Paris Saint-Germain trio Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani headline World Cup round-of-16 team

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  • The round of 16 at World Cup 2018 witnessed a series of stirring performances as the competing nations fought for their futures.

    Hosts Russia stayed alive with a shock penalty-shootout win against Spain, with the same method required by England to repel Colombia and Croatia to see off Denmark. There were goals galore when France defeated Lionel Messi’s Argentina and more attacking flourishes than predicted when Uruguay dumped Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal out of the tournament.

    Elsewhere, Belgium provided the game of the round to complete a comeback from 2-0 down against Japan in the 94th minute and Sweden edged a tense contest against Switzerland.

    A trio of Paris Saint-Germain forwards headline our key individual performers from the last 16:

    GK: Kasper Schmeichel (Denmark)

    Schmeichel simply did not deserve to be on the losing side. Watched on by legendary father Peter, the current Denmark No1 denied Croatia schemer Luka Modric’s 116th-minute penalty kick. He then proceeded to stop Milan Badelj and Josip Pivaric efforts, only for opposite number Danijel Subasic to set a tournament record with three shootout saves.

    RB: Benjamin Pavard (France)

    Defenders with a taste for the spectacular have emerged in Russia. A cross from France left-back Lucas Hernandez bobbled across the penalty box. Without breaking his stride, right-back Pavard leant back and enjoyed the sweetest of connections to send it into the top corner of Argentina’s goal. Quite the way to break your international duck.

    CB: Thiago Silva (Brazil)

    The Brazil skipper against Mexico put on a lesson in leadership. Their North American opponents attacked with numbers and gusto, asking serious questions of the World Cup favourites. Silva replied with a leading eight clearances, helping to ensure goalkeeper Alisson only had to make one save from El Tri’s 14 attempts on goal.

    CB: Harry Maguire (England)

    At Euro 2016, the towering Maguire was lost amid a sea of England supporters. Fast forward two years and he stood tall in the tetchy victory against Colombia. Maguire used his huge frame to win a remarkable 12 aerial duels to dominate superstar centre forward Radamel Falcao. Sour note, however, left by his dive.

    LB: Fyodor Kudryashov (Russia)

    An injury to Russia left-back Yuri Zhirkov forced his removal at half-time against Spain. Kudryashov shuffled across and expertly filled the void. David Silva was exceptional for Manchester City last term, but he barely had a kick against the hosts.  This wasn’t an all-action display from the stand-in, he simply kept his composure.

    CM: Marouane Fellaini (Belgium)

    The Belgium centre midfielder’s brutish talents aren’t to everyone’s liking, but they remain highly effective. Fellaini was called from the substitute’s bench, along with match-winner Nacer Chadli, on 65 minutes with his nation 2-0 down to Japan. The 30-year-old would go on to expertly head in the leveller and boast a pass accuracy of 91.7 per-cent.

    DM: Casemiro (Brazil)

    This was an exhibition of defensive-midfield play from Brazil’s lynchpin. Mexico’s Andres Guardado and Hector Herrera had previously run rampant against Germany. This time they came up against a yellow wall. Casemiro led the way with six tackles, the only negative a booking that rules him out of the quarter-final clash with Belgium.

    CM: Takashi Inui (Japan)

    Another player to shine within defeat. Real Betis will be grateful that they snapped up the Japan midfielder from Eibar before the tournament began. Inui put precision slice on a shot from the edge of the penalty area against Belgium to earn a shock 2-0 lead. This followed another beauty in the group stage versus Senegal.

    0507 team second round

    RW: Kylian Mbappe (France)

    This could be the defining display of Russia 2018, the moment when startling promise transformed into legendary achievement. Mbappe, at 19 years and six months, became the youngest player since the ineffable Pele in 1958 to score at least two goals in a World Cup match. His punishing pace also forced the opening penalty against Argentina.

    CF: Edinson Cavani (Uruguay)

    ‘El Matador’ was at his best for Uruguay against Portugal. His telepathic understanding with strike partner Luis Suarez saw him race onto a perfect deep cross to head in the opener. The 31-year-old then viciously sidefooted home the clincher in the second half. Cavani’s three tackles was also only beaten by full-back Diego Laxalt. Only negative was calf injury that forced him off.

    LW: Neymar (Brazil)

    The 26-year-old’s playacting left a sour taste in the mouth, yet his inspired performance on the pitch was enough to make football fans salivate. A dart across the Mexico penalty box and back-heeled pass took out four defenders prior to his tap-in, with an assist to Roberto Firmino coming later.

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