World Cup Group A tour: Netherlands have top defenders Qatar or spoiler

World Cup Group A tour

　　This weekend, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will officially kick off. Group A of this World Cup includes Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands, with the opening match on November 21 at 0:00 Beijing time, Qatar against Ecuador. In terms of group qualifications, the strongest Netherlands will occupy one qualifying spot, Ecuador and Senegal will compete for another spot, and Qatar, which is participating in the World Cup for the first time, will have a hard time beating the competition.

　　Qatar: Sitting on the halo of the host The tacit understanding of the team may become the biggest killer

　　As a local country, Qatar is about to make its World Cup debut, and only the second host in the history of the World Cup, Italy, has not participated in the World Cup at that time, so the West Asian team has been dubbed the "weakest host". In recent years, Qatar has relied on naturalized players to continuously improve its strength, with 10 naturalized players in the 2019 Asian Cup winning squad.

　　Although Qatar did not participate in the qualifiers because of its hostship, in order to train the team, they participated in the Copa America in 19 years, the European qualifiers and the North American Gold Cup in 21 years as special invitations, 1 draw and 2 losses in the Copa America at the bottom of the group, 2 wins in the European qualifiers against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan, and reached the final four in the Gold Cup.

　　Felix Sanchez is the head coach of the squad, not only has he been in charge for nine years, but he has also been in charge of the youth team at all levels. As the cornerstone and leader of the team, he can best play the strengths of his players and make up for his shortcomings. Most of the players in this team are from the domestic clubs Saad and Duhaile, and their familiarity and tacit understanding with each other are also their strengths. Among them, the striker double stars Afif and Ali are golden partners, which can become a weapon for counterattacks in the year of play, but the height of the team's back line is not enough, and there are hidden dangers in air defense.

　　Ecuador: Visitors from the South American plateau The 21-year-old star is in excellent form

　　Ecuador comes from South America, with an average altitude of around 3 km, and the overall characteristics of the players are excellent physical fitness and endurance. Although they are not a traditional powerhouse, they have participated in three previous World Cups in this century, in '02, '06 and '14, with the best result being advancing to the round of 16 in 2006.

　　Brazil and Argentina were strong in this South American qualifier, with Ecuador beating their opponents 6-1 at home against direct promoter Colombia, with a bright future of 3-1 in the first four matches. In the following 6 rounds, they only achieved 1 win, 1 draw and 4 defeats, and the performance was very open, and finally ranked 4th and directly qualified. Although he successfully qualified, he was caught by the Chilean Football Federation and repeatedly appealed because of the nationality of defender Castillo. Although the lawsuit was dismissed, Castillo may not be able to make the final World Cup roster.

　　Ecuador's star is 21-year-old Caicedo who plays for Brighton, who scored his first Premier League goal in a 4-0 win over Manchester United, garnering the attention of many giants. The 33-year-old plays for Fenerbahce, scoring 35 goals in 74 games for the national team and is very effective. In the warm-up matches before the World Cup, Ecuador won 2 wins and 3 draws and did not concede a goal, which shows that the team's winning weapon is still defense.

　　Senegal: Golden age of the Tlanga Lions Mane's injuries are at risk

　　Senegal is a West African country that qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in 2002, but rose to fame with a 1-0 upset victory over defending champions France in the first round. He then made it all the way to the quarterfinals and left a deep impression on the fans. Their second World Cup trip was to Russia four years ago, and with the same points and goal difference, the team was also disappointed because of two more yellow cards. In January, they beat Egypt on penalties in the Africa Cup of Nations final to lift the trophy.

　　Senegal were in a group with Togo, Namibia and Congo in the African qualifiers, and qualified with 5 wins and 1 draw. In the round of 10, facing Salah's Egypt, the two teams played 1-1 over two legs, and finally won on penalties to qualify for the World Cup finals.

　　Senegal, currently ranked 18th in the world, has played mostly in the top five leagues and is the only team in Group A to have played in the last World Cup, with high hopes from fans. Sissai is the team's head coach, has been in charge for seven years, and is also the captain of the 2002 World Cup team. Senegal's biggest danger at the moment is the injury of star Mane, who was replaced by a tendon injury against Burner on November 9 and is expected to be out for several weeks. However, he was still included in Senegal's 26-man squad, with Chelsea Goal, Mendi and centre-back Koulibaly all listed.

　　Netherlands: New generation tulips The world's top defense is the magic weapon

　　The Netherlands are clearly the most well-known powerhouse in Group A, having reached the final three times in World Cup history, but finished runners-up. Tulip country has never lacked football talent, and the performances of many world-class stars have made the Netherlands an all-attacking and defensive one, which is smooth and pleasing to the eye. And because of its tragic experience, the Netherlands was dubbed the "uncrowned king".

　　The Netherlands missed the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and the European qualifiers were drawn by Norway and Montenegro in a group with France, Turkey and Norway with Haaland, and the away defeat to Turkey was forced to draw by Norway and Montenegro. However, they withstood the pressure in the final round and beat Norway 2-0 to qualify for the finals as the first in the group.

　　After Sneijder, Robin van Persie and Robben withdrew from the national team, the Netherlands became unsuccessful in Euro '16 and World Cup '18. In '18 they hired Koeman, who boldly adopted youngsters and competed in the World Cup this year, with 71-year-old boss Louis van Gaal taking over the whip at the palace. The Netherlands have the "first defender" Van Dijk, as well as De Ligt and Dumfries in the backfield, and they will practice defensive counter-tactics with ease.

　　List of World Cup Group A qualification situation and schedule

　　Group A is relatively clear, with the Netherlands at odds of 1.12, Ecuador 1.8, Senegal 1 to 2.1 and Qatar at the bottom of the table with 1 to 4. The Netherlands essentially secured one qualifying spot, while Ecuador and Senegal competed for the other. From the perspective of the schedule, because Ecuador will face the Netherlands, the strongest in the group, in the second round, the opener is crucial for the results of the host Qatar, which makes fans look forward to it!

　　Round 1:

　　21 November, 00:00 Qatar vs Ecuador

　　22 November 00:00 Senegal vs Netherlands

　　Round 2:

　　25 November, 21:00 Qatar vs Senegal

　　26 November 00:00 Netherlands vs Ecuador

　　Round 3:

　　29 November, 23:00 Netherlands vs Qatar

　　29 November, 23:00 Ecuador vs Senegal

　　(As is)