The Spectrum of Normality

Paul Wady - Guerilla Aspies (A Neurotypical Society Infiltration Manual), Free Autistic Press, 2014

Paul Wady is autistic, but what that means exactly is a raging debate in some circles. The regular reader would be unacquainted with a number of terms throughout this book and would most likely think of autism as a 'disease'. The short, simple definition of autism is that it's a 'developmental disability', though the autistic people I met would argue against the use of the term 'disability'. Frankly, I think the autistic people I met would argue against anything, but that's beside the point.

What is certain is that very little is known about autism at the level of the regular Joe, while my impression, after a few months of intense reading about autism, is that science doesn't really know what to make of it just yet.

While there seems to be a whole community of socially functioning individuals diagnosed as autistic who developed, in the UK at least, a real subculture of marginalized social groups, somewhat like the 'gay culture' of a few decades ago, there are also a lot of autistic individuals who struggle to integrate socially or indeed to function at all. They seem to be the main intended readership of this book, though I think the book is potentially even more valuable for young autistic individuals who are trying to understand, learn and mimic social behavior, as well as for neurotypical (or 'normal', if you will, though is a term I abhor) readers who have an interest in learning about autism. The value of this book comes mostly from the fact that it presents an inside point of view, it's an inside out look with no pretense of having any medical value, but potentially more valuable when it comes to understanding autism.

The book is largely based on personal experience, all the advice given fits into the writer's own journey and may or may not work for anyone else. But of this we get plenty of warning, unlike a lot of places within the book where the reader is actively and in all seriousness advised to break the law in ways that range up to violent homicide, only to reveal the joke later on. I take this as an indication that it is not actually an instruction manual, but rather an information manual: it provides a way of looking at the world that is potentially inaccessible to the reader, but without indicating what to do with this newly gained view.

Surprisingly, valuable as it might be, is not the informative aspect that I found the best about the book, but the emotional one: it starts off as a very funny read, almost a stand-up number in written form, but then Paul starts to gradually recount episodes of his life or episodes that autistic people encounter on a regular basis, and the tone shifts towards extreme sadness by the end of the book. In trying to describe what it is to be autistic, Paul Wady manages to describe what it is to be human: a hot mess of inconsistencies, irregularities, broken promises, peculiar social conventions and things said with no intention of acting upon them. We have long suspected that a conscious being would struggle to understand large swathes of the human behavior when given the opportunity to study it from outside. Well, Paul Wady is that conscious being. And despite some carelessness in editing or structure, this book is a very good mirror in which we can see ourselves. This is the image that's both funny and sad.

Green Green Horse at Home

Simon Armitage - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Faber and Faber, 2007

Is this like... alien knight or smth?

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval poem, written around 1400 in Middle English, of which Simon Armitage's decade-old rendition into modern English is the latest one. The poem draws on the Arthurian legends, though it is not contemporary to them in any way: the themes, language and atmosphere of the poem are a lot closer to the 14th century than the 6th century in which the Tales of the Round table originated: not only is it filled with Christian symbolism, but the attitudes and behavior of characters is a lot more representative of the late Middle Ages. Of course, Arthur and his knights could not have been Christian, though latter writers have not only made them so, but have slowly overlayed upon them motif after motif of medieval Christian virtue.

Such is the case here, where the unknown medieval author anchors the Camelot crowd firmly into the Christian values, so much so that our hero's shield is built along the coordinates of the star of David and has the face of the Holy Virgin painted on. The antagonist, the Green Knight, is probably the remnant of the Pagan era, hence his casting as the bad guy. While the medieval poet does not delve into the Green Knight's origins, his unusual, unnatural green coloring is reminiscent of the worshiping of nature that druid-wizards like Merlin were practicing. In addition, the Green Knight reveals a direct connection to Merlin towards the end of the poem, while his dwelling place is a 'green church', 'a ghostly cathedral overgrown with grass' (2190). Might it be then that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an attempt from the medieval poet to recover the druidic myths and traditions, to draw the attention of his contemporaries to them? The equation of Christmas with Yuletide is another argument to that, but you will need a better prepared scholar than myself for a definite answer.

The synopsis is relatively simple: during the Christmas feast a weird-looking Green Knight shows up at King Arthur's palace and issues a strange challenge: he will take an axe blow to the neck in exchange for returning it a year later. As the most virtuous of Arthur's knights, Gawain raises to accept the challenge, which means his next year is spent in search of the mysterious Green Knight whose chopped head left only a vague clue as to his whereabouts. As it happens, Gawain does discover the location of the knight's Green Church just in time, though in true epic poem tradition, more tests need to be passed before Gawain manages to reach that which, on the face of it, will mean his earthly end. Of course, the resolution is favorable to our hero, though there is a twist at the end with an important moral signification.

The modern reader is, of course, required to suspend his belief in regards to a series of motifs, actions of motivations throughout: how can a man be green? who issues such an outlandish challenge and, furthermore, who's silly enough to accept it rather than dismissing it as useless or childish? how can a beheaded man speak or ride and, most importantly, how is it that it just so happens that Gawain finds the green church just in the nick of time? Oh, God directed his step? I see, it all makes sense now.

That being said, the poem is largely entertaining, and one must appreciate how, in the tradition of Arthurian legends, the resolution is not as straightforward as in the typical fairy-tale. The good example walks hand in hand with the cautionary tale. Not to mention, the abundance of detail regarding castles' layout, hunting or dining habits are not only very valuable for historians and scholars, but also highly atmospheric. Plus, I love how the medieval poet is not tied by the rigors of modern writing, pacing it as slow as he likes in places that have no bearing whatsoever to the main plot, such as the butchering of the game - shown in great detail - while a few months' worth of adventures are dismissed as they're 'too long to tell here'. Sure, why the hell not, nevermind what the hero did, tell me more about how to chop a deer leg. This sort of detail, regardless how valuable or atmospheric, can become overbearing for the average reader, but luckily this particular poem is of acceptable length and, at least in Simon Armitage's rendition, quite readable.

In regards to the this particular rendition, I think Simon Armitage has done a decent job, though there are places where modern language creeps in on top of medieval structures and it sounds as out of place as a scratched record. The story is entirely preserved, but there are places where the language is butchered. IMHO, a greater care should have been taken to ensure the language preserves the medieval atmosphere and, if something had to be sacrificed, then maybe the poetic structure should be the first victim.

So, is this poem teaching us anything? Well, nothing of huge relevance, but for nostalgics of Arthurian legends like myself, it's a good light reading for a summer afternoon in the park.

Quote:

'Why should I shy away? If fate is kind or cruel man still must try.' (560)

Finis coronat opus

France - Croatia 4-2

Six goals! A great World Cup crowned by a great final! Certainly the best World Cup final in my time, and if we are to judge by the number of goals, the best since 1958 (yes, England's 4-2 win in 1966 had six goals as well, but after extra time). It is absolutely incredible how open the game was, how well both teams played and how they went for it with all their might, not trying to stall the game or cheat football in any way.

An argument can be made for Croatia being a tad unlucky, what with the first two French goals coming on the back of refereeing decision, but that argument has shaky grounds. First off, Mandzukic's own goal, from a questionable foul on Griezmann. I've watched it many times from 3 angles and honestly can't make up my mind. It looks like he goes down really easy, but it's really hard to tell whether the fall was caused by Brozovic or not. Regardless, that was not the goal. The goal came from the ensuing free kick, which was poorly defended by the Croats, and it's really unfortunate that Mandzukic only pushed it into his own net. He's a great player and has enough experience to put this behind him quickly, but an own goal in a World Cup final will always be a stick to beat him with, so plenty of people will keep reminding him about it.

