France: World Champions

Day 32 WorldCup2018

It's all over. Another four years of waiting starts today. Four years of wondering if what we witnessed over the last four weeks can be replicated in Qatar. It was outstanding, excellent, wonderful football. The excitement was, at many times, almost unbearable but made even better by how close it was to pushing the limits of how much emotions a fan could deal with. And the final today was the perfect send off.

Even though the match started at a high tempo and there immediately seemed to be a lot of promise for a classic final, at the end of the first half there was a worrisome feeling that this was going to be a French victory earned through an own goal and a penalty, no beautiful goals from open play. And to make it worse the own goal came after a shocking Griezmann dive to win a free kick, and the penalty was a "could have not been given" kind of handball. Ivan Perisic's wonderful goal in between the two French ones was the kind of beauty you hope for in a World Cup final. The reason I thought of as to why France deserved to win was that football is not about scoring spectacular goals, it's also about defending well.

Then the second half happened and France showed us that they can indeed score the awe-inspiring goals. That pass from Pogba to Mbappe that set up the Pogba goal. Wow! I was still marveling at the beauty of its accuracy and perfect weight long after Pogba had picked up the return and scored his first goal of the tournament. It was the pass I wanted to watch again, not the goal. In one moment of absolutely perfectly measured brilliance France went from their half to a goal-scoring opportunity.

And when Mbappe followed that goal with his own bit of individual brilliance, for a few minutes the world seemed like a better place. Did the best team look like they were going to win? That could be debated. But it was that good football, the kind we had watched for four weeks was the winner. It was the way we dream of Cup finals being won and are so often disappointed to be let down by mediocrity.

Mandzukic's goal after Lloris' comical error may have given the last 20 minutes some more significance. A 4-2 deficit seems more surmountable that 1-4. But as hard as Croatia tried, this was one step too far for them.

Were France worthy winners in the end? There may be many arguments that Croatia were more dynamic, Belgium were more exciting or that Uruguay were more defensively solid. But in the end, in the final, which France got to by out playing Uruguay by just enough and controlling the Belgians, they scored more goals than Croatia. And that's all that counts. It's that simple of a game. And that's why we love it.

There are lot more reasons why Russia 2018 was so memorable. I can't gather all my thoughts right. One more day is needed tomorrow.

Tomorrow: Day 1 after Russia 2018, Day -1588 to November 21st, 2022.

Prediction time

Day 31 WorldCup2018

My last post before the last match of Russia 2018. The sadness of the finality will be described tomorrow.

Today, in keeping with family tradition, I am supposed to make a prediction. But if you've read anything I've written for the past 1030 days or so you'll know I don't do public predictions. Maybe by the end of this I will.

When I was asked about who I thought would win the Belgium-France semifinal my answer was, "my heart says the fun, attacking Belgians but my head tells me to be sensible and go for a win for the pragmatic French."

My feelings are similar for tomorrow. My head really has to say France. They have controlled pretty much every match they have played in Russia. When they went 2-1 down to Argentina in the last 16, they shrugged their shoulders turned up the heat for a few minutes and wrestled back the initiative. No problem, we were never worried. Didier Deschamps has them playing in such a way that a burst of speed from Kylian Mbappe sets hearts racing because it's such a contrast to the conservative approach the team employs the majority of the time. And I did say whoever won the France-Uruguay quarterfinal would win the whole thing.

Croatia are the sentimental favourite, the team from the country that has captured so many people's hearts with their passion and stories of surviving the terrible Balkans war in the early 1990s. And in this tournament they have fought many a battle on the pitch and come through them all. Destiny is the word that comes to mind. I find it hard to imagine Croatia not fulfilling that destiny.

This is a tough one and what I wrote on Day 3 after both teams' opening matches doenst help me much.
"Earlier France beat Australia 2-1 in the Italian way, the Italian way where they go on to win the whole thing." (They won through a penalty and an own goal). France are either going to have a Nicholas Anelka player revolt moment or they are going to go on and win the whole thing."

"And even later Croatia tamed Nigeria with an own goal and a penalty. Hold on. If France don't have their meltdown, does this mean Croatia are going to win this thing?"

I did not change any of that. It is really what I wrote. It's not quite my 1990 dream but I do believe they are the only two teams I mentioned as potential winners.

Can I predict a draw? It's the sensible option versus the one driven by passion. Who comes out on top. Ok here goes. Why do I worry about making predictions anyway? In the end it's just a guess. Not even the most intelligent football brain can foresee an unlucky own goal, or a team that hits the post 4 times and loses when the other team scores with their only shot.

As much as I love the passion, here it is....France 1-0.

Croatia: they went through a war, really

Day 30 WorldCup2018

In the early 1990s I was fully aware of the simmering political tensions in what was Yugoslavia and how the unrest led to the horrible wars in Croatia and Bosnia. As I watched the news with my Mum she regularly asked me to explain who was fighting and who was on the good side and the bad side. Is there a good side in a war? It was terrible to see this happening so close to home. It's easier to admit now that the "closeness to home" factor shouldn't have been a reason to feel more affected by it. The war in Kuwait and Iraq or anywhere else should have been equally saddening, because wars are terrible.

