During the “Ioanițoaia la zi” segment on GSP Live, Ovidiu Ioanițoaia, director of Gazeta Sporturilor, shared insights on the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Ioanițoaia noted the impressive performances of Morocco and Japan so far, although he expects both teams to face elimination against the Netherlands and Brazil, respectively.
Ovidiu Ioanițoaia: “Morocco is one of the pleasant surprises”
“This discussion is, in my opinion, unfounded. It’s all down to the draw. There are speculations that the matchups were made to favor Messi rather than Cristiano Ronaldo. As I’ve said before, Messi is above Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a great football player and, above all, a great athlete.
It’s true that Argentina’s bracket is easier, but that’s how it turned out. Let’s see; each match is very interesting. Next up is Netherlands vs. Morocco; Morocco has been one of the pleasant surprises, playing very well, but the Netherlands remains the Netherlands.
We also have Japan vs. Brazil. Japan has made a strong impression as a quick team that plays modern football with speed and good wing play. It won’t be easy for Brazil, but experience will likely prevail. Despite the surprises, the teams with history are still in the game, and there’s no room left for surprises,” Ioanițoaia stated on GSP Live.
Ovidiu Ioanițoaia: “The rise of African teams is surprising”
The Gazeta director also discussed Canada’s qualification for the round of 16 and the recent progress of African teams.
“It’s good that one of the host teams, Canada, remains in the competition; it energizes the tournament. We saw a lot of spectators, even though Canada played in Los Angeles, USA.
The fact that a host team is still in the game benefits the competition, but Canada’s journey will likely end here, as both the Netherlands and Morocco are stronger teams.
Indeed, the Canada vs. South Africa match was modest. We were fortunate that Eustaquio scored during stoppage time. Overall, Canada was better than South Africa, but not by much; ‘Bafana Bafana’ seemed to be waiting for penalties, unable to do more. Regarding South Africa, this surprising and massive rise of African teams, which sent 9 out of 10 to the round of 16, is significant.
Of course, 8 have advanced, but they started with 10 teams, and 9 moved forward, except for Tunisia, which is a remarkable achievement, highlighting the rise of football on the African continent, which has been non-existent for a long time,” Ioanițoaia added.
“Germany moved sluggishly, like a stiff team, but it remains Germany, and you know you can only beat them once you see them in the bus,” said Ovidiu Ioanițoaia.