And, as fortunes would have it, it was going to be the other goalscorer to cause the penalty that put France ahead shortly before the break. Was it a handball against Perisic? Well, he certainly touched the ball with his hand, leaving the rest of the world to debate concepts like 'intent', 'natural position' and - to Heidegger's delight - the 'being towards the ball' or 'the ball being towards the hand'. The reality of it is, whenever there's contact between your hand and the ball in the box you're always risking a penalty, so you're better of keeping your hand to yourself. The example I always go back to is Baggio's penalty against Chile in 1998 (0:55 in the clip). All the other blabber works for sofa punditry but is useless on the pitch: a penalty was awarded and Griezmann put France ahead. Anyone who'd try to make this decision an argument against VAR are victims of a logical flaw: first off, the referee can watch a replay however many times he deems necessary and he's also the only man in charge of his own absolute certainties and reasonable doubts. Secondly, even if this decision was blatantly wrong, the purpose of VAR is not to make refereeing perfect - there is no such thing; it's purpose is to reduce the refereeing errors, and there's no denying throughout this World Cup it's done just that, and an important bit more: it has made the set piece battles in the box a lot cleaner. It came at the cost of a record 29 penalties, but it's an improvement on the game and it's here to stay.

It's one of football's little ironies that the two scorers for Croatia were the protagonists of the first two French goals. They're both brilliant players and have been excellent for their team, potentially not deserving to be involved in the two incidents, but no one can escape the caprices of fate.

Ivan Perisic - in my opinion the player of the tournament. He is the full package and his equalizer in the 28th minute is a confirmation of just how good he has been. Excellent placement, strength, superb shot, a summary of all the skills he displayed throughout the tournament. Renewed interest from Manchester United? I'd love this interest to materialize, though Inter might be rather reluctant to let him go.

As for the second Croatian goal, Hugo Lloris should count his blessings that it came at 4-1, because should that have been a decider, the French goalkeeper would have been on the receiving end of an unflattering stream of jokes and memes for some time. As it is, people forgot about it already, choosing instead to concentrate on exactly how black the French team is. Not only enraging, but mind-boggling how people can get so stuck in someone's skin color or birth place and not see what is in front of them: another human being.

Mbappe was born in France, calls no other country his own and knows no other culture, though he sure knows how to kick a football. He's been an absolute delight to watch this tournament, as was his goal for 4-1. I look forward to seeing a lot more moments of magic from the 19 year old in the years to come, though I do regret most of them will be in the PSG shirt, as I'm not sure who and for how much could get him away from Parc des Princes where he arrived with the immense 180M price tag.

And happily enough, Pogba put his name on the score sheet too, with just as good a shot as Mbappe's, prompting the choir of eternally complaining United fans to ask for him to put in the same kind of performances for United. As if his single-handed demolition of City never was.

4-2, a score maybe too harsh on Croatia, that deserve all praise heaped upon them and more. But France was the best team of the tournament and are deserving winners. It is a rare feat when two teams this good are pitted against each other and play this sort of superb, fluid, open football. And this final was a rare feat indeed, though I'd make a trilogy out of it, with France's games against Argentina and Uruguay next to it, and then we'll have the full perspective of what this wonderful team assembled by Deschamps is capable of.

Which does beg the question: Giroud? There's no reason to end this review on any sort of a negative note, and there's no arguments against the strategy of a manager who's just won the World Cup, but come on, Didi, what's the catch? Did you put him on just to make all the others look good?

But guess who's the center of celebrations?

Too zero

Belgium - England 2-0

See you in 4 years?

Third place play-off is a much more appropriate name for such a game rather than the pompous 'small final' or 'little final' as it'd be called in Romanian. Both teams might've had a shot at the final, but the anti-climatic atmosphere surrounding the game bears nothing of the anticipation of one. It's no more than a consolation prize, and a very unwanted one most of the time.

That being said, however, it is disrespectful to approach it with no desire to win. Yes, protect yourself and yes, keep it a clean game, but as I said - funnily enough - before the first Belgium - England encounter of this tournament, if you're not going to want to win you might as well not show up.

Though in all honesty what England has done can hardly be called showing up. They were present on the pitch, not so much in the game. Not that Belgium played all that well, but they looked head and shoulder above the English. They deserved to win the game, but that means nothing. All in all, it had the look of a Premier League game in May, when the table has already been decided. 

There were moments of good football in it, specially from the Belgians, but in a skills showcase kind of way rather than a battle for a result. 

By losing 2-0 one could think that England has actually gotten worse throughout the tournament, as it's a step down from the 1-0 loss in the group stage, that one almost just as irrelevant.

Not much point in being too harsh with either of the teams though: they both punched above their weight, they were not the first two options for semi-finalists and will go home with a sense of achievement that will eventually shine through the disappointment of not being in the final. One might actually wonder about the purpose of this third place play-off, other than the obvious commercial one.

Not FIFA though. For FIFA the commercial purpose of an extra game is reason enough, though it might be a while until we see one that's actually interesting. Belgium goes home with a bronze medal, England returns home with the same disappointment felt after the Italy 1990 World Cup, but with the hope that this generation can repeat the performance that Gazza & co. could only achieve at the zenith of their careers.

And or the rest of us, the real final of this, after all, truly great World Cup, is starting in some half hour. I have no leanings, but I'm tempted by France. They are more deserving winners for a reason that's often overlooked in football allegiances: they played better.

Withdrawal starts tomorrow.

The Torture of Hope

England - Croatia 1-2

Well well well... that was nice now, wasn't it?

Get to the hair-dresser!

I have experienced, in my life, moments when the world seems to come to a standstill for a football game. It's tense, it's beautiful, and I also know that, regardless of the final score, that moment of anticipation will remain forever. Win it, and it's paradise, lose it and it's hell, but the in-between, the unknown... that's sublime.

That is, in a nutshell, what London looked like today, though two things have been different from all of the big European games I lived through in Bucharest: 1. I never lived this feeling in England, not for Champions League final, not for FA Cup final, not for anything; and 2. I never lived it as an outsider, uninvolved.

Number one is quite normal: a club game, however big, belongs mainly to football followers. Whereas the World Cup, when those same eleven people you see on the telly week in week out are wearing your country's colors and singing the national anthem (the ones that can remember the lyrics at least), well, that's different. All of a sudden they become 'our boys', there is an intense feeling that the whole world is watching and no one wants to miss that, specially when you have the chance to be the center of attention. This World Cup is the 4th major national football tournament I live in this country, but the first to be made such a fuss about. Haven't lived here long enough for England to do well, I suppose. 

As for my uninvolvement with the English national team, I believe I explained time and time again: I might've been more supportive, should the national team be more supportive of United. It is 20 years now since the chants of 'Stand up if you hate Man U' began being heard at Wembley while figurines of David Beckham were hung outside, all this while the Neville brothers, Rooney, Beckham himself and many others were playing for England, never praised, always blamed. Such attitudes are not easy to forget. And who was it to say 'Fuck it, it's only England'? That's right, Carragher, the legend with more own goals than the whole of this tournament.

On the other hand, I did like how good the mood throughout the nation has become because of football. It is only for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics that I've seen such displays of optimistic, friendly, inclusive patriotism. I knew it wasn't going to last, England was on borrowed time ever since that penalty shoot-out against Columbia, but who will listen to the prophets of doom when Kane is banging them for fun against Panama?

I am now beginning to understand the disappointment the nation must've felt in 1990. But that was a good team! This time England was playing Kyle Walker ffs! And the best substitutes Southgate could come up with when in need of a goal were Dier and Jamie Vardy. Southgate did brilliantly to bring this team of nobodies up to this stage, and even this game hung in the balance for a long while. But once that Perisic equalizer went in, there was only one way. And it wasn't Essex.

Just like yesterday, the losing team controlled the first half. Trippier's shot was a good one, and the fact that Subasic got the placement horribly wrong don't make it any worse. 5th minute... 'Will they pull a Bayern Munich?' was my fist thought, echoes of that Mario Basler goal in Barcelona still resonating strongly. It wasn't exactly a Bayern Munich but...

