Starting with the World Cup in 2010, the idea of the blog is to hopefully help those who, whilst not being that interested in football, still want to keep abreast of what is going on. This way they won't feel such an outsider, when the said event is the only thing that everyone else is talking about. The blog is intended to be humourous and not very politically correct. Enjoy
Hi readers, disaster has struck, the final post was almost ready, when it got accidentally overwritten and deleted. I have no time to redo it. I don't want either team to win, and as a good friend of mine says, they could all drop down dead. but I plump for France as 1) they are not that special but have that winning mentality and 2) I am not in the Messi cult and could not careless if he does not win it.
Back in in eighteen months for the Euros
The day starts with the intriguing battle between the Magellan boys from Portugal and the Atlas Lions from Morocco. As we like to do in this blog, we are going to look at this game from a wider perspective before we get to the football.
On Monday, Morocco stunned the watching world with an astonishing victory in a penalty shootout over one half of the Iberian Peninsula, and therefore they are now to face the other country from that area.
It should be remembered that from the early eight century until late in the fifteenth century, the forebears of the nation now called Morocco, ruled over the majority of what is now Spain and Portugal. The Portuguese kicked the moors out in the middle of the thirteenth century and Espana fimally did so two hundred years later.
In Islamic ideology, land that was once under Islamic rule and that has been lost is only in a temporary state of non Islamic control. There are many of the more zealous types who would love to get one over the Portuguese as they did over the not very popular Spaniards,
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| How one of the Moroccan team visualized the victory |
Far credit to the Moroccans though, they gave their all and more, some of them could hardly walk at the end. It was a brave performance against a toothless Spanish side, and they should enjoy all the glory that they have been basking in over the past few days.
However, it will be a totally different kettle of Sardines against the high scoring, free flowing Portuguese. They like to cover every blade of grass in the search for new ways to score in the best traditions of that nation as they used to search the seven seas for new lands to conquer and exploit or explore depending on how you see it.
Portugal absolutely buried the Swiss mountaineers alive with an avalanche of goals and even a trusty old St Bernard dog, with his keg of brandy would not have been able to resuscitate the stricken Swiss players, although obviously that would not be allowed here with the ban on alcohol consumption in public.
Two to watch
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| Goncalo Ramos, Hot Property |
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| Hakimi, nerves of steel against Spain |
As the old saying goes, lightning does not strike twice, and Portugal will be waiting for EnGerLand or Les Bleus.
What is it about meetings between EnGerLand and Les Bleus that gets the pulses racing so much? It is obviously more than football as the first listed game between them took place in 1923. It is in fact nearly a thousand years of intertwined history dating back to the Norman conquest of EnGerLand in 1066.
It must be stressed that the Normans were not French, they were of course Vikings who had conquered and then settled in the area that became known as Normandy, The French did not like them very much and after the conquest, the mutual dislike spread across La Manche as the froggies call the English Channel.
People have heard of the 100 years' war, butt a state of simmering tensions between the inhabitants of those nations has been in effect as I said for nearly 1000 years. Crecy, Poitiers, Blenheim, Quebec, Wandiwash, Salamanca, Trafalgar and of course Agincourt to name but a few of the many battles between the two nations all over the globe where superior French forces were soundly defeated due to a mixture of French arrogance and complacency and bloody minded doggedness on display from the English.
The English call the French the frogs, the French call the English le Rosbif, pretty harmless stuff. When the EEC was first created, President de Gaulle did not want the UK included. The English think the French fickle and feckless, the French think the English unimaginative and emotionless. You get the point.
So, to the game, Les Bleus are definitely the favourites, they are the reigning champions and in Mbappe, they have one of the fastest and most lethal players in the world. They are of course not a one man team and are blessed with a variety of attacking talent, but they are suspect in defence. Against Poland in their last game, the Poles really should have taken the lead before Mbappe got going.
The fact that EnGerLand are the underdogs will suit them just fine. The froggies have not yet been tested and they may be found wanting due to those character flaws I mentioned above. This EnGerLand team is also very talented going forward and slightly suspect at the back so it will be a much closer contest than some people are expecting.
The last time the two met in a world cup was back in 1982, before French football underwent a massive change with the influx of players whose heritage lies in the French colonies which transformed Les Bleus into the potent force they are today.
Two to watch
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| Bellingham, Teenage Wunderkid |
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| Rabiot, a very Gallic profile |
Once more into the breech, dear friends, once more. Imitate the action of the tiger, stiffen the sinews, Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit to his full height. On, on you noblest English, Follow your spirit, and upon the charge. cry God for Harry (Kane)! EnGerLand and saint Gearge (Gareth)!
to paraphrase the great bard in Henry V Act III
It will not be easy, the match will be to and fro, but I have to go for an EnGerLand victory.
We will be back on Tuesday to preview the first semi final
Firstly, I must apologize for not having been able to keep up with getting out the blog. Having broken my right shoulder last week, it is a struggle to concentrate let alone type with only my weaker left hand available.
The round of sixteen was full of the sort of theatre that only a world cup can provide, and of the teams who were in that stage only one who were expected to make it to the last eight, Espana, failed to do so. Some of the football was exhilarating and there was drama a plenty as two games went to penalty shootouts.
The two teams that entertained the most will be on display against the teams that were able to hold their nerve in the penalty shootouts. To be honest, both the Blue Samurai of Japan and the toreadors of Viva Espana were so shockingly bad that the men from Kings landing in Croatia, and the Atlas Lions of Morrocco had it easy.
