World Cup Diary: Part Two

Hello everyone, welcome to the 2nd entry into Victor Hedman's World Cup Diary. The tournament is off and running, with every team having played their opening match.
Just a peek behind the curtain, today's conversation was recorded at halftime of the Portugal-Ghana match, a thriller that finished 3-2 but was scoreless at the time. So if you're wondering why we didn't mention that match, or Richarlison's sensational scissor kick for Brazil against Serbia, there you go. Such are the time constraints of an NHL player.
And with that in mind, here is the second episode of Victor Hedman's World Cup Diary.

KE: You've watched five or six games but obviously you've also been following along with the tournament. What is the biggest shock so far?
VH: Probably two of them but the biggest one is obviously Argentina. losing to Saudi Arabia 2-1. Argentina did score a lot of goals in that game, but were called back because of offsides. And obviously one of the biggest upsets in a very long time when you look at World Cup history.
And Japan beat Germany, but you know, I think Japan is sneaky-good. They have a lot of good players that play on a high level in Europe. So you can probably see that coming a little bit more than the Saudi Arabia one.
KE: Personally, I would argue that wasn't as much of an upset, maybe the way it happened. They did almost beat Belgium in the last World Cup
VH: I mean, they have good players. A lot of their top players actually play in Germany too.
KE: Well, that was the irony, the two guys who scored were both substitutes, one plays for (German club) Freiburg and the other plays for Bochum. Exactly.
VH: They'll have a lot to share with their teammates when we get back to club football.
KE: The big one, we have to talk about it even though I don't want to. The US was oh so close to beating Wales and then Walker Zimmerman, who we will not speak of, gives away the penalty. Gareth Bale scores, it finishes 1-1. Let's do positives from that match from the US.
VH: Absolutely. I think they came out strong. It was one o'clock on a (Lightning) game day so I only watched the first half. But you get the first goal by Tim Weah, beautiful pass by Pulisic. I thought they were firing on all cylinders, and just couldn't get another one. Seven points will be tough now, but the big game is obviously is tomorrow (at the time) against England. If they can get a point there, I'm confident they will go through to the next round.
KE: Last week you said that match was do-or-die. So now that they've drawn, where does that leave them? Somewhere in the middle of do-or-die?
VH: A little bit in the middle. I think if England beats the US, I think they're gonna beat Wales as well. Now we're looking at the other game, obviously, Wales will play Iran. And I think Iran want to bounce back after that game as well. They scored two goals against England and not a lot of teams can do that. So, you know, it'll be interesting to see how that works out.
KE: And we'll know because that's the 5am game on Friday, which is when this is going to drop. So if you're listening now you probably already know what happened.
Then the other big CONCACAF game that we were paying attention to, Canada losing one-nil to Belgium, probably not what they deserved. But that's not really how this sport works.
VH: They ran into a really good goalkeeper, obviously one of the best in the world in Thibaut Courtois. And, you have the opportunity to take the lead on a PK or early on in the game. Alfonso missed that one, but probably should have had another penalty kick as well. But, then you give up the goal. I thought Canada was really really good in that game. And I thought Belgium, a little bit sloppy, so they're probably happy they got away with that.
KE: Look, I'm just a guy here, but it felt like it was the absolute wrong setup for Belgium, it felt like they'd never seen Canada before, that they didn't scout them.
VH: It felt like that. I mean, they were on their heels for most of that game. Canada was obviously buzzing, being back in the World Cup for the first time in a very long time. And you know, they have great talent on that team. To have a guy like Cyle Larin on the bench, you have a very deep lineup. You've got Alphonso, David, Stephen Eustaquio, he plays for Porto and has done tremendously well. Atiba Hutchinson, who actually played in Sweden for a little bit. He's 39 years old, but he's still out there buzzing. It was fun to see to see Canada. The guys in the (Lightning) locker room today, felt like they got robbed, but at the end of the day, it's sports, and that's what's gonna happen.
KE: Welcome to the World Cup. Atiba Hutchinson by the way, oldest outfield player to start a match of the World Cup at age 39.
