Belgium - Panama World Cup Prediction 18/06/2018

Belgium-Panama World Cup Prediction

In the 2014 World Cup, Belgium was eliminated from Argentina in the quarter-finals: he could stand out against a long-time national team like the Argentinean, but also in the group stage the team coached by Marc Wilmots was not convinced on the game. The same goes for Euro 2016: only Gareth Bale was enough in the quarter-finals to eliminate Belgium, which could at least reach the final at the end.

The decision to exonerate Wilmots at that point was inevitable, but with the new commissioner Roberto Martinez there were no particular improvements. Belgium has qualified without difficulty in the World Cup, he won his group with great confidence, but the team continues to have problems, and in some friendlies, see the 3-3 tie against Mexico, has confirmed its limits. The decision not to convene Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan has been much debated, and also concerns the propensity of Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen to injuries. It is also unclear what impact they have already had on the performance of Witsel and Carrasco their recent decision to go play in a low-level championship like the Chinese.

Further limits could emerge on the tactical level. Apart from Meunier there are no valid pushbacks and the defense often fails to accompany the offensive game of the team. For this reason Martinez has decided to opt for the three-way defense and move back as a midfield player from Carrasco, a player who, however, does not seem able to go back and forth throughout the range. De Bruyne will be deployed from inside the midfield, as happened this season at Manchester City, to free a place in Mertens in attack. Between midfield and attack the technical quality is very high, but there are perhaps too many footballers in love with the ball and not much inclined to triangulations and close dialogues, such as Hazard. The start of the maneuver is slow, there are too many ball carriers and Lukaku makes little movement in attack: only by solving these problems will Belgium reach the semi-finals and beyond.

In this match against an affordable national like Panama these problems should not arise. Lukaku could make a good impression: at Manchester United he proved to be very present against the low-level teams, more than in important matches. In the double challenges against Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea scored just a goal of sixteen.

The limits of Panama

For the national team of Panama it is already a great result to have come to play this World Cup, the first of its history, taking out the United States. About the values of the rose, the national team of Panama is the lowest ever in the World. Another not encouraging record is that of the average age of the players, the highest in the World.

The technical commissioner of Panama is called Hernan Gomez, is Colombian, and has a great experience seen already participated in two World Cup (in 1998 with Colombia and in 2002 with Ecuador). The tactics of the game, and could not be otherwise seen the low value of the team, is very defensive: a 4-5-1 with Roman Torres, easily recognizable for his braids, which usually sweeps at random all the balls that happen to him shot. Torres is a central defender and is the Panama footballer with the highest salary in the MLS, about 650 thousand dollars a year. The holder striker should be Blas Perez, 37, and a not excellent physical form.

The latest news on the formations

The first match of the group is also the easiest for Belgium. Commissioner Martinez wants to start the World Championship well and will send all the players on the pitch. The goalkeeper will be Courtois. In the 3-4-2-1 module the power stations will be Vertonghen, Alderweireld and Kompany, who recovered from a physical problem and will be regularly in the field. The outsiders on the wings will be Meunier on the right and Carrasco on the left, which will have decidedly more offensive tasks. The interior of midfield will be De Bruyne and Witsel, on the three-quarters Hazard and Mertens quite free to vary, and Lukaku central striker.

The goalkeeper who must try to limit the damage in a game that is very difficult for his national team will be Penedo, who plays in Dinamo Bucharest. The line of defense deployed in four will be composed of Murillo, Baloy, Torres and Ovalle. Gomez and Godoy will place themselves in median for further defense protection. In midfield, the task of pressing the opponents of the ball and trying to start again on the counterattack will be up to Barcenas, Cooper and Rodriguez. The only striker will be Perez.

Prediction Belgium – Panama

The victory of Belgium does not seem to be in question. Belgium will also try to score many goals to secure a very good goal difference with the goal of reaching the first place, which will theoretically be disputed by England.

The probable Belgium-Panama formations

BELGIUM (3-4-2-1): Courtois; Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Kompany; Meunier, Witsel, De Bruyne, Carrasco; Hazard, Mertens; Lukaku.
PANAMA (4-2-3-1): Penedo; Murillo, Baloy, R. Torres, Ovalle; Gomez, Godoy; Barcenas, Cooper, J. Rodriguez; Perez.