First up, we will see the dancing boys from the Copa Cabana against the very resilient Croatians. I say resilient, because over the past two world cups, all the knockout games that Croatia have been involved in have gone to extra time, and they have won three penalty shoot outs and beaten EnGerLand two goals to one. Croatia should be renamed after the band Chumbawamba, who sang "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never going to keep me down."
Brazil was my pick before the tournament started to lift the trophy and I have not seen anything to make me doubt that choice.
Brazil is famous for carnival and the Samba, and it was on full display as they destroyed South Korea with the type of ruthless efficiency one would expect from the Spanish inquisition. They celebrated every goal with a little jig, with even their taciturn coach joining in after the third goal, which was to be fair, a piece of choreography worthy of the Bolshoi ballet and deserving of a little dance.
There were plenty of killjoys amongst the television pundits who thought it was disrespectful to the plucky South Koreans to thus celebrate, but they did not seem to mind.
Brazil and Croatia have met in two previous world cups, in 2006 and 2014, with the Brazilians winning on both occasions, although if you want an omen, in both cases, Brazil failed to go on and win the trophy.
I cannot see any other conclusion than Brazil advancing to the semi finals
Two to look out for
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| Livakovic will be tested |
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| Vinicius Jr coolness personified |
The second quarter final features a rematch of the highly contentious final of 1978 between Don't cry for me Argentina and the Oranjeboom from the Netherlands. Here's how the game played out, enjoy it before I continue
In its own way, the world cup in Argentina was as controversial as the one in Qatar is today, the difference being that the cold war was at its height and the ruling military junta which had seized power in 1976 had the full backing of the United States. In a world devoid of internet and social media and therefore far less woke, people did not really care about human rights abuses in a far off country. (I often wonder how much they really care today unless it is a Cause Celebre.) It is thought that around thirty thousand people just disappeared while the Junta was in power, and it was against this backdrop that the tournament took place.
The Argentinian path to final was not without hiccups and the accusations of cheating were rife and as you saw from the video, the final was not a smooth affair and was played in a fervent atmosphere.
As an English football fan, I always want the Argies to lose, as with most things connected to football, it is completely irrational. the few Argentinians I know are lovely people but show me those blue and white striped shirts and I see a red mist.
It started back to the world cup of 1966 where the then Argentinian number 10, Rattin was sent off against EnGerLand by the German referee because he did not like the way Rattin looked at him, as we know EnGerLand went on to win the trophy, but that was just the beginning of the enmity. Enough has been said about the hand of god, but to put that in a historical context, that was only four years after the Falklands war when Argentina as a country was demonized in the English press.
In the 1998 world cup there was the Simeone v Beckham incident. Beckham had to go but the way the Argies surrounded the referee typifies the way the masters of the dark arts play the game. I could put a video of Rattin being sent off and it would look very similar.
As I wrote in the first group preview, The Orangemen are the nearly men of world cup football, having lost all three finals they have played in. The last time the two sides met in a world cup was in the 2014 semifinal, the game ended in a scoreless draw, and the gauchos won on penalties.
As you may have gathered, I am all Orange for this game, but I fear a similar outcome. Perhaps the precedent of when they last met in the quarterfinals back in 1998 will be followed with the clog wearers coming out on top. That game will be remembered for a sublime piece of finishing which you can enjoy below.
Two to watch
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| de Paul. Messi's bodyguard |
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| Dumfries Dutch X factor |
As I wrote, I hope I am wrong, but a mouthwatering semifinal awaits whatever.
Tomorrow, we will preview Portugal against Morrocco and the big one EnGerLand v Les Bleus.
Today's Hors D'oeuvres serves up the clash between Les Bleus of Franc and the last remaining Eastern European team of Poland. This will be followed by a main course consisting of EnGerLand and Senegal.
An interesting thing that France and Poland have in common is that geographically they are the countries that sit to the East and the West of Ze Shermans, and this has caused them to live in fear for over two thousand years because of the rather rapacious nature of their neighbours. So, while the rest of the world rejoiced in the manner of Ze Shermans amazing exit, on Thursday night, there was an extra level of enjoyment and satisfaction felt in France and Poland.
Another interesting tidbit is the fact that the bright lights of gay paree were often the desired choice for Polish emigrees, who went on to find world renown in their adopted homeland, the composer Frederic Chopin and the physicist Marie Curie to name but two. All this shows that there is no real enmity between these two nations.
They have only met once before in the context of the world cup, when they played in the meaningless third place final back in Italia 82, a game in which the Poles ran out winners by three goals to two.
The French keeper had a bit of a mare.
The Polish have not been very good so far, to the extent that they nearly only qualified for this game because they had accrued fewer yellow cards than the Sancho Panzas of Mexico.
The Poles are a very grey team reflecting the weather of the country they come from, dour and miserable. They have one world class player in Lewandowski and are almost solely reliable on his ability to score. I think they will look to soak up the French pressure and try and catch them on the break.
The froggies on the other hand have lived up to expectations, they thrashed the Aussies and eased past Denmark, against Tunisia having already qualified, they fielded a very weakened team and surprisingly lost but it was really meaningless.
I expect Les Bleus, to roll forward like the columns of Napoleon's Imperial guard as they did at Austerlitz with Mbappe down one wing and Dembele down the other gliding along like a liberal splash of French polish, they should be able to outflank the stubborn Poles and then crush their center,so that they will move on to the Quarter finals.
