There was, you might have noted, a mountain of chat about altitude issues in advance of England’s game against Mexico, but it left some folk a little confused.
Liam Gallagher: “Every time I’ve been to Mexico, everyone’s been lovely. I don’t get all this bad attitude nonsense; it’ll be fine.”
Reply: “I think it’s ‘altitude’, not ‘attitude’.”
Gallagher: “Ah okay got ya ffs I’ve been sitting here scratching my head.”
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Flavour of the tournament? Not Infantino
You might have noticed that the cameras at these World Cup games are always rather eager to pick out Fifa president Gianni Infantino sitting on his throne, looking on. But according to Copa90 presenter Eli Mengem, broadcasters are actually obliged to show the fella, lest we viewers think he isn’t turning up for any games, maybe hanging out at the White House instead.
“I have been told by someone [very] reliable in the broadcasting world, the answer is yes, once per half,” Mengem said of this requirement. “They don’t show it in the stadium, though, due to the booing,” he said.
He’s some lad, Infantino.
Cape Verde put the boot into Messi
Imagine if you weren’t a football fan, so chose the time Cape Verde were playing Argentina to do a little grocery shopping. And found yourself in the store just as Lopes Cabral scored a worldie to equalise against Messi and Co.
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“They asked for my jersey, everything – on the field, they kicked the crap out of me.” – Lionel Messi reflecting fondly on his meeting with Cape Verde.
Number: 18
That’s how many days Herve Renard lasted as Tunisia manager, resigning after taking over from Sabri Lamouchi, who was sacked after their opening 5-1 defeat by Sweden. Short, but not so sweet.
Word of Mouth
“We showed that we are not only a team who plays flashy attacking football – we know how to play ugly football. If we have to put our hands in the s**t, we will put our hands in the s**t. They thought we’d show up in tuxedos, make some fancy moves, but football’s not just that.” – Kylian Mbappé on how France survived that, eh, tussle with Paraguay.
“I would have got four red cards in that game.” – Zlatan Ibrahimovic on how he would have fared if he’d come up against Paraguay.
“You can’t expect to win anything with a 41-year-old leading the attack. The ego is holding the team hostage. At this point, his aura is supporting him more than his legs. Continuing to start him is pure nostalgia-driven madness.” – Zlatan again, this time on Cristiano Ronaldo – who will now, inevitably, score a hat-trick against Spain.
“He hugged me and said: ‘You are great. Your people should be proud of you’. That was incredible for me. Hearing words like that from someone like Leo Messi means a lot to me.” – Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, making us love the Messi man even more.
“Man, we were the better team. We were the much better team in the first half, and even at the beginning of the second half. It was one play that made it 1-0, otherwise the game was ours. I’d rather be us than them!” – Jesse Marsch after his Canadian side lost (checks notes) 3-0 to Morocco.
“I am 100 per cent sure I am not a genius, but at the same time, I am 100 per cent sure I am not a fool.” – Carlo Ancelotti putting himself somewhere in the middle of the smarts scale.
“In Italy, they say that all men want to be coaches and all women architects. I don’t know if I understand football or not; the only thing that’s certain is that I’ve prepared for over 1,400 matches. That may not be enough to understand football, but it’s certainly a good amount of experience.” – Carlo again, this time with a message for his critics in Brazil.
World Cup wall chart
