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| Deschamps has won the World Cup as coach & player |
The victory was
France’s second since they won the tournament in 1998 as host. For many African
football fans, they took solace in supporting the Western European nation
because of disappointment of African teams during the tournament and
notwithstanding, because majority of French players either were born in Africa
or have African descent.
The tournament lived up
to expectation as it recorded 169 goals, a total of 2.64 per match, but not
without some major controversies. Every FIFA World Cup edition since its
inception in Uruguay in 1930 has been filled with beautiful memories as well as
woeful unforgettable moments, and the just ended tournament in Russia is not an
exception. Below are some of them.
Good
One of the good
memories of the just ended tournament has been some great goals from equally
great players of good quality. Perhaps, Toni Kroos’ last minute goal in
Germany’s second group game against Sweden could be one of the best goals in
the tournament. Notwithstanding, some notable great players like Portugal’s
Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazil’s Philipe Coutinho and Argentina’s Angel Di Maria
scored some great goals which sent their respective fans into frenzy and
ecstasy.
Aside this, some lesser
known players also came to the party. Russia midfielder Dennis Cheryshev scored
some jaw dropping goals, two goals in their opening game against Saudi Arabia
and the opener against Croatia. Such moments made the world Cup a very
beautiful game.
Perhaps, one of the
boldest actions that FIFA must commend Croatia for is the expulsion of striker
Nikola Kalinic after their first group game against Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Reports say the striker refused to come on as a substitute after feigning
injury. It added that the player noted he could not play in a game full of
black players. Croatia followed and trumpeted FIFA’s rule – “My Game is Fair Play”, and the whole
football fraternity must endorse this action.
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| Statistics of VRA proves the technology was helpful |
In case
fans have forgetting, England’s Frank Lampard scored a decisive equalizer in
their quarter-final encounter against Germany. However, replay showed the ball
crossed the line, Manuel Neur quickly caught the ball and play was resumed. The
goal was disallowed. Some football pundits argued that it was because such a
goal was disallowed against a European team which necessitated for swift
introduction of GLT.
Finally, performance of
host nation –Russia, made the tournament a memorable one. In the last two tournaments
in South Africa and Brazil in 2010 and 2014 respectively, performance of host
nations were horrible. South Africa failed to qualify from the group whereas
Brazil received their first ever heaviest defeat in World Cup history after a
7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Germans in the semi-final. Russia did not
disappoint, they did well.
Bad
For many football fans
and pundits, especially German and Japanese supporters, Russia 2018 will remain
a nightmare and could linger on in their memories for some years to come.
Since 2006 World Cup in
Germany, the winning team had failed to progress from the group in the
subsequent tournament. For example, Italy won in 2006, failed to qualify from
the group in 2010. Spain won in 2010, failed to qualify from the group in 2014.
This year was no exception as defending Champions, Germany were humiliated in
similar fashion.
After scoring a late
winner against Sweden in their second group game, everyone would put their last
bet on Die Mannschaft to make it to the second round. Many believed the German
machines will wallop South Korea in their final group game. However it turned
out to be the other side of the coin as the Asians scored twice in injury time to
send Germany parking. Were you not surprised?
As one Asian team did
wonders against Germany, another Asian side did similar wonders against a European
power house, but this time it’s for the wrong reasons. Japan scored twice in
succession after recess against Belgium and were cruising to their first ever
quarter-final.
It was a moment that shocked the football fraternity as Manager
Roberto Martinez could not sit idle and watch his side succumb to a disgraceful
defeat. His tactics quickly worked as substitute Marouane Fellaini equalized
after Jan Vertonghen had headed home for a consolation. As the game was
cruising to extra time, Belgium’s Nacer Chadli scored a “wicked” late injury
time winner from a counter attack to put Japanese fans into a teary and wailing
mood. Sorry, it’s just football.
Some favourites of the
tournament failed to shine. The performance of Spain, Argentina, Portugal,
Germany and others were just below the line. For Spain, it was yet another
disappointing tournament whiles Germany suffered a “disease” called “World Cup
Winning Curse”.
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| Germany failed to qualify for last 16 |
Despite the emergence
of technology in football, there were some aspects of horrible officiating.
Replay showed that Belgium defender Vincent Kompany went in for a double tackle
on Gabriel Jesus in the quarter-final game against Brazil.
The referee was in
contact with VAR, but failed to watch the video incident to enable him take the
right decision. Again, Senegal’s Sadio Mane appeared to have been fouled in the
box by a Columbia defender in their last group game. Initially, the referee
awarded a penalty, but upon consultation with VAR, he changed his mind. These
and other events if not addressed properly, could mar the beauty of the game.
Ugly
For many, it looked as
if Liverpool’s goalkeeper Loris Karius appeared in the French camp to give his
“colleague” goalkeeper Hugo Lloris some tutorials just before the commencement
of the World Cup final. In case you have forgetting, in the 2018 UEFA Champions
League Final, Loris Karius made two “crazy” blunders which landed Real Madrid
the trophy.
It was the same fashion Hugo Lloris did on Sunday as Mario
Mandzukic scored a consolation after scoring an own goal. The goalkeeper put an
unnecessary pressure on his team mates following his blunder as the Croats kept
pushing for the third goal.
African teams made
another sterling record at the World Cup, but for the wrong reasons. For the
first since 1986, there was no African team in the second round of the
tournament. This is absolutely disgusting and disastrous for African football.
North African Teams such as Egypt and Morocco performed woefully as both placed
last in their respective groups. Egypt for instance, failed to get a point in
their three encounters.
Swiss duo Xherdan
Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka’s goal celebrations against Serbia did not go down
well with the Serbs. Both players have Kosovo and Albanian descents as they “celebrated
their goals in their 2-1 Group E win by putting their hands together to form a
double-headed eagle similar to the Albanian flag. This national symbol risked
inflaming tensions in the Belkans among Serbians – who do not recognize
Kosovo’s independence and ethnic Albanians, reports Evening Standard.
The FIFA World Cup has
always lived up to expectation. Fans and supporters comported themselves well throughout
the tournament. This also contributed to the beauty of the game.