Two to watch:
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| Cash will have his hands full |
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| Dembele will keep Cash busy |
Here we go, here we go, here we go, unfortunately it is happening again across the length and breadth of EnGerLand and anywhere in the world where there is a gathering of EnGerLand supporters, the fantasizing has begun as to whether football is coming home as the song goes.
There were five teams that were unbeaten in the group stages, and EnGerLand had the best record of the three who had two wins and a draw. They were the highest scorers along with Spain finding the net nine times and had the best goal difference of all the teams in the first round, having conceded only twice and one of those was due to a ridiculous penalty decision given in garbage time.
All these are contributing factors to the groundswell of optimism, which will only make the disappointment when it inevitably comes all the more difficult to stomach. However, that feeling of being let down will not hit today in my opinion.
Remarkably, the two sides have never faced each other in any form of football, so there is no history to look back on, so as football fans need some form of past rivalry to get them going, the fact that Senegal is a Francophone country will have to suffice for the English fans.
Although they are the current champions of Africa, you may remember that I did not predict that they would make it this far due to the absence through injury of their star striker. However, they are still a very capable, strong and fit side, and they have excellent players in defence and in goal so they must not be taken lightly,
Two to watch:
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| Foden, looked sharp against Wales |
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| Mendy will need to be on his toes |
As we saw yesterday, there were no surprises and The Orangemen and Don't cry for me Argentina, both eased through. I foresee the same pattern today and we shall have to wait until tomorrow and Monday to maybe see an upset or two.
The knockout stage of the last sixteen starts tomorrow, with clashes between sides where the favorites on paper should waltz through to the quarter finals. They are also between teams who have very little history of any sort between them, let alone previous football history.
First up are the Oranjeboom of the Netherlands against the Bud Light boys of the good ol' US of A. The Yanks, buoyed by their heroic win over the Islamic republic of Iran and all that meant, will be no pushovers.
The two sides have never faced each other in a competitive match before. The last time they played was in a friendly international in 2015, which the USA won by four goals to three. The Orangemen still have some players who featured in that game, including Blind and Depay to name but two out of the five. The Yanks only have one which is not a surprise given that they are the youngest squad in the tournament.
In my opinion, the future of the USMNT is bright, as I wrote they have the youngest squad in the tournament which bodes well for them in four years' time when they will be one of the host nations. The popularity of the game is growing across the nation, especially with the younger generation with the proliferation of coverage of English football on TV. Ownership of teams by Hollywood stars and NFL owners is also on the up both abroad and domestically. Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney at non-league Wrexham and Matthew McConaughey at Ausin in Texas to name just a few.
Even though older Americans still do not take "soccer" seriously, not liking the number of drawn games, and the play acting of players, when they are sometimes barely touched (have to agree, that is a disgrace) therefore not considering the game manly compared to gridiron. They obviously have not watched much rugby or Aussie rules, both fiercely competitive contact sports, where the only protection seen is a mouthguard and a jockstrap.
Anyway, back to the game, reaching the knockout stages was the goal for the US, anything else will be a bonus, therefore they have nothing to lose and can afford to play a little more expansively. Tyler Adams the US captain exemplifies the spirit of this team, the defensive midfielder who plays for Leeds United is a human dynamo who never stops moving. One thing is for sure, they will outrun the Dutch.
The Orangemen, as we have alluded to earlier in the tournament, tend to be rather mercurial and have everything to lose and while I would love for an upset to happen, they should have too much nous for the raw Americans to deal with.
Two to watch out for:
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| Adams, young to be a Captain . |
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| Gakpo, a prolific striker |
Without wanting to detract from their achievement which should be lauded for what it is, the Sheep dippers basically blagged their way into this stage. They managed to mug off Tunisia, which has to be said in retrospect was a pretty impressive result given that the Tunisians then beat a France B team. The Aussies then had the good fortune to face the Danish Vikings who were so unbelievably poor, that they managed to nick another one- nil victory to finish second in the group.
However, the true level of the Aussies should be measured by their four one defeat by Les Bleus and now that they are due to play against the gauchos from the pampas, I am sad to say that their wonderful odyssey will come to a painful end.
The two teams faced each other in the play offs to see who would qualify for the 1994 finals. Obviously, there are no players left from those games, but the current Australian manager Graham Arnold, a stereotypical old school Aussie, hard as nails and brooking no nonsense played in defence in those games. there is also a connection for the Argies, Alexis Mac Alister who plays in midfield is the son of Carlos who played for Argentina back then.
Despite the plethora of upsets, that we have had so far, and despite that delusional Aussie fans who have had too many tinnies, will point to the fact that the Saudis beat the Argies, it is sadly not going to happen again. I hope that I am completely wrong, but I do not think so.
Two to watch:
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| Alvarez, is sharp in the box |
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| Duke will be looking for another sucker punch. |
On Sunday, we will feature, Les Bleus against the Polaks and EnGerLand against Senegal.
Unfortunately, I broke my shoulder on Monday morning. The inconvenience of typing with just my left hand is one thing, the larger issue is I cannot concentrate well enough for the creative process to be effective. So, the blog will take a rst for a few days and I hope I feel up to continuing for the knockout stages
My apologies to all
In group A, the last two games are between, the hosts Qatar and the Orangemen from the lowlands of the Netherlands and a clash Between South America and Africa as Ecuador face off against Senegal. We will deal with the Qatar game first.
Qatar, have already been eliminated, making them the first host nation to manage this rather unwanted achievement in world cup history. Not only were they hapless but also hopelessly out of their depth at this level. At least they managed to score one goal to cheer the home fans.
