Quote
“Look, this is a football game. Okay, so the message is this is a football game. It is a football game and we will be playing against a very tough opponent. This is a football game and that’s all.” – Argentina’s coach Lionel Scaloni suggesting that Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against England will be just, well, a football game. He is, of course, wrong. It’s much more important than that.
Number: 50.94
That’s the percentage chance Opta give England of beating Argentina – and Opta know things. It’s coming home, you know.
Hideous hindsight
There are times when reporters pine for the days when something they’ve written would safely be tomorrow’s fish and chip paper. But then along came the internet and, as we know, the internet is forever.
Spare a thought, then, for the poor English reporter who is currently waxing lyrical about Jude Bellingham’s rather fine contribution to England’s march through the World Cup, but is being reminded at every turn of an article he wrote back in November – which, alas, is still available online.
READ MORE
Yes, he suggested that Thomas Tuchel should omit “divisive soloist” Bellingham from his World Cup squad because “his ridiculous antics threaten England’s shot at glory”.
Are we going to name and shame this reporter? Heck no. Glasshouses, stones, etc.
They’re rowing home
Word of mouth
“If the ball touched the cable, then the cable had a better performance than Madueke, for sure.” – Zlatan Ibrahimovic suggesting that that Spidercam cable had a bigger impact on the England v Norway game than Noni Madueke. He has a point.
“Whatever.” – Jude Bellingham’s response to hearing that Tuchel suggested England had been lucky to beat Norway. ‘Whatever’ is, of course, an Oasis tune, so expect it to replace ‘Wonderwall’ if football returns home.
“My mum’s been telling me all week to watch my language, watch my tackles, watch my face, watch with my emotions.” – Jude again, this time saluting his Ma for helping him avoid a yellow card against Norway, which would have ruled him out of the semi-final. The moral of the story? Always listen to your Ma.
“It is a shame that Senne just couldn’t catch that ball, but that’s football. It shouldn’t be blamed on him.” – Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois in no way at all, at all, blaming Senne Lammens, who replaced him for their defeat to Spain due to injury.
Fifa flogging the grass
If you have €2,585 in loose change – and sure look, who doesn’t? – we have good news: Fifa are flogging the grass from the World Cup final pitch. There are cheaper options, but for €2,585 you will get a limited edition “luxury collectible elevating the display experience”, whatever that means.
Be warned, the bit of grass you’ll get won’t cover your entire back garden, unless it’s the size of a 3”x3”x3” cube, but you’ll also get a gold-etched metal souvenir ticket, a crystal-cut glass World Cup trophy, which appears to be the size of a thumbnail, and a mini replica World Cup final ball, all presented in a “luxury” wooden box.
One curious note, though, which might have those alleging that this World Cup is fixed wiggling their eyebrows. The final result of the World Cup final is printed on top of the box: Team A 1, Team B 3. Team B will be England or Argentina, but don’t tell France or Spain, or they might not turn up.
Studied technique
Open invite
Once again, Gianni Infantino is not ruing out the possibility of the World Cup becoming a 64-team tournament.
“It is definitely an issue that will be examined and discussed in the relevant committees after this World Cup,” he said last week. “This is a tournament for the whole world, not just Europe and South America.”
At this rate, he might as well go the whole hog, scrap the qualifiers and let all 211 nations in the world rankings join the party.
On second thought, don’t give him any ideas.
World Cup Wallchart
