The FIFA world cup 2018 has shown only on the second day of the tournament, what we have in store for the rest of the month and we cannot wait for every other match if this is how they are going to be. The Group B clash between Portugal and Spain which was the first major tie of the tournament, left no stone unturned. Be it Costa vs Ronaldo, Ramos vs Pepe or Busquets vs Carvalho, It was a clash of titans and there were high expectations from both Spain and Portugal. Fireworks were expected and the game lived up to its stature. Both teams were excellent on the day but eventually cancelled out each other at the end. There was an goal scoring spectacle presented to us from Diego Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo with the latter scoring a well deserved hatrick.  Let us analyse the 5 key aspects of the game: 

Cristiano Ronaldo has still got it in him!

Well, what to speak of him. Carried his team single handedly on the day, won and scored a penalty to start with, scored another with some help from De Gea, and finally scored a peach of a freekick to earn a well deserved point for his side and complete his hattrick with just 5 minutes to play against Spain.  He has shown that over the years and has just gone and done it again. We are grateful to have got the opportunity to witness this footballing great.  

Andres Iniesta still looks as if he just started!

The supreme midfielder. The magician still dominates games and dominates big time. He is 34! He delivered a complete performance on the day with neat passes, ball recoveries, tackles and his part in the build up to the Costa goal. It’s all still there in him as if he made his debut for Spain yesterday. He still has the vision to pick a pass, to slide a through, to dribble in tight spaces or to play a diagonal. It is safe to say that he still is an integral part of the Spain squad and will key in them achieving success in the this edition of the biggest sporting event on the planet.

Bad Boy Costa showed why he is still a top striker!

Chelsea fans look away! Your former striker still plays good football and probably selling him, only to sign Alvaro Morata didn’t seem a good deal, atleast yesterday. The big Atletico striker pounced on a long ball and absolutely marshalled his way through the Portugal Defense one after the other showing immense body strength and finishing ability. He showed yesterday why top defenders feared him as he notched two goals to his name for Spain.  Time will tell, whether it was a right decision to sell Costa for Morata, but we can still expect a couple of good years from the Spaniard in the number 9 position for Spain.

David De Gea: Yes, they shall pass.

It was not a good day at the office for the Manchester United goalie who reportedly already signed a new 5 year deal as he produced an absolute howler to give Portugal the lead again in yesterday’s game. But this is football and we all are humans. Mistakes are bound to happen and it did with De Gea. The 2017-18 golden glove winner has set high standards with his performances in recent years, and that kind of performance, especially in a big game like this wasn’t expected from him but it’s alright and he will surely know how key his performance will be to spain winning the World Cup. 

Surprises in store as Group B thrown wide open!

It is a no brainer for all to say both Portugal and Spain would qualify, but after the draw between these two and Iran’s shock win against Morocco makes me believe there will be drama. Portugal weren’t that impressive defensively as Ronaldo himself carried the team to salvage a point and there were potholes in the Spanish Defense as well. So it is better to wait for the next round of Group B games before coming to any conclusions. Lets look ahead to tonights Key clashes with the biggest of them being Brazil taking on Xhaka and his team from Switzerland !!!

Group E | Brazil Vs Switzerland : Key Players for Selecao Redemption and Expected Line-ups

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