The Round of 16 has kicked off today and it has been at it’s best as two very close encounters ended up with the much-deserved team to win. France went past Argentina and Uruguay beat Portugal. It has been a hell of a ride as both sides got the victory by only one goal margin. Tomorrow the 2010 champion will face the hosts as Spain will face Russia in the knockouts. Spain has been one of the favourites from the initiation of the campaign, though they crumbled quite a lot in the group stages. Received 3 goals against Portugal and never looked that impact deep in the field. Though Costa and Isco were superb in the forward cushioning the side to the knockouts. On the other hand, Russia has been impressive too with two star outbreaks Golovin and Cheryshev. As the encounter is gonna take place tomorrow at Luzhniki stadium, we found out five players to look for in the match.
1.Diego Costa :
Costa has been sensational in the group stages netting three times. Each and every goal were world class level and came in important time. Costa single-handedly maintained the attacking genre of this Spanish side and if he gets clicked again, Russia may have some nightmares tomorrow. He had 88.5% success rate in passing with 43% in conversion rate. One of the containder of the golden boot, Costa must play well tomorrow for Spain.
2. David De Gea :
First world cup for him and had a nervy start. Ate 3 goals against Portugal having a blunder among one of them. De Gea is regarded as one of the best keepers in the modern era. He had some extraterrestrial saves for Manchester United but now he must deliver for his country. He had one clean sheet in group stages with two punches and two clearances.
3. Isco :
297 passes, among which 276 were correct. Having success rate of 92.9%, Isco was the star player of Spain in the midfield. The Real Madrid star showed what he is capable of in the group stages, where he made everyone go speechless. Isco scored a stunner assisted by Iniesta and will definitely to score more. He is that kind of guy who knows how to score. Isco would be an instrumental ace for the Spanish side to shine brightly in the knockout.
4. Aleksandr Golovin :
The stunner of the World Cup opening match. Golovin is the first scorer of this campaign and one of the brightest side of the Russian team. Having 74.4% success rate in passes, Golovin has a goal in him. He is a creative playmaker and one of the important players on the home side to click well. He has that power to change the direction of the game my own so that Ramos and Pique must do homework of this guy.
5. Denis Cheryshev
5 shots on target and 3 goals. This guy is a real gem. Though he did an own goal last time and received a yellow card, Cheryshev can single-handedly end dreams of many. The midfielder would definitely be an important guy to check out who had 71.7% success rate in passing and 100% in long passes.
