Recent Champions League games have whetted the appetite for this year’s World Cup — an edition where the top players will not be suffering from end-of-season summer burnout, but instead will be close to peak fitness once the tournament starts in November.
That is a worrying thought for defenders — perhaps especially those who are coming up against France. Four years ago in Russia, France won the title without the services of Karim Benzema. The Real Madrid centre-forward has since been welcomed back to the national team, and seems to be in the form of his life.
Brazil will be taking note. They sailed through South America’s World Cup qualifiers, but are well aware that the real tests in Qatar will likely to come from Europe. Since they last won the World Cup in 2002, every Brazil campaign has come to an end as soon as they ran up against a European side in the knockout stages. In 2006, it was France who brought the party to a close — just as it had been in the final of the 1998 tournament. Les Bleus are likely to present a major threat in Qatar — as Benzema has been busy reminding Brazilian defenders.
– World Cup bracket and fixtures
– How the World Cup draw played out
– World Cup draw by the numbers: The most intriguing stats
For a while it was common in Brazil to hear that World Cup qualification was more difficult than the tournament. In 17 qualifying matches — the home match against Argentina has still to be played — Brazil conceded just five goals. Argentina’s statistics are also impressive as the emergence of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and Cristian Romero at centre-back saw La Albiceleste allow just two goals in the last 10 rounds. But there is a difference. Argentina have needed occasional heroics from Martinez. Brazil, meanwhile, have not even looked like conceding goals.
2 Related
Benzema in the Champions League, therefore, has come as a timely warning. In the round of 16 tie of this year’s Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, Benzema managed to…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – SOCCER…