VH: You know, a little too many nil-nil games. But Spain, obviously putting on a clinic against Costa Rica, the possession was 85% to 15% in the first half. Watching Gavi and Pedri, they were just dominating that game. So it was a lot of fun to see.
KE: And you called that, because those two were the ones you wanted to watch. And Gavi especially, oh my goodness he was unbelievable.
VH: Yeah. And he's 18 years old and he's been playing on a high level for a very long time. I think he came up when he was 16 at Barcelona, got called up to the national team almost right away and now he's, you know, one of the first players on that sheet I'm sure under Luis Enrique. They have a great team, I didn't pick them to win but they'll probably go deep.
KE: So you got Spain 7-nil over Costa Rica, England 6-2 over Iran. And those two Iranian goals, let's be honest, they weren't troubling England. Finally, France beat Australia 4-1. Between those three teams, who made the biggest statement for you.
VH: I think England a little bit. I mean, 6-2 over Iran, different goalscorers, Harry Kane didn't score but he had three assists. Jude Bellingham scored, Saka scored two. Very young team. They were running away with it there before Iran came back with two late in the game, but I think that was the biggest one I'll take from that.
But like, you can't really look down on Spain as well. I mean, 7-nil in a World Cup game, it's a lot of goals. Obviously it's not Germany against Brazil, but Spain was very good today.
KE: Do you have a thought on Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa?
VH: I mean, he's been around for a long time. A 0-0 against Poland, big PK save from Robert Lewandowski. I had Poland winning that game but Mexico was pretty good. So yeah, we'll see how that keeps going on in that group.
Mexico has some really good players too. Chucky Lozano, you had Raúl Jiménez come off the bench. Mexico is what you expect them to be, very skillful team, and obviously a great goalkeeper.
FIFA have implemented a new guideline for this tournament that has taken a lot of us by surprise. Stoppage time is being counted up to an extreme amount, something they have said figures to limit timewasting and give back more time in matches that feel emptier. Through just the first 8 matches, over an hour of stoppage time had been added, a figure that normally takes upwards of 20 matches to equal. It has led to more than a few silly images.
VH: That's been a big topic, that they're going to crack down on people laying on the ground, and, you know, kind of delaying the game, but it's been outrageous. Some matches have been 10 minutes in the first half, and then 10 minutes in the second half. That's an extra 20 minutes. But for people who love football, I mean, there's more football to watch for us.
It's tough when you see them add minutes without any real injuries. It's very, very, very long.
KE: I almost feel like, you just do it for the second half. We do it like we've always been doing for the first half and then maybe the second half we can have a conversation.
VH: Exactly. First half is usually two or three minutes and then you get five or six in the second half, but it's been outrageous.
KE: Now that we've wrapped up the first round of matches, let's look ahead at the immediate match calendar for the week. Is there anything in there you're really excited for, other than obviously England-USA?
VH: Yeah, England-USA is going to be fantastic. And as someone who has been living here for a very long time, I'm really looking forward to that game. You've also got Canada-Croatia on Sunday. Big one obviously on Sunday is Germany against Spain, that'll be one I'll be tuning in for, for sure, if we're not in the air at that time. A big bounce back chance for Germany and it'll be interesting to see how Spain reacts since they're playing a lot better team than they did in round one. So those are the ones I'm really looking forward to. And also Denmark-France. Denmark, losing points to Tunisia. They're also looking to bounce back as well.
And so our first match recap entry into the Diary is concluded. We hope you enjoyed Hedman's breakdown of the opening round of the group stage. Unfortunately, the Lightning will be heading out on the road before the next one concludes, so we will have to wait until next weekend to get some more of his reaction. Don't fret however, we'll be sure to put out a mini-episode of the show to keep you privy to the happenings of the tournament, plus some other nuggets and stories as well. Until then, I'm Kevin Erlendsson, this has been Victor Hedman's World Cup Diary on Lightning Radio.
For the full audio version of the show, find it on our Lightning Radio podcast feed. Just search "Lightning Radio On Demand" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.