As suggested in the preview of this group, the Orangemen have not shown any true flair, but that can actually be said about so many of the so called big European sides. However, as they already have four points and are facing the Qataris, their progression is almost certainly guaranteed.
The Orangemen will need to improve in all departments once they reach the knockout stages. They will need to look for inspiration from the little boy who kept his finger in the dike all night to stop a big flood. Ironically enough the Orange defence is marshalled by one Virgil van Dijk, so they will hope he can do the job of stopping up the gaps.
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| No holes in Van Dijk |
The clash between Senegal and Ecuador is going to be a very cagey affair. Ecuador only needs a draw to progress, while Senegal has to win. This is where I feel the absence of Sadio Mane, the Senegalese best player will be most felt. I am going to go with Ecuador for this reason which, without looking, is what i think I predicted in the first place.
In Group B, we have a similar situation, where one game does not mean very much and the other is mahoosive to use the vernacular.
The wounded dragons of Cymru are facing up against the knights of St George and as usual the dragon is going to come off second best. The other game is the clash between the good ol' boys of the great Satan, against the representatives of the Islamic republic of Iran, who would probably be preferred to be called just the republic of Iran, with all the civil unrest that is going on back home at the moment.
In the thanksgiving clash between EnGerLand and the good ol' US of A, EnGerLand were appalling, they probably deserved to lose, but they did not, and they will move into the knockout stages, where they will have to improve somewhat to advance further. The tabloids in the UK are slating the management and the team, but that is what sells newspapers and I do not think, the squad will pay much attention to that.
One could almost feel sorry for the Welsh, I like the Welsh, they are a proud but tragic people with a long history of disappointments in many fields. The countryside is beautiful, but there is not much to distract you up in the mountains or down in the valleys apart from the company of a sheep or getting together to sing, Male voice Welsh choirs are renowned throughout the world.
If you are ever visiting that part of the world during the first week in August and are a bit of a culture vulture, make sure you head on down to the national Eisteddfod to experience the essence of Welsh heritage.
Back to the football, and Wales do have one dubious honour, they are the only team to have had a player sent off so far, that well known intellect Wayne Hennessey. Mr. Hennessey is better known for claiming as a defence in court, that he did not know who Adolf Hitler was. This was after he was pictured giving the Nazi salute after a game, maybe he knew him by his birth name of Schiklgruber.
Anyway, to advance, the choirboys need to beat EnGerLand by four goals and despite all the shocks we have seen so far, that is just not going to happen.
To be honest, I am going to need a split screen tonight as I am duty bound to watch EnGerLand but have far more interest in the game between, the red, white and blue, and the red, white and green. It is a simple equation, the forces of good have to win to advance and send the forces of evil packing.
In the game between the dragons and the ayatollahs, the standard was dire until that sending off, shown above, which occurred in the eighty eighth minute. In the ten added minutes and with a player advantage, the revolutionary guard were able to use the human wave tactics they employed in the war against Iraq to overwhelm, the men from the coal face and destroy the Welsh dreams.
Uncle Sam's men have not lost yet, but they look rather toothless in front of goal, as I wrote above, they probably should have beaten EnGerLand but their final ball and finishing was woeful. I think they have to start Brenden Aaronson, their young starlet from Leeds United, He has been performing very well in the English Premier League and he would provide the spark that the Yanks have been missing. He likes to get on the ball and drive forward and his impish energy would really irritate the Iranians.
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| Aaronson in action for Leeds |
This preview was written before the first round of games in this group were played. I have not changed anything, despite what actually happened in those games.
The blog will be back on Tuesday as we approach the deciding games in the group stages. Enjoy the weekend and see you then.
This is yet another group with two teams who should stroll through and two who, on paper at least, are just making up the numbers. This is something which will become even more of a problem in four years' time when the tournament is expanded to forty-eight teams. There will be even more teams who should not be in purely on the basis of not being at a high enough level of football to compete with the big boys.
Those of you old enough to remember the republic of Yugoslavia, which was dissolved in 1992, will know that Croatia was one of the components of that state. Yugoslavia was good at sport, both football and basketball and Serbia and Croatia, as they are now known, provided the bulk of the players for those teams. Since they split into two nations, it has become very apparent that Croatia was blessed with the better footballers than the Serbians, who as I will point out in their group preview are not the type of people you would want to me in a dark alley.
Once Croatia had been established and invited to join FIFA, they soon carried on with their proud tradition of success in international football by finishing third in the 1998 world cup in France and of course more recently losing to the Les Bleus in the final four years ago after coming from behind to beat EnGerLand in the semifinal.
The Brussel sprouts of Belgium have been the team that has most flattered to deceive in recent years. They had a golden generation of talent, and yet, have nothing to show for it, which brings into question their mentality on the big occasion. Who knows, perhaps this time round with less expected from them, they may finally fulfil all that promise.
In the last world cup, they gave a glimpse of their ability when they knocked out Brasil, before losing to the Froggies in the semifinal.
The most interesting team in this group are the Maple Leafs from Canada, this is only their second appearance in a final's tournament, and we do not really know what to expect from them, so perhaps it will be best to expect the unexpected. They qualified in first place from a group which included beating Mexico for the first time in over twenty years.
However, there has been some disquiet since qualification with a number of friendly games canceled due to various reasons. They have a few young players who have found their way into top flight European football and this has definitely helped Canadian football to progress. I do not think that they will bother the Brussels or Croatians, but as with Japan, it would be nice if they did manage to pull off a surprise result.
