Final Preview, Franco or Peron? choose your poison

Finally, the finish line is in sight, as in the fifty kilometer walk, the last two surviving competitors have entered the stadium for the final lap. Tonight we will see Espana, the flamencos, the clicking castanets face, the Evil Empire, oops I meant to write Los Gauchos, Messi et al, the Peronistas of Argentina.

Before we look at that game, a brief word about the farce of a game that took place last night between the old enemies, Les Bleus and EnGerLand. This game was to see who finished third, a concept which only exists in world cup tournaments, nobody really wanted to play, nobody tried to tackle each other. None of the players wanted to get hurt and Mbappe scored two goals which might win him the golden boot.

I have seen it compared to the FIFA video football game or an exhibition by the Harlem Globe Trotters, for those who remember them, and the game ended with a tennis score of 6-4 to EnGerLand.

Argentina was a colony of Espana for nearly 300 years, Argentina declared independence in 1816, but it took Espana, nearly fifty years to recognize the fledgling state. They do not really have any beef between them, which makes it rather boring. 

Surprisingly, they have only faced each other once before in a world cup and that was way back in 1966 with the Argies triumphing by two goals to one.

There has been a certain inevitability about the Argies reaching the final, they have shown tremendous resilience, having had to come from behind on more than one occasion. There is no doubt and I am not saying that it is fixed, but the referring and the VAR decisions have favoured the Argies throughout the tournament, readers who have been with me all the away, will remember my disbelief that Messi did not get sent off in his first game.

The Performance of the Castanets has mirrored the way they won the tournament in 2010, starting slowly with that scoreless draw with the Blue Sharks from Cape Verde and slowly picking up the rhythm and speed culminating so far with an absolute dismantling of Les Bleus in the semifinal.

If the Flamencos repeat the performance from the semifinal, I cannot see the Argies being able to cope with them even with external help.

In my Opinion and taking any emotions out of the equation, Espana have been the best team throughout the tournament, they have never looked like losing. They have only conceded one goal, they have only moved out of second gear twice, firstly against the strudels and then against the froggies. 

The Argies on the other hand have conceded seven goals and were close to going out against the Pharaohs and EnGerLand, they have not played particularly well and on that basis alone, justice would be done if Espana were to triumph. It is also incredibly difficult to win back-to-back titles. The last team to achieve this was the Samba Kings in 1958 and 1962. So, for me, Espana will come out on top and Messi will not win the golden boot.

One of the things which is going to annoy traditional football fans is that there will be a Superbowl style halftime show, which is supposed to be eleven minutes long meaning that the Half time break will be extended to accommodate this unnecessary show. This extended break is not good for the players welfare, which of course is something that the evil empire does not care about. It is just another sop to the American market.

Interestingly enough, the Evil Empire has admitted that the hydration breaks have not been very popular, and they are going to review the concept which is a step in the right direction.

As with the semifinals, this game will be decided in midfield, Espana controlled that area for the whole game against the Frogs, and once EnGerLand had taken the lead against the Argies, they completely conceded the center of the park to the Argies, thus allowing the Argie fightback to begin.

Two of the players I picked out to watch in the semis will again be the key to this game. The battle between Rodri of Espana and Enzo of the Argies will be vital.

To sum up, overall, it was a good world cup, with highs and lows as would be expected. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me, and I look forward to being back in two years' time for the European championships to be held in the United Kingdom in 2028.

I thank all those who commented on the blog and encourage more of you to do so in the future.

Will it be Don't Cry for me Argentina, or Goodbye-ee Don't Cry-ee, there's a silver lining in the sky-ee.

Before we set sail for the South Atlantic, there is only one thing we can say about last night's game, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! This was another in a long line of Gallic capitulations, Alesia, Crecy, Agincourt, Dien Bein Phu, Espana played in white last night, but it should have been the Froggies, as the white flag appeared very early.

Instead of Torquemada, we had Rodri (at least I predicted that) turning the thumbscrews on the poor little tadpoles. I do not think I have ever seen such a one sided game in a major semifinal, which does not bode well for whoever will be facing them on Sunday in the final.

The question is, of course, which team will advance to Sunday's final. EnGerLand or the Argies?

