52, Spain). Even though he isn’t familiar to the soccer fans in Korea, he has made the national soccer team of Spain one of the strongest team again after the 2014 knock-out and the shock during the 2016 Euro Cup. Spain’s tactic is the Tiki-Taka, a passing game first created by Coach Guardiola (56, Manchester City). The final goal of this tactic is to send the ball towards the center of the field and make as many opportunities to score during the game. Spain has been traditionally applying this tactic so this has become the trademark of the team.

 

The key players of Spain are Diego Costa (29, Atletico Madrid), Iniesta (34, Barcelona FC), and Ramos (32, Real Madrid). Costa is mostly known as being fierce in soccer. He is the nightmare of almost all defenders because of his notorious playing style. Iniesta is the magician of passing, so he is the center of Barcelona and the center of the national team. Ramos is the center back known as The Wall. Having a good physical, he is also known for his stunning and fierce plays just like Costa.

 

The last team is France. France has created the golden era of soccer, having the most number of young players playing in famous clubs. From Dembele (19, Barcelona) to Kylian Mbappe (19, Paris Saint Germain), France is consisted of young blood. 

 

Coach Didier Claude Deschamps (50, France) has led the team for almost 6 years but is criticized by many critics, experts of soccer, and the soccer fans of France. Actually France doesn’t have any specific tactic except that the team plays the game with a very fast tempo.

 

The most important player is Antoine Griezmann (26, Atletico Madrid), the player who is expected to follow the road of Messi and Ronaldo by many soccer experts. He is good at counterattack situations and at playing in a fast game. Olivier Giroud (31, Chelsea FC) is an important player, too. He is good at keeping the ball inside the opposite penalty area. And because of his good physics, he is good at heading.

 

The upcoming Russian World Cup will be one of the most interesting and exciting World Cups in history. One of these three teams might actually win the trophy or maybe another team that wasn’t expected to do so well could actually win. As the legendary player and Coach Dunga once said, “The ball is round”. Nobody knows what will actually happen in soccer.