We close out this preview with the Atlas Lions of Morocco. After what we have seen from both Saudi Arabia and Tunisia so far, I should probably hedge my bets, but that is not how this works. The Arab teams have immense pride and will give their all, but in reality, that will probably not be enough to see them advance. The aim will be to avoid humiliation and they are more than capable of achieving that.
After another day of high drama, with the Cherry Blossom coming from behind to beat Ze Shermans (not such a surprise to you my loyal followers) and the Maple Leafs giving the Brussel Sprouts a good run for their money (I know haven't published the preview for that group yet, it will appear tomorrow) we now look forward to another day of high drama.
Two groups to cover in this preview. The Samba Boys from the Copa Cabana, the yodeling, cow bell ringers from the Swiss Alps, Serbia, a bunch of thugs if ever there was one and the indomitable Lions from Cameroon in group G.
This will be followed by the explorers from Portugal led by the self-proclaimed CR7(Christiano Ronaldo), the Asian Tigers of South Korea, the Black Stars of Ghana (that is their official nickname before anyone accuses me of anything) and last but not least to round off group H, the sky Blue of Uruguay. In my opinion, these are the strongest groups in the whole tournament and the hardest to call.
We will start with group H, although they are from different continents, there will be no love lost between Ghana and Uruguay due to the controversial end to their match up in the 2010 world cup.
Personally, I feel that in a situation such as that, a goal should be awarded like a penalty try in rugby. That would have seen Ghana advance to the semifinals, but instead Uruguay won on penalties. Luis Suarez, the Hannibal Lecter of modern football is still turning out for Uruguay and their clash will be very tasty, but hopefully not for Suarez. An English newspaper ran a feature called if they were a club equating the National teams to a club side. For Uruguay they used Leeds United, and I quote, "associated with the dark arts and making life a misery for their opponents. A fine history and relish their unpopular reputation" end quote
If we think Japan are good, then South Korea at least on paper are even better. This will be their tenth consecutive appearance in the finals. However, I think Japan have overtaken South Korea as the best team in Asia, but the Koreans are more than capable of springing a surprise.
This leaves us with the Magellan boys. Portugal only qualified via the play offs and there is undoubtedly some tension between arguably the best two players in the squad, namely one CR7 freshly departed from the red team of Manchester and Bruno "diving cry baby" Fernandez who is still playing for the same red team. If the Portuguese men of war play to their potential, they should take the group, but if they start poorly, they are also a team who could impersonate an imploding star. Who will advance from this group is anyone's guess
Group G features the peoples favorite of Brasil, this version of the Samba boys is top heavy with attacking talent, which is to be expected, but for once, they also have two top class goalkeepers in Alisson and Ederson who play at Liverpool and Man City respectively. This is part of a trend which I do not think has ever occurred before, in that twelve of the squad currently play in the English Premier league. I am sure that is the most for a Brazilian squad ever.
If they click, it is like watching poetry in motion, the same cannot be said of the bully boys from Belgrade, led by the bruising figure of Aleksandar Mitrovic. I have nothing against Serbia, but they are not a very nice bunch. They are street fighters, Serbian history is awash with war and conflict, and they remember every one of them, as the football chant goes "no one likes us we don't care". No team is going to enjoy facing them.
Next up are the yodeling boys from the Swiss Alps, they are an interesting team in that they are really rather boring, now I know that seems like a contradiction, but it is not. Their style of play fits the stereotype of the boring Swiss banker to a T. It can be very effective, but rarely exciting.
Lastly, we have the indomitable Lions of Cameroon, they have already been responsible for one of the other greatest shocks in world cup history back in 1990 when they did this to Argentina.
Before we look at group E, we cannot ignore what happened yesterday. Saudi Arabia's historic victory over Don't cry for me Argentina was one of the greatest shocks in world cup history, a seismic event, to rank alongside the good Ol' US of A beating EnGerLand in 1950 and Senegal beating Les Bleus in 2002. I have had a lot of people contacting me directly asking my opinion and of course "gloating" over the fact that I got it wrong big time so to speak.
Don't cry for me Argentina had not lost any of their last thirty-six matches before yesterday, were ranked third in the world and were one of the pre tournament favourites. However, do not count them out yet, the Spaghetti munchers, for example, have often started slowly and then gone on to do well, don't cry for me Argentina lost their first game in 1990 and then lost in the final. Their next game against Mexico is now humungous in its significance.
This is the reason that we love the world cup so much. Nations, who would never normally do so, get to face each other in a competitive match and then the American expression "on any given Sunday" comes into effect.
This is also the impact the world cup can have on the world news coverage, one cannot ignore what happened yesterday whether you like football or not, you will have heard about it.
Now for the preview and we are only going to release one today. This group had a potential to become the beloved so called group of death, but in the end, barring any major surprises it should be pretty straight forward for the European nations in this group. We will start with the Nationalmannschaft or as we prefer to call them Ze Shermans. Their record is second to none.
They have reached the final a staggering eight times but only have a fifty per cent success rate and have finished third on another three occasions. That is an amazing level of consistency. Ze Shermans have a big match mentality and purr like a fine tuned BMW.
In 2014, Ze Shermans showed this ruthless efficiency in the semifinal against Brazil, for those who do not know, I will not say what happened, you can see for yourself below.
For the first time in decades, cracks have begun to appear in Ze Sherman facade, it is just that everyone is so used to the mantra coined by the BBC football pundit, the ex England striker Gary Lineker. "Football is a simple game. 22 men chase a ball around for 90 minutes and in the end Ze Shermans win." (In this world cup it appears it is now over 100 minutes)
Espania, are another team like Les Bleus, in that you just do not know what you are going to see from them, they are massively skillful on the ball, but their temperament has often been lacking and sometimes you feel you are watching the Pamplona bull run where everyone is haring about with seemingly no control.