'We need to kill the game. We need to score a second.' was the consensus at half-time between Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Lee Dixon in the BBC studio, with Roy Keane reluctantly following suit. And right they were, as England's firm dominance of the first half only came to that one Trippier strike. Another couple of chances, with Vrsaljko heading the ball off the line on one occasion, and Harry Kane barely missing the finishing from the close proximity of the post, but really not that many shots.

Nothing obvious changed in the second half, and England still came the fastest out of the starting blocks, but they dropped than tiny bit of space, under the illusionary cover of that solitary goal, and Croatia seemed to be suffering from the same chronic lack of ideas as in the first half. 

Enter Ivan Perisic. After Mandzukic's efforts didn't come to much in the first half, Croatia's left side became more and more prominent. And Perisic did waste a few good balls trying to connect with Modric on the other side of the field initially, but once the attacking mind-set got going, the game was Croatia's for the taking. I can't really remember any sort of English chance or dangerous attack after the Croatian equaliser, and I think penalties were on the Lions' minds as soon as the extra time started. Big mistake. Croatia didn't really go all out attack in the extra time either, but once Mandzukic saw the opportunity, he wasn't gonna let it go, was he? 

I thought Perisic's goal was really beautiful, jumping and raising his foot to connect so exacting with the ball above Walker. Mandzukic was a lot more opportunistic, but after the third consecutive game to last over two hours, who cares?

It's doom and gloom once again in the British Isles then, and an ironic battle for the bronze medal against Belgium on Saturday. But when the dust settles over the Panini sticker albums from this World Cup, England will realize this has actually been a huge achievement, one they would have taken with both hands a month ago. 

Croatia? Are you kidding me? They're in seven heaven right now and they'll stay there even after they'll lose the final to France on Sunday. How badly they'll lose is up to how much more energy they can muster. It's all a matter of how long you can keep the French away, because breaking that defense will be a completely different proposition than today. The French don't field Kyle Walker, they have real footballers.

The Gaul Goal

France - Belgium 1-0 (Umtiti '51)

Belgium, the land of palm trees

So normally I'd dismiss Belgium as high profile under-achievers, a status they're very much used to it, but after their brushing aside of Brazil I had to think twice. I still thought France have one foot ahead, but the closer we got to the starting whistle the tougher the game became to call. But two hours later it has been proved, once again, that in such close call games pedigree can be an important factor.

For the first half I thought Belgium was the better team with, funnily enough, Fellaini their best player. Sure, Belgium has the attacking flair of Hazard, Lukaku and de Bruyne up front, but with Fellaini right behind them it meant United's controversial midfielder would be the one stop shop for all balls that went up from the Belgian defense, he'd stop most of the French interceptions and would be ever-present in the box for corners and crosses. And he's a hard one to stop Fellaini. The fact that an important part of United's support wants him out baffles me.

But the French defense was absolutely flawless. Wave after wave of Belgian attacks hit an extremely disciplined blue wall and they were left to resort to shots from a distance, with the notable exception of a shot from Alderweireld, 20 minutes in, 15 yards out, on the half turn, brilliantly blocked by Lloris.

So if at half time the prediction needle was leaning ever so slightly towards the red, 5 minutes from the break the French put it firmly in the blue with Umtiti's goal, which for some reason reminded me of another brilliant performance from a defender to put France in the final, 20 years ago. Yes, despite the huge attacking talent in both the 1998 team and this one, it would have to be a defender to get the goals. Somewhat normal, with the team being so evenly match, it's easier to lose sight of the odd defender that's come up for a corner. Umtiti's goal was not the most elaborate, but the execution was brilliant. And once it went in, in their heart of hearts, every player on the pitch knew it was over.

I was disappointed in a way that the Belgians didn't show just a bit more ambition. It's true, it's a lot harder to come back from 0-2 than 0-1 and Mbappe is a huge threat on the counter-attack with his speed, but it's very hard to break down a defense that good if you're not giving it your best. And the closest the Red Devils came to a goal in the second half was Witsel's shot from a distance in the 81st minute. In all honesty, I thought Fellaini's substitution, just before that, marked the capitulation of Roberto Martinez. It is true that Belgium have reached a stage that they can be happy with and they will be hailed as heroes at home, but conceding defeat before leaving the pitch is by no means the mark of a team capable of winning trophies.

It is also true that, in the end, the French beat Belgium physically. In the last 20 minutes of the game both Griezmann and Mbappe run riot through a depleted Belgian defense, both in numbers and in physical resources. There was a lot more space and a lot more French chances, and Les Bleus were unlucky not to score more. Well, unlucky or marred by the presence of Giroud, who seems so out of place in between the other two strikers and I cannot for the life of me understand how he can be in the starting 11 for this team. He's slow, can't take a man out by himself and doesn't even provide that much of a threat with his headers as he's supposed to. But it's hard to argue with a manager that keeps winning. Water carrier or not, Didi Deschamps is about to enter history as only the third man to win the World Cup both as a player and manager.

And because I want my review of the game to be as balanced as the game itself, I will end on a critique of Lukaku. Something I very rarely do, as he's one of our own, but there's something about Lukaku that doesn't quite convince me. It's not that he doesn't show up in the big games, or that he's got a heavy first touch; it's just that a lot of the time he looks disconnected from his team, somehow not on the same wavelength with the other attackers. Whenever you need a goal, it doesn't look like it's gonna come from Lukaku. That being said, however, he's got 4 in 5 in this World Cup and finished the season with 27 goals in 51 games for United, and I'll take that. After all, I'm the one who wasn't liking van Nistelrooy.

Pride of Lions

England - Sweden 2-0
Russia - Croatia 2-2 (3-4 penalties)

Sweden! Who would believe this? Sweden! I have been very vocal against a country with a great football tradition, but with a squad that's a far cry from the days of Thomas Brolin, Henrik Larsson or Zlatan (in whose time it was, of course, called Zweden). And rightly so. I don't think Sweden deserved to get to the quarter-finals, I don't think they deserved to qualify from the group, I think - despite having not seen the games, they didn't even deserve to qualify for the World Cup and thus deprive us of Italy's presence. But here they were, facing an England team that has just squeezed past Colombia and ignited the hopes of a nation in dire need of pretenses for self-respect.

Not doubting that England's going to win, I decided to sacrifice the first half in favor of enjoying a bit of the London Pride Parade.This is important. Traditionally, the mainstream attitudes of the LGBT and the football supporters communities have been to fear and avoid each other with violent clashes happening if crowds from both of them would meet. A lot of irrational beliefs and outdated or simply untrue stereotypes persist within each of the communities in relation to the other, and even though relationships are improving, today was important as it occasioned massive crowds of LGBT to encounter crowds of England football fans just as massive in probably the most harmonious and friendly get-together of the two in history. First off, it was a very beautiful Pride, aided by great weather and a massive involvement from the allies, businesses and the local authorities. I'm still not entirely comfortable participating in full at a Pride parade because although I fully support inclusiveness, equal rights and opportunities for all and protection of minorities of any kind, I also understand I can at most be a guest, and I haven't even been invited in. Any other mindset going into a Pride as a cisgender raises the danger of cultural appropriation, and I would become the very thing I militate against.

As for the Three Lions, well, in Carragher's undying words, 'fuck it, it's only England'. While I became a supporter of England while I was losing interest in Romania's team, in the early 00s, I had grown out of it after seeing the poor treatment United players get when playing for country, having a palpable feeling of perennial incompetence and under-achievement from the various generations of players but most of all because of the sentiment of entitlement emanating from all the support of the England team, an extension of the entitlement I feel comes with the British passport and sharing with this the set of irrational beliefs in the superiority of all things Saxon with the only basis in reality happening too long ago to matter. Case in point, the cheesy (though relatively catchy) 'It's coming home' tune, implying that somehow the World Cup naturally belongs to England because they won it once 50 years ago. I can't get on board with that. Which makes me very ambivalent towards England's trajectory: I do like the enthusiasm that ripples to various social layers, I like the atmosphere of national celebration around the games and it is very good for football to gain support and popularity; but on the other hand, whenever anything good happens in relation to the England team it immediately gets endlessly repeated and blown out of proportion that a voice inside my head shouts loudly: 'Pull the cork out of your ass!'

