As Paraguay and Australia prepare to lock horns in what is ostensibly a third place play off, the subtext is impossible to ignore. This is a match tha...
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The mathematics of group stage progression can often produce a curious kind of stalemate, yet Monday evening's affair between Japan and Sweden was any...
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Ronald Koeman's Netherlands are beginning to look the part. A controlled 3 0 victory over Tunisia, delivered with the kind of clinical efficiency that...
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There is a fine line between catastrophe and glory in international football, and Sebastián Beccacece knows the exact colour of its grass. Not so lon...
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There are moments in a World Cup that stop you in your tracks. Moments that transcend the tactical grind and remind you why this tournament holds the...
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There is a peculiar kind of masochism that comes with following a team on the brink. You find yourself staring at a fixture list, calculator in hand,...
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The Netherlands navigated a potentially tricky evening in the heat of Kansas City, ultimately putting paid to a stubborn Tunisian side with a 3. 1 vic...
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The third place playoff in a World Cup is often a curious affair. A game that nobody wants to play in but nobody wants to lose. For Paraguay and Austr...
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The Netherlands have punched their ticket to the knockout rounds in style, dismantling Tunisia 3. 1 to finish top of Group F. This was not merely a vi...
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The final whistle in Dallas brought a strange mix of pride and regret for Japan. A 1. 1 draw with Sweden in the final Group F fixture was enough to se...
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The mathematics, as they often do in a World Cup third place playoff, offer a peculiar brand of comfort. If, as our man James Humphries so rightly not...
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There is a peculiar romance to the third place playoff. For the neutrals, it is a free hit, a chance to watch two weary sides let their hair down afte...
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