WASHINGTON (AP) — Hear what was said next. world cup draw According to various coaches at the Kennedy Center on Friday, it seemed impossible for any of them to win next year’s tournament.
everyone was thrown in toughest group — or in soccer parlance, “Group of Death.”
In the first three games, everyone was troubled by talented opponents – even if Six participants have not yet been decided. And expanding the field means bringing in lower quality teams.
And everyone needs to keep an eye on the other teams and be prepared for what happens during the biggest World Cup in history, which will be held from June 11th to July 19th in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with 48 countries participating in the inaugural tournament (versus 32 countries last time).
“You have to respect all your opponents. It’s always going to be difficult,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. The team is in Group D, starting with a match against Paraguay on June 12th, followed by a match against Australia and a yet-to-be-determined playoff qualifier.
“The message to the players is that we need to play better than Paraguay. It will be difficult. Australia will be difficult,” Pochettino said. “And the team that joins us is going to be difficult.”
Hmm. Feeling a theme?
In almost every situation, and in almost every sport, there is some version of what is often referred to as “coach talk.” Pay attention to what NFL club leaders say every day during that sport’s season.
This is a classic playbook. That is, to strengthen your opponent. Don’t let the players get complacent. Don’t let your fans, or the people who hire you and can fire you, think success is guaranteed.
Didier Deschamps, a player on France’s 1998 championship team and coach of the 2018 champions and Argentina runners-up in 2022, also seemed as worried as anyone.
It doesn’t matter that the Frenchman is considered one of the favorites to win. Not only to get out of the round robin stage, but also to make it to the finals again.
“We know this is a very tough group,” Deschamps said Friday. “We can’t rest.”
His country fell into Group I with Senegal, Norway and the playoff teams (which won’t be decided until March).
A short time later, Norwegian national team coach Starre Solbakken hailed the French team as “probably the best in Europe”, then in the next breath – as if perhaps worried that someone from another country would attack – pointed out: “But there are two other teams in the group.”
One of them won’t even be known for another three months.
Luis de la Fuente led Spain to victory 2024 European Championshipbelieves his team is one of the favorites to win the World Cup, but insisted there are equivalents in sport these days.
Spain’s Group H includes Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde.
“People think there’s an easy group, but it’s a very similar level,” the coach said. “This will be a historic World Cup because there will be an extraordinary level all-round. These games require you to be at your best.”
Players may be held liable for this type of declaration as well.
American midfielder Tyler Adams“There are no easy games in the World Cup,” he told reporters on a video call on Friday.
He also pointed out that when the U.S. national team was eliminated in the round of 16 at the last World Cup, the two toughest games were “against two lower ranked teams.”
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