British newspaper "The Guardian" has published a review of the recent World Cup in Russia on their website. This tournament was filled with beautiful goals, drama, funny "gif" images, discussions about the new VAR system, comments on controversial football legends and teams that surprised both positively and negatively, writes lrt
1) VAR system did not ruin football
The video review system did not ruin football, but, true, it did not significantly improve it either. Cancelled penalties, initially awarded due to successful Neymar acting, increased the ranks of VAR system supporters, but there are also disappointing aspects: prolonged matches, controversial referee decisions after reviews. One of the most discussed decisions was the cancellation of a penalty for Russian player Ilya Kutepov in the penalty area against Spanish player Sergio Ramos. This decision caused a wave of hilarious memes.
2) Famous names gave way to new talents
Two of the biggest stars of the tournament, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, were not the standout players of the championship. June 30th was fateful for them: both teams ended their performance that day, and young French super talent Kylian Mbappe managed to earn a penalty and score two goals within four minutes. K. Mbappe stated that he was not concerned about the "Golden Ball" award: "I am totally uninterested, I want to win the World Cup gold."
3) "Three Lions" proved they can go further
Speaking about the English national team, it seems that achieving better results did not require much – just a fresh approach to preparation for important matches. Mental preparation received a lot of attention. The team psychologist urged the players to avoid social media, decorated the walls of the training room with inspiring quotes from Oscar Wilde and other figures, encouraged the team to engage in group activities, sometimes even amusing ones. For example, before the game with the ball and stretching exercises, Gareth Southgate's protégés divided into groups and played the game "protect the castle," footballers swam in the pool on inflatable unicorns, and so on. All of this probably helped the players relax more. This year, the England team made it to the semi-finals.
4) L. Modric did not get tired
"They talked about us, the English journalists, clever from television," Croatian defender L. Modric said after the victory against England in the semi-finals. "We read those words and said: okay, let's see who will be tired." The Croatian star ran 63 kilometers through all 6 matches – more than any other player. "They should have been more humble and show more respect," Modric said.
5) Everyone likes funny "gif" videos
After a miss, the wind-blowing Brazilian star Neymar inspired creators of the most exquisite "gif" videos. Social media users also remembered the dramatic fall of Uruguayan Luis Suarez after contact with Egypt or the moment when after a push during the match with Morocco, Portuguese Pepe comically fell to the ground as if shot.
6) At the same time - only one job
Coach Julen Lopetegui had announced that his dismissal from the Spanish national team manager position just before the championship was his "saddest day after having to bury his mother." True, his fault was there. On June 12, it was officially announced that he would become the coach of Real Madrid, so the Spanish national team sacked him reacting to him negotiating behind the backs of the Spanish Football Federation. This did not benefit the Spanish team - being favorites they were knocked out in the World Cup quarter-finals, losing to the Russians.
7) It is still a great way to brag and hide regime problems
This summer, the scandalous leader of the Chechens Ramzan Kadyrov bragged in the media about friendly relations with Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah and Liverpool, Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted that hosting FIFA 2018 in Russia "helped break many stereotypes about this country." FIFA President Gianni Infantino did not hesitate to help either, not sparing loud words for the tournament host and V. Putin: "This World Cup changes the understanding of Russia, especially for us, Westerners. Even the police here smile! I feel like a child in a toy store."
8) The more you try to change - the less it changes
FIFA puts a lot of effort into promoting the message of "zero tolerance" for discrimination, but they immediately received fines too: Russia was fined 8.5 thousand euros for a neo-Nazi banner, Mexico was fined the same amount for homophobic chants. Also noteworthy is the case of Sweden - the team was fined 60 thousand euros for advertising an unauthorized trademark on players' socks. The Croatians, who won the silver at the tournament, were also fined 60 thousand euros because players consumed drinks from manufacturers who are not the official sponsors during the broadcast.
9) Not all goodwill ambassadors are the same
The media reported that the legendary Argentine Diego Maradona received over 11,000 euros per match from FIFA just to watch the games from the stands and be visible to cameras. What stood out the most? D. Maradona called the referee a "thief" during the match, appeared to be intoxicated from drugs or alcohol during the match with Nigeria, made uncensored gestures, until, finally, he had to be taken by medics. Later, the Argentine complained of a "sore neck" and "white wine, to which he was not accustomed".
10) Official slogans on buses - a bad idea
Hyundai, the official sponsor of slogans on buses at FIFA, revealed in May what slogan adorns the German champions' bus. It sounded like this: "Let's write history together." As history showed, one of the favorites considered the German national team ended the tournament embarrassingly - fell already after the group stage, so the team bus had to go to the airport earlier than planned, and the inscription on it sounded like an ironic summary of failure.
11) Animals should not help predict results
This guessing game ends sadly for them. Octopus Rabio was bought and eaten despite correctly predicting all the results of the Japan group stage, and in China, the cat White Spot also did not survive, even though it correctly predicted 7 out of 10 match results.
12) There is no more exemplary team than the Japanese national team
After losing in the last minutes 2:3 to the Belgian national team, the Japanese stood frozen with tears on their faces. Despite the overwhelming emotions, there was not a single item or speck of dirt left in the locker room, and in the center of the room, the Japanese team players left a note written in Russian saying "thank you." Japanese fans were also just as tidy, superbly collecting their leave-behind items in the stands.
13) Victory is not always everything
When the debutant national anthem of Panama first sounded at the Nizhny Novgorod stadium, Panamanian fans couldn't hold back tears. When Felipe Baloy scored the first goal in the country's history at the World Cup and the result became a bit more decent (English led 6:1), Panamanians in full stands celebrated as if after a victory, and local commentators shouted with joy: "Panama goal!!! For the first time in history!!!" This was a triumph for the championship underdogs' fans.
lrt.lt