For today though, not only did I want England to win, I thought they would, though I wasn't exactly sure how. With Sweden's unmovable 8-man defense, I estimated it will be a scruffy affair sorted wither by a lucky blow (or two, depending if Sweden got a look in or not) or it will go to penalties. Credit to Southgate and his boys though, they got the game by the scruff of the neck and sorted it before half-time. No credit to Sterling, however. Raheem Sterling is a selfish prick who's been given more chances that he deserves and only know how to waste balls, even in a 1-on-1 situation with the keeper. So a goal either side of the break within the hour spelt a comfortable final 30 minutes for the Three Lions, despite some convulsions of the Swedish hopes while dying. So England in the semifinals for the first time since 1990, though this time for dislocating the unmovable object of Sweden rather than bringing to a half the unstoppable force of Cameroon.

And to complete the final four Russia had to fight Croatia in a game during which I realized I want the Croatians to win more than I knew. Which made me rather fearful after Russia broke the deadlock via Cheryshev's wonder strike and once again when the game went to penalties which I wasn't able to watch live. I still think that overall Croatia was the better team and deserving to win, though I shall adjust my previous position in regard to them: while in the group stage Croatia recorded 3 wins, 7 goals scored and 1 conceded with a hammering of Argentina in the process, since then they haven't managed to win against inferior opposition, dropped their goal/game ration from 2.33 to 1.50 and needed penalties on both occasions. Which makes me think England actually has a chance. Not a big one, Croatia is still the better team, but they have lost speed and look like they might be running out of gas, while England are clicking into gear at the business end of the tournament.

Believe it or not, once the game was over I was actually sorry for Russia. The host played under suspicions of foul play ever since the World Cup started, yet we've seen no indication of that and the Putin and VAR memes only surfaced once, over a weak penalty claim by an otherwise poor Spanish team. What we have seen instead was a very well-organised team with players striving to do their best and with a few of them shining. None of the Russian players will make it to much of a better career than the one they have now, but the names of Dzyuba, Golovin, Cheryshev, Ignashevich or Dzagoev are now heard all over the world and this is giving Russia a good platfom on which to build a new, competitive generation. And beyond all of that, Smolov took my request: he attempted a panenka. It was a failed, poor attempt - a half-panenka of sorts - and it has ended up costing his country the qualification, but the guts required to attempt that - specially knowing ridicule is the obligatory consequence of failure - that's something to admire. As is Subasic, the Croatian keeper who saved Smolov's penalty and sat in goal through pain and muscle strains that appeared already towards the end of the 90 minutes. And it's not like he had nothing to do in extra-time. Half the goals have been scored in extra-time. But how does Croatia's tiredness bode for the game against England? We'll find out on Wednesday evening.

Eurozone

France - Uruguay 2-0
Belgium - Brazil 2-1

The path of defeat is a lonely one

Once again, this world cup lavishes upon us some wonderful, wonderful football. France - Uruguay, the first quarter-final, reaffirmed my opinion that France is the best team of the tournament. One of the games in which you're sorry one of the teams has to lose, specially when you think teams like Sweden are still in the competition. I expected France to edge it out, but despite the game being fairly balanced, the French were much more in control than I thought. Comfortable in possession, comfortable attacking, always finding spaces, great at taking a defender out, excellent understanding between the attacking players, Pogba, Giroud, Griezmann and Mbappe always knew exactly where each other was. Uruguay didn't play bad at all, but had a bit of a harder time to get into finishing situations. They missed the monster Cavani big time, and even though the 2-0 is harsh and not reflective of how close the game actually was, I'm left with the feeling that Uruguay played to their limit, whereas France was a gear or two below their top speed.

France taking the lead shortly before half time also didn't help much. Great corner, and great execution from Varane. The second goal... is a bit trickier. I'm very very sorry for Muslera, the predominant opinion seems to be he made a mistake, but Griezmann's shot was too powerful and the ball had too much of a spin to attempt a straight catch. It's a huge shame for his last contribution of note to the World Cup story to be this very weird goal, as at 32 I doubt Muslera will be called-up for the trip to Qatar in 2022. I would however, like to see everyone laughing at him attempting to stop that shot.

Pure class from Griezmann, choosing not to celebrate the goal, he understood perfectly how no one would like to be in that situation. And it was not an easy save, getting to the ball in the first place is an achievement.

My bet for the game was both teams to score, but unfortunately Tavarez's boys didn't even manage a thoroughly deserved consolation goal. France is in the semi-final where they will meet Belgium, weirdly enough.

Belgium beating Brazil is to me the biggest shock in the knock-out stages, a lot bigger than Russia beating Spain. And, if I said 2-0 was harsh for Uruguay, well, 2-1 is a very mild result for Brasil given how firmly out-classed they were. Belgium was incredibly well-organized and super-fast on the counter-attack, with Fellaini doing a great job in the middle and Lukaku being a constant source of danger for the Selecao defense. Silly own goal by Fernandinho and a super-strike by De Bruyne settled it, but Belgium could have scored a fair few more judging by the chances they got. Brazil didn't know what hit them, and they woke up really late to take the initiative in the game. The last half hour, specifically. Having not seen the last 20 minutes of the game or Renato Augusto's goal, I don't know how intense this pressure was going towards the final whistle, but obviously it didn't bear much fruit. Belgium is in the semi-final, and rightly so. They have been the best team in every game they played, whether the led from the start, struggled to break a defense or had to come back from two-goals down. Brazil didn't manage that.

Not coming home

Sweden - Switzerland 1-1
England - Colombia 1-1 (4-3 penalties)

Sweden - Switzerland was the battle of the undeserving, neither team having played well enough to reach the knock-out stage. I saw the game as going slightly Switzerland's way, as they seemed the better team, had a star player (Shaqiri) and a marginally better evolution in their group, drawing Brazil and beating an underachieving Serbia, albeit by a lucky shot in the last minute. Sweden, on the other hand, looked like a team almost incapable to score, and I still don't understand the miracle through which they beat Mexico 3-0 and topped their group. So I called the game for Switzerland, and I was wrong. Sweden was the team in charge of the proceedings, showing a lot more initiative going forward. The Swiss might've been the most talented bunch, but they hit a brick wall running into a very compact and rigid Swedish defense, made up of 8-9 people for the most part. While the Swiss didn't manage to pose much of a danger throughout, even after they fell behind, the Swedes did create chances in front of goal, but their finishers were so laughably incompetent that the shots went in any and all directions but the opposition goal. It was meant to be therefore a drag of a game, punctuated by the odd Shaqiri shot from distance and Swedish chance finalized with a shot gone horribly wrong, both teams looking very happy with a 0-0 that would keep them in the world cup 30 minutes more. Unless an accident happens, of course. And the accident did happen, a very weak, down the middle, on the keeper shot being deviated in his own goal by the unfortunate Akanji. For the remaining 30 minutes the Swiss did try and pull one back, but only halfheartedly. Or maybe this is all they can, sad as that might be for a team in the knock-out stages of the world cup. Either way, there was more drama in the last minute of the injury time than in the preceding 30, when Sweden almost got a penalty, cancelled correctly by VAR, as the contact was outside the box. I say 'contact', though what it was was a gentle push by Lang on substitute Thelin, another sample of Sunday League football, where the defender is unable to make a tackle and the forward would rather fall down than attempt a shot from an ideal position with just the keeper in front of him. Lang got a red card and everybody acted as if it matters. Sweden is in the quarter-finals and everyone wonders how.