On the face of things, it seems very strange that there is such a deep rooted rivalry between the Argies and EnGerLand. One can understand the rivalries between EnGerLand and Ze Shermans or Los Gauchos and the Samba Kings, but why two countries on different sides of the globe.

Of course, it is not just football which has created this animosity between the two. The dispute over the Falkland Islands or Islas Malvinas as the Argies call them goes back nearly two hundred years, but to be honest, no one in EnGerLand had heard of them until the war of 1982 and today have probably forgotten where they are.

However, at the time, the war was very much an issue due to internal politics in both countries. The Ruling Junta led by General Galtieri, was in deep trouble and started the invasion to try to distract from the domestic crisis, thinking that GB would not respond. The Iron Lady herself was not that popular herself in the UK and seized the opportunity to also distract from domestic woes by sending a Naval Taskforce to reclaim the islands.

The tabloid press whipped up the jingoistic spirit, with such headlines as "stick it up your Junta", and the infamous "Gotcha", after the Argentinian ship General Belgrano was torpedoed and sunk leading to the death of more than 300 personnel.

Islas Malvinas and their status is still a hot topic in Argentina to this day.

The football rivalry dates back to 1962 and the world cup in Chile but really began to heat up in the 1966 world cup quarterfinal between the two nations.

In that game the Argentinian captain, Antonio Rattin, was sent off for supposed "violence of the tongue" which was interesting as Ze Sherman referee spoke no Spanish. Rattin took ten minutes to leave the pitch, he claimed he did not understand the referee. Imagine Manuel from Fawlty Towers not understanding what Basil was saying and you get the picture.

I am a bit surprised that Rattin who incidentally died this past Saturday, did not understand any German, as there were lots of Sherman expats in Argentina at the time and Rattin played for Boca Juniors which is only a fifteen minute walk from a certain house on Garibaldi Street.

The English manager of the time called the Argentinians animals and forbade the customary swapping of shirts after the game.

 

The hand gestures are the same.

Because of this incident, FIFA introduced the yellow and red card system that is in use today in time for the 1970 world cup to try and avoid the need for the referee to explain himself verbally to a player.

The next time the two met in a world cup was in 1986 also in Mexico, which was only four years after the conclusion of the Falklands war and of course that game will be remembered for two moments involving Maradona, the hand of God goal and his brilliant individual goal.

Fast forward twelve years to the 1998 world cup, the game is poised at 2-2, and David Beckhan receives a red card for retaliation against Diego Simeone who had just fouled Beckham. Simeone received a yellow card for his part. The two of them will probably be in attendance today, so look out for both of them.

Four years later, Beckham redeemed himself by scoring a penalty as EnGerLand overcame the Argies.

 

They have not faced each other since that day in a world cup which means that this will be the first time that Messi will be playing against EnGerLand as he nears the end of his stellar career.

So, what can we expect today?  Both sides have struggled, EnGerLand trailed to Congo, and the Vikings before beating them both and the game against the Sombreros will long be remembered as a classic back to the wall performance.

The Argies were taken to extra time by those giants the blue sharks from Cape Verde, they trailed the Pharaohs by two goals with fifteen minutes to go and managed to win without the need for extra time and the cowbell ringers also took them to extra time despite being at a numerical disadvantage.

I have held since the tournament began that the Argies are too reliant on the great man, he leads the way for them in most of the attacking statistics, we saw last night that individual brilliance can be nullified by a strong team ethic, which is something EnGerLand possess. EnGerLand are physically stronger and fitter than the Argies, and yet it is still Messi that they are facing.

Who apart from the standout players should you watch out for? I believe that Elliot Anderson will have a vital role tonight in midfield breaking up the Argies attacks at source. For the Argies, Enzo Fernandes the combative midfielder from Chelsea who popped up with the winning goal against the Pharaohs.

Mr Anderson watching Leo closely

Enzo

I think EnGerLand will win tonight, again it will not be easy, it will be a very tense affair, these games are not easy to watch but EnGerLand to prevail and set up a repeat of the Euro 2024 final against Espana.

I will end by paraphrasing William Blake, "And did Judes feet in ancient time, walk upon England's mountains green, and was the holy Harry Kane on England's pleasant pastures seen.

Vive La France, Viva Espana, who will come out on top?

