England main beneficiaries of set-piece goal glut
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[July 09, 2018]
By Richard Martin
ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) - After more
goals came from set-pieces in this World Cup's group stage than any
other, dead-ball strategy has continued to have a huge impact in the
knockout phase, with five of the 11 goals scored in the
quarter-finals coming from free kicks or corners.
Raphael Varane headed France on their way to a 2-0 win over Uruguay
from a free kick while Fernandinho deflected a cross from a corner
into his own net to put his Brazil side behind in their eventual 2-1
defeat by Belgium.
England continued their prolific use of set-plays to break the
deadlock in their 2-0 win over Sweden when Harry Maguire headed home
from a corner.
Denis Cheryshev's wonder strike in Russia's 2-2 draw against Croatia
was the only opening goal in the quarters not to come from a set
play, although Croatia's Domagoj Vida later struck from a corner in
extra time and Mario Fernandes headed in a free kick to force a
shootout in which Croatia triumphed.
Fernandes's header was the 66th set-piece goal scored at the 2018
World Cup out of 157 in total.
Overall, 42 percent of goals in the World Cup have come from set
plays or penalties, beating the previous record of 36 percent from
the 1998 World Cup and smashing the portion of goals from these
situations in 2014 (27 percent), 2010 (24 percent), 2002 (29
percent) and 1994 (33 percent).
This trend has powered the rise of teams that traditionally do not
do well in World Cups.
Hosts Russia, the lowest ranked team in the tournament, scored five
of their 11 goals from set-pieces on the way to the quarter-finals,
their strongest showing since the end of the Soviet Union, and got
past highly fancied Spain in the last 16 thanks to a penalty
shootout.
England, meanwhile, reached the semi-finals for the first time in 28
years with the help of eight goals from set-pieces, more than any
other side in the tournament, including three penalties.
They also won a shootout for the first time in four World Cup
attempts by knocking out Colombia in the last 16, a sign of their
progress in preparing for every possible outcome.
England have been far more reliant on set-play strategy than fellow
semi-finalists Belgium and France, who have struck three goals each
from them, while their next opponents Croatia have scored from only
one set piece and one penalty.
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England's Jesse Lingard and team mates during training REUTERS/Lee
Smith
Gareth Southgate's side's potency from set-pieces was certainly on
the minds of Croatia after they were forced into penalties by
Russia.
"We watched the game today and saw how good they are from dead-ball
situations," captain Luka Modric said.
"We will have to improve on our set-piece defending between now and
Wednesday."
EXTRA PREPARATION
England's remarkable set-play success is the fruit of extra
preparation on the training ground with attacking coach Allan
Russell, who has traveled with Southgate to the United States to
study strategies from the NBA and NFL.
"We'd been spending a lot of time on set pieces, right down to the
details, all the runs and the blocks," said midfielder Ruben
Loftus-Cheek.
Captain and top scorer Harry Kane added: "Allan does finishing
sessions with us, tells us about opposition defenders, goalkeepers,
and tells us maybe where we can exploit a weakness. It's just little
stuff to maybe give us an edge."
In a World Cup where set-pieces have played such a huge role and
with teams becoming ever more cautious as the final approaches, that
edge could prove the difference between England ending 52 years of
hurt or falling at the penultimate hurdle.
(Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Neil Robinson and Ed
Osmond)
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