 Hi guys, welcome to News Clicks Dispatch from Russia. This is episode 3 and we are going to discuss about the group stages. The group stages are over now, the round of 16 lineups are ready and we are going to take a recap of what happened in Russia during the group stages and also a look ahead into the matchups that are there in the round of 16 and the prospects of the team. We have News Clicks Siddhanta and joining us from Russia. Siddhanta, I can see you are at a special location, there is something different, not at the stadium nor at the media centre, where are you right now? Yeah, I am at what used to be a Soviet state farm back when the Soviet Union still existed, it is called the Safkuz Emina Leninov named after the gentleman that you can see in the background. It was supposed to be like a model for how agriculture works in the Soviet Union and it is currently the home base of at least those that call it the base, there is a gentleman called Pavel Grudinin who stood against Vladimir Putin in the last presidential elections and he ended up second in that presidential race with around 12% of the vote share. So this is the farm that is their headquarters and their base and supposedly the example for what ideal life in Russia should and could be like, that's what I am. It's quite an interesting place actually, the concept I mean. But the World Cup has been far from ideal for some favourites, so to speak, defending champions to start with. So yeah, so what went wrong for them? For Germany. So other than everything I am not sure what to say, but yeah I think desire was lacking. I think the other teams played out of their skin for sure and it's been I think such a remarkable tournament for this very reason that so many of the supposedly smaller teams have done so well, played, punched above their weight, played the way no one expected them to in some cases attacking football, in some cases exceptionally organised defensive football, but in most cases very effective football and what we see is the big shock. Everyone was talking about how football is a game of 90 minutes, 22 guys running after a ball for 90 minutes and in the end Germany scored and they win, but that isn't how it turned out. Germany didn't score enough and they didn't win and they are now back home while the rest of us are still enjoying the good weather in Russia. So stupendous tournament from that perspective for neutral fans like us, I mean it's been really great. So which are the teams that you have stood out, I mean yeah obviously 16 teams have progressed but according to you and being out there and according to popular opinion in Russia, which are the teams which have stood out in the tournament so far, if you can pick four for instance? I think none of the favorite teams have really stood out in that nobody has played really exceptional football from the countries that were expected to top the charts or head into the latter stages with comfort. Belgium to some extent so far with their 100% win record and the way they've been playing even though yesterday's game, the Belgium-England game was, people were criticizing it because both teams kind of benched a lot of their original starting 11s and some of the top players were not involved in the action to start off with and that came in for a lot of criticism but I think Belgium have definitely stood out as far as the early stages of this competition are concerned. Croatia as well have looked good, the French have been average but solid enough and a lot of the big teams except Germany, everyone is still pretty much in the mix. England have looked at times pretty fantastic, pretty good to watch and full of potential as they usually are but this time even more so with a young squad and with a lot of exciting young players. Spain are always, I mean so in that sense it's not a huge surprise, for me one of the disappointments was the performance of Japan actually in the final game against Poland because I was fully expecting them to help me keep my predictions on track and to top that group but they ended up losing that last game, I suppose it was a matter of honour for the Polish team so. No, not just that, I think Japan eased off towards the end, I mean weird logic they had but they wanted to keep that result so that they progress. In fact we worked on something over here and I was talking to our in-house football expert René Desingh and we were talking about Japan as well so he was pretty cool that I mean such instances of gamesmanship in a way, it's power for the course because he believes that Asian team should play as per their strength, they can't go all out attack and then get I mean they will get exposed, that's what he believes so he is fine with Japan being there in the next round and is looking forward to their matches, I mean that's what, but as a fan you... But they still left it quite a lot to chance because it was their qualification ended up coming down to their disciplinary effort which is never like a solid result to go through and it's unfortunate, I will, you'll see the story of the, I mean Senegal has been one of the most fun group of supporters at the World Cup, it's a very small group and you can't really see them unless you're really in the middle of it at the World Cup but the 300 or so Senegalese fans that were here were constantly, I mean there was a constant sort of beat of music that they were playing and it's a state sponsored trip that they were on because they can't afford to kind of bear the expenses of the journey by themselves so it's an extremely interesting story and I ended up meeting some interesting characters as well from Senegal so it's unfortunate that they had to go out on account of their disciplinary effort which you know it's pretty much like a draw of lots. Yeah, it's a subjective thing disciplinary effort is very, especially with we have we have controversies that are doing the rounds also there were some cards which which wouldn't have happened, things like that. Yeah, so but it's unfortunate that African flavor would be missed in a way and but otherwise yeah there are exciting prospects, matchups, let's take a look ahead as to the matchups that are going to happen in the round of 16 and some exciting competitions about Brazil, Mexico that's again, it's mouthwatering even when I talk about it. Really and both actually one of the sort of constants through this tournament has been that the European nations have not managed to bring too many fans in for whatever for multiple reasons but the South Americans have come in numbers Mexico okay it's not South America it's Central America