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A stage for new starts, a fortunes cemetery, a last resting place for dreams of a lifetime, the 2018 World Cup football was much more than a festival of goals and fame from one month. "The verdict of FIFA President Gianni Infantino was unprecedented, and there was plenty of evidence to support his point of view."
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Host Russia used extravagance to detoxify its global brand and improve its reputation by eliminating a number of negative stereotypes , and portraying itself as a nation capable of hosting huge events and hosting tens of thousands of international visitors.
The Russian team, too, came out of the tournament after pbading brilliantly. At the start of the race, after a series of nine months without a win, there were serious fears that the team could not win a game.
The Russians did not have to worry because Stanislav Cherchesov's men hammered Saudi Arabia 5-0, finished second in his group, beat Spain powerful in a penalty shoot-out in the last 16 minutes, before finally falling in Croatia in the same way in the quarters.
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Croatia reached its first World Cup Final, where it will face France on Sunday, a remarkable performance for a nation of four million people.
The Croats improved their best previous semi-final in 1998 – their first World Cup as an independent nation – with an exciting win in overtime against England.
The young English team of Gareth Southgate were looking to reach the final for the first time since their victory in 1966, but the Croatians were too hard, coming back from an early English goal to win. They had come from behind in the three knockout games, showing admirable spirit and remarkable physical form.
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Regardless of what happens in the remaining two matches, the reputation of Croatia and England has been greatly increased by their races at the tournament
. The champions of Germany had their first World Cup appearance in 80 years, after defeating Mexico after losing to Mexico and South Korea.
Argentina and Lionel Messi needed a last-minute goal to fight their way through their group, despite a 3-0 defeat against Croatia and a 1-1 draw against the club. 39, Iceland, before being beaten by France in the last round. 16.
Messi was largely invisible everywhere. This is not the case with their other talisman, Diego Maradona, whose antics of the day were captured on television. The highlight being when the once great football star gave an obscene major finger gesture with both hands to Nigeria fans after a late group stage winner for Argentina.
"From the hands of God, to the fingers of shame The title of Neymar was also touched when the Brazilian striker – the most expensive player in the world – left the tournament after the defeat of Brazil in quarterfinals. final against Belgium with the sound of laughter.
Although he undoubtedly had difficult tackles, his rounds and gravity-defying wheels left the experts and commentators half amused and half indignant and launched numerous social attacks
On the whole, however, it was a clean tournament, with superb officiating, up to and including the semifinals, there had been only four red cards – the lowest since 1978.
The dreaded VAR spectrum turned out to be an exaggerated fear, and instead of breaking the rhythm, it eliminated the most cheating. "Infantino said," It's a progress, it's grudging. than the past, "said Infantino.
"VAR does not change football, it cleans football, it is more honest and transparent and helps referees to make the right decisions. "
Honesty and transparency have not really been the buzzwords of football in recent years, so if Infantino has this right, the reputation of the sport itself the biggest beneficiary of Russia in 2018.
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