They both reached for the ball

They will face England, another team that proved me wrong, as I thought they'd be taken out by Colombia. And to be fair, it wasn't far off. And yet, England did seem to be the more positive team, the one who, as the old cliche goes, wanted it more. Despite the absence of Jamie Rodriguez Colombia still poses the greater attacking threat and is the more organised team, but it doesn't feel like they trusted themselves to really go for it. They were the louder team, for sure, but fell prey to the unspectacular efficiency of Harry Kane. Clear penalty, and the Spurs forward moves to 6 goals for the tournament with his spot-kick that reverberated in all the pubs across the land. It was almost enough for England, almost being the key word, as Yerry Mina proved once again a key man for Colombia, scoring his third of the tournament in injury time. I absolutely loved Mina, one of my favorite players in this World Cup, all his goals coming in at crucial times. So to penalties it went, and the aforementioned noise in the pubs was reduced to a quiet murmur of resignation, specially after Henderson's miss, which I welcomed. It was Southgate and his boys who proved the more composed in the end though, with unlikely hero Jordan Pickford managing to keep out the last two penalties and become a folk hero in the process. I dismissed England's chances so far, but credit goes where credit is due - Southgate has done an excellent job with the material at his disposal.

Got this last quarter-final completely wrong, though I did pretty well on the other three. So here's how I think the last 8 will pan out: France-Uruguay is the tie with the most promise, and I think France will edge it, while Brazil will easily sail past Belgium. Croatia-Russia is where home advantage of any kind might prove decisive, but I'd still trust the Croatian team to go through, they're far superior to Russians. England will struggle, but I think they'll pass Sweden, only to lose to a Croatia that will reach a World Cup final for the first time. There, they'll face the winner, which will be decided from a mouth-watering, breath-taking semifinal: France-Brazil. I'm tipping France to win it as they have a more measured approach to their game, while matching the Brazilian in quality, both individual and as a team. Not particularly my favorites, but deserving champions.

Devil's diner

Brazil - Mexico 2-0
Belgium - Japan 3-2

Oh wow! What a beautiful day of football today, with the second half of Belgium - Japan the stuff of legends. Belgium tried to snooze their way through at cruise speed and almost got punished for it. In the first half Japan looked more like the attacking team, the team who actually wants to win the game. They had their chances too, with Courtois barely believing his luck when a ball slipped through his hands but no Japanese striker chased it. All in all though, the first half was... dynamic, yes, but nothing to write home about. It is immediately after the break that the show started, with Japan striking twice within five minutes. First goal, huge defensive mistake, Vertonghen failed to mark his man and Courtois jumped late after the goal. The second was just a beautiful strike, on a par with Modric's against Argentina and a candidate for the best goal of the tournament. No chance for any keeper against that shot. But the two goals did awake the Belgians, with Hazard hitting the post immediately after.

The devil was awake and looking for prey. Believe it or not, but even at 2-0 for Japan I thought the game is very much in the balance, but I knew Belgium needs to wake up fast if they are to win it. And I did not think they'll actually win it without extra time. I thought the Japanese legs will start to tire and the Red Devils will push and push. Well, the latter did happen, Lukaku also missing a good chance after an hour of play. But the Japanese held their own and they did carry on attacking up until the last minute, with the new boy Honda proving himself dangerous on a couple of occasions. It was going to be their undoing.

What they brought in stamina and enthusiasm though they lost in maturity and experience. Not sure they could've closed the game at 2-0, but they never gave it a shot. While the Japanese keeper gave a decent account of himself throughout, including a double save from Chadli and Lukaku in quick succession, his naivete got the better of him on the first Belgian goal. Vertonghen never meant to score and an experienced keeper would've chased that ball outside, but he lost his footing trying too hard to cover the short angle, when the biggest danger wasn't there. A beautiful goal, but one that the Samurai could've done without. 

The second Belgian goal, they couldn't have done much about. Two defenders jump with Fellaini for the cross. They reach to somewhere around his chest. Many people are doubting Fellaini's usefulness and ability, but those people don't understand the game of football very well. Today he completely revitalized the Belgian attack, together with the unlikely hero Chadli, from whom I would not have expected such heroics. Meanwhile, Alex Witsel was an illustrious nobody and De Bruyne struggled to find the magic touch. 

And the last goal, the one who broke the Japanese hearts, was a piece of beauty. Goal to goal in three passes, defense caught completely out of balance, easy tap in from, yes, Chadli. It mattered not which side of the final whistle the goal would've come. With the Belgians unleashed, the Japanese would not have lasted another 30 minutes of pressure, so penalties were out of the question. But just like Belgium didn't see the signs in the first half, when Japan came running out of the block-starters, the Japanese didn't see the warning to switch to cautious mode once the first Belgian goal got in.

Japan go home, but they do so along a huge cheers from the neutral and with a renewed capital of sympathy that is their usual lot at World Cups. And they can take this as a lesson, so that in 2022 they'll come prepared to qualify out of the group stage - maybe on a stronger claim than the fair-play rule - and be prepared to launch a more serious assault on the knock-out rounds, with a with to go one step further. Their horrible approach to the game against Poland is largely forgotten, though I have a feeling that the people of Senegal are also celebrating tonight.

Belgium meanwhile are getting ready to get their asses kicked by Brazil, who are sort of a Japan on steroids: same positive intent, but with a lot more efficiency, a lot more maturity and the quality and experience to at least match the likes of Lukaku, Hazard or De Bruyne.

All of that said, however, Brazil also struggled to get past Mexico today, a lot more than the scoreline suggests. It was a very well balanced game, with both sides looking for the killer blow the second they stepped on the pitch, both sides finding spaces and the keepers being kept busy for 90 minutes. Mexico were really unlucky to meet Brazil so early in the competition, they could've easily done aside with 11 out of the other 14 teams in this round (France, Uruguay and Croatia the troublemakers). They gave it a go, we saw a good game and they had their chances, but despite his primadonna shenanigans, that Neymar dude is fast. Chicarito and Carlos Vela are good players, but a class below Neymar or Jesus. They too return home on a Mexican wave (see what I did there?) of sympathy, but knowing they should've stayed that little bit longer. 

So who will beat Brazil? Not Belgium, that's for sure. 

Shoot out

Russia - Spain 1-1 (4-3 penalties)
Croatia - Denmark 1-1 (3-2 penalties)

'Shock' was the most common word I've seen used to describe Russia's elimination of Spain, and it leaves me baffled. Russia had two very good games, scoring 8 and conceding one, looked like a vary in-form team and came to a pitch they know well with a full and vocal backing of the whole stadium and the country behind it. Yes, they lost to a very good Uruguayan team a game that didn't matter. But Spain was completely unconvincing after being dominated by Portugal, squeezing out a rather undeserved win against Iran and incapable of beating Morocco, in front of who they've fallen behind twice. Most pundits and onlookers are probably still talking about the Spanish team that won a World Cup and two European Championships in quick succession. But the last of those was six years ago and that team is long gone, and the Iniesta you see now is far from the Iniesta of 2010. Instead, what's left is a team of valuable under-achievers still trying to play according to a method that was never efficient, passing the ball on the width of the pitch but without the pace, velocity or efficiency of the team that had 80 percent possession against Germany in the semifinal 8 years ago. When you think Spain, think the days of Butragueno and Zubizareta rather than Xavi and Puyol. A lot more accurate.

Yes, of course they dominated Russia, but they needed a very awkward own goal to open scoring and they looked confused and without a plan once Russia equalized. It was a penalty on Pique's high above the head hand and no, it was not a penalty in the 115th minute for Spain, the tackle was very much on the ball. The Putin VAR jokes are funny, but completely missing the mark. 

The Croatia game was a lot more surprising to me. I called Croatia to win in 90 minutes, and I'm very surprised they didn't. Potentially the Croatians under-estimated their opposition?

