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Cream has reached the top. Of the 32 teams that started the campaign in Russia in 2018, we now have 16.
In the opinion of all, and despite what thought Sanjay Manjrekar it was the only one. one of the stages of the finals of the football World Cup that we have witnessed. The number of goals scored, the drama with VAR, the elimination of the title champions of Germany in the most dramatic way, and incidents out of the field quite bizarre – all this has contributed to the pleasure of watching The greatest show on earth.
But as we move to the knockout stages, where the entertainment factor is usually replaced by the tension, as the teams are looking at the jackpot, it's just that we take our time to greet some of the teams coming back to the home, but only after playing a major role in the realization of the tournament. (That is, if you ignore the 90 minutes of your life that you have wasted watching Denmark v France).
Very Competitive World Cup
How about some statistical nuggets:
- World Cup scored at least twice for the first time in history
- Of the 16 matches of the final round, only two were dead rubbers: Egypt against Saudi Arabia and Tunisia against Panama. And these two games have seen the history of the World Cup created. Egyptian Essam El-Hadary has become the oldest man to play in the history of the tournament. The record for each team scoring at least two goals was created thanks to Panama's victory against Tunisia, a match that also saw the 2500th goal
- All teams except Panama who had been eliminated before the start of the third decisive round ended up winning at least one point during their last meeting. On the ground and on the outside, but not leaving Russia without a fight.
Iceland, one of two tournament starters alongside Panama, held the stage 1-1. While everyone was talking about the absence of Argentina, Iceland deserved a point. Argentina finally managed to qualify for the round of 16, but Nigeria gave them a hell of a fight.
Iran and Morocco showed in Group B that they were not there to catch up. Heck, who would have thought that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would have had their penalties saved! Hannes Halldorsson, a filmmaker not so long ago, and Alireza Beiranvand, a man who slept outside the stadium gates in Tehran to win a chance to play high-level football, has saved the penalties of two of the biggest players. Game. Morocco and Iran have played their part in making the last minutes of Group B unbelievable. Spain and Portugal have advanced but not before being pushed to the limit by Iran and Morocco. When Iran and Morocco are disappointed not to beat Portugal and Spain, you know that their efforts were quite special.
For Peru, in Group C, history could have been so different if Christian Cueva had scored the penalty in the match against Denmark. After all the struggles they had to undergo to come to Russia, Peru put its heart and soul into every match and finally finished with three points after a win against Australia.
Group F experienced the most epic end with the South. Korea has managed one of the biggest surprises in the history of the World Cup by beating the first world team in its last match. Although it was clear that they would not progress, they fought tooth and nail to finish with a win in this match – a win that made South Korea the # 1 winner. 39, Mexico's favorite team. The scenes of Mexican fans celebrating with the Koreans will be one of the lasting images of this 2018 Russia.
And finally, we will leave you with this. England beat Panama 6 to 1 during this tournament. The Three Lions had a 5-0 lead at the end of the first half. It was a non-contest of the word go. For those who were not fans of England, there was no incentive to watch the second half.
But if you bit the ball and saw the game in full, you would have seen a moment that captured the essence of the World Cup. Pulling from the back 6-0, Panama scored a goal thanks to Felipe Baloy to bring the score to 6-1, the crowd becoming absolutely ballistic. Panamanian fans did not care about the fact that the score was 6-1 instead of 6-0 – for them, it was their first goal in the World Cup. The celebrations showed how an insignificant goal on the whole, meant the world to a tiny nation of the Americas.
The fact that the most boring group match was between France and Denmark, two imaginary nations, perhaps followed by England and Belgium, it tells you everything you need to know about the how smaller nations have outgrown their weight.
In the end, only the deserving teams made progress. With the exception of Japan and Russia, and to a lesser extent Sweden and Switzerland, there is no real outsider in the tournament. In all likelihood, one of the imagined teams will leave with the scintillating trophy in a few weeks. The story suggests, as fun as the group scenes are, that KOs tend to be suspicious, intriguing, which in itself does not make it less entertaining, notice it.
But as we contemplate another form of madness The days ahead, it is time to say goodbye to the Irish and Moroccans and South Koreans of this World Cup. Without them, and their fighting attitude until the end, the World Cup would not have been half of the show that it turned out to be. They could have been the "little nations" so to speak, but they fought as hard as they could.
We will miss you.
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