In 2010, Espania finally won the world cup, for the one and only time so far, when their then manager Vincente del Bosque succeeded in combining all the different factions into one united force. One of the problems in Spanish football is that the two main clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona really do not like each other. Some of this dislike dates back to the Spanish Civil war so beloved of Hemmingway.
Real Madrid was and is associated with the Republicans of the late dictator of Spain, Generalissimo Franco, whilst Barcelona was associated with the losing Nationalists and also the Catalonian independence movement. This is not such as issue today, but there is still no love lost between the players from both clubs who suddenly find themselves having to join forces for the national side.
This is the only group which includes two previous winners and I predict they will cancel each other out.
Next up is Japan, the land of the rising sun, and they are the one team in this group which could cause a surprise or two. Their nickname is the Blue Samurai, Blue because that is the colour of their shirts and the Samurai represent the ancient knights of Japanese society, who had the right of killing someone of a lower social class on a whim.
The Japanese and Ze Shermans have one thing in common and I am not talking about being on the losing side in World War II. Rather, it is when they decide to do something they do it properly.
Japanese football turned professional in the 1990's and since then has been on the up and up. They have played in the last six tournaments in a row and have a fifty percent success rate of advancing to the next stage, one tournament yes, and one no. If they stay true to form this a "no" year.
Nineteen of their twenty six man squad, play outside of the land of the rising sun and this exposure to outside influences and different types of football along with the Japanese tenacity (think Kamikaze) is what makes them such a difficult team to beat. As I wrote, this is one group where the European hegemony could be overturned and to be honest, I would enjoy seeing it.
That leaves us with Costa Rica, we should not dismiss them lightly as it is only two tournaments ago that they won a group consisting of Italia, Uruguay and EnGerLand, beating the first two and drawing with the latter. They made it through to the quarterfinals and only lost on penalties to the Orangemen.
Costa Rica is supposed to be a beautiful country to visit, it is very stable as Central American countries go, no history of coup d'états, it is best known for its pineapple's, bananas and coffee production.
Below is highlights of their famous victory of Uruguay, one point to note, which we shall come back to, when we preview the Uruguay group, is the Uruguayan's rather agricultural approach to tacking.
Unfortunately for the viewers, the best player in the Costa Rican squad these days is their goalkeeper, Kaylor Navas who I feel is going to be a very busy man over the next few games.
To conclude, it should be Ze Shermans and Viva Espania, but we can hope the Japanese manage to pull off a surprise as they did at Pearl Harbour back in 1941 and catch one of the big powers with their pants down.
Australia is a sports mad country, and they are not bad at some of them. In a similar fashion to the good Ol' US of A, their geographical isolation led them to develop their own brand of "footie" as they call it, namely "Aussie Rules". I have often wondered if this phrase had a double meaning in the eyes of the Australians because they tend to be rather full of themselves.
Aussie Rules is a great sport to watch, it is a mix of Rugby and Gaelic football and as with American football is played with a ball similar in shape to a rugby ball. Anyway, the point is that real football is rather low down the food chain in Australian sports. Sheep shearing is probably more popular. One of the things peculiar to Antipodean sports is the popularity of the Mullet hair style amongst the men. The fact that as far as I can tell, this has not reached the Australian football squad is just another proof that the sport is not taken seriously.
Qualifying for the world cup was an achievement in itself for the Socceroos as they are known and their only chance for points will come in the clash with Tunisia.
Australia was involved in one of the strangest incidents in world cup history, during their 2006 clash against Croatia which ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw. The game will always be remembered for the English referee, Grham Poll forgetting to send off a Croatian player after giving him a second yellow card which should be followed by an automatic red, which means the player is ejected from the game (one yellow is a booking and a warning, a second is an ejection, a straight red is also an ejection) The player Josep Simunic eventually received a third yellow !! which led to the red card being shown and him leaving the game. You can see it here.
A quick response to the question of why there is no GB team as in the Olympics, why do England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland play separately? The answer is they were the first four nations to set up football associations and so when FIFA was established, they were each given a seat on the board and it has stayed thus ever since at least from the playing point of view.
The pattern we have seen in the first two groups is continued here in group C, consisting of one team which probably will not bother the scorers to borrow a parlance from cricket. Two teams, who will be in a head to head fight for second place and the one who should be head and shoulders and therefore clear favorites above the rest.
We will start with the minnows of Saudi Arabia, more quaintly known as the "Green Falcons" and they will look to swoop on any unsuspecting prey. This will be their sixth appearance in a World cup and in their first back in 1994, they shocked everyone including pundits such as myself by getting through to the next round thanks to this wonder goal.
They have never been able to repeat that success and I do not see them doing it here.
Mexico (nickname the Tricolour) is an interesting team, this will be their 17th appearance in a world cup final tournament, which is impressive in itself, but that is mainly due to them not having much competition in qualifying for the world cup over the years. What is definitely more impressive, is the fact that they have made it through the first round in their last seven attempts, that is a very high level of consistency, which only Brazil can match. However, I think the sequence will be ended this time round.
This Mexican team is not as good a vintage as previous incantations were, they are rather lightweight in attack and their star striker, Raul Jimenez, has never fully recovered from a number of injuries he has suffered over the past few years.