but still there are tens of thousands of Mexicans here and the Brazilians have also come out in force so I think for that game particularly the ambience in the stadium the sort of atmosphere the cheering the parties on the street all that everything it'll be exactly like how a big World Cup game should be but frankly again I don't know who you're betting on for that one but I really the way the two teams have played I really fancy Mexico getting something out of it but I would love to disagree because I think Brazil is shaping up well I mean they add their initial thing I mean starting issues after that I think the third match was I mean they looked well oiled a little closer to what they would ideally love playing and so I think it's the same with Uruguay in a way that now that we mentioned about teams form as such so basically in such tournaments start may not exactly matter at some point because it's about how you build your momentum and then maintain that through the knockouts. Yeah I had a similar conversation about France actually a couple of days ago with another one of our empaneled experts Mr. Arjun Pandit where I was basically saying that they France the French had an easy group which everyone knew relatively and they managed to navigate through that group with ease without any stress there was no pressure on any of the players they managed to play like mandanda and gold and do all these things to sort of boost team morale and I think they're in a good spot to I mean that's the game of the next round for sure France Argentina is the big one in Kazan I'm heading over there tonight to see you know how the both sets of supporters are shaping up and and how things are going to go down and it's really really like like you said mouth watering sort of match up England's case again we addressed England's issue in in one of our stories I think personally and that they messed up by losing to Belgium I mean it's a it's a it's a mind thing it's a mind thing it's also a idea of that team being set for victory and then you just lose focus a little and they did a similar mistake in Euro 2016 if you remember they changed I mean Hodgson changed six players and they managed to just have a goldless draw against Lovakia qualified went through but then they had by then lost their momentum I think and they lost to Iceland in the round of 16 so I and they are playing a very tricky side Colombia because they are coming off a victory yeah for sure for sure momentum I don't know too much about how how it works and in terms of how teams pace themselves through these long tournaments because you have to remember that it's a month long tournament and for us as viewers they are games every day sure so it seems like you know there's football all the time but for the players and those involved I mean it's they are only concerned with their own games for the most part so there are breaks there there's travel involved in a country like Russia the weather changes the time zones change so a lot of factors come into play as far as England's selection process or whatever it was during the last game I mean the coach Southgate was pretty clear on why he picked the team he did and how things went down I think it's interesting because both teams seem to have considered Colombia and Japan at par with each other otherwise they might have gone even more you know all out to top the group because they knew what they had to do to and to see who they would face next the other of course some people are saying that they are playing the longer game because by going to that side of the draw exactly he's here after that avoiding Brazil after but I mean to look one game ahead I can understand but to look two games ahead maybe is a bit too optimistic for a young squad like England exactly I think they are thinking too much now too much but yeah so a lot of Indian fans are there for England as you are aware for the sake of them I hope they remain but for me the most interesting thing sorry to interrupt but like it was amazing yesterday I was in Moscow and I had a pub and I had a big English breakfast with sausages and you know big beans and the usual and some pretty decent Scottish lager on the tap and the best part was that there were absolutely no English people around so it was all pretty peaceful but but again and this might come as a surprise to people watching but a large number of Russian people at least those that were in this pub were actually supporting England that's interesting yeah it's not so it's not like they hate England or anything like that I mean the rivalry whatever it is exists between gangs of the hooligans and not amongst the people on either end at last always the case I guess I mean everywhere but yeah getting back to interesting teams I have inclined to bet on Croatia they are like they're playing well definitely yeah again the most important midfield in world football arguably backed by some reasonably solid defending if they can get goals that don't come from midfield then I think Croatia are set for or run all the way through to the final but I feel that they are a semifinal team but yeah let's see how they were playing Denmark which is which would be a good match but I think Croatia has a edge over Denmark and beyond that again it's it's it's the World Cup so you better not predict because this World Cup especially has been tricky for predictions yeah it's a I mean to some extent Denmark is a one-man team and for them the equivalent of Cristiano Ronaldo is Cristian Ericsson how he does is fundamental to how Denmark do at least from an attacking point of view we all know that the Danes can organize solidly and you know keep it tight but you have to score goals to win games and I don't really see them having the ability to get let's say one goal up against Croatia and then keep to keep them quiet yeah tough for them that takes us to the most interesting part of our dispatcher so far which is to predict what is going to happen so I'll just list I'll just list out the matches and you can probably say let's start with the score also or just the winner just let's stick with the winners now because there are eight matches in any case so yeah yeah so it's gonna be I mean we we ourselves will get confused so let's start with the Russia home host team and Spain match I don't see the Russians getting past me but I thought you they had given you honorary citizenship or something like that and you're not going to side well so there there are conversations happening about dual national dual nationality for Indians becoming a reality very soon maybe maybe before the 2019 