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Peru vs Iceland Prediction & Betting tips
At the Red Bull Arena in the US Harrison, New Jersey, Peru and Iceland face each other next Wednesday. Both countries have recently started preparing for the World Cup.
Peru:
Peru is busy. During the South American World Cup qualifying, the country was already surprised by placing itself at the expense of the much dear Chile for the final tournament in Russia. Whether Los Incas can break pots in a pool with France, Denmark and Australia in the summer, of course, they still have to prove, but last weekend they showed that they should not be underestimated. At the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, the non-nauseating Croatia was defeated 2-0 thanks to goals by Andre Carrillo and Edinson Flores. Of course you always have to take results from practice with a grain of salt, but in Croatia taste makers such as Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric and Sime Vrsaljko were the full ninety minutes within the lines. In addition, Peru had to make it without her star player Paolo Guerrero, who still has a suspension due to a positive doping test. “I do not think we are inferior to the European World Cup leaders,” attacker Jefferson Farfan said afterwards. The local media even talked about tikitaka football. In my opinion it is a bit too far to compare Peru with FC Barcelona, but given the game against Croatia they could grow to the surprise of the World Cup in the coming summer.
Against Iceland, it is obviously important for Peru to maintain this positive feeling, although it looks like national coach Ricardo Gareca is going to rotate a bit. The decision-maker has already announced that he will implement at least two changes. Midfielder Yoshimar Yotun (Orlando City) and defender Alberto Rodriguez (Junior) have already left the Peruvian camp in good consultation and will not be there next Wednesday anyway. The Peruvian Depor counts on base places for goalkeeper Jose Carvallo (UTC) and midfielder Sergio Pena (Granada), all of his further changes certainly not excluded.
Iceland:
For decades Iceland was no more than an extra on the global football scene, but that has changed in recent years. At the 2016 European Championships, the Scandinavians reached the quarterfinals and the memorable 1-2 victory over England in the eighth finals is still on our retina. The cake is not finished yet, because with its very first World Cup qualification, Iceland, with a population of about 355,000, is the smallest country ever to qualify for a World Cup final round. ‘Unbelievable,’ says national coach (and former dentist) Heimir Hallgrimsson. A group with Argentina, Nigeria and Croatia offers opportunities to reach the knockout phase, although the country will have to be in top form.
The game of Iceland is of course mainly about an iron discipline and hard work, plus the rendering of star players such as Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton) and Alfred Finnbogason (Augsburg). This duo, however, has missed the trip to the United States because of injuries. Without her two vedettes, last weekend, Iceland lost 3-0 to Mexico in the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. With players like Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (Nantes), Aron Gunnarsson (Cardiff City), Birkir Bjarnason (Aston Villa) and Ragnar Sigurdsson (Rostov) there is still quite some quality around, but the real class is currently lacking.