On day five of this summer's FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, here is all you need to know on how things went for Real Madrid players
Day five of the World Cup, Monday the 15th of June, saw action for three Real Madrid players. Well, technically anyway. Let's get into how things went, and what 'technically' means in this instance.
Right. Famously, or infamously more so, there were no Los Blancos players in a Spain World Cup squad for the first time ever. So, some have suggested that the club consciously made sure they announced the signing of Marc Cucurella before the game to make sure this wasn't true. Perhaps it is a cynical view to think it was deliberate, but it was all finalised incredibly quickly.
Nevertheless, we may as well report on him now. Cucurella was named in the Spain starting XI by manager Luis de la Fuente for their opening game against Cape Verde in Atlanta.
After struggling to create much early on in the game, the European Champions had a glorious chance early on. A lovely ball over the top from Rodri found Cucurella, who managed to knock the ball back for Ferran Torres, but he could only hit the woodwork from very close range, and the two sides went into the break at 0-0.
Despite Spain being the favourites to win the tournament, and Cape Verde heavy, heavy outsiders in the game, that was how things finished, for the first goalless game of the tournament.
Nevertheless, the new Real Madrid defender still put in a solid performance, and was deprived of a game winning assist. He played the full 90 minutes in this one. Next up for his side is a now very important game against Saudi Arabia on Sunday at 18:00 CET.
A few hours later, Thibaut Courtois and Belgium were in Group G action against Egypt. This is the goalkeepers fourth World Cup with his country. After conceding a sublime strike early on, The Red Devils fought back to earn a point, in what is not a great result but not disastrous either. Courtois made two saves throughout the game.
Weirdly, he actually had a couple of uncharacteristic moments with his handling/commanding of his box, but no harm was done in the end. Next up is a clash with Iran on Sunday at 21:00 CET.
Then, to round things off, technically at midnight CET, Federico Valverde and his Uruguay side kicked off their tournament against Saudi Arabia. As usual, he was named in the XI and captained his side, playing nominally off the right hand side.
After a very disappointing first half, the two time World Champions found themselves 1-0 down at the break. However, a much better second half saw them come back and draw the game 1-1. They went close to grabbing a winner, but couldn't quite get over the line.
Next up for the Uruguayans is a clash with Cape Verde on the 22nd at 00:00 (Saturday night).