The final four are now known and first up will be the Frogs Legs against the Castanets followed tomorrow by The Argies against EnGerLand. Before we preview the first game, we need to have a word about the quarter finals which all went as expected. However. once again in the games involving the Argies and EnGerLand, there were some strange interventions and some non interventions by VAR.

In the EnGerLand game, the ball according to some hit the Spidercam wire above the pitch, the ball has a chip in it which is supposed to be able to track any touches on the ball, as it did in the game where the boys from Kings Landing had a last minute equalizer ruled out against the cork boys due to the ball allegedly touching a follicle of a players head. Now if the chip had picked that up surely it would have noticed the ball hitting a metal wire.

We may well never know. All I know is that when I was watching the game, I remember thinking that the ball had a very strange trajectory in that it dropped like a stone. But hey, you need some luck and in the past these types of decisions have gone against EnGerLand, so tough luck to the Vikings.

In the Argies game against the cow bell ringers, we had a controversial sending off for the yodelers. So unfortunately, the debate is about VAR and not the football, let us hope that is not the case over the next two days.

To open the semifinals, we have a clash between the two best European teams of the last thirty years. Les Bleus are attempting to reach their fifth world cup final in eight attempts, and their third in a row which is remarkable. Espana has won the European championships three times and the world cup once in the same period.

Today for those who are not aware is July 14^th, which is the Froggie equivalent of July 4^th for the Yankees. Whatever happens today, there will be a festive atmosphere across the whole of Gaul at least before the game kicks off. Bastille day as it is known outside of Gaul was the event that sparked the French revolution and the twenty six years of chaos which followed.

The Parisian mob loves a good riot, as we have seen down the ages and the CRS, the French riot police love to crack heads, I saw them once at first hand back in 1983 and they do not take any prisoners. 

If they do lose tonight, Gay Paree, may not be so gay.

Hispania and Gaul whilst neighbours generally had good relations between them, which is unusual in Europe, but one of the darker periods was when Napoleon invaded Espana in 1808, installed his brother as King which began the six year peninsula war, a war Napoleon eventually lost due to the efforts of the Duke of Wellington. Perhaps we shall return to the Iron Duke at a later date.

Espana will not have much external help today, but they may employ the same guerilla tactics as they used in that war. Their aim is somehow to nullify the fearsome Froggie attacking force. The dancing Flamencos will attempt to hold the ball as much as possible hoping to sting like a scorpion with lightning attacks, as they did two years ago when they played each other in the European championship semifinal.

 

 

The last time they faced each other in a world cup was in 2006 as we can see here.

 

 

Everyone is predicting an exciting game, I would temper your expectations, Espana has not been that much fun to watch, they play to win not to entertain, this game needs Les Bleus to score early, so that the Castanets have to start clicking at a quicker pace.

Obviously, the focus will be on the attacking stars on both sides, Mbappe and Yamal, but I think this game will be decided in the middle of the park and the clash between the two midfields will be the key to who wins this game. For Espana, Rodri and for the Frogs probably Tchouameni.

 

Tchouameni, a touch of Gallic flair

Rodi, steadiness personified

 

 

 

It is a very difficult game to call, but as I am obliged to make a pick, I am backing the Froggies to edge this, but I would not be at all surprised if I was wrong and that the Flamencos advanced instead.

Tomorrow, we will preview the much more volatile clash between the old enemies EnGerLand and the Argies. Make sure you check back for that one.

 

 

Viva Espana and for King and Country

 

In the battle of the body parts, the legs overcame the heads, in the end rather comfortably. Two good goals from their main men and another very contentious VAR decision to award a penalty, which was thankfully saved to right the wrong so to speak.

I am not going to give much space to the game tonight between Espana and the Brussel Sprouts. From which ever angle you want to look at it, the result should be a Spanish victory. Of course, this leads to all the pundits having the possibility of ending up with egg on their faces if the Sprouts did manage to pull off the sensational. The Sprouts definitely have the momentum after their last two victories, but I just cannot see it happening. Espana will bore them to death with seventy percent possession of the ball, and it will be a rather routine clean sheet victory for Espana.

On Saturday night, we have the tie of the round between the Vikings of Valhalla, the bogeymen from across the North Sea and the dragons of St George from EnGerLand. 

