Alongside the various animal attempts to people-please before the quarter-final against France are an increasingly deranged series of stunts from the tabloidsEngland face France in the World Cup quarter-final on Saturday and the dwindling band of psychic animals has spoken. In the early stages of any World Cup, of course, you cannot move for obliging creatures predicting match results. However, as the tournament progresses, several of this global menagerie will have a shocker, effectively knocking them out of further opportunities to have their random movements anthropomorphised by pushy human keepers/people who reckon there might be two hundred quid in it from a tabloid. As we near the business end of Qatar 2022, though, a psychic alpaca from Chipping Norton is...
Most key figures left in the last eight play in Europe but Lionel Messi’s side have a mindset unique to South AmericaThe quarter-finals are about to begin and the world is talking about Morocco. For the fourth time an African nation and for the first time an Arab nation is among the last eight. Geographically, this is true, but in terms of football culture Morocco is European. One of the stars, Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint-Germain, was born in Madrid and played in Real’s youth teams. The other, Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech, grew up in the Netherlands and made his name at Ajax.Morocco, whose coast can be easily seen from Andalucía, has adapted its football to the Spanish rondo style. The...
Welcoming players back from Qatar now may provide a crucial advantage when the hectic domestic schedule restarts“If they all go out of the competition early and can train with us, that would be absolutely outstanding,” Jürgen Klopp joked of his Liverpool players before the World Cup. The German was lucky that just seven of his squad were called upon to travel to Qatar, although only Darwin Núñez has exited before the quarter-finals. The Uruguayan is one of 73 Premier League players no longer involved in the World Cup, leaving 61 in Qatar for their managers to worry about.Many clubs have enjoyed warm-weather training, and have played or are still to play friendlies to prepare for the Premier League’s Boxing Day...
The 21-year-old Benfica forward scored a hat-trick on his first World Cup start, fizzing one goal in from an impossible angleThere was a notable absentee on Tuesday night from the World Cup last-16 game between Portugal and Switzerland. Specifically, the Swiss. Granted, Switzerland would make their belated entrance in the second half, a cameo appearance to console the thousands of fans who had come to support them.But the result was no longer in doubt, and ultimately their presence was largely inconsequential. A reminder, if any were needed, that elite football has no place for those who are not prepared to put in a defensive shift. Continue reading...
A partisan crowd were thrilled while Cameroonian, Ghanaian, Senegalese and Tunisians united in the Souq for MoroccoA few minutes after Yassine Bounou’s penalty shootout heroics, Morocco’s players knelt in unison to pray before a baying bank of supporters drumming furiously to the sweet sound of victory against Spain. It was a powerful sight that will touch more than the tens of thousands of Moroccans here.After more than 130 minutes of gripping drama and relentless noise, Morocco are the lone Arab nation and last African team standing. The Argentinian referee, Fernando Rapallini, needed a megaphone to make himself heard. Continue reading...