Good morning, a very fast Saturday blog.
The Gabriel Martinelli World Cup is over after Brazil went to Croatia on penalties last night. We spent a lot of time speculating on how we could cope without our two first-choice men, and now at least one of them will be back and should be available when the Premier League resumes on December 26.
Brazil looked set to win, scoring late in what was something of a war of attrition. The quality of Neymar’s finishing was unquestionable, although the defense seemed to me that it left a lot to be desired. A succession of substitutions were made, Martinelli was not among them for reasons only Tite can explain, and at the end of extra time Croatia equalized.
I should point out that I predicted the result in a WhatsApp chat with my brother long before the 90 minutes were up:
It wasn’t like the penalty shootout we saw against Arsenal the other day, there was just a bit more quality, but Brazil didn’t measure up and Croatia went through. I thought before the game that his aging legs might find it difficult, but fair game: they got a lot of people’s pre-game predictions wrong. Congratulations to them, what a record they have in this tournament.
As an Arsenal fan, it’s a good result because we got Martinelli back, but I know we have a lot of Brazilian fans, so I congratulate them this morning. Later, on Irish television there was a lot of talk about Neymar who, goal aside, did not play a particularly good game. Despite his goal putting him level with Pele’s international tally, former Arsenal legend Liam Brady was unwilling to accept it. He said:
“I wouldn’t put him among the top 5 Brazilian players I’ve ever seen. He is a big cod.
Just to be clear: You’re not calling Neymar a fish that’s delicious when battered and sold at your local chipper. In Irish slang, a cod is someone who deceives, pretending to be something they are not. It’s such an interesting debate because on one hand his talent is undeniable and his scoring record stands up to the highest scrutiny, but it’s still very hard to connect with him for all sorts of reasons. Anyway, he can go back to PSG, one of the worst clubs on the entire planet, win Ligue 1, and nobody except PSG fans will give a shit.
I didn’t see all of Argentina’s win over the Netherlands because I was away last night. However, I watched the first half in the pub before dinner, and Lionel Messi’s pass for the first goal was just amazing. From what I could gather from the clips and snippets I found this morning, I missed out on a rather contentious second half and overtime. I don’t know if the late equalizer is one of the smartest goals I’ve ever seen, or one of the stupidest, and clearly there was no love lost between the two sides. However, from a neutral perspective, you love to see it. More of that please.
Today it is Portugal against Morocco, and later England against France. Bukayo Saka is ready to go, and if England win, it will mean they will stay in the tournament until the end. At the very least they would be involved in the third/fourth place playoff, the most ridiculous and unnecessary game in football. If France win, William Saliba, who is not playing, will be there for the whole time. There is a lot of talk about whether or not England’s defense can deal with Kylian Mbappe, but I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if that man Olivier Giroud gave them some trouble as well.
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Finally, for today, my condolences to the family and friends of Grant Wahl, who passed away yesterday in Qatar. I know he was an important figure to so many soccer fans in the US, thanks to his fantastic journalism, as well as his enthusiasm and love for the game.
May he rest in peace.
US Soccer statement on the passing of Grant Wahl: pic.twitter.com/CBp1mCK1mQ
— US Soccer (@ussoccer) December 10, 2022
