The Guerrero affair

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Yesterday's soul searching moments about my lack of guilt associated with watching the World Cup was real. Today, the confusing immorality, to the point of comedy, in football was in the limelight.
The saga of Paolo Guerrero's will-he-won't-he ban took another twist. The Peruvian captain is going to be allowed to play in the World Cup after the Swiss Supreme Court cleared him to take part. His ban hasn't been overturned, he hasn't been proven innocent. The court just said that he should not miss the opportunity to play in his first World Cup. The judge said that playing in Russia would be "without any doubt the crowning glory of his career". She also said that he benefitted from a "rare surge of solidarity". The three captains of the teams that Peru will face in the opening round signed a letter supporting him being allowed to play.

So Fifa banned him, CAS increased WADA's ban and public support made all of that redundant. Oh, how wonderful I would feel if I worked for WADA today.

Where was Carl Lewis' letter of support when Ben Johnson was kicked out of the Seoul Olympics? How come all the public emotion didn't save Lance Armstrong? If only the whole of Naples and Argentina had petitioned Fifa for Maradona's drug use to be ignored because of all the happiness his football brought to so many people.

I have an opinion about positive drug tests, most of which centre around them being a little bit ridiculous considering that you and I, as regular Joe and Jill's, are allowed to take "banned substances" without any punishment. But rules are there to give sport a structure, a code of what is acceptable. WADA have worked very hard at it. And now it all goes out the window because of unscientific, un-researched public support and because as the judge noted (as reported on Australian news website ABC) "a possible negative effect on Guerrero's teammates of being deprived of their "emblematic" captain". Oh dear.

I wonder if these same fans of Guerrero and the right for footballers to not be deprived of competing at the World Cup also believe that Sergio Ramos should be banned from football for being a "disease" to football. A "disgrace"? What else did they call him? Please. He's a dirty footballer. Yes. But he's not the only one in history. And they've all been idolized over the years, just like Guerrero is now. As I was reminded the other day, the Italians didn't ask for Claudio Gentile to be kicked out of the 1982 World Cup, or the Brazilians for Rivaldo to be sent home in disgrace in 2002. We football fans are all hypocritical.

But what is Guerrero? A clean cheat who didn't know what was in his tea? Let him play, Swiss Supreme Court, because you truly believe he didn't know what he ingested. Call the ban out for being ridiculous if you think it was. But don't allow the rules to be bent because he "deserves" to be in Russia.

Ah. When does the football start?

Reflection, a moral dilemma

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Am I selling my soul to the devil by not really ever acknowledging that the World Cup that I look forward to so much every four years is taking place in a country who's president and government can be accused of so many abuses, acts of discrimination and worse against it's own citizens that I find reprehensible. Yet I celebrate the World Cup completely separate from the environment it's being played in. Is it wrong to say that the football has nothing to do with the politics? Probably. Or is it wrong to say we need the joy of the football to forget the suffering of so many, that the majority of Russians have nothing to do with what is wrong with Russia and they should be allowed to celebrate this wonderful event?

I don't know. It should be hard to feel full excitement when bombs are falling in Syria, a silent un-reported war is going on in Ukraine and a Russian journalist feels so strongly about the need to uncover the connection between the Russian government and underworld that he agrees to be part of a fake murder plot that he doesn't even tell his poor wife about it.

But I admit, I am weak. I am looking forward to the World Cup. Football has been a good distraction for everything in my life. Not good, it can be argued but it's what I see life through: the emotions on the pitch and the stands reflecting and acting as a comfort and accompaniment to so many real life emotions.

June 16th: The garden will suffer

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Sixteen days! 16! It's 18 days until what I think should be named "world day of football", the only time in the first round of matches where four matches are being played on the same day. And they are going to be good ones.

6am (Toronto time): France-Australia, intriguing, could be very exciting, which France will show up?
9am: Argentina-Iceland: the most eagerly anticipated match of the first round for some, hipster heaven and football history.
Noon: Peru-Denmark: the enigmatic South Americans against the cool Danes.
3pm: Croatia-Nigeria: they could both be wonderfully exciting dark horses, they could both be terrible. It's exciting waiting to see which they are.

Saturday 16th June: not a day for gardening.

If the opening match isn't good enough.....

