The selections of Senegal and the Netherlands start their participation in the World Cup in Qatar, with a duel of favorites to finish first in group A, where they are framed together with the organizer and Ecuador. The match will be played this Monday, November 21 at the Al Thumana Stadium, at 5:00 p.m. and can be seen by Gol Mundial.
How Senegal arrives: The African Cup champion arrives with the sadness of losing her captain and her emblem a few days after the start of the World Cup. Sadio Mané, who even wanted to count on “witches”, has had to accept that the injury suffered in one of the last games Bayern played, before the break for the World Cup itself, was going to leave him out of the appointment qatari Senegal is not just Mané and they have important players in the big leagues. The strength, especially defensive, will be one of the keys to reach the eighth.
How the Netherlands arrives: It was strange that the three-time runner-up in the World and third in Brazil 2014 had missed the Russian event four years later. The Oranje mix returns to a great date by the hand of Louis van Gaal. The Ronald de Boer stage ended after the Eurocup. The generation of Frenkie and De Ligt must go one step further and confirm that that magical Ajax has an international flight. The doubts in the Netherlands center on the attack, with the idea of wingers and the freedom of the young Gakpo (PSV) as fixed ideas of the coach.
The duel of the match: Koulibaly vs. Van Dijk. Two of the most powerful and important central defenders on the European scene. And that none has started the course in the best way. Koulibaly has needed a bit of time to adapt to the Premier, with Chelsea changing managers, while Van Dijk has suffered from Liverpool’s bad start. The Dutchman was against the arrival of Van Gaal to the national team. He is now his squire.
By Fernando Perez (Football Analyst, Spain)
Bengali