elections because I think at least for one party a significant amount of funding comes from outside India and to offer Indian overseas citizens dual nationality would be a major motivational factor for them to sort of loosen the purse strings but since that's not happening I'm still an Indian passport holder but all that apart I mean I don't think there's a single person in Russia that is not supporting the national team but I don't think there's a single person in Russia also that believes they can beat Spain yeah and given their performances and the way they sort of I don't know got deflated or capitulated against Uruguay and the final group game it's an indication of what is likely to happen depending on how seriously Spain take it or how maybe the two governments discuss things I don't know as you can be too sure about what's happening in football so yeah I guess I was going by going by history and form and teams credentials I think Spain has aged there which is which is right Croatia Denmark Croatia yeah I I agree with you on that I'll get to Brazil Mexico a very tricky game you I mean I yeah Mexico I mean in an ideal world so far it's been in pretty close to ideal world cup so why not in an ideal world I would have loved to see Mexico in the semifinals at least but it's but I feel that Brazil is shaping up really well so it's going to be Brazilians this time around it's yeah yeah it's because they they have the firepower credentials and then once they start behaving like a well oiled machine then it's very difficult to stop them having said that it's it's a it's a very tight game and the only team jacket that I have I mean the only two team jackets that I have is one is Italy who are not playing and the other one is Mexico so let's get to that but listen since we're doing this I hope you're keeping a note because you will be doing many episodes with your shirt off I think by the end of this last bet I won I believe yeah but I don't mind I don't mind I've always been a beach beach kind of a person so it's hot as hell there also I can imagine yeah so the next match again Belgium Japan as much as I would love to see Japan I think Belgium will take it with some comfort some comfort yeah that's what I mean it's it's pretty evident I mean the way Belgium is playing and the way Japan is as far as football is concerned I wouldn't be surprised if Lukaku sort of formally establishes his golden board credentials in that game I mean I can see him getting three four five depending on what kind of movies and anyways there won't be any this thing because I guess Portugal will be out and England also so Lukaku has a straight road to golden book yeah Sweden Switzerland we didn't discuss Sweden and Switzerland so far because they have been the in the shadow guys yeah yeah yeah it's true a lot of teams from the sort of north as it will get ignored in this fashion I mean for me sort of I pretty much stopped looking at Swedish football after Henrik Larsson there were some amazing players in that generation but since then they've just been a bit dull and it's great for them to have qualified for the next stage it's also I think Switzerland is also a really really interesting team just because of the kind of team that they've put together and how multicultural it is and how many people either born or their parents born outside of Switzerland that are playing in that team and they bring a lot of fire and we had a nice little piece on this on the website talking about the Kosovo Albanians and their role in it's interesting because sometimes when you see them like now that Kosovo is playing as an independent nation the coach of that national team must be looking at Switzerland and very like this is like my A team is playing for you guys you know so it's it's gonna rain yeah yeah so yeah yeah so Switzerland for me yeah I'll pick Sweden because I have a whole connection with Sweden I mean I was close to the ultras of AIK and I traveled there wrote some stories Slatan on Slatan as well so he missed the World Cup but yeah and England Columbia I would love Columbia to progress as well I think they will I think they will it's very very positive over there and England have dented their chances by playing the fool with the with the starting 11 for the belgium match and then losing it in ultimately and it's it's it's it's definitely not confidence building that way yeah yeah at the heart of that team I'm not seeing the yes they have peace they have flair they have attacking young players but at the heart of that team I'm sorry but I have not seen the engine maybe I don't know the the driving force that would make them a world beating squad that's I think what's lacking and maybe next tournament for England would be the one people maybe talk about the team as as one for the future but I believe that in the last 40 years all England teams were except for the 94 World Cup team which was yeah otherwise it's always been one for the future and never turning up the next tournament so that said if Delhi Ali and Harry Kane and a couple of these boys get going they could potentially be unstoppable can they do it again and again day after day I'm not sure so we'll see maybe they get fast Columbia but no further than that so yeah though our predictions are there and let's see our right the news click we news click sports journalists are as far as this World Cup progress is concerned it's a it's a very tricky risk that we took but yeah so episode three of our dispatch from Russia comes to an end Siddharth is logging out he has pretty interesting business to do today and he has a long travel to Kazan for the for the Argentine hours the big match Argentina versus France match so all the best Siddharth keep having fun hi if I can just say sports journalists are a little bit like economists yeah no none of us know what the hell we're talking about all the weathermen purely guess all the weathermen it's raining in Delhi by the way so you're missing that anyways have fun in have fun and enjoy the matches ahead and we'll be more soon yeah hopefully next time we speak I'll have made a little more sense of Russia as a country or some of that and I can give you a little more insight on what's happening in terms of society and culture and politics and some of these things that should be that would be excellent beyond something beyond the World Cup what is happening in Russia and and things like that so on that note we we wind up episode three of dispatch from Russia happy viewing guys enjoy the matches it's the knockout so it's gonna be fun people are gonna the teams are gonna go all out for victory