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If Russia vs Saudi Arabia, the opening match of Russia '18, is not your cup of tea then look forward to day 2. It opens with Egypt vs Uruguay. If Salah vs Suarez is still not enough to get your World Cup juices flowing go back to work and wait for Iran vs Morocco. If that fascinating clash of two countries who would never normally play each in a competitive match is not fascinating for you, then clear your schedule for the last match of the day: the European Champions, Portugal, against the best team in the world from 2008-2012, Spain.

Every day will be a good day. Enjoy as much as you can.

Russia-Saudi Arabia, June 14th

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The opening match of the 2018 World Cup is hardly one that would normally get too many football fans excited. Russia play Saudi Arabia on June 14th. Because it is the World Cup and the opening match it will get a lot more attention then any other time these 2 countries met.

There is a political angle to this match. Russia, Syria and President Assad's ally, is playing against the country that was the first to condemn Assad for his crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011. 
Relations between the Russians and Saudis have been practically nonexistent since the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005. The Saudi government accused Syria of being involved in the assassination. As the civil war raged in Syria, the Saudi government were known to be supplying arms to the rebels in Syria.

But that's all politics. This is football. And of course, the two are always kept separate. If you cannot remember any previous matches between these two countries, you are not alone. They have met only once, a friendly in 1993 that Saudi Arabia won 4-2. And , again, that's the beauty of the World Cup: two countries that would normally never play each other coming together for what is a huge match. Nobody wants to start the World Cup with a defeat.

Russia's recent from has not been very impressive. They lost their last two friendlies, 3-1 and 3-0 to France and Brazil respectively. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, won their last two, 2-0 against both Greece and Algeria. But it really is true that previous farm means nothing. It is who is better on the day, or, simply, who can score more goals.

The Saudis were in Marbella, Spain recently for a training camp. According to the Saudi Arabia Football Federation website they had one day where they started with running and then had speed exercises They then moved on to "attacks and head scoring." Clearly they must see a weakness in the Russian's ability at defending crosses.

Whatever the final outcome as soon as the referee blows his whistle to get the match going it will mean that another World Cup is underway.

On to the World Cup we go.

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That's it all over. Champions League, Championship play off, done. Now we can fully look forward to June 14th and the opening match of the World Cup, Russia vs Saudi Arabia.

No more talk of will they or won't they get promoted, or whether a Jurgen Klopp team will win a final or if Napoli will move beyond celebrating winning one match and actually win something.

If nothing else, the people of half of Birmingham and half of Liverpool need something to look forward to after today.

'Twas the day before Aston Villa.......

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So close to the end, I've almost done the 1000 days but I feel like I'm limping towards the finish line. Maybe it's just because Aston Villa are taking up all my mental energy right now.

I wonder what mood I'll be in this time tomorrow.

May 26th in Aston Villa history

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And now for a brief interlude...

I have to take a step out from World Cup content to mention the big event that I have been trying to ignore for 10 days even though the waiting is hard to take.

On Saturday before Liverpool take on Real Madrid in the Champions League final, Aston Villa play Fulham in the English Championship play-off final. It'll be the Premier League next season for the winners and another season of battling with the likes of Stoke, Swansea, West Brom to get out of the Championship for the losers.

On May 26th, 1982 I watched one of the first live football matches in my memory as Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich to win the European Cup. On this May 26th it's almost embarrassing what the prize is for Villa. But this is it, this is what is big right now. Huge.

Nigel Spink (oh Spink, what a hero!), Cowans, Mortimer, Morley, Withe, Shaw......all of them. What a night to remember it was. How I yelled, "Aston Villa scored" to the house when Peter Withe scored the only goal. Who's name will we be chanting this Saturday? Hogan, Kodjia, Adomah, Grealish, Grabban, Terry? John Terry!

"Shaw...Morley.....oh it must be...Peter Withe!"

Brazil '14: Super Mario!

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The biggest story of the Brazil '14 final was a personal one, of the unique way I enjoyed it with my family. I've told the story before and it isn't needed again. It was a beautiful Maltese night and we watched it outside with fireworks in the background. Memorable, forever.

As for the final itself there wasn't much to remember. Lionel Messi had a chance to finally win a match for Argentina as Maradona did, but didn't. Germany won in extra time through a Mario Gotze goal. The hero 4 years ago, one of Germany's young stars for the future, he has had a dramatic downturn in fortunes and form and won't even be going to Russia this year.

Not bad, though, to be always known as a player who scored a World Cup final winner.

Brazil '14: the sad end

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It was the worst day in Brazilian football history, July 16th 1950. The day they should have won the World Cup in front of 200,000 fans at the Maracana. Instead they watched as Uruguay celebrated a seemingly impossible victory.