In the epic poem Beowulf, probably written in the 10^th Century at the height of the Norse expansion, the hero slays a dragon but is mortally wounded. Could this be an allegory for what may transpire on Saturday night?

EnGerLand and Scandinavia, as it is not just Norway are linked in so many ways. Most of the town names on the eastern coast and across the North of EnGerLand are of Norse origin.

Since the year 1947, Norway has sent a Christmas tree to Trafalgar Square as a mark of its appreciation to the support given to Norway during World War 2.

Monty Python and the Beatles both immortalized Norway with the dead parrot sketch featuring the Norwegian Blue (beautiful plumage) and the song Norwegian wood. Norway as a country resonates deeply within the English psychique.

Then came the football, the ninth of September 1981, in a world cup qualifier played in Norway.  Norway had never beaten EnGerLand before and then this happened and one of the most iconic pieces of sporting commentary was born.

 

Norway as a football nation has advanced enormously since those days, they have players playing all over Europe and one of their local teams, the delightfully named Bode/Glimt was a surprise package in the European Champions League this year.

Both teams come into this clash, fresh off very impressive victories, The Vikings dismissed the Samba Kings by two goals both scored by the questionably human. wrecking ball known as Erling Braut Haaland.

EnGerLand overcame adversity with a heroic they shall not pass type of performance, surviving a red card, the altitude, 82 thousand baying Sombreros, to break the Sombreros hearts in the Azteca stadium thus avoiding a modern version of human sacrifice to the Mayan gods.

This game is going to come down to a clash of two of the four contenders for the tournament golden boot. An award given to the highest scorer in the competition, they being the aforementioned Haaland and of course “Sir” Harry Kane, the embodiment of Henry V before the battle of Agincourt.

Kane

Haaland will he be able?

The other two focal players in this game will be the men tasked with stopping the previous two from scoring. Jordan Pickford for EnGerLand, you either hate him or love him, and I put the word hate first for a reason and the Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland. Interestingly he is the oldest player to ever play for Norway aged thirty five.

Pickfprd

Nyland

Both goalies played crucial parts in their team’s victories with Nyland saving a penalty against the Samba Kings when it was still 0-0 and Pickford producing two top saves, to deny the Sombrero striker Jimenez goals, from very good headers.

It will be difficult, as I wrote in my preview for the last EnGerLand game, the level of EnGerLand expects is ramping up, which I think is not a good thing. EnGerLand have to be aware of not rising to the occasion after their last game, which is something I do not think will be a problem for the Vikings.

However, I am going with a win for EnGerLand with Haaland to score for the Vikings as they go down with swords in their hands in a flaming Viking longboat on the way to Valhalla, a true warrior’s death, as happened at the battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.

This will set up a probable semifinal between the Argies and EnGerLand, as that is what the Evil Empire wants to see.

Due to logistical reasons, I may not be able to get a preview out for the last quarterfinal but have given my prediction above. Los Gauchos to advance by crook.

 

Enjoy the games everyone.

Frogs Legs against Fez Heads, who will march on?

In the deserts of Sudan, And the gardens of Japan. From Milan to Yucatan

In the wilds of Borneo and the vineyards of Bordeaux, Every woman, every man

Das ist gut! C'est fantastique.

These lines encapsulate what a world cup means to most of the world apart from those poor souls who do not like football, and even some of them get sucked in at least for the duration.

Twenty eight days ago today, we started with forty eight teams from around the globe and now we are down to the last eight. Six are from Europe and one each from Africa and South America.

Before we look at today's match up, a quick word about the last round. We had thrills and spills, controversies, plenty of food for the conspiracy theorists amongst us.

We said farewell to some of the stars of the last decade, Neymar from the Samba Kings and Cry Baby Ronaldo, although it would not surprise me, if he still thinks he could make a contribution.

I would posit that in the end there were no real surprises, despite there being some close calls especially for the Argies against the Pharaohs. We nearly had to get out Don’t Cry for me Argentina, but there is still time for that old favourite.

The quarter finals start with a rematch between the Fez Heads and the Frogs Legs, who played each other in the Semifinal in 2022. 

Some people are calling this game France A against France B due to the preponderance of the Moroccan players who were either born in Gaul or ply their trade there. The goalkeeper was born in Montreal and that is sort of French as well.

