Group stage is over, with the final four survivors identified. Brazil and Spain are through, both as group winners, joined from their respective groups by Portugal and Chile. On this edition of the World Cup Buzz Podcast, Kartik Krishnaiyer and Laurence McKenna join me to talk about that as well as the two Round of 16 match-ups scheduled for Saturday: Uruguay-South Korea and United States-Ghana.?
Would Vahid Halilhodzic have been able to get the Ivory Coast into the knock out rounds? Sven’s tactics and team selection did nothing to impress me. Halilhodzic at least had a rapport with his players and had them playing in a system they knew. His sacking after losing only one game in about 40 was sad.
Great question. My first reaction is that he would have had a slightly better chance of getting a point from the Portugal match.
Sounds like something worth bringing up on the show.
I have no clue if Halilhodzic would have gotten them out but I do think that some of the other coaches that Cote d’Ivoire flirted with (particularly Hiddink) would have done better. Erikson might even have gotten them out if he immediately took up the coaching reins as it appears that he was quite tardy in doing so. The biggest handicap had to be the sequence of matches though.