Game 64 of 64 is upon us. It's been an odd World Cup full of shocks; I for one never envisaged the Final being contested by these two sides. By 7pm UK time we will have new World Champions.
We've seen rampant hosts routing inept looking Saudis, while the leaders of the two nations sat straddled either side of Gianni Infantino fist bumping over every goal.
The Cristiano Ronaldo Show, in one of the most epic group stage clashes in recent memory.
VAR! Penalties awarded because of VAR. Penalties not awarded because of VAR. Plenty of penalties, well in the beginning anyway.
The holders rocked and sent home early for the 3rd tournament in a row. Surely an indication of the difference 4 years make in the football world, both tactically and physically.
Brazil doing a Brazil. Barring that little blip at the turn of the century they have a habit of turning up at World Cups, looking like one of the front runners then somehow heading home before the Semi Finals come around. Ahhhhh Braaaaaasiw!
England reborn! Or were they? Panama may well be one of the worst sides I remember seeing at the World Cup and Tunisia weren't much cop either. Sweden made the Quarter Finals playing some pretty uninspiring stuff. And we basically came a cropper upon sight of the first half decent opponent. An improved side, or improved PR mixed with some good fortune?
Argentina showing that Messi can't do it on a wet Wednesday night in Sochi. Or at least he can't with absolutely no balance to the side that he plays in. Maradona enjoyed himself though!
Peru, Colombia and Mexico all dazzling playing high tempo football. But for all of the excitement and aesthetics none of them reached the Quarter Finals.
Africa's showing was disappointing. Salah was injured, rushed back and then unable to halt the tide of Russians sweeping over the Egyptians. Was it a case of, like Messi, one man can't polish a turd or drag a side with a number of clear deficiencies through to the later stages of a tournament? Not in 2018 anyway. In our global game where there are no mugs or easy games, except Panama. Senegal and Nigeria impressed at times. Musa won the most impressive foot race I've ever seen against an Icelandic, but they both went home early. Tunisia didn't provide much either, not the best tournament for Africa.
The knockout stages typical of every tournament I've seen with the exception of 1994. Too many penalty shoot outs, not many games that swung both ways, and not many goals in Extra Time. Kasper Schmeichel performed last minute heroics in vein; Akinfeev actually did something positive of note for once, enabling Russia to significantly exceed expectations; and we finally got that penalty shoot out monkey of our backs (only just) thanks to a piece of brilliance from Jordan Pickford.
Belgium and France provided us with two games where momentum swung in the knockout stages. Mbappe was too quick for Argentina and Japan fell apart upon the introduction of Felliani and Chadli.
The two Francophones were probably the best two teams at the this year's tournament. Hazard came to the party, Lukaku bullied on the "flat tracks" of the 1st round and De Bruyne had his moments, including one that sent Brazil home. Pogba actually looked like the Pogba that Juventus sold to Man United, causing everyone to lose a little more faith in Mourinho; and Mbappe stirred memories of a young Ronaldo (that's the real Ronaldo by the way).
Finally we have Croatia. Making the most of what quite possibly will be the last tournament where both Rakatic and Modric will be able to play together as a force. Rebic and Peresic have terrorised full backs (and Willy Caballero, what a howler); Lovren has looked OK at times, the 1st half against England not being one of those times; and Vida has looked like some kind of Sci-Fi villain who can shoot laser beams from his eyes.
Farewell Russia 2018! It's been a breathtaking month of rushing home from work (I almost said "Russian" as a poor joke), watching games while putting the kids to bed and "Football Coming Home". God knows what Qatar 2022 will be like with it scheduled to start the day before my 42nd birthday, and I'm still not convinced that the 48 team format in 2026 will work. It may well be the case that this is the last proper World Cup as we know it.
PS Bit disappointed with ITVs intro this year, massive step down from "Braaaaaasiw Braaaaaasiw!" and "Sing Sing Africa", but in my opinion ITV have trumped BBC and will be getting my attention for the Final!
