Welcome back to a short review of the second round of group games and a look forward to the things to play for in the final round of group games which begins today.
Two of the
teams who I picked as being among the favorites showed what we expected to see
from them after disappointing in their first games. The Flamenco dancers weaved
patterns around the oil sheikhs who may be used to some belly dancing but could
not cope with the whirl of the flamencos.
Crybaby
Ronaldo came to the party with two goals in the Corks five nil thrashing of the trade
merchants from the silk route and I have to give him some credit, as I have been harsh on him, so far, He took his goals
nicely and the team really gelled.
The Argies
and the Frogs carried on their merry way, with both their stars scoring another
brace. The Frogs had a two hour hold up due to lightning near the ground. That’s
probably the most interesting thing about them so far.
The two
nations from the United Kingdom also returned to what we expect but to their
detriment, The girders of the Forth bridge were toothless (a common sight back home) in
their tame defeat to Morocco, despite their protestations for two penalties and
as for EnGerLand, all I will say for now is every team usually has one bad game
at a tournament and it is better if it is in the group stages. They were also
lucky not to concede a penalty, and we will return to the Video Assistant
Referee known as VAR shortly.
Elsewhere,
the Viking long boat men continue to row forwards or is it backwards and are looking good. The
little boy with his finger in the dike has so far managed to stem the flow for
the Oranjeboom. The Samurai put Tunisia to the sword and sent them home, with
one of the Carthaginian defenders giving a remarkable press conference after
the game where he lambasted the Tunisian board for being incompetent and
corrupt. Cato the younger would have been proud of his moral integrity, even
though it ended in tears.
On the
surprise watch, the Blue Sharks from the islands off the West Coast of Africa
remained unbeaten with a really good chance of advancing to the next stage. The
other Island team, the Orange Liqueur from the Caribbean, gained a historic first point
To finish
the review part, we also know five of the teams that will be bowing out after
their next game, Haiti, Panama, Jordan, Tunisia and perhaps surprisingly
Turkey.
Before
looking at some of the interesting match ups to come, I feel the use of VAR must
be discussed and in fact the standard of refereeing in general.
Some of the
officiating on display has been dubious to say the least, forty-four countries
have supplied the main referees with another six countries having people
selected as secondary officials or on VAR.
The game Is
refereed differently from continent to continent and to those readers who do
not understand how that can be, surely the rules are the rules, well yes, but
they are also open to interpretation. What maybe a foul in one place may be
seen as perfectly acceptable in another, for example when two players jump for
a header with force.
This is
causing a lot of difficulty and frustration for the players as they do not know
what is permissible. However, this is not the real talking point here. That honour
goes to the lack of intervention of VAR when the whole planet thinks that an
infringement has taken place except for the people sitting in the VAR room.
Lots of People but especially football fans love a conspiracy theory, especially when it comes to favoritism or injustice for or against particular teams. Argentina should have had two red cards so far, one in each match for foul play, EnGerLand should have had a penalty awarded against them last night in the game against Ghana,
How is that not even looked at. EnGerLand were very lucky
Lastly Morocco, probably should have had a Penalty against them when they played Scotland.
Again, VAR must intervene here.
The problem with the examples I have given is that the VAR officials did not even take a look or intervene to ask the referee to have another look on the screen he has available to do so. The Evil Empire of FIFA favouring the big teams, one for you to discuss and get angry about if you are a supporter of one of the aggrieved parties.
So, what is to look forward to starting tonight until Sunday morning? Firstly, both games in a group will start simultaneously.
Already tonight we have a game which could provide much drama, when the Samba Kings take on the Wee Jocks in a repeat of their memorable clash in the 1982 world cup.
The Jocks do not want a repeat of this result.
The Jocks need a draw to be certain of advancing, but if they lose, there is a scenario where the three points they have accrued will not be enough and they could go out on goal difference which would be a classic embodiment of the tragedy which is Scottish football. If they do lose tonight, they must hope it is only by a goal or two.
There are two games where a draw between the two teams would see them both through with four points apiece, Australia against Paraguay and Austria and Algeria. Austria have previous form for this in their infamous goalless draw against West Shermany also in the 1982 finals. Two draws here would be very bad for the Jocks if they lose to the Samba Kings.
A draw between the Pharaohs and the Ayatollahs in the Pride game could also be a negative result
for the Jocks.
In the game
between the Blue Sharks and the Oil Sheikhs, it is winner take all, the sheikhs
have to win or they are out, a draw might be enough for the Blue Sharks.
Interestingly enough, The Spam fritters from Fray Bentos may suffer a shock
exist if they lose to the castanets. This would be good for the Jocks.
Senegal needs
to hammer Babylon by four clear goals to overtake the Jocks on goal difference,
once again dependent on the Jocks not gaining a draw.
There are
other interesting games, but that is enough for now. Let us hope for some more
good football. Lots of goals and surprises galore.
I will be
back on Sunday, when we will start to get to the nitty gritty of elimination
football.
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