THE FUSE

Some teams go to a World Cup knowing they will not outgun everyone. They are not built for wild 4-3 matches. They are not going to trade attacks with Brazil, France or Argentina for 90 minutes and hope it works out. So they choose a different route. They defend properly. They keep the spaces tight. They make the favourite take one more pass, then another, then another. They turn the game into a test of patience. It is not always pretty, but tournament football has never cared much about style points. It cares about staying alive.