Crazy upsets, underdogs competing till the death and the prospect of an African team in the final has made this World Cup so amazing. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP)
SPORTS BLOG
Before a ball was kicked in Qatar, Western media already took it into their hands to brand this World Cup a failure. Let’s not forget that they developed a similar plot in 2010 when they even decided to eventually bring the match ball into question.
And despite the BBC’s efforts to derail the competition from the beginning by not even airing the opening ceremony, more than half the world have tuned in to watch the football.
Fifa projected that more than 5 billion people would watch the World Cup and whoever has watched it, whether in Qatar or on their television, has witnessed a spectacle.
As a South African, it would pain me to admit that any World Cup was better than 2010, but in terms of the football, this is the best one that I’ve witnessed.
Ignoring the hosts Qatar and Canada, none of the other 30 teams were eliminated before the final group game this year, which made every minute of football intriguing. We should have realised this after Saudi Arabia’s massive win over Argentina or after Japan’s victory over Germany.
Despite being hammered by Brazil in the round of 16, it would be criminal to brush the efforts of South Korea aside, who went from last in their group to second in one half of football by overcoming a really strong Portuguese side. We also had Cameroon beating Brazil and Tunisia beating France in the group stage.
(Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP)
Let’s not forget the efforts of the Socceroos, who were given no chance to even get a point in a group that featured France, Denmark and Tunisia. But, there they were pushing Argentina to the last second of the game in the round of 16.
The knockout rounds seemed to be where stability would finally be found in this crazy World Cup. We were then treated to an absolute shocker where Croatia eliminated Brazil and Morocco became the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup after frustrating Portugal.
Now we are left with a last four that nobody would have predicted before the tournament began. Our minds will still lead us to believe that Argentina and France will play in Sunday’s final even after all the upsets we have been served, but Morocco and Croatia have proven that they are mentality monsters.
Morocco’s defence by now will already know what they have to do to contain the French attack and one positive is that their right back, Achraf Hakimi, is a teammate of Kylian Mbappe at PSG in France. Hakimi, who is also lightning quick, will know exactly what he will be coming up against in the mercurial Frenchman.
France did not look great against England and Morocco will feel like they have a chance to represent Africa in a World Cup final.
For Croatia, they probably still don’t know how they are here. Played off the park against both Brazil and Japan, they seem to be willing to go to extra time and penalties. Whether fatigue will play a part or not, the Croatians must find one more wind if they are to stop what now looks like a very impressive Argentinian side.
However, Argentina have proven many times this tournament that they become panicky when things start to turn against them.
The saying goes “the cream always rises to the top”, but in this extravaganza that has been going on in Qatar this past month, another upset would not be a surprise.