World Cup 2018: 5 players to watch out for on Matchday 6

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As we head into the final day of the first round fixtures, all groups except Group H have played their first match and will know what they have to do in the next two games they have in hand.

Matchday 6’s fixtures will see Colombia face Japan, Poland take on Senegal and finally, the hosts Russia take on Egypt. Group H, touted as the most difficult to predict in this WC, will throw up some interesting matches, while Russia and Egypt battle it out to see who could qualify along with favourites Uruguay.

There are several players in these teams who are capable of turning the game on its head, and here is a look at five of the most promising players.

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#5 Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal)

Nicknamed “The Wall” for his relentless supremacy in the air and in the ground, the Napoli centre-back is one of the best defenders in the world at the moment. An almost-title-winning season with the Italian side has pushed Koulibaly into the limelight, and he is now on the radar of Europe’s top clubs.

Koulibaly could have opted to play for France, and Deschamps was even willing to call him into the French national side, but the defender tied his loyalties to Senegal and has said that he will not regret it.

In the match against Poland, he will come up against Robert Lewandowski – arguably one of the best strikers in world football at the moment – and he will have to give it everything he has got to stop the Polish. Believe me, when Koulibaly gives it his everything, he really goes at it.

His effectiveness in set-pieces will also be important when he pops up on corners to attack, and his goal against Juventus a couple of months back was enough proof that he knows how to hit them.

#4 Aleksandr Golovin

People who watched Russia’s opener against Saudi Arabia need no introduction to Golovin, as he was the star of the match, notching up a goal and 2 assists. Against a defensively organized Egypt, however, things will not be that easy.

Hector Cuper’s Egypt almost held Uruguay to a goalless draw in their opener, and it took a last-gasp header from a corner to open them up, but Golovin might prove effective against them because of his natural style of play. While the Uruguayans were more static in the attack, and depended on their physical strength to get the ball rolling, Golovin is a trickster who likes to toy his way around.

Unlike the Saudi game, which was open Egypt will play a more compacted game, and Golovin will have to deal with Hegazi if he wants on to the score sheet. Another way around this might be his team’s tall forwards – Smolov and Dzyuba, and simply deliver the ball to them on a silver platter.

#3 Sadio Mane

 

Another Senegalese on the list, but Mane is hard to ignore even if you are a third generation Everton fan. His electric pace is his biggest strength, and he can simply run past defenders he doesn’t like dealing with.

Unlike Liverpool where he is “one of the star forwards”, Senegal depends heavily on Mane to be their goal-scorer. He has over 14 goals for the national side and is also their creative player when playing against teams that stay behind the ball.

Against Poland, Mane will have to deal with Glik and Piszczek, two of Poland’s best. Once again, the pace will be Mane’s most effective tool, and if one of Senegal’s other players can connect with him inside the box as he draws the defenders away, Poland will start to feel the hurt.

#2 Mohamed Salah

 

We have waited 6 days since the start of the WC to see Salah, and it is finally time to see him in his first WC match. A controversial foul from Ramos during the Champions League final put a premature end to his stint in the match, and then threatened to take the WC dream away from him.

But Egypt’s football association and the doctors did not give up, and after daily assurances from them that Salah would be fit for the opener, he wasn’t. But now, the assurances have started to flow in again, and after seeing Salah’s depressed face as Egypt lost a thriller, there is hope that he will want to start.

Salah is not important just for the viewer’s pleasure, but for the team on the basis of its footballing style. Egypt lacked a certain tooth in attack, and looked clueless when they had the ball in the final third and a lot of it is because it the point where they pass to Salah and pray.

With Salah back in the team, the flanks will see more action, and El-Said as a No.10 will play even more of an exciting role. Russia cannot afford to be as open as they looked against the Saudis as the counters are Egypt’s biggest strengths – and Salah is the anchor to that.

#1 Robert Lewandowski

 

Robert Lewandowski is Poland’s captain, their leading goal-scorer of all time, and scored 16 goals in qualifying – the first time that has happened in the European level of qualification. It is safe to say he is Poland’s most important player, and to an extent, he is Poland itself.

After winning nearly everything at Bayern Munich (except the CL, but apparently Real Madrid has a monopoly on it), Lewandowski has set his eyes on newer, richer adventures in foreign lands, and his agent has seen to it that everyone knows.

With the WC, Lewandowski has the best possible platform to show his prospective employers as to what he brings to the table – goals, goals, and then some more goals. With Milik, Zielinski and Blaszczykowski around to deliver the passes to him, Lewandowski has no reason to be worried about on that front.

The worry for him today will be the Senegalese defender called Koulibaly, and all 195 cms of him. Lewa’s biggest strength is in the air, and unfortunately that is also what Kalidou’s favorite area to defend. The battle between these two should make for an interesting view, and the winner of that will decide the winner of the game.