I
feel good. I feel good. Listen, it's the first game, so you can't get too
excited. We're building. We're getting momentum. But yeah, let's see how it
turns out. But right now, it's a good first outing. I like it.
I
like it a lot. It's absolutely incredible. Honestly, I see it coming.
But
Harry Kane, superb. Absolutely incredible. I've lost my voice. Work tomorrow.
I've lost my voice.
Come
on, England.
He's
coming home. [screaming] England, it's coming home. Yeah, that's the way to
celebrate.
England
fans cheered on captain Harry Kane, who scored twice in the team's 2026 World
Cup debut. They beat Croatia
4
to2 in Arlington, Texas. Kane is now tied for the most World Cup goals of all
time by an England player with 10. In
Houston,
the Democratic Republic of Congo scored the equalizer in stoppage time against
Portugal. Uh this was the
Congo's
first World Cup appearance since 1974.
And
in Toronto, Ghana have noticed not rather their first win in the tournament.
Another stoppage time goal
made
uh the difference in this match versus Panama. Ghana 1 nil. And finally,
Usbekistan scored once its uh World
Cup
debut in Mexico City, but they were no match for Colombia and Daniel Munoz with
a goal late in the first. Colombia
added
two more to win three to one. with me now from Dallas, Henry Winter, football
writer and columnist for World
Soccer.
Uh Henry, good to talk to you again. So, let's start with England, beating
Croatia 4-2. I've been reading uh in this evening about kind of the
characterizations
and reviews of the match, and the New York Times called it um the best World
Cup uh match so far.
What
made it that good?
Oh,
that is quite a quite a comment. Um, I mean, I think probably France in the in
the second half of their game were absolutely outstanding. Uh, but
yeah,
I mean, England, I mean, talk about a roller coaster. I mean, it was an
emotional roller coaster. And for the fans who for so long, and we can go back
60
years if you want in terms of a trophy, but certainly in the last sort of 20,
30 years, they've been deprived
of
really entertaining football, of walking out of a stadium, walking on air, just
delighted with the commitment and the skill of their team. And they
showed
it particularly in the second half today. The head coach Thomas Tukul made some
changes, made some emotional changes as well. Just got them to raise
the
game, banished the fear, and just got them to go on the front foot and express
themselves.
Now,
let's talk about what's up next for England. Ghana. Ghana um beat Panama today.
Nothing
for most of that match. And then in minute 95 uh a score. How does that matchup
look uh for Tuesday, England and Ghana?
Well,
I think England against Croatia was always going to be the biggest test in
terms of the sort of the highest ranked team that they were going to face. Uh
Croatia and England have a
little
bit of history. Croatia knocked England out of the World Cup of 2018 in in
Moscow. And you know, they're
a
good team, but you know, everyone was saying, well, this was such an important
result that England got, but you have to remember that it was played indoors,
as
you
say, in Arlington. And I think the temperature and the air condition stadium
was only about 23. Now you know what we're like in England. We're
obsessed
with the weather. If it goes above 23 24 that's a heat wave. So, I think the
problem that England have had will have when they play against a team
like
Ghana if it's really hot that will be an issue for England.
You
know that's interesting. I don't uh think that we've actually had that
conversation. the um climate influence
on
some of these matches obviously coming from different parts of the world and
the sensitivities to some of these players in their typical uh environment.
Well,
you know what the English are like. We love talking about the weather and I
mean it is huge and the weather extremes that uh that's been seen here. I mean
England got hit by a
tornado
uh the other night in Kansas City. So, uh you know there's all those dramas but
this game indoors was really
important
that England had that because Croatia who keep the ball very well when they've
got players like Luca Modric and Kovichic who came off the bench that can
test
England. England don't do great in in hot conditions and they want to play a
very competitive Premier League style
English
style up and atom game under this German coach and that is risky in hot
weather. So, it's going to be interesting to see how they play against
Ghana
and then Panama. But, look, they've got these three points under the belt.
They're all but qualified for the next round, but they want to finish top.
We
haven't spoken since the uh Portugal Democratic Republic of Congo uh ended in a
draw obviously. And Cristiano Ronaldo
um
a lot of disappointment in his performance, pretty flat. What happened there?
Well,
probably not a lot of surprise because he is what 40 41 been an absolutely
magnificent footballer. I
think
five balandors. You look at the performance that he has had. There's basically
been three iterations of Cristiano Ronaldo, the flyer out wide,
the
centre forward, and the slightly more measured sort of stealth player.
But,
you know, the one opponent even the greats can't beat is old father time.
And
I think they have a big call to make with Portugal now whether they drop this
talismanic figure who has a lot of
influence
on the country and on the team on the dressing room. That's a big call but I
think it's a call that has to be made.
All
right Henry Winter we'll see what happens uh for the rest of the day.
Thanks
so much. So, the goalkeeper known as Vzinia, who starred in Cape Verde's
incredible World Cup draw with Spain,
may
have a special visitor for his next match in Miami, and that's his mother.
House
Minority Leader Hakee Jeff says that she will get a visa in time for the match
against Uruguay on Sunday. Now,
she
says the fees, or he says, I should say, the fees have been waved. Now, Vzena
told reporters that his mother was not able to watch his match in person on
Monday
because she could not afford the bond for a visa, but she was watching back at
home.
It
was very emotional for me. My heart was almost jumping out of my chest. I was
nervous but very happy for everything he has achieved in this tournament.
His
grandfather would often say, "Let's go to the football field." and
would take him there. His father didn't like him playing football. His
grandfather
would
tell him, "One day I will see you at the World Cup." And that's
exactly what happened.
There
is just a whirlwind of support around Voinia. He made seven saves against
Spain. And look at this. His
Instagram
account jumped from about 50,000 followers now to more than 12 and a half
million.
Team
Mexico now has an unofficial mascot for their next World Cup match, Merlin the
Duck. He's now an overnight
sensation.
He was seen waddling around Mexico City wearing a national team jersey and
socks, duck socks. Uh his owner says that locals already knew him.
He
would accompany her while she was selling drinks as a street vendor. Well, now
Merlin's newfound fame got him a meeting with FIFA representatives for a
photo
shoot and a commercial. His owner says it came as a surprise, but Merlin is
Mexico's biggest fan.
https://youtu.be/sJG__o6wzBA?si=FaJDJ70ZJCjleaoN
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