World Cup while you were sleeping: ‘selfish’ Ronaldo told to quit, US win, Scotland lose

Genuine semi-final contenders or just home-nation pretenders? It’s difficult to tell with the USA team at the moment given the nature of their opposition so far. Australia were the latest Group D lambs to be held up for sacrifice, and were duly dispatched in Seattle with a minimum of fuss. Coach Mauricio Pochettino can now start planning for what comes next. World Cups have always been as much about team drama off the pitch as on it, although even by those standards openly calling for Cristiano Ronaldo to quit when your partner is his teammate is another level, even if it is what most people are thinking he should do. Meanwhile, the Tartan Army is still in Boston although losing 1-0 to Morocco with the only goal coming after just 71 seconds probably wasn’t part of the plan for the day’s festivities. History not quite repeating Before Friday night in Foxborough, the last time Morocco and Scotland met in the World Cup was the last time Scotland were in a World Cup, at the 1998 edition in France. Twenty-eight years ago in Saint-Étienne, the African side’s 3-0 win in the final group game knocked Scotland out of the tournament. While defeat is not fatal for Steve Clarke’s side this time around, it may leave them needing a result against Brazil to progress to the knockout stages. In a tight affair, Ismael Saibari’s second-minute stunner wasn’t the start they were looking for, nor were the paltry 12 passes they managed into the final third in the opening 30 minutes – their fewest ever in the time frame since World Cup records began. Should Scotland have had a penalty in the second half? Scott McTominay certainly thought he’d been fouled, and there did appear to be contact, although crucially neither referee Ilgiz Tantashev, who gave the Scots very little all game, nor VAR seemed to see an infringement. Flattering to deceive? The United States reached the knockout stages of the World Cup with a comfortable 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle, and have won their first two games for the first time since the inaugural tournament 96 years ago. An 11th minute Cameron Burgess own goal following some fine work down the left by Folarin Balogun, and an Alex Freeman header shortly before half-time took the team’s tally for the tournament to six. The most the US has ever scored at a World Cup is seven, in Uruguay in 1930, when they topped their group before losing to Argentina in the semi-finals of the 13-team tournament. But how good they actually are remains to be seen. Australia’s opening 2-0 win over Turkey had hinted at a challenge far stiffer than the one that presented itself. And no one could have expected coach Tony Popovic to help the American cause by dropping goalscorers, Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, or for his side to spend the first 45 minutes giving the ball away every time they won it. “I don’t know if it was the occasion, we looked sluggish,” Popovic said. “We conceded two soft goals but I thought the reaction second half was outstanding.” If the US beat Turkey in their next match, they will win the group and face one of the best third-placed teams in the round of 32. Ill-judged comments Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed person in the world, with more than 666 million on his Instagram account alone. Which is why actress Madalena Aragao’s decision to call the 41-year-old selfish while also telling him to retire would trigger a backlash. The partner of Portugal’s Joao Neves, the 20-year-old posted a picture of her midfielder boyfriend and soon got a comment from a Ronaldo fan saying Neves should pass the ball to “my GOAT (the greatest of all time)”. Aragao’s response, made against the backdrop of Ronaldo’s ineffective performance in the 1-1 draw with Democratic Republic of Congo, was to say the fan should “Tell your goat to retire. He is very selfish!” Unsurprisingly, the 20-year-old has received a stream of insults ever since. Neves himself received verbal abuse on social media this week after saying: “He [Ronaldo] and we know that he is no different. He is just another player here to help. He is no different from the others.” Portugal defender Ruben Dias has taken the peacemaker role, playing down heavy criticism of Ronaldo and his team’s laboured World Cup start, saying it was “just media noise” and little else. World Cup over Canada’s Ismael Kone has undergone surgery after suffering a broken leg in his team’s 6-0 thrashing of Qatar and will miss the remainder of the tournament. The midfielder was stretchered off in the second half of the Group B clash in Vancouver on Thursday, after a clumsy challenge from Assim Madibo, who was sent off for the tackle. Canada are on the brink of reaching the second round of the World Cup for the first time in history and need only a draw in their final group game against Switzerland to finish top of Group B. A landmark occasion Japan and Tunisia will meet on Saturday in the 1,000th World Cup match, Fifa said, with the Group F game at Monterrey Stadium serving as each side’s second fixture at the expanded 48-team tournament. Japan drew 2-2 with the Netherlands in their opener in Dallas, while Tunisia lost 5-1 to Sweden, also in Monterrey, ahead of the milestone meeting. “Being able to take part in the 1,000th World Cup match is truly symbolic,” Ellyes Skhiri, the Tunisia captain, said.

World Cup while you were sleeping: ‘selfish’ Ronaldo told to quit, US win, Scotland lose

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Partner of Portugal’s Joao Neves triggers social media backlash after Ronaldo comments, USA down Australia, Scotland beaten by Morocco

History not quite repeating

Partner of Portugal’s Joao Neves triggers social media backlash after Ronaldo comments, USA down Australia, Scotland beaten by Morocco