When you score a goal in the first few minutes of a game, most of the time luck is involved, and luck was fully involved in the Danes scoring just before the first minute of play was up. But greatness often becomes evident in adversity, and it took the Croatians just 3 minutes to pull level. From then on it was more or less one direction, with just Ericksen missing a half-chance for Denmark towards the end of the 90 minutes. I really like a good few of the danish players, and I believe they have a fair amount of talent in their squad, but as a team they're not working. They were poor in the group stage and when the keeper is your best man you usually have a problem. I feel for Schmeichel, of course I do, and of course this is on account of his father, 'cause I see no reason to care about a blonde prick who played for City and Leicester otherwise, but it's way to little to warrant Denmark a pass against a very good team. Croatia's attacking talent is downright scary, and if anything in this game was a steal, I feel that was Modric missing the penalty in extra time. poor shot, but it shows the experience of the Madrid midfielder that he was able to keep cool-blooded and composted enough to score in the shootout. A very spectacular shootout otherwise (both of them have been spectacular), but it should've never gotten that far. Credit to Schmeichel for a very good game, but the better team won. I can see Croatia reaching the final.

GOAT on Earth

France - Argentina 4-3
Uruguay - Portugal 2-1

So here I am, in the avant-garde, after the picture on my post yesterday got replicated in various forms AFTER the games that sealed the return home of the two most over-hyped footballers of our time (yeah, sorry Neymar).

But my God, what games! If these two are an indication of what the knock-out rounds are going to be like, this might be arguably the most spectacular World Cup I have seen. 

Due to work constraints I could only watch the first half of France-Argentina. As in, the one with 2 out of 7 goals, one of them penalty. But as anticipated, France always looked like the better team. What I had no idea about was Mbappe. I mean, sure, people say he's a great player but wow! That pace, strength and vision, unstoppable. That 60 yards sprint to get the first penalty was out of this world. So was, if I'm honest, Di Maria's goal, but while France did show a clear game plan, it is just as clear that Sampaoli is in over his head, with not much of a technique to his managing than 'give it to Messi'. Oh, by the way, did you notice Messi played yesterday? 

Oh, sorry, I'm being mean. There was no way you couldn't have noticed. After all, it's all the cameras were pointing at. And of course, the endless chorus of 'But the goal against Nigeria...' is bound to start every time you point out that the greatest players of the game are expected to perform on the greatest stages, and that Maradona will always have this:

Pictured: not Messi

While I had little doubt about France, Uruguay - Portugal was a much closer call. Portugal is a good team, full of flair and playing spectacularly and maybe deserving of better results throughout the three group games. Uruguay have somewhat dragged their feet throughout an otherwise easy group, but always in control, never in danger of not qualifying. It looks like somehow they did just enough to win, but it was obvious there's more in the tank. Similar to France, in a way, except when they saw Ronaldo in front of their eyes, Cavani and co wasted no time and went straight at it. The first goal is a real masterpiece. Not only the final execution, brilliant as it was, but the whole build-up, with two crosses over the whole width of the pitch, both of them absolutely pin-pointed. The Portugese defense was absolutely stunned by the precision of Suarez's ball, that's why Cavani was completely undistrurbed. Hell, so beautiful is this Uruguayan team, even Suarez looks like a nice guy in a blue shirt.

Credit to Portugal, they did contribute to making it a good game, and they had a fair bit of the initiative coming out for the second half, which materialized in the equalizer after 10 minutes. Like Argentina, Portugal do seem to be over-reliant on the star player, but unlike Argentina, Fernando Santos has also put some back-up plans in place. Not enough to outsmart Tabarez, who might not be able to walk properly, but has a very functional football brain. As soon as they were equalized, Uruguay got back into pressuring the Portugese and they got back in the lead, and in control of the game just like in the first half, after 7 minutes of play. Another beautiful Cavani execution, this time an individual effort with a trajectory drawn as beautiful as a renaissance painting.

The last minutes of the game looked a bit like the final rounds of a heavyweight boxing bout, with both teams dropping the guard and looking for the finishing punch. Portugal was the more desperate, obviously, so Uruguay had to absorb some of the pressure, but their counter-attacking was as dangerous as the bite of a venomous snake. Rui Patricio, the Portugese keeper, played as a second striker for the last few minutes of the game, and Quaresma ran his heart off, which is a bit ironic when you realize how out of habit it is. Still, not enough to yield anything material, so it is the good South American team that advances to the quarter-finals.

Uruguay - France? Too tough to call, but it's a finger-licking game for the neutrals.

Last round

Wanna catch a flight together?

So we've been going at a speed of four games per day this past week and it's proved a lot for me to keep up with seeing them, never mind writing about them. But I will do a quick round-up together with my predictions for the last 16 round, as the most important reader of this blog is none of the 50 or so viewers, at least half of which I suspect are bots looking for keywords, but myself in 4 years' time. No disrespect to anyone, and I'm really grateful you're reading this, but come on, we both know there's better coverage out there. What we won't know, come Qatar 2022, is how I was feeling about these games 4 years ago.

Group A: Whatever Russia does, it feels dodgy. After playing amazing against Saudi Arabia and Egypt, they were totally outclassed by an Uruguay that was rather unconvincing against those same opponents. Saving money on the refs? Drugs ran out? No idea, but a 3-0 scoreline is not in line with what we've seen in the first two games. This is the kind of shit a computer would red-flag. Anyway, not much difference whether you play against Spain or Portugal in the next round, so there you go. In other news, the brilliant Mo Salah goes home without a point and beaten by a very poor Saudi team, leaving us to wonder what was Egypt doing at this World Cup in the first place.

Group B: In line with the whole round, Group B has also been, in many ways, a festival of incompetence. You would've thought Iran, needing to beat Portugal to qualify, would really give it a go. Not the case, and they were as lucky as their opponents were incompetent for getting a draw. Penaldo missing a penalty and Quaresma... did you know Quaresma is still playing? I would've thought he retired sometime at the beginning of the decade. Meanwhile Spain needed a last-minute equalizer against mighty Morocco. But hey-ho, last time they had such trouble with Morocco they wrote El Cid, so maybe some good literature will come out of it.

Group C: Oh, God, Australia! Beat Peru and hope for a favor from France,  this is how you do it! I was hoping there's more fight in the Aussies, there usually is, but when you're 2-0 down and your only idea is to bring 38yo Cahill in, you probably don't deserve to go through. Neither did Denmark, but France chose the path of 'just enough' to go through this otherwise very poor group.

Group D: How spectacular would've been for Argentina to go home! And out of the many ways in which to achieve this, exactly 0 materialized. Croatia minded their football, and Iceland's bravery was only enough for the first game, as their last two came to nothing, while the Super Eagles crashed in front of a rather lucky shot from Rojo. I'm really happy for Rojo, but I don't think Argentina deserved to go through after a meek display against Iceland and presenting the Croatian tornado with the strength of a damp cloth. Croatia to win the World Cup? They seem cocky enough.

Group E: Beating Brazil is always a tough call, but I feel like the Serbs got a bit too scared of the reputation more than anything else. Specially with this Brazilian team, that's got more flair than substance. Neymar is always up for a trick, but hardly ever in a mood to help the team. Could someone maybe tell him that the other 10 dudes in similar shirts are there to work with him? Serbia had a few good chances, but you are playing Brazil, and you do need a win, so it's gotta be the match of your life. This did not feel like the match of their lives, as convenient as excuse losing to Brazil might be. Switzerland goes through thanks to a lucky Shaqiri shot against Serbia and a half of anti-football against Brazil after the Zuber header. 

Group F: Oh, wow! Talk about the festival of incompetence! No idea what happened to Germany, but more than that, whatever happened to Mexico? Only saw Germany's first half against South Korea and none of the Sweden-Mexico game, but it feels like the results have been swapped somehow. So now we know: the Germans don't always win and certainly they won't win this tournament.