This is in direct contrast with the double headed eagles of the Polish national team led by Robert Lewandowski. Between 1974 and 1986, Poland, have twice finished in third place which is quite an achievement. They have not managed to repeat that feat since then, but in Lewandowski have one of the best attacking players in the modern game. He is a goal machine.
I saw a stat somewhere, that one hundred and thirty-seven of the players who will feature in this world cup were not born in the country they will be representing. That is a sixth of the players in total. Poland has one of those, their fullback, Matty Cash was born in the midlands of England but qualifies through his mother's Polish ancestry to play for Poland.
As I mentioned, I fancy Poland to outperform Mexico and therefore join the last team in this group, "Don't Cry For Me" Argentina, in progressing to the next round.
Now, even if your knowledge of football is very limited, chances are you have heard, in passing, of the name Lionel Messi, even if you do not know who he is. Over the ten years at least, he has been one of the best players in the world, and in the football milieu the argument rages as to whether he is the GOAT (an acronym standing for the greatest of all time).
One of the reasons his detractors claim that he is not, is his distinct lack of success with the National team, as compared to, say that other Argentian number ten, the great, Diego Armando "cheating hand of God "Maradona. who led Argentina to the title in 1986, something which would not have happened today with the use of video technology to stop cheating such as this.
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| Hand of God 1986 |
Anyway, whatever you think of Messi, Argentina are one of the favorites to lift the trophy and at the age of thirty-five this is realistically his last chance of leading Argentina to glory.
Before we start the preview of group B, I must correct a factual mistake pointed out to me by an eagle eyed reader in the group A preview. Since 2006, the host nation plays in the opening game, however my point still stands as the Qataris were due to play on Monday in the first of four games, but somehow managed to get it switched to be on Sunday and the only game. It did not help them as we saw despite the rumours of bribes being offered to the Ecuadorans to throw the game. Integrity won through.
The intriguing composition of Group B, puts me in mind of a spicy sausage, sizzling with anticipation and bursting with flavour.. Hey, just let your imagination roam for a while and you will soon see what I mean.
Let us begin with the Islamic republic of Iran, I do not think that many readers would disagree that they are one of the pariah nations of the world, since the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the overthrow of the Shah. This is a great shame for the people of Iran as the history and incredibly rich culture of the Persian nation is a long and noble one.
One of the worst insults you can throw at an Iranian is to call them an Arab. While the Arab tribes were enjoying their camels in the deserts of Arabia, the might of the Persian empire stretched from India to Ethiopia, it was pitting its wits against Sparta at the famous battle of Thermopylae probably better known to younger readers as the setting for the film 300,
It also defied the might of the best legions Rome had at its disposal beating them at the battle of Carrhae and purportedly pouring molten gold down the throat of the defeated Roman general Crassus who was known for his love of the metal.
Why is this relevant? Well, because it shows that they are a proud and patriotic people, and the success of their football team is one of the few ways the ordinary person in the street can enjoy being Iranian in these very difficult times for that troubled nation.
They are one of the best teams in Asia, this will be their seventh appearance in a world cup, but they have never advanced beyond the first round. They have only won twice, but one of those was against the bogeyman of the Ayatollahs at least, the great Satan, better known to us as the Good ol' US of A who as luck would have it are once again in the same group. See the highlights below.
I cannot see Iran moving onto the next stage, but as I wrote above, I hope they can bring their fans watching at home something to help alleviate the miserable reality of their current existence, even if only fleetingly.
That was a good segue to our next team in the group The good ol' US of A. The first problem is that old chestnut, they still call it soccer, due to them not having the mental capacity to be able to deal with the concept of two sports called football. This makes the rest of the world not take the Americans seriously, actually there are many reasons for that, but they are beyond the scope of this blog.
Anyway, there is no doubt that they have improved as the years go by, they have a massive potential talent pool if they invested properly in the game. The USNWT has consistently been one of the best in the world for the past two decades at least, while the USMNT has not grown as much as they should have in the same period. W stands for women and M for Men in case you were not sure.
On a side note, it is interesting that in the land that gave us political correctness and, in a world, where gender identity is so fluid so that anyone can identify as anything, it is the Americans who specify in their official name the gender of the team leaving no room for doubt. Just saying.
The good ol' US of A have twice played EnGerLand in previous world cups and are undefeated against them, and with a number of their squad now plying their trade in the English Premier League, there could be some interesting encounters on match day.
The EnGerLand fans will be hoping not to see a repeat of this when the two teams face off on thanksgiving weekend.
The Yanks main problem on the field is that they find it difficult to score, which is a bit of an issue.
Although we have already mentioned EnGerLand, I will now move on to Cymru (which should be pronounced as Kumrie) There is a plan after the world cup to ask to have their name officially changed from Wales to Cymru to recognize their Celtic origins. Wales have only once previously played in a world cup, way back in 1958, so they have no form to speak of. A quarter of their squad play in the EPL, but the majority are from the second or third tier of English football and they are a bit in the mould of the woodchoppers and water carriers of biblical times.
Wales bring passion, both on and off the field, they will fight to the last minute giving their all. One can almost see the dragon hearts beating proudly as they take the field. If you get a chance to watch the Welsh national anthem (Old land of my fathers) being sung by their fans, make sure you do, it is a stirring sight.
It is probably a coin flip between Cymru and the good Ol' US of A as to which team will finish in second place, which makes their clash on Monday evening a vital game.
We finish this group with a look at EnGerLand, and to be honest, I do not think they have much of a chance this time round. They reached the semifinals four years ago and lost in the Euros final last year, but their defence is slow and whilst they should progress through to the knockout stages, I just cannot see them going too far.