The country needed redemption and looked forward to the World Cup coming back to Brazil in 2014 as the opportunity to erase that memory. On July 8th 2014 that memory was not erased, but replaced with an even worse experience.

Germany were never going to be pushovers but what happened that day was incredible to watch, and it quickly became very sad to witness. A country's pride ripped to shreds, one devastating goal at a time.

If, according to Zico, when Brazil lost to Italy in 1982 was the day football died, then what was this for Brazil? The day football in Brazil was tortured before dying a slow, painful death?

Brazil-Colombia 2014

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The greatest debacle in Brazilian football history was preceded by what was probably Brazil's best performance at their home World Cup in 2014. They beat a very impressive Colombian team, partly courtesy of a stunning David Luiz free-kick.

The bad news for Brazilians was the serious injury that Neymar suffered that ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. They would also be without their captain and influential defender, Thiago Silva, for the semifinal. But that bad news would get a lot worse soon after that semifinal started.

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pAUGJpu6FKo

Brazil '14: Tim Howard

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You know I'm doing this late at night when.....its short and I let the video tell the story.
This is Tim Howard's incredible performance for the USA against Belgium in the last 16 of Brazil '14. He single-handedly stopped a Belgian rout. Instead Belgium just got by with a 2-1 win after extra time.

Watching this don't you think who needs defenders anyway? Or as Tim Howard was probably thinking after his 16th save, where have my defenders been all night?

Brazil '14: Algeria

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Costa Rica and Algeria. Brazil '14. Every World Cup has it's surprise team, or two. Turkey and Senegal in 2002. Belgium in 1986. Bulgaria in 1994. Croatia in 1998. Not neccessarily teams who came out of nowhere, but teams who maybe slipped under the radar of many football fans.

Africa has arguably the toughest qualifying tournament and it's as amazing seeing who didn't qualify as who did. Algeria would have come to Brazil battle hardened and not without an impressive amount of talent.

When Belgium needed two late goals to beat Algeria in a come-from-behind 2-1 in their opening group match, it could have been put down to Belgium not being fully into their stride yet. Algeria put up a good fight but they wouldn't go far, was the opinion. Then they beat South Korea 4-2 and were scintillating in attack. Maybe this was a good team. By the time they drew 1-1 Russia in their final group match to qualify for the last 16 at the expense of the Russians, their energy and passion had attracted a lot of supporters.

In the last 16 they pushed the Germans all the way to extra time. Finally they buckled but not without fighting right up until the last minute of the 120. Literally. They scored in the last seconds of play but it wasn't enough to prevent a tough 2-1 loss. How the Algerians would have loved to exact revenge on the Germans for the grossly unfair events of 1982.

Reaching the second round was a huge achievement. Winning admiration and new fans is nowhere near as significant as a win on the pitch, but Algeria did leave many football fans wishing that they could have been in Brazil longer. And, as further proof of the challenge of getting through African qualifying, they did not make it this year, after being in a final qualifying group with Nigeria, Zambia and Cameroon. It would not have been a surprise no matter who qualified.

We'll miss them in Russia. I'll miss them, not just because I called on my Algerian ancestry but because they were one of those teams that played with a passion and sense of joy rarely seen at a World Cup.

Brazil '14: Costa Rica

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Costa Rica were not only unbelievably and surprisingly good in the group stage of Brazil '14, they were also a lot of fun to watch. Then they played Greece in the last 16 and it might have been the effect of playing Greece or it might have been because they now had pressure to win but all the fun seemed to go and it was all about grinding out a win, boring as it was.

When they beat Italy in their second group match it was a massive upset. But it was their exciting, quick play in their opening win against Uruguay which got a lot of neutrals excited.

Brazil '14: Colombia and those goal celebrations

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The last World Cup to look back on in my "World Cups I have watched" litany hardly feels like a memory. Brazil '04 still feels so fresh.

Brazil and their wonderful strike force of Fred, Jo and hulk; David Luiz and his prayers offered to the heavens; Neymar and his crushed vertebrae; and of course Big Phil, the manager given the ominous responsibility of leading one of the weakest ever Brazilian teams ever to glory, at home, in front of expectant home fans, in a country determined to replace the memories of the 1950 national disaster with a new glorious entry in the nation's history books. Oh, if only they new that this was going to be even worse.