But as with many other significant events for me there was a connection with football. The passion of the supporters of the different clubs across Yugoslavia was evident but I didn't really understand the true reasons why Dinamo Zagreb hated Red Star Belgrade. Really hated. Not like Manchester United and City, Birmingham and Aston Villa, or even Rangers and Celtic. These supporters would be prepared to fight their rivals to their death, not because of football but to defend their Croatian and Serbian roots. And it was with this background that the "kick that started a war" happened.

Zvonimir Boban, who went on to become one of the stars of the great Croatian team of the 1998 World Cup was the perpetrator of the infamous kick. He was incensed that Red Star fans were being left to attack Dinamo fans, 10 minutes into a match between the two. He launched his kick at a policeman and it took the fight between Serbs and Croats to a higher level. Whether that incident started the war in Croatia is debatable but it definitely brought the tensions out in the open. And from there it escalated into the terrible civil war.

I followed it closely, as I did the Bosnian war, but I can never say that I fully understood it. But how could I, so safely ensconced in my comfortable life?

It is no lie though, no exaggeration of facts that this was the background that many (most?) of the Croatian team playing in the World Cup Final on Sunday grew up in.

We can be sad about England and them being so close, and I still will be, but these Croatians, and excuse me for being blunt, suffered some real shit.

So come what may on Sunday, watch those Croatians with an understanding of where the passion comes from with which their supporters will them on to win, a passion for a very young country that lost many, many lives to be what and where it is today.

Nothing-ness

Day 29 WorldCup2018

Today was an empty day. Really. No football, not much to look forward to. At least that's what I thought as I woke to the day after what could have been for England. But as I drove to work and listened to the comically mundane words-to-fill-airtime coming out of the sports radio hosts, something made me look forward to Sunday. This is still the World Cup that I looked forward to since the day after the last one ended, and more specifically for 1000 days. France against Croatia is going to be the culmination of a month of incredible football. So bring on Sunday!

Back to the radio this morning and I said to myself that I wasn't going to this. But I can't resist sharing what I listened to just because I wanted to hear some sort of England post-morterm. It's TSN radio, a show hosted by one of the top dudes of the many Canadian TV and radio sports dudes, Michael Landsberg and his co-host, former Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Carlo Colaiacovo. For the first 10-15 minutes they were talking about the tradition of who picks the music for the hockey locker room. Seriously. I thought it was joke at first but Colaiacova shared his personal experience and described the ritual and tradition. It's hard for me to convey how serious the conversation was about something so ridiculous. (Producer: "there's another 15 minutes eaten up. Good job boys.")

Then the conversation moved to football. After Landsberg stopped himself (mid-word) from saying Britain again (everyday, does nobody tell him?) they went through the fairly predictable discussion about how sad it is for England and how ecstatic the Croatians were. Admittedly, it was good to hear talk of it, healing in a way. Then Colaiacova went off on a tangent about how he heard that the 50th country on Fifa's rankings is some funny/weird country. To which Landsberg replied, in the polite way you do when somebody in a room with you has said something that can embarrass himself, "what constitutes a weird country in your head?"

The producer/assistant/somebody found out that the country is Burkina Faso and Colaiacovo howled and howled with laughter. "That's it! That's it! Have you ever heard of that! Is that a country? No way!" Yes, replied everybody else, by now even more exasperated by how their superstar hockey player was embarrassing himself. And with that I got to work, turned the radio off and thought I never have to listen to that tripe again.

Just as not to sound like I'm in anyway stereotyping hockey players I have met current and former players and they have all struck me as level headed, pretty intelligent guys.

Anyway, there's my story of distraction for today. What will tomorrow bring? On Saturday the 3rd/4th place match may be the distraction, but I'd need to be pretty desperately in the need for my mind to be somewhere else if I would watch the losers' match that even the losers don't want to play. Is it even possible for Belgium and England to play with more second string players that in their final match of the group stages?

Gloom. Doom. England

Day 28 WorldCup2018

At around 4.30pm this afternoon I resolved that my post for today would be a blank space. I was drained, done, not after 27 days but from two hours of tortuous emotions watching England come oh so close.

Then as I tried to carry on with the rest of the day all the thoughts popped into my head that would best describe those 2 hours.

I had a dream in 1990. I'm going to be having nightmares in 2018. Every time, I hear the names Kane and Lingard thoughts of what could have been are going to fight for prominence in my head.

England were not supposed to get this far so we should celebrate their achievement, no? Bogus. If anybody seriously thinks that they are trying very hard to find solace and consolation in manufactured emotions. Or they started watching football when England beat Sweden.

England were very, very close to being in a World Cup final. I really don't care if the team was made up of inexperienced youngsters playing way above expectations or a team of older players hoping for their last shot at glory. They were 22 minutes away from a World Cup final.

Was this run to the semifinals worth it, in hindsight? It was fun, yes, but if England had gone out in the first round we would have had a long time to get over it by the time the final came around. As we say in the tennis world when you lose in a third set tie break to somebody you've never beaten before: so what that it was close, you might as well have lost 6-0 6-0.

