Another one of the premier group play matches featured the defending World Champion Germany versus the scrappy, hungry Mexican national team. The German side features world superstars like Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Mario Gomez, and more. The scoring potential on the German side is lethal. They showed this potential in the last World Cup when they flooded the Brazilian team with goals and embarrassed the entire country in a lopsided semi-final in 2014. The Mexican team is talented too, and has the defense and tough style of play to challenge anyone. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first half, the tough Mexican defense and the world class goaltending of Ochoa shut the Germans down and stunned the world. In Mexico there were seismic ripples that coincided with the team’s win. The excitement and talent is there for Mexico to make a serious run at the 2018 World Cup.
One final group play match to highlight is Croatia versus Argentina. The Croatian team could very well win the entire tournament. They are scrappy, they have superstars, and they have a lot of European experience. Croatians to watch out for are Mario Mandzukic, one of the world’s premier strikers and flashy scorers, Ivan Rakitic, a slick passer, mid fielder, and scoring threat in his own right, and the glue that has held so many UEFA Champion’s League mid fields together, Luka Modric. Argentina, of course, is not to be taken lightly. In addition to having Leo Messi, perhaps the greatest player to ever play the game, the Argentinians boost Sergio Aguero, Marcos Rojo, Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano, and Gonzalo Higuain. This match will be played on Thursday the 21st of June. This match will have a large impact on who makes it out of the group stages and into the next round of the tournament.
The World Cup also brings with it some of the most interesting collecting cards. There is a global market and community taking place in the excitement of collecting their favorite player’s cards.
There are a lot of unique cards specifically printed for this year’s event Don’t miss the drama of the world’s premier soccer tournament, and get in on the excitement of card collecting!
