Good morning to all.
Let’s start as usual at the World Cup, and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s tournament is over after Japan were beaten on penalties by Croatia. He started for the first time and played all 120 minutes of a game in which I thought Japan was the better team. The way they gave the opposition no time to cool down from the first whistle to finish was truly impressive, somewhat helped by Croatia’s aging legs, but they lacked that cutting edge touch in the final third to win the game. .
I think they’ve had an excellent tournament, beating Germany and Spain along the way, so it was disappointing that their penalties didn’t reflect that. You have to give goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic some credit, but I don’t think he’ll ever face a sequence of shots from the spot to tame him again in his career. Croatia could even miss one without it meaning too much.
They will now face Brazil in the quarterfinals, and the first half of their 4-1 win over South Korea was probably the best 45 minutes of football any team has ever played in the World Cup. I know it comes with the proviso of the second goal, a penalty scored by Neymar following a very, very generous decision by the referee after Richarlison launched himself into the box. However, the quality of his third and fourth goals was unquestionable, the last one in particular being very enjoyable.
The way in which Lucas Paquetá came to our screens to finish off a beautiful play is magnificent. While I know the stakes weren’t that high, and the opposition not that strong, there were nuances to Carlos Alberto’s goal in the 1970 World Cup final.
I was wondering how many Brazil could score, but South Korea didn’t capitulate and played some decent stuff in the second half. They scored a great goal, and forced a couple of saves from Alisson, but they won that game in minute 45. Even in this World Cup comeback, you don’t recover from 4-0 against Brazil. Gabriel Martinelli also had a few minutes, which was good for him and Son probably cried at the end, but we’ve seen it too many times to care.
Arsenal’s interest comes today in the second game when Portugal faces Granit Xhaka’s Switzerland. There is speculation about Cristiano Ronaldo’s involvement following some comments from the Portuguese manager, that he will need to be prepared to face the foolish wrath of Piss Morkan if he leaves the 37-year-old out. If he makes that decision, he’ll send his fans on Twitter to Fernando Santos, tapping away on his phone in his Ronaldo jumpsuit, the front of which is covered in dried tears and other secretions. Honestly, is there anything more pathetic than this grown man’s obsequiousness and desperation for the attention of a footballer long past his prime?
I think we are missing a Granit Xhaka moment in this tournament, let alone the other moments where she grabs her balls and infuriates everyone on the Serbian bench. Time for that left foot to whistle one into the top corner, then do a Lauren over Ronaldo. We’ll see.
Before that, Spain v Morocco. On paper you’d say the former are the favourites, with their ability on the ball and control of possession as they do, but Morocco have not been easy to convince in this World Cup. Spain is missing something up front at times, so I’m curious to see how this plays out.
After today’s games we have a gap, which seems almost unthinkable after so much football, football, football, non-stop football, football at all hours. But it is what it is, and we will have to face it. Perhaps by then we will have more definitive news about Gabriel Jesus.
I must also remind you that Arsenal are in action this week, taking on Lyon on Thursday in what is called the ‘Dubai Super Cup’. That’s obviously better than a regular Dubai Cup, but not as good or important as the Dubai Super-Duper Cup. That’s the trophy everyone really wants, along with the Jampions League, where the winner gets a lifetime supply. of strawberry and raspberry jam.
Well, that’s it. Join me and Dan from HLTCO on Patreon later for a World Cup recap podcast coming up shortly.
And finally, one last push for the Goodly Morning mugs that you can get here. Every penny of the proceeds from these will go to Great Ormond Street Hospital and Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin. So far we have raised over €5000 which is a fantastic amount so if you are looking for a new drinking vessel and want to help a worthy cause then this is the mug for you!
More here tomorrow.