However, despite that, once again they could have a relatively easy path to the latter stages, as they did four years ago. We shall have to wait and see if it "will be coming home" as the song goes. It will probably end in a glorious failure as it usually does. It is fifty-six (56) years since EnGerLand last made the final, let alone win it.
The EnGerLand manager, Gareth Southgate OBE is an ex-player who was mentally scarred in 1996 when he missed a penalty in the Euros against the Shermans. If you were to try and picture the epitome of an English Civil servant going to work in his grey suit doing his boring job without ever making any waves, then that is Mr. Southgate.
What they do have going for them is big game experience and the very English ability of making do. There are no prima donnas in the squad, there are no WAGS (wives and girlfriends) of note to distract the players as in previous years.
So EnGerLand to top the group and I will plump for the good ol' US of A to go through as well.
Next up are groups C & D, so C U tomorrow.
As with many things in life, the first time is always the hardest and so with this first group preview. Wherever you digest your content for this world cup, people are going to be banging on about how surreal this tournament is because of its timing and location. They will also be pontificating at great length about all the underlying issues which are being "sports washed" by the extravagance on display.
There, I have done it and I will try not to do it again. It is not that I do not care, but all those who claim they are going to boycott the tournament are really just windbags. If one likes football, then one is going to follow even if surreptitiously, so let's not pretend.
We are here to concentrate on the football which we are hopefully about to enjoy and if necessary, can return to the other issues after the tournament. (I know by then nobody will care)
We will start with the hosts, and we will not beat about the bush, the only way Qatar would ever qualify for a world cup is by being the host nation. Camel racing is the most popular sport in Qatar historically. An interesting point to note is that there is no jockey sitting on the back of the camel, The camel has a robot jockey which includes a speaker for the owner to shout their instructions to the camel. (I kid you not). The spectators drive along the side of the track in their air-conditioned SUV's honking their horns incessantly. Lots of money changes hands on the outcome of the races. Only Arabs are allowed to participate, no foreign owners.
You may have guessed that I do not have much to say about Qatari football, however I do know the following. They are a very organized team, but their main rivals are Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Any small country in a footballing sense, where the majority of the squad is based domestically is generally at a disadvantage. I think that they will be hard to score against but feel that they will find it very difficult to score themselves and the other teams in their group are all very experienced and on a higher level than Qatar are.
The opening game usually features the reigning champions from the last world cup, but due to financial contributions, I mean considerations, that is not the case this time and Qatar will face off against Ecuador, this coming Sunday at 16:00 GMT. Now, even those of the readers whose knowledge of football is limited will perhaps be aware that this is not the game the world has been waiting four years for.
Stories abound of how the Qataris have tried to bribe the Ecuadorans, with millions of dollars to throw the game. I feel that it is mostly clickbait, but you never know.
Ecuador is on the Northwestern coast of South America, to help you locate it. One departs from there to get to the Galapagos Islands. the place which helped Darwin create his theory of Natural selection of the species.
The following two paragraphs were written before the news broke on Friday that Sadio Mane, the Senegalese striker is out of the tournament due to injury. I have left them in and will put an addendum afterwards.
In footballing terms, Ecuador are one of those nations in S America who are interchangeable at world cups. There is Brazil and Argentina and recently Uruguay and then the rest. Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Colombia, all have featured in recent world cups but have never achieved very much. They are technically gifted as with most South American teams and it is probably a tossup between them and the next team, we will mention, that being Senegal, as to whom will join the Netherlands in advancing to the last sixteen.
Senegal is known as the Lions of Teranga as opposed to the indomitable lions of Cameroon, they are the current champions of Africa, their squad is sprinkled with players from the top leagues in Europe and includes Sadio Mane who after an illustrious career at Liverpool winning everything on offer moved to Bayern Munchen for a fresh challenge. There was a recent scare that he would miss the world cup due to injury, but it looks like he is fit, and his availability tends to lead me to think that they will prevail and move onto the next stage. Senegal advanced once before in 2002 after famously beating France, who were the holders, in one of the most exciting opening games on record. See the highlights below
They reached the final on three occasions and lost them all, in 1974 to West Germany, in 1978 to the Argentina of the military Junta and in 2010 to Spain.
Here is how they lost in 1974,
Salam Alaykum, Keef Halak? Arabic culture is very big into welcoming guests and so is this blog as we approach the opening of the 2022 World Cup to be played in the independent emirate of Qatar. Only a year and a half has passed since Euro 2020 (delayed due to Corona) when we last embarked on a joint journey into the depths of the football world.
As usual, the world is beset by challenges and the upcoming month will be an opportunity for people to forget, even if only for a fleeting moment, the energy crisis, the rising cost of living issues and the war in Ukraine.
After this opening introduction, which is always somewhat serious in its tone, we shall revert to the irreverence and not politically correct statements which will hopefully also bring a smile to those who still dare (in private) to admit to enjoying such things in this very changed world. If that is not for you, then I bid you farewell now and hope you enjoy the tournament and the boring drivel you can read elsewhere. Not to say that this blog will not be drivel but hopefully it will not be boring.
One thing that has not changed is the structure of the tournament.
The format is the same as last time, but it is good to recap it here for new readers or for those who may have forgotten because they do not really care. It is actually the last time we shall see this format as the next World Cup which will be held in 2026 (if the world has not been ruined by a nuclear conflagration in Ukraine) will be spread across Canada, the US of A and Mexico and will consist of 48 nations instead of 32, which is just another way for FIFA to make more money and who cares that the quality of the tournament will be diluted.