Group G: Hyped as a race to the bottom, in which allegedly both Belgium and England wanted to lose just so they won't play Brazil sometime in the tournament. Well, if you wanna win the goddamn thing you're gonna have to either play Brazil or some dudes that beat them. So that's irrelevant for everyone but the English media. Never mind how disrespectful to the game is starting a match you're not trying to win - why bother showing up then? As for cold calculations... would you rather play Colombia or Japan?

Group H: This was always bound to be an interesting, but the poor Polish display as well as Japan's miraculous win against Columbia made it unpredictable too. Hard to say who was the more deserving to qualify, harder still to say who should've won. Japan's display of 'whatever, we've got less yellow cards' was dreadful and earned them no sympathy from the neutrals, while Senegal's loss, what with the penalty cancelled (correctly) because of VAR and all, made me sad as it sealed a knock-out round without any African team, first time since 1982. Pele's prediction of an African team winning it by 2010 looks awkwardly out of place now, what with new colonialism attracting all African talent towards European teams. Yes, Boateng, including you.

Spectacular and unpredictable so far, this World Cup, highly enjoyable in unexpected ways, though lacking sometimes in that sort of willpower that makes up for lack of skill. See Costa Rica 2014, Ghana 2010, Turkey 2002 and so on. And because I got 11 out of the last 16 teams right, I'll try my hand at the quarter-finals predictions:

France - Argentina: Clear call for France. Argentina's been poor, while the French seem to still have the breaks on. About time they come off, the confidence and the skill are there.

Uruguay - Portugal: One of the toughest. I'll say Uruguay because, if nothing else, Portugal couldn't beat Iran while Los Celestes might be led by a guy needing help walking, but they can call on all 44 limbs on the pitch.

Spain - Russia: Hosts going through would not surprise me in the least. Tough one, but I'll risk a few quids on the underdodgies here. Sorry, I meant underdogs.

Croatia - Denmark: Not only do I think Croatia will fly through, I hope they'll smash Denmark to pieces. No sympathy for the Danes, as they deserved maybe one of the 5 points they got in the group stage.

Brazil - Mexico: Uhh... I'm feeling it for the underdogs, looks like. I mean, it's hard, but wouldn't it be nice?

Belgium - Japan: Yeah, they'll run around you, try to get into space, but so do mosquitoes. And Lukaku ain't having any of that mosquito shit.

Sweden - Switzerland: Swoosh! Whoever wins will wonder how they got thus far, specially with England lying in wait. I'm going for the Swiss, they actually have footballers in their team.

Colombia - England: Just joking, El Tigre is in need of a new contract, looks like. Bet you'll regret that weakened side against Belgium after you'll lose this one, eh, Gareth?

El tigre esta vivo

England - Panama 6-1 (Stones '8 '40, Kane pen '22 pen '45 '62, Lingard '36 - Baloy '78)
Japan - Senegal 2-2 (Inui '34, Honda '78 - Mane '11, Wague '71)
Poland  - Columbia 0-3 (Mina '40, Falcao'70, Cuadrado '75)

You wouldn't believe it going by the reputation, but I sometimes find it incredible how moody this country is. The victory against Panama yesterday was nothing short of a national celebration, with flags on display on cars and balconies, people smiling and cheering everywhere and England shirts proudly brandished across the land. Brexit? Pound dropping? The March on Westminster the day before? Pressure on the NHS? Fuck all that, we beat Panama! After the likely defeat against Belgium the regular program will resume. In truth, England did look like they were enjoying themselves and, poor quality opposition aside, they might really feel able to contend this year. Maybe because it looks more like a team and less like a collection of egos? Happy for Jesse, his goal will certainly be a 'goal of the tournament' contender, happy for Panama who did manage to get their first goal in the World Cup and, with a bit of luck, they might even get a point against Tunisia, if they manage to come up with something other than 'push everyone to the ground' as defensive tactics.

Group H is the most exciting of the World Cup, with Japan the big surprise. Senegal played better than against Poland, I thought, and they did seem to be the superior side, but not by a large enough margin as to win the game. Only saw the highlight of what looked to be a very good and disputed game, but the draw means that Japan, not Senegal, is now the favorite to qualify.

Because yes, I don't think Senegal will beat Columbia, specially after the good display the South Americans put in to batter Poland to pieces. Very disappointing performance from what's supposed to be something of a golden generation for Poland. Non-existent against Columbia, while a team boasting Jamie Rodriguez, Cuadrado and Falcao in their attacking line-up ran riot and might as well win the group despite losing the first game. Doesn't make much difference, the choice is between Belgium and England in the knock-out round, they only need to beat Senegal. Which is likely, but not easy. Let's see which Falcao turns up.

VAR Politics

Belgium - Tunisia 5-2 (Hazard pen '6 '51, Lukaku '16 '45, Batshuayi '90 - Bronn '18, Khazri '90+3)
South Korea - Mexico 1-2 (Son '90 - Vela pen '26, Hernandez '66)
Germany - Sweden 2-1 (Reus '48, Kroos '90 - Toivonen '32)

Look, we need to talk about these penalties. I've said before, there will still be errors as long as the human factor is involved and I don't really envision a game without a central referee, so I don't think there'll ever be a way that the game is completely error-free. But the truth of the matter is there seem to be LESS errors with VAR than without. This is a common and baffling oversight whenever it comes to computer and automation in any area: computers don't have to be perfect and can't be perfect; they just need to be better than humans at the particular job they're meant for, and more often than not they are. Yet we do insist to holding technology responsible for these absurdly high standards while we go on with our deeply flawed processes; this is not reason, it's just resistance to change.

I think VAR is good and it has been beneficial for this tournament; I think it will be used more and more and it will become the norm in the not too far future, but I also think it will change the game in ways we can't yet know. The first effect of VAR - penalties. There's a lot more of them around than have ever been in a World Cup. Good or bad? Well, if it's an infraction the appropriate penalty should be handed out. BUT! While running a red light is an offence, there's a difference between running a red light on an empty street at 2am and racing past a red light through a crowded junction at rush hour. Same goes for penalties and I know this might sound absurd now, but hear me out here: how about we change the rules so we have different value penalties? Like, penalties that are worth half a goal or something?

Because, come on! There's a difference between when a striker is clear on goal and is tackled and brought down from behind and when a defender can't pull his hand back on time. I believe both penalties yesterday are debatable: the foul on Hazard was clearly outside the box. I'm surprised the ref didn't want to use VAR for it and was so categorical about the penalty - I didn't think it was. Which is a shame, because Belgium would've won anyway, but with that penalty after 5 minutes their job was made too easy and while we still got to see a very entertaining football game, the scoreline might be a little unfair to Tunisia. The Mexican penalty was an obvious one, but still harsh on the poor South Korean defender, whose intention about touching the ball with his hand is debatable at most. I think no penalty for Sweden against Germany and I also think no penalty for Neymar when he fell in the box against Costa Rica. Same reason: there's enough contact to stop the attacker getting to the ball, but not enough contact to take him down. A player is allowed to use his body to obstruct an opponent from getting to the ball.

'It really is 24 inches long'

I'm very glad Lukaku scored another brace, putting him level with Ronaldo on 4 for the tournament now. This spells trouble for Iran, because the only team talk Fernando Santos needs now is to go to Ronaldo and whisper in his ear: 'Lukaku has as many goals as you do'. Very entertaining game, the Belgium one, albeit a bit harsh on the poor Tunisians. Always caught on the wrong foot in defence and thoroughly incapable of containing the Belgian threat. It was, however, funny to see Batshuayi struggle to score so much, and that chot over the bar from 6 yards will be replayed in bloopers compilations many years on now. Great to see Tunisia scored twice too, giving the game some semblance of competition, and also great to see Fellaini on the pitch for a bit. And superb scenes after the game with Lukaku consoling the poor Khazri. There's grace in winning, grace in losing, and class to have them on display.