The Fez Heads are out for revenge for that defeat, this could be a very tough game for the froggies. In their last game against Paraguay, their opponents just kicked them to pieces, and I would expect an aggressive approach from the Fez Heads as well. The idea is to knock the equilibrium out of the way the Frogs like to play. As we know frogs are amphibians and need water to thrive, so if the Fez Heads can dry up the possession that the Frogs thrive on, it could be difficult.

In the Frogs first game against the other African champions, Senegal, they should have been trailing two nil at half time, but Senegal was profligate in front of goal, and the Frogs punished them in the second half. Even against the Vikings B team, the Frogs were vulnerable at the back. Paraguay did not try to apply pressure on Les Bleus, they were playing for penalties from the first minute.

All this adds up to the fact that Les Bleus have not yet really been troubled defensively to date, but I think that will change tonight.

As we know, the real strength of Les Bleus is their attacking prowess, so one player who will really have to be on top form tonight is the aforementioned Canadian born goalie quaintly known as Bono. Threr is a U2 song called Fez Being Born, perhaps if he wins tonight, he can get the other Bono to do a duet with him. At the end other, the exciting Talbi who plays for Sunderland might not start but could come on to make an impact.

Talbi quick footed

Bono will he have the edge?

For the Frogs, the two to watch out for are Upamecano at the back and Dembele up front.

 

Hard to break like the toy

strikes like a Cobra

One last thing, and I am not going to dive into all the conspiracy theories and supposed bias towards the Argies, from the evil empire, but given all the noise there is around this topic, the decision by the evil empire to appoint five Argentinian officials to oversee the game tonight is just baffling. It shows a complete disconnect from the world around them, the optics are terrible and it was so avoidable.

I will stick with Les Bleus, but I would not be surprised if the Fez Heads caused an upset.

Tomorrow we will preview the matchup between Espana and the Brussel Sprouts.

One last thing, I am glad I do not live in Paris, because I have a feeling that whatever the outcome is tonight, there will be a lot of "action" on the streets of Paris that probably will not be much fun to be around.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion of the last sixteen

Last night, the better teams won. So, it is goodbye to Christiano Ronaldo, some of the readers of this blog think I have an agenda against him. I do not, he was a great player. He played for some teams I do not particularly like, but that is it. My issue was that he should have known when to step aside, he was a heavy weight on some corks trying to stay afloat and, in the end, he dragged them down.

Espana march on, they have now not conceded a goal in seven world cup matches. which is a record. They have not lost in thirty five games, they will face the Brussel Sprouts in the next round. The Sprouts duly thumped the good ole boys from the US of A who to be honest did not turn up and may have been distracted by the revoked red card incident, which certainly fired up the sprouts.

Tonight we start with the Argies against the Pharaohs, Messi et al against the Prince of Egypt, Salah. This is the first time that the Pharaohs have scaled these heights, to be honest they have had a rather easy run to reach this far and normally one would discount the chances of a victory over the reigning world champions.

However, the Argies struggled mightily in their previous game against the Blue Sharks, the darlings of this tournament from the islands of Cape Verde, winning in extra time by three goals to two and it will be interesting to see how they react to that game.

 

They have never faced each other in a competitive match, and I cannot see the Pharaohs advancing to the next stage despite the Argies struggles in the last game. In fact, the Argies may come as hungry as crocodiles from the River Nile ready to feast on some tasty Egyptian flesh. Two players apart from Salah and Messi to look out for.

Martinez has shone

Marmoush needs to step up

The final game in this round is between the Cartel neckties of Colombia and the Swiss cow bell ringers. Out of all the eight games in this round this is probably the hardest to predict.

As I wrote previously, the neckties have been quietly efficient, keeping a low profile as they have stealthily advanced to this stage. The Gnomes from Zurich started slowly but are maturing like a lump of Gruyere or Emmentaler, I suspect they would prefer I use the first of those two cheeses for the analogy as the second is full of holes.

A new star has emerged for the Swiss in this tournament, but the Colombians have lots of skillful players, I really do not know who to go with here. I think this might be the only game in this round that could go to extra time and even penalties.

Diaz has looked good

Manzambi shining bright

They have faced each other once before, in the 1994 world cup, which of course will always be remembered for the tragic murder of Andres Escobar, a few days after he scored an own goal in the neckties 2-1 defeat to the US of A.