But it was more than just about Brazil. There was van Persie's flying header in Holland's incredible opening 5-1 win against the World Champions, Spain; the excitement of watching two other South American contenders, Chile and Colombia; the energy of the Algerians; the surprising run of the Costa Ricans all the way to the quarterfinals; and the match which became my benchmark of turgid-ness: Costa Rica-Greece.

There was lots of colour, noise and a general feeling of everybody in Brazil enjoying the football. And nobody provided a better exhibition of this joy than the Colombians every time they scored.

South Africa '10: the final

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South Africa 2010 is getting the quick treatment. The Final saw Spain face Holland in a match-up few would have imagined at the beginning of the tournament.

It could have been a classic. it wasn't. Holland looked determined not too lose, Spain were being their new Spanish selves: lots of possession with little end product.

In the end Spain won and were World Champions for the first time.

Luis Suarez: villain or cheat?

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World Cup 2010 had one of those "would you have done the same thing?" moments. The Uruguay-Ghana quarterfinal had gone to extra time. It was 1-1 when in the final minute of the extra time, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez made a great save on the goal line to deny Ghana what would have been the winner. The only, and big, problem was that he saved it with his hands. It was a penalty and a red card and all Ghana had to do was score the penalty and they would be the first African team to reach the semifinals of the World Cup.

Asamoah Gyan missed and Uruguay went on to win on penalties. Was Suarez one of the biggest World Cup villains of all time, or Uruguay's biggest saviour ever? Either way he did what was to be expected. He stopped a definite goal and gave his team a chance of still winning the match. How could he really have done any different? What would the whole of Uruguay have thought if he had decided to have a moment of high morality and put his hands down?

Not just because Uruguayans loved him and Ghanaians hated him, but I never quite understood the "Suarez is a cheat" argument. He was penalized two ways for what he blatantly did and never tried to pretend he hadn't done anything wrong. He never tried to claim divine intervention and the hand of a higher power.

Now that linesman who didn't see Frank Lampard's "goal" to make it 2-2 for England against Germany, he has some explaining to do.

South Africa 2010: Another French rebellion

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A month to go! Does anybody else feel that it's not that close? There hasn't been much talk of a World Cup yet. But now that domestic seasons are ending I'm sure the build up will ramp up. Or just stick with me everyday.


A quick aside before getting to South Africa 2010. The ongoing saga of Peru's captain's ban for drug use took another twist today. Paolo Guerrero's original 12 month ban for testing positive for cocaine was halved by Fifa's appeals committee at the end of last year. Conveniently, that meant he would be able to return in time for Peru's first World Cup appearance since 1982. But the World anti-doping Agency appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport who lengthened the ban to 14 months. What next? Let's see how political this is going to get. Will Peru give up easily on not having their record goalscorer at the World Cup. Will Guerrero stand for it? Will Fifa stand strong?

South Africa 2010 saw the French return to their grumpy days of 2002. Reaching the final in 2006 seemed like a temporary, and almost unexplainable, moment of sunlight for French football. France's dismal performances on the pitch were not the only problem. After Nicolas Anelka was sent home for swearing at the manager, Raymond Domenech, at halftime of their defeat to Mexico, the rest of the team refused to train at their next session. To make it worse it was an open session for fans and the media who got to witness the players return to the team bus and Patrice Evra having a shouting match with the fitness coach. To complete the spectacle, the players handed Domenech a statement which he had to read out to the reporters. Fun times. Not surprisingly, France were home by the time the second round started.

In other comical, first round news, Robert Green let in this goal in England's 1-1 draw with the US.

Germany '06: the final

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As I quickly go though previous tournaments here's a rush through to the 2006 final. It is best remembered for Zinedine Zidane's headbutt on Marco Materazzi, that ended the Frenchman's career on a sad note. Because he had decided he couldn't put up with any more abuse from the Italian defender, or because he showed an immense lack of self control when insulted in a way that many footballers are repeatedly? Either. It was not the way it was supposed to end.

This was Italy's second final in 12 years. The first one in 1994 was the first final to go to penalties. This was the first one since and there hasn't been one after that. Let's hope Italy don't make it to the final this year. Oh. Oops!

Italy had been their usual head scratching selves earlier in the tournament with an unconvincing 1-1 draw against the US and they then needed a controversial last minute penalty to beat Australia in the last 16. But then they convincingly beat Ukraine 3-0 in the quarters and had a burst of energy in extra time to beat Germany 2-0.

In the final France were probably the surprise team after their debacle in 2002 and a pretty dismal showing at Euro 2004. In the end it came down to the Italians winning the shoot-out and there they were, world champions for the fourth time.

