I've spent most of my football fan life following the Premier League (with occasional interruptions from Spanish, French and German league football), but my favorite soccer event by far is the World Cup. Every four years, the world comes together around one game. It's amazing. I've had the privilege of following three World Cups now, and though apparently none of them have been as good as the past ones (according to more seasoned fans), I love it just the same. There's nothing quite like a World Cup summer.
This World Cup has been by far the most fun one to watch so far. What a round of group games! I checked results every day, and practically every day there was a surprise to gasp over. It literally started on day 1 when Russia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, beat Saudi Arabia 5-0. Even Uruguay, who are a much better team, didn't do as well against Saudi Arabia, and Russia were able to follow it up by scoring 3 goals against Egypt, qualifying to the knockout rounds easily. They may not be a great soccer team, but Russia is definitely a sports country, and home support can make a big difference for teams. (Just look at South Korea in 2002).
For Group B, Spain provided most of the drama when they sacked their coach a mere two days before the World Cup started. Their coach unwisely decided to announce that he'd be managing Real Madrid (one of the biggest clubs in Spain, and one whose administration is known for their prima donna attitude), and the federation was not having it, so out he went! The real question was whether Spain would recover, and they did. It wasn't too pretty, but they managed not to lose, which is more than a lot of favored teams can say.
Argentina were just one of the favored teams that found themselves in huge trouble after less favored teams proved to be good against them. Iceland were able to tie with them, and Croatia outclassed them in every way. I saw Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic's goals live, and I just remember having my mouth drop after Modric's goal, in particular. It was just one of the many screamers of the group games, but what a goal it was. I did not see Croatia's first goal live, but it was also incredible. Ante Rebic not only took advantage of a goalie blunder, he did so in STYLE. What a volley!
Group D also had one of my "official" teams (AKA a team I support), Nigeria, and they, too, shocked me in their second game by winning against Iceland. After Argentina capitulated against Croatia on the same day, I wanted so much for them to win against Argentina. But Argentina, they of four World Cup final appearances and two wins, were able to dig deep and find the will to win. That was probably my least favorite result of the group rounds, but Argentina likely deserved their win. Group D was one of the deepest groups, with two good teams being forced to leave the tournament early (Nigeria and Iceland).
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| At least Nigeria went out as the undisputed flyest team of the tournament. LOOK AT THIS KIT! *swoons* |
Group E provided some unexpected political tension with Switzerland fielding three Kosovo-born players against Serbia, but other than that, it was relatively uninteresting, with expected results. Its relative lack of drama was made up for by Group F. OH MY DAYS.
Everyone thought Germany was going to contend for the trophy again after their showing in the Confederations Cup, a World Cup preview tournament, last year. Looking back, of course, we're not so sure now, but then they looked incredibly deep and almost invincible. Cue Mexico, who broke that impression with a single goal:
Even after that game, though, people just assumed that Germany would recover, because they always do. It is said that "football is a game where 22 people play for 90 minutes and the Germans always win". They have four World Cup trophies and haven't gone out earlier than the semifinals for the past 20 years at least. But then the game against South Korea came. Like a dead snake who can still kill you with its venom, South Korea, a team that was already eliminated, came in with a vengeance and scored two goals on Germany in stoppage time. At the same time, Sweden, traditionally known as a defensive side that grind out games, burst into the scene with three goals against Mexico. The combination of results put Germany out of the World Cup for the first time since 1938! EIGHTY YEARS!
Hindsight is 20/20, but I must say, I did suspect that the German league was getting weaker over the past four years. Bayern Munich is the only top club right now in the German league; they haven't had real competition in years, and they've had time to get complacent. Compare this to 2014, where the year before, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund (two German clubs) had played the Champions League final. (The Champions League is the annual all-Europe club competition, generally fielding the best clubs in football.) German football was a lot more competitive then, and the team members had much more ambition than they did this year, in 2018. I sense that Germany spent four years sitting on their laurels, and they paid for it. They'll certainly be back though; their system is solid. All they need is ambition, and I hope this dismal World Cup performance gave them some!
Group G generally made me happy. My other official team, England, did really quite well for themselves. After grinding it out against Tunisia in typical England fashion, I was expecting their game against Panama to be another toughie; they instead blew Panama away with a six-goal rout. The English press, trying not to get excited, called them "clinical", but in what world is SIX goals a "clinical" performance? It was amazing, that's what it was, especially since Panama were playing so dirty and trying to distract them. Unfortunately, England lost against Belgium and they now have to play Colombia, one of the top teams in the tournament. Most people expect them to go out, but this World Cup has been full of surprises so far. Let's see what happens.
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| Happy England makes me happy. Photo from The Telegraph. |
Group H, as it turns out, was the other group of death. Japan, traditionally a nonentity in football, had a coming out party in Russia, opening their tournament with a surprise win against ten-man Colombia. Granted, they were greatly helped by a mistake from Colombian Carlos Sanchez, but a win is a win! Senegal nearly did the same as Japan, winning over favored team Poland in one of my favorite surprise wins of the tournament. I was really rooting for them to do the same against Colombia, but again, the South American team proved stronger, and Senegal went out on a tiebreaker with Japan. Poland, who were ranked sixth in the world going in, were atrocious, and they went out with three losses.
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| Senegal in happier times, after they scored against Poland with a HOWLER! Sigh. Always in our hearts <3 |
That sums up the group stages for anyone still reading. It has been an incredible two weeks. Of course there are minuses: Group C in general (what is France doing?) and the fact that there are no African teams left in the tournament (*sobs*). But the amount of surprises and the amount of goals (just one 0-0 draw in 40+ games) has made up for the sad parts, and I am SO excited for the knockout stages. Pray with me that they will be just as good as the group games!
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