When the knockout round draws were decided, I had hoped for a Europe vs South American final. And my wish (as did many fans all over the world) came true when the champions of Europe will play the champions of South America. But I am getting ahead of myself, so let me start at the beginning.
At that time, no European team had yet beaten a South American one and the smart money was on the latter but these teams that play with teamwork besides talents got better and bested the South Americans along the way (notably Brazil and Colombia - two traditional powerhouses).
Indeed, this has been an unpredictable and entertaining world cup, with goals galore (the most ever, in absolute and on a per game basis) with the penultimate match serving up the best show!
Interestingly, or perhaps consequently, goalkeepers (and not just the strikers) entertained us further with heroics! And the fairy tales come no better than that of Cape Verde and Vozinha's.
The half time entertainment, though, was an own goal (except for Shakira who was the South American that had better moves than the entire Argentina team in the final)
On the other hand, some goals should have stood, Croatia's equaliser vs Portugal and Egypt's potential winner against Argentina being two of the more egregious calls.
As usual, there are good goals, especially given the impervious forms that Mbappe, Messi and Haaland were in as the tournament began.
Speaking of which, they should make a new award for fan participation for the Norwegian row, following in the spirit of the Iceland clap and the Mexican wave.
With all games played, we wave goodbye to this tournament in the most contrasting of fashion: France and England put up an exhibition match with ten goals, taking the goal count well above 300 with Saka scoring a hattrick.
Mbappe clinched the Golden Boot (and becoming the Word Cup's biggest scorer of all time in the process) and Bellingham got onto the podium too, fittingly, for he played like a lion.
The one team that fell off the pole position (and further still in esteem) must be Argentina, goat notwithstanding.
If Tuchel was blamed for defensive substitution in the semifinals when attacking substitutes have won so many games with late goals, then Argentina's utterly defensive play for well over 100mins simply didn't make sense...
... until one realises that its their opponent that made all the sense. Spain was improving throughout the tournament and by the time they beat France, Scaloni had to desperately come up with a new game plan including holding on for dear life until penalties and Dibu theatrics.
Until then, their playbook included the usual thuggery, feigned injuries and pressurising, even snitching to the referee but nothing worked.
Spain (and football) won.
If the bronze medal match showed fans what football could be, three moments post the final exposed what it should not be: post match bust ups, unsporting gesture of turning their backs and an irrelevant vainglorious figure standing next to the winning squad all show how easily this beautiful game can descend into ignominy.
Then there is the GOAT debate. At this tournament, it was clear Messi was ascendant but at the end of the day, he's human after all. And not beyond fouling and snitching to win as well.
Ultimately, beyond our celebration of sports (and other) celebrities, the truest joy should come from beyond the mortals, to the divine.
No comments:
Post a Comment