FIFA WORLD CUP 2018 – Costa Rica vs Serbia PREVIEW
A matchup between two nations who have hopes of advancing past the group stages. Serbia might be the favoured side, but Costa Rica cant be underestimated as they’ve shown 4 years ago that they are no joke and as an underdog advanced to the quarters taking the Dutch to penalties. It’s going to be an intriguing game. Can Costa Rica continue their magic at the world cup or will Serbians put a dent in their hopes? Lets get into the preview.
COSTA RICA
Another world cup for Costa Rica, another chance to shock the world. A nation who shocked us all when they won the group that involved Italy, Uruguay and England and took the Dutch to penalties in the quarters in 2014 will be looking for a repeat performance, however it is highly unlikely that that’s going to happen, but we cant underestimate Costa Rica because of what they have done. Costa Rica have many weaknesses in their team and at the top of it is the lack of goal scoring. Costa Rica’s main striker Marcos Urena has a really poor goal scoring record on club level and for Costa Rica to score, they will have to get their midfielders such as Bryan Ruiz, Joel Campbell, Bolanos and other to help out their striker in scoring goals as he’s not very reliable. Costa Rica’s biggest strength is their goalkeeper Keylor Navas. A keeper who has really made a name for himself at the world cup 4 years ago, attracting Real Madrid and winning 3 Champions League titles as a starting goalkeeper. A keeper who is experienced in big games and a keeper who will for sure have to make many saves to keep Costa Rica in games. Costa Rica are relatively decent at the back, a well organised side, however when they get to play the top boys like Spain, Belgium they have been leaky and it’s a talent problem really. Against Serbia I’d expect Costa Rica to keep a good shape and limit Serbia’s attack. Costa Rica might be the biggest underdogs in the group again, but we know how that went the last time they were in that position. Can’t underestimate their heart and passion.
Costa Rica had to go through two group stage rounds in the qualifiers. They first were drawn with Panama, Jamaica and Haiti. Costa Rica breezed through with ease winning 5 out of 6 and drawing the other game. Picking up 16 points and topping the group by 6 points Costa Rica advanced. In the final stage, Costa Rica faced every other North and Central American big boy team. Costa Rica qualified without any issues again. They were never threatened and finished 2nd just below Mexico in the group. Costa Rica clinched the world cup spot before the last game which was really good for them as they weren’t involved in that mess of a fight for qualifying spots. Costa Rica looked solid.
Costa Rica played 3 friendlies before the world cup against Northern Ireland, England and Belgium. Costa Rica demolished Northern Ireland in an impressive fashion 3-0, but then followed a couple of poor results losing 2-0 to England and 4-1 to Belgium. Costa Rica looked terrible in both of those games against the big teams, they weren’t threatening against England, they scored against Belgium but then Belgium just completely ripped Costa Rica apart and it shows that they do struggled against the contending teams, but they can take care of a team of their level. Costa Rica are going into this world cup after two poor results and will have to step their game up because all 3 teams are good, especially Brazil. They have to get it together against Serbia as it’s a team they’ll have to beat to advance from the group stages.
SERBIA
Serbia are coming into this world cup hoping to advance. Serbia have a really good all around team and it’s quite surprising that its only their first major tournament in 8 years. This year Serbia have a team that can for sure compete against everyone, but they do have their weaknesses. Let’s begin with their strengths though. Milinkovic-Savic and Matic midfield pivot is absolutely amazing and one of the best at the world cup in general. Milinkovic-Savic is a midfielder who can do pretty much everything, a tall strong midfielder who wins the ball back and loves to go forward, meanwhile Matic is another tank in midfield who’s very strong and is one of the best DM’s in the world cup. That midfield partnership will be a nightmare for everyone and Serbia will rely heavily on it. Serbia also have experienced premier league winning full backs in Ivanovic and Kolarov and their striker Mitrovic is coming into the world cup leading Fulham to promotion scoring 12 goals in 19 games which means he’s in great form. Serbia are a very physical team and will cause opposition problems, even Brazil should be in a tough battle. Serbia’s weakness will be the inexperience of their coach. Their coach Mladen Krstajic hasn’t managed a game on the top level and this game against Costa Rica will be his first. That’s a lot of fire to be thrown under and he’ll have to deliver right away. It’s a great chance for Krstajic to make a managerial career, but the stage could get too big for him, it’s hard to succeed with an inexperienced manager. Serbia’s players weakness will be lack of pace, they’re not quick players which makes them a physical nation. It’s going to be an interesting team to watch.
Serbia had a tough group in the qualifiers involving 3 good sides in Wales, Ireland, Austria, also Georgia and Moldova were there. Serbia impressively won the group and advanced into the world cup straight away with a 6W 3D 1L record. Only losing one game in that group was very impressive. Serbia did have to go all the way until the last fixture to clinch qualification and they did it by beating Georgia 1-0 on the last day in a game where they did get tested and took 74 minutes to score. Serbia scored 20 goals in 10 games and Mitrovic led them with 6.
Serbia played two games just before the world cup. They lost to a depleted Chile side 0-1 and beat Bolivia 5-1. The Chile game was definitely a worry, but they bounced back perfectly smashing Bolivia, scoring 4 goals in the 1st half. It was a good way to finish the preparations and to show people that they can break down a team multiple times. Now Costa Rica will be a much tougher opponent than Bolivia, but Serbia should definitely be encouraged going into this game.
What to Expect From The Game
We can expect Serbia to dominate the possession and try to break down the Costa Rica defence, however Costa Rica do have players that can break out and hit Serbia on the counter attack which Serbia need to look out for especially with the slow full backs that they have. Both Serbian full backs love to go forward and Costa Rica could absolutely expose that, however Serbian midfield should provide enough cover for their full backs to actually go forward. Costa Rica’s danger man Bryan Ruiz will look to have another good start to the world cup. Serbian physicality could be crucial in this game as it could unsettle Costa Rica, but Costa Rica’s pace should do the exact same. Serbia are rightly favoured and should have more chances, but Costa Rica won’t be no pushover. Expect a close, physical game here.
ODDS – Decimal (WilliamHill)
Costa Rica Win – 4.50
Draw – 3.30
Serbia Win – 1.85
KICK OFF – 17th June 2018 – 1pm UK Time