 

Interesting enough the man who served time for the murder of Escobar was himself shot and killed earlier this year.

 

We will be back on Thursday to preview the first quarter final, the intriguing clash between the Frogs legs and the Fez Heads.

Espana V Crybaby and US of A v Belgium the last 16 continues.

WOW AND WOW again, I am physically and emotionally drained after watching EnGerLand, as a friend said to me, he was sweating like he had played for hundred minutes at altitude and I felt pretty similar. If you have not had a chance, go and watch the highlights. To be honest, I am so spent that today’s offering may be a bit under whelming and for that I apologize in advance if you find it so.

So as predicted, the Viking war band led by the Impressive Haaland duly beat the Samba Kings, and as hoped for, because I did not commit to it, EnGerLand, with the three lions on their shirts, went into the coliseum that is the Azteca and held off the Sombrero clad hordes.

Unlike at the battle of The Alamo, the defenders came out on top, despite playing almost a half with an underload (in joke) of ten players.  This sets up another intriguing clash between EnGerLand and the Vikings in Miami on Saturday night.

Tonight we start with the Iberian Peninsula clash between the third best ranked team in the world, the Flamenco dancers from Espana, facing the seventh ranked team the Cork boys featuring Crybaby Ronaldo from Portugal.

The neighbouring countries have played a lot against each other, in fact this will be the seventh meeting in a world cup dating back as far as 1934 as Espana beat the Cork boys twice including a 9-0 thrashing. I do not expect such a scoreline tonight, but the record stands at five wins for Espana and one draw, in the last meeting between the two in the 2018 world cup in Russia.

The previous meeting before that was in the last 16 in 2010 back in the days when CR7 was in his pomp. 

Espana won one nil but only because of one of the stupidest pieces of play by Nani the cork boys’ winger that caused an amazing CR7 goal to be disallowed. We almost got to see full crybaby mode.

Espana started this tournament slowly and is improving, I watched them beat the Apfel strudel from Osterreich. They barely made it out of third gear but looked very good with more to come.  The Cork boys are lucky to be here, after their scandalous victory over the boys from Kings Landing due to an awful call from the VAR officials, disallowing a perfectly good goal which would have taken the game to penalties.

Espana to win this one, not at a canter but to win.

The second game features the last remaining host nation that being of course the US of A matching up against the Brussel Sprouts from Belgium. This game has already generated extreme controversy due to a very problematic decision from the Evil Empire.

In the last game played by the US of A, Balogun, the star Yankee forward, was somewhat unlucky to be shown a red card for foul play and thus be ineligible for the game tonight. This was done according to due process and within the laws of the game. Yesterday the Evil Empire announced that the decision had been overturned, his red card was suspended for a year, and he would be allowed to play.

Now this is highly irregular, but what made it stink to high heaven was that within minute of the Evil Empire announcing its decision, a certain President Donald Trump tweeted Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice.

Now it just happens that the head of the Evil Empire one Gianni Infantino is a great friend of President Trump, need I say more.

Before the tournament, our dear friend Crybaby Roaldo was suspended for three games for a red card he picked up in a qualifying game which meant he would not have been able to play in the first two games the cork boys played.

But just like Dean Wormer from Faber college, Gianni found a little known codicil in the FIFA rule book allowing them to defer two of the games to a one year suspension and as if by magic, Crybaby was exonerated.

The Brussel Sprouts are justly furious, they come from the home of overreaching bureaucracy and corruption, they can smell a rat or probably spot a bulging envelope when there is one to find.

As I wrote above it was a harsh red card, but you cannot just change the rules to make President Trump happy.

This incident is going to add an edge to the game, it may actually backfire on the US of A as the sprouts are going to come out with all gun’s blazing.

Without Balogun, the US of A probably did not have much chance, his return is a massive boost, again on paper Belgium are a better team, they are ranked 9^th to the US of A ranking of 16th.  I just hope for a good game, I will not be staying up to watch this one.

The two faced each other in the 2014 world cup with the game going to extra time and the US of A goalie making save after save to no avail in the end, as you can see here.

 

 

Tomorrow we will preview the last two games in this section, with Messi et al taking on the Prince of Egypt and the Cartel neckties from the hills of Colombia facing the cow bell ringers from the Swiss Alps.