Good, Bad & Ugly of the 2018 World Cup

Deschamps has won the World Cup as coach & player 

France emerged Champions of the FIFA World Cup on Sunday after a spectacular 4-2 display over their European counterparts, Croatia in Moscow as Didier Deschamps became one of the few people to win the trophy as both player and coach.

 

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.

Statistics of VRA proves the technology was helpful

Technology such Goal Line Technology (GLT) and Video Assistant Referee (VAR) assisted the tournament to be a beautiful game. In France’s group game against Australia, had it not been GLT, the match would have ended in a 1-1 stalemate. Replay shows that Paul Pogba’s goal had crossed the line, and quickly bounced back to play. 

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”. 

Germany failed to qualify for last 16

Much was expected from Leonel Messi and Argentina, but the tactics of Jorge Sampaoli seemed ordinary. For many, Messi’s abysmal performance means that is the end of the road for him.

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.