DOHA, Qatar | A World Cup month has its share of events. Here are some of the moments that have been remembered through all the flood of information. We tell you about surprises, beautiful moments, big names and premature departures.
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Finally a goal!
In its only previous appearance at the World Cup, in 1986, Canada was shut out in three games. In Qatar, he was cleared only during his first outing despite three defeats. It was Alphonso Davies who scored the first ever goal for the Canadian men’s World Cup team beating Dominik Livakovic of Croatia after just over a minute of play. Canada then lost the game 4 to 1.
The group of death
Unknowingly, Canada found themselves in the group of death as the two teams that came out of Group F, Morocco and Croatia, both reached the semi-finals. It gives some perspective on Canada’s performance in this first World Cup appearance in 36 years. In fact, Morocco and Croatia met in the small final, an undeniable sign that Canada had not picked the right number.
The big surprise
We were treated to a huge surprise on the third day of the tournament when Saudi Arabia beat Argentina 2-1 in a courageous display that lifted neighboring country Qatar. The performance caused so much astonishment and above all delight that the Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, declared a public holiday the following day.
Other surprises
It was the World of surprises. Of these, we can cite Australia who were able to qualify for the round of 16 in a group that included France, Denmark and Tunisia. Two other nice surprises, the presence of two African teams in the round of 16, Morocco and Senegal.
Enthusiastic Morocco
File photo, WENN.com
Another surprise at the head of a group, Morocco, which finished first in group F in which was also Canada, but especially Belgium and Croatia. The Moroccans excelled in defensive play, allowing just one goal in the group stage, one against Canada. They continued their good work with shutouts in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. Their journey came to a halt in the semi-finals, but they gave France a hard time and earned a ton of respect.
Disappointments
Several big cars have disappointed during this World Cup for their simple inability to cross the group stage. There is of course Belgium, which we knew to be fragile, Mexico which is not at the top of its game and Denmark which is still a little on the edge, but there is above all Germany which, for a second World Cup immediately, do not leave the groups. German football will have to question itself.
Japan surprises
Japan doesn’t have a bad soccer team, but no one was predicting first place in a group that also included Spain and Germany. The Japanese cemented their first position by defeating these two rivals despite a possession rate of 17% and 26%.
two more
PHOTO FROM THE GULF TIMES WEBSITE
This World Cup will have been difficult for the journalistic brotherhood since Grant Wahl is not the only one to have died there. Khalid al-Misslam, a local video journalist, as well as Roger Pearce, a technical director for British broadcaster ITV, also died during the tournament. That’s all it took to raise doubts.
deserved punishment
During the match between Canada and Croatia, the Canadian goalkeeper, Milan Borjan, was the target of insults from the Croats who were behind his net. A racist banner aimed directly at him. Borjan was born in a Serbian region of Croatia when Yugoslavia still existed. His family fled the country, eventually settling in Canada. FIFA has fined the Croatian Football Federation 50,000 Swiss francs (CA$72,500) for the actions.
of humanism
We were treated to touching scenes during the last group stage match between the United States and Iran. It must be said that the tournament was not easy for the Iranians since the situation has been very unstable at home since September, so their elimination hurt. The American players quickly stopped celebrating their victory and went to console their Iranian rivals, with most lying on the ground and in tears. There is enough to restore our faith in humanity.
The worst host
We could talk about the reasons why Qatar should not have presented the World Cup, but we will stick to the sporting results here. Qatar became the first host country to lose their opening match, be eliminated after two games, finish last in their group and conclude the group stage with a grand total of 0 points. A historic performance.
swan song
We can think that it was a last lap at the World Cup for several important players and of the lot, Lionel Messi is the one who will have stretched the experience the longest. It would be surprising to see Luka Modric, who is 37 years old, again. The same goes for Cristiano Ronaldo, also 37, who incidentally has had a very limited role with Portugal this year, being used as a substitute most of the time. Belgian Eden Hazard has already announced his international retirement. We can also wonder about a return of Neymar in four years since he has cast doubt on his international career.
Shock
The media community in Qatar was shocked when fellow American Grant Wahl collapsed during the quarter-final match between Argentina and the Netherlands at Lusail Stadium. Presumably the victim of a cardiac arrest, the man who had just turned 48 had complained of health problems in the previous days. It was learned a few days later that he had succumbed to an aortic aneurysm. He had been very critical of Qatar in recent years and had even been arrested and briefly detained for wearing a rainbow jersey before the group stage match between the United States and the country of Wales.