South Korea was never going to trouble Mexico, but they gave it a go. As I said above, unlucky with the penalty, but it would have gone in sooner or later anyway. I think Chicharito got it wrong for his goal though: perfect opportunity for a one touch shot, risky to do the dribbling. He was lucky it worked out on this occasion, but it gave the defender an extra chance. The Koreans gave it their all but couldn't get near Mexico, which has been so far one of the best teams in the tournament. Moon tried a cheeky back-heel, which takes guts when you're on the brink of elimination from the World Cup, and Son missed a good chance before finally scoring to save face for his team. But that was it. Enjoy the game against Germany, try not to be completely humiliated, then go home.

The top billing in the group was worthy of the headline. Not sure what's happening to the Germans, but they're not feeling well. Sweden was poor in the first game and was nothing to write home about yesterday. Yet they troubled Loew and his boys beyond what was normal, scoring first, dominating the first half and having a claim to a penalty that, as mentioned earlier, I don't think it was. It took half time and the introduction of Mario Gomez to change anything. Granted, Gomez changed the dynamics of the game and made the equalizing goal within 3 minutes. From here on, Sweden knew what to expect, even if they didn't want to admit it. Credit to them, they held on up until almost the very end, and a draw would have put Germany in a spot of bother. But look at Toni Kroos' strike again: he saw the angle, he knew he needed and extra yard or so, he put the ball exactly where he wanted it then... that was not a shot, that was an execution. Great players show themselves in moments like this, but even so, to be so calm and so self-assured with so much hanging in the balance - it's almost otherworldly. That's why I wouldn't even think Kroos' goal have a shot for the goal of the tournament - the man did it with such cool composed calm that he looked like he was in training. That goal can only be appreciated when put in context.

Now, much as I feel sorry for Larsson and Zlatan, I'm glad Germany, and not Sweden, will qualify from the group. The Swedes are simply undeserving. They will not beat Mexico, and Germany sure as hell will not lose to South Korea. But as it stands we're looking at a Brazil - Germany game in the last 16, and that's going to be really interesting.

Plot twists

Brazil - Costa Rica 2-0 (Coutinho '90, Neymar '90)
Nigeria - Iceland 2-0 (Musa '49 '75)
Serbia - Switzerland 1-2 (Mitrovic '5 - Xhaka '52, Shakiri '90)

Oh no, Iceland! The result today is discouraging for the smallest nation in the competition. They only needed to ride out this game without losing and they were in prime position to go through. Now everyone will be fancying their chances and despite Iceland having apparently the toughest game in the group, Croatia is as good as qualified. That doesn't necessary mean they'll step aside, but there's no hiding for Iceland: you have to go for a win. I haven't watched any of the game against Nigeria yet, but though I am looking forward to it. I imagine Iceland set out to defend for dear life and the Nigerian goals were individual achievements. Truth is, you can draw Argentina all you want, but there does come a time when you have to go after the game, when you have to attack and try and score goals. Despite their enthusiasm, Iceland might not be best equipped to do this.

Same goes for Costa Rica. They were just as poor as in the first game, setting up to keep bodies behind the ball at all times. Didn't work against Serbia and it wasn't going to work against Brazil. Well, it almost did. But almost is the key word here, with the pressure always intensifying as time runs out. It's not really an accident Brazil did score in the end, more often than not it happens. And the fact that they scored two goals in quick succession shows the fury and the pace at which they were attacking. Yes, Costa Rica did have the best chance of the first half, when Ruiz stretched Becker, but even a one goal advantage can be overturned if all you do afterwards is defend.

Neymar is right to be frustrated, he was fouled all over the place, but the ref was right not to grant a penalty when the two Costa Rican defenders ambushed him in the box in the 78th minute. There was contact, yes, even enough contact to cause him to fall, but it did look like the defender set his body to stop Neymar from advancing rather than to try and take him down. 

All's well that ends well, however, and Brazil are now in a good position to qualify. They still have to beat Serbia to win the group, and that's not going to be easy, but by the same token I have the feeling the Serbs won't go for the defensive outfit.

They did drop the ball massively today though. Scored after 4 minutes, brilliant textbook goal, completely in control of the first half, they must've spent half-time wondering who they'll meet in the knock-outs. Might as well be the flight attendants now, because sometimes football can be cruel like that. In the second half different teams came out of the dressing rooms, and the Swiss were all over the place, pushing and pushing. Xhaka's brilliant volley leveled the things up shortly after the interval and, heart-breaking as it might be to get a goal right at the death, it is the punishment for not planning contingency. It's a sticky one for the Serbs now, as they'll have to beat a Brazilian team in need of points to be sure of qualifying. They'll be heroes if they do, and it will be interesting to see if Brazil will be holding out for a draw that will see them through. The Swiss are now favorites to win the group, but we're in for a very interesting last round here.

The call of the Andes

Denmark - Australia 1-1 (Eriksen '7 - Jedinak pen '38)
France - Peru 1-0 (Mbappe '34)
Argentina Croatia 0-3 (Rebic '53, Modric '80, Rakitic '90)

Denmark is the perfect example of how one can qualify from a group without deserving it the least bit. To sit under the cover of that one second of inspiration from Eriksen and be thoroughly dominated by Australia is almost cheating. To not show any sort of determination of will to play anything resembling football is an insult to everyone watching and I hope the Danes will be ashamed of themselves, because that was appalling. With the point against Australia they are now in a more comfortable position than they ever deserved and it is a great, great shame the Aussies didn't manage to snatch the victory in the end, a victory they would have fully deserved and they worked for way more than their opponents.

Now, was that a penalty? I'm inclined to say yes, though I will admit an argument to the contrary can be made. Fact of the matter is, the rules of the game are not clear at all in regards to 'intention to touch the ball' and 'natural position of the hand'. My rule of thumb is, if the hand is away from the body, you're always in danger of conceding a handball, and players must surely know this. No idea what Poulsen intended, but sure as hell he didn't regret hitting the ball with his hand. Or wouldn't have, should the penalty not have been awarded. Poulsen is a good player and his goal against Peru might just see Denmark through, but he is also responsible for penalties in both their games so far. That is an indication of immaturity in the game, and my good opinion of him after watching only the second half against Peru has toned down a lot by now. 

Australia might fare a lot better if Jedinak would at least try and smile every now and then. Too tense, mate, too tense. Beating Peru is still a big ask, even with the South Americans out of the competition, but I hope they can pull it off while Denmark gets a battering from France. I really, really feel for the Blanquirrojas, they deserved to qualify and it would be a real shame for their supporters to go home without a point, even though in this instance is for the greater good.

But that missed penalty proved their undoing and, unfortunate as it might be that your fate as a team hinges on such a brief moment, it's been known to happen and the Peruvian players along with the whole country that provided them a huge support so far are now learning a painful lesson about the cold-blooded pragmatism needed to go forward in a World Cup.

To be fair, they never looked like beating France, but they gave a good account of themselves. The French, meanwhile, won their first two games and are poised to win the group. Small margins, but there's something to be said about preservation of energy as well when you knew Argentina might lie in wait in the first knock-out round.

Now, about that...

One of only two players to have missed a penalty in this World Cup so far has to beat Nigeria and hope for the best from the other games to see quarter-final football. Of course, he can't do it by himself. He can't seem to do anything by himself, save for maybe sabotage the tactics of his entire team by always asking for the ball, then losing it. Truth to be said, the Croatians didn't give him too many chances to see the ball, so he lost a lot less than against Iceland.

Delightful, absolutely delightful the way Croatia just brushed past Argentina. Modric and co look a very strong proposition, and won't say no to repeating the semi-final worthy performance of 1998 when they eliminated Romania in the last 16, the bastards. Just as long as they don't meet France in the first knock-out game, though it will take some huge upsets for that to happen at this stage.

Both Croatia and Argentina showed a very strong, manly, almost brutal football at times, but it was all pleasant to the eye, it showed they're really going for it and not there just for a trip on the Federation's expense, like the Danes. The lesson to be learned for Argentina is be more disciplined and don't make silly errors, Caballero! And for the love of God, drop Messi from the team.