"Siamo campioni del mondo...campioni del mondo....campioni del mondo!"

Maxi Rodriguez, 2006

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Talk of the 2006 World Cup wouldn't be complete without mention of another Argentinian "best goal ever". This time it was in the last 16 and Maxi Rodriguez scored a stunner to get Argentina past the Mexicans in extra time. Eder, you may have been bettered. That was a real beauty!

On a more personal note, the time has come when I have to mention Aston Villa again. We are down to the business end of the season: playoffs. Superstitions are important (not mentioning them in the hope they keep winning) but ignorance is a little hard. Today was the first leg of the semifinal in Middlesbrough. Watching it was going to be tough, that I knew in advance. I signed up to an online streaming service, thought I could watch it on my phone but the old blackberry let me down. So I spent most of the match following updates on twitter and looking online for a new phone. In the second half I switched my search to new tv's. Why? Maybe to have a better picture when Villa are in the Premier League. More simply it was because I needed a distraction. Staring at my phone, dreading a Middlesbrough goal and hoping for a Villa second is a weird kind of fun. And as I did this, by all accounts (as seen on twitter) the Villa huffed and puffed to a 1-0 win. A great result, the neutral may think, a first leg away win. But the neutral doesn't follow this team like a fan. Its going to be a long, stressful 90 minutes, or more, on Tuesday.

It's more enjoyable to be a football fan when you can watch goals like Maxi's, with no fear of the result.

France-Brazil 2006

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France were having a good World Cup in 2006. It came after the disaster of 2002 and before the player rebellion of 2010. With the embarrassing performances of 2002 still very memorable, France were either going to redeem themselves of be even worse.

When Thierry Henry scored his wonderful goal against Brazil, France were off to the semifinals. Few fans would have expected them to do that well. They weren't done yet and only a penalty shoot-out loss in the final denied them a second World Cup win in 8 years.

Portugal-Angola 2006

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One of the most fascinating matches of the first round of the 2006 World Cup was Portugal's meeting with Angola, a former colony of Portugal. It was Angola's debut at a World Cup, and what a first match for them against their rulers of old. Neutrals feared the worst for the Africans before the match and even more when they conceded a goal after 5 minutes. But they put up a good fight and that was the only goal.

Portugal came into the World Cup on the back of a 14 match unbeaten run, their best ever. They then went on to win their three group matches, beat Holland in the last 16 and England on penalties in the quarterfinals. A somewhat limp, anticlimactic 1-0 defeat to France in the semifinals ended their amazing run and their World Cup dreams. But it was quite the couple of years for the team and for the fans who may have thought their greatest chance of glory was gone after being so close at Euro 2000.

Argentina-Serbia, the goal, 2006

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Trinidad and Tobago, Angola at a World Cup, Spain just before they exploded into a really good team, England unable to beat Sweden (again). France going within a penalty shoot-out of proving that 2002 was a terrible anomaly, England losing on penalties again. Those were just some of the stories of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

The first round produced one of the most stunning World Cup goals, not a Maradona-style waltz through an English defence, not an Eder 1982 volley but a true "team goal". At the time you may have been thinking after pass number 15, "Argentina are not getting anywhere". But just as we often settled into that same frustration with Barcelona years later, there they were turning up the speed and, boom! A goal, 26 passes in the making.

Japan/South Korea '02: the final

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As unfathomable was the thought that Turkey could have beaten Brazil to reach the 2002 World Cup final so was it also unthinkable that the other surprise semifinalists, South Korea, could have beaten Germany. The most unlikely semifinal lineups ever did in the end produce a heavyweight final.

It could have been Oliver Kahn's final, the best goalkeeper in the world at the time and a saviour (saver?) for the Germans many times in this tournament. But in the end it was Ronaldo's final, with a little help from an uncharacteristic Kahn error. And the whole of the neutral football world probably gave Ronaldo a mental standing ovation. For what he had been through since 1998 it was a beautiful moment to see him not back to his best (his serious knee injuries may have slowed him down) but back to being a winner. Who could begrudge him this moment, his moment?

Ronaldo's toe-poke

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Japan/South Korea 2002 was everything for Ronaldo (the original) that France '98 wasn't. He was back to his best, quite incredible after a couple of what could have been career ending knee injuries. He was Brazil's star, leading from the front, making the difference between another close run for Brazil at a World Cup and actually winning it.

His two goals in the final grabbed the headlines but it was his semifinal toe-poke that finally broke Turkey's stubbornness that stands out for me.