I was dreading Sunday and the end of the World Cup. Now I'm not looking forward to tomorrow.
Is it wrong to feel that there is nothing exciting to look forward to now? What could have been better than this? Are there more important things to worry or be happy about? Yes, but this was it, at this moment.

Can I say I write with a heavy heart? Does England's loss warrant that much of an emotional attribution?

There was one very, very drunk Croatian in the bar I watched the match at. As I watched him down beer after beer I wondered when he was going to be cut off and also where all his friends were. There are a lot of Croatians in Toronto. I wanted to believe it was a sign that he was in the huge minority and would be further drowning his sorrows after 90 mins. After 120 mins we could still hear his screams of delight as we walked down the street and turned the corner.

Maltese champions Valletta drew 0-0 in Albania in the first leg of the pre-qualifying round of the Champions League today. The qualifying rounds of the Europa League started on the 28th of June. One of the two Maltese teams made it through. Football life outside of the World Cup carries on.

As much as there is talk about how this could have been England's best opportunity for a long time to get to the final, think of what Croatian fans must have been thinking: Denmark, Russia and then England in the semis? We'll never get a better chance.

Do I feel any admiration for Croatia and their story, a young country and in their first final? A great story, yes, but I haven’t yet moved to the coping stage where I can congratulate the other team's supporters.

I hope the final is the Kylian Mbappe show.

Very German France

Day 27 WorldCup2018

Hey France, are you Germany in disguise? The French win today was a display of efficient, controlled football that Germany, pre-Russia 2018, would have been proud of. It was actually reminiscent of Germany's 1-0 win against France in the quarterfinals of Brazil '14.

Belgium just couldn't get going today and the exalted golden generation leaves Russia with nothing, other than the consolation prize of third or fourth place.

Did France step it up a gear? Maybe one gear. There were a few ooh-aah moments, but it was their overall stifling of the potent Belgian attack that was the most impressive. It did make for not the most exciting of matches, not the one that lived up to the high expectations promised to the part-time football viewer. But who in France cares?

Tomorrow, because of course you don't know, is England and Croatia's turn. I have no plans for Sunday. The only thing I am looking forward to is the exciting, unbearable tension that is going to overcome me tomorrow afternoon.

We'll talk tomorrow night.

Mr. Mifsud's seal of approval

Day 26 WorldCup2018

There are so many ways to describe how wonderful this World Cup has been. So here's another one: my Dad would have approved. As long as he hadn't watched Spain play, or France-Denmark he wouldn't have had much reason to complain about boring football, or how many times the ball was passed backward. Yes, he would have moaned about Neymar and Ronaldo, but the multitude of good would have very much outweighed the bad. I think Belgium would have been his favourite, partly because he would have been used to seeing so many of their players on TV in the Premier League every weekend. But I could also hear him saying, "they pass, they move, they attack and they don't keep passing the ball backwards."

He may also have been impressed by England, after so many years of moaning and groaning as we watched them together. The last good memory was the much-talked about (this week) 1990 run to the semifinals. That was the semifinal that I had "the dream" about before the World Cup, the one that made me know for sure that England would not beat the Germans. It was a strange evening. As I sat there sweating in my chair on that hot Maltese night, there was little of the normal nervousness that usually comes with watching England. There was only hope that maybe the only dream of mine that would ever come true, wouldn't actually come to fruition. There we were watching Shilton get beaten by that deflected free kick, England's late equalizer, the drama of extra time, the near misses for England; Dad cheering and groaning, Mum wishing and hoping and me knowing all along that all the emotion was all in vain. The penalties confirmed the gloomy, predictable ending for England. Spooky and weird as it may sound, I really did have a dream about what would happen. I have written about it many times.

All these years later and the emotion is very different. I have not had any dreams and I have not succumbed to any of my normal superstitions. I have also not watched one "football's coming home" video and have made no plans for what may happen beyond Wednesday. I have enjoyed celebrating the wins but stop myself from looking ahead. One match at a time has truly become my mantra.

Before Wednesday's event, Belgium play France tomorrow in what really should be yet another dream match-up for the neutral. Belgium are all about the flashy attacking play and France have the flash with a little more pragmatism. At least that's the impression they've been projecting but I agree with what I heard on the radio today, that they can still shift into a few higher gears. There's more to come from them and maybe they are saving themselves for the final.

The 4 semifinalists as a whole are fascinating. Europe has dominated, has produced the final 4 but look who it is. Not Germany, Italy or Spain. Holland might have also been a safe bet. France may be the least surprising of the four but, for the un-educated, Belgium and Croatia? And England? Well that's a pleasant surprise for everyone.

I hope you all enjoy the next two days. Savour every moment. We are reaching the end. Take the time to watch because next week you'll be watching Chelsea and Manchester City play meaningless pre-season friendlies in the US and looking online for results of the pre-qualifying rounds of the Champions League.

This amazing World Cup will be over soon, so even if you are not Belgian, French, Croatian or English enjoy what's left as a fan of great football.