Turkey were the big surprise team of the tournament. It seemed unfathomable that they would beat Brazil and make it to the final but, oh boy, did they run them close. It was up to Ronaldo and his individual moment of football genius that set the football universe straight.

The end of the two Golden Generations

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Japan/South Korea '02 saw two teams who expected to achieve more fall short..Portugal's Golden Generation of Luis Figo, Rui Costa and co. had missed out on winning Euro 2000 after a painful penalty golden goal semifinal defeat to France. 2002 could have seen them go further at the bigger tournament. But they fell short after an opening defeat to the US. In their final match against South Korea they only needed a draw. But they had two players sent off and lost 1-0. The two sendings off were not the only story, nor was the fact that South Korea won against a 9-man team. What was incredible was that Portugal had chance after chance after they were down to 9 players. And even more incredible was that in the final few minutes with Portugal giving up on defending, South Korea could not score again. Two or three times they had three players on the attack with only Vitor Baia, the Portuguese goalie, to beat but Baia did his bit to make the miracle happen. It didn't.

England, led by David Beckham and managed by Sven Goran Eriksson felt this could have been their time. After a comfortable 3-0 win against Denmark in the last 16 they faced Brazil in the quarterfinals. Michael Owen put them ahead, but Rivaldo equalized right at half-time. In the second half Ronaldinho scored the winner for Brazil with a memorable World Cup goal, but more for it's "was in intentional or was it a mis-hit cross?" than for it's quality. David Seaman, I'm sure, can still see that ball sailing over his head.

Germany-Saudi Arabia 2002

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Japan/South Korea 2012 was the World Cup of upsets and surprise teams: Turkey, Senegal, South Korea, USA. It seemed like all of a sudden the form book had been thrown out the window, like the tiem of the football superpowers reaching semifinals and finals had come to an end. The new order of football was upon us.

And then along came Germany to remind us that some things will never change. Poor Saudi Arabia were swept away in a good old fashioned thrashing, the likes of which had not been seen at a World Cup since Hungary got a little carried away with thinking about goal difference in their 10-1 win against El Salvador in 1982. The Germans won 8-0 and played with an air of "what's all the fuss about" after Senegal had beaten France in the opening match.

The side story to this match is that Miroslav Klose scored a hat-trick. This was the beginning of the German striker's incredible World Cup run which ended in 2014 with 16 goals which put him at the top of the all-time list of World Cup goalscorers with 16 goals.

USA-Portugal 2002

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Wind Storm 2018 has left us in the dark. Saving battery, so this will be quick.

One of the most memorable first round matches at the 2002 World Cup was USA-Portugal. The proud Portuguese fans would never even have thought that their team, even though at the end of the Golden Generation period, could be beaten by the American "soccer" players. But such is the beauty of World Cup football.

Senegal

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South Korea/Japan '02 ended with redemption for Ronaldo and in the end, despite, and apart from, all the controversial refereeing decisions it was his World Cup.

But it all started with Pape Bouba Diop and the rest of his Senegalese team mates. Their 1-0 win over France in the opening match was a quite spectacular upset, but it was similar to Belgium's win against Argentina in 1982 and Cameroon's win against Argentina in 1990. So there was history of opening upsets, or maybe it was just an Argentina thing until France succumbed to an unexpected defeat as World Champions.

Senegal became a favourite amongst neutrals for the fun they seemed to have when they played. They went on to be involved in two golden goal matches, in the last World Cup that it was used. They beat Sweden in the last sixteen with the sudden death decider in extra time. They then went on to to lose by the same way to Turkey, who became an even bigger surprise than the surprise team.

Japan/South Korea '02

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Japan/South Korea 2002 was interesting. The first World Cup to be co-hosted is sometimes only remembered for the controversial decisions that seemed to favour the Koreans. But there was some good football, and some good goals. But was Ronaldinho's against England one of them?

I will find the good moments over the next few days.

France '98: the final

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The final, France '98. I've gone over my personal memory of the day in the past, with family and long distance phone calls.

This time it's all about the football, and not even a thought (apart from this one) about whether Ronaldo was sick, had a breakdown or just had a terrible match.

France were lethal, Brazil looked jaded. Maybe there were pre-match distractions but it can never take away from France's greatest ever day on a football pitch.

Zidane and Zidane again, two quick headers. And Petit towards the end with the celebratory third goal. The party went on for a long time.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DeBZzhGy2-0