Round 1 - We're off!

 

A short political preamble

12 years after the gasps of disbelief and fists of anger as Blatter announced the venue for World Cup 2022, the Qatar World Cup is upon us. We can only stand back and admire the transparency and openness of FIFA in bringing a stinking-rich, tiny desert country into the global football family. All World Cups have elements of the good, the bad and the ugly and Qatar seems to have taken the ugly to heart - labour camps for their migrant workers, their stance on sexuality, women and human rights,their bribing of fans to give the right impression, building 7 new stadiums within a 30 km radius of Doha, taking/making of photos/videos prohibited all over the country, banning alcohol in stadiums at the last minute.....oh how I wish I was there!

Let's talk football....

 

Round 1 - the really interesting bits

Who doesn't love a football shock and, happily, there were 2 shocks of the seismic variety in round 1! So many fans want to see Messi lift the World Cup – please do not include me in that sad, deluded group! A great footballer, yes, but also a greedy, insatiable money-grabbing scumbag who recently signed up to be a Saudi tourist ambassador for $25m a year. He already earns an estimated $140m/year – how much more does he need! How does he feel about the regular executions in Saudi?. For me, it was a delight to see Argentina’s 36-match unbeaten run crash at the feet of Messi's latest paymasters, Saudi Arabia. Anything suspicious there? Certainly not!

The second shock was a straightforward minor football miracle – Germany taking the lead against Japan and looking good too. Yet they were overhauled in the last 15 minutes by 2 quick Japanese goals. These are the kinds of upsets that make World Cups and let’s hope this is just the beginning.

In the opening match, Qatar fully lived up to their reputation as a proud footballing nation hosting a World Cup by being utter rubbish, making the match a pleasant 2-0 canter for Ecuador. Even at half time people were leaving the stadium in droves and by the full-time whistle, the stadium was almost empty - all the fans who stayed on afterwards were apparently paid to do so.

England impressed against Iran, 6-2 – the proverbial walk in the parched desert! It was nice to see each of the 3 youngsters who took part in the Euro-final penalty trauma get on the score sheet (Bellingham, Saka and Rashford). Good and all as England were, the bravery award has to go to Iran. By deciding not to sing their anthem and with the Iranian fans booing in agreement, this made for a strange but powerful atmosphere. There will be consequences when/if they return home and I can't help feeling that this act of defiance might have upset their concentration. While Iran were making their brave stand, the European countries who had pledged to wear the One Love armband caved in when FIFA threatened them with that frightening weapon of sheer terror, the yellow card. So much for the courage of their convictions.

The defending champions, France, were in big trouble if all the pre-tournament talk had any truth – missing some of their best players, including the European Footballer of the Year, Benzema, tension in the camp and, maybe most damaging of all, the wrong-year Beaujolais smuggled into the country. What could possibly go right! Almost everything as it happens. Yes, Australia stole the lead but once Les Bleus got going, they cruised home, 4-1. France could well be both football and rugby world champions in the next 12 months – a unique double and I love the idea of it. England could do it too but are a longer shot in both competitions. Apologies for the brief oval-ball interlude, back to the round ball.

Spain laid poor old Costa Rica waste with a 7-0 thrashing – a curse or the shape of things to come? A valid question - when Spain won it in 2010, they lost their opening match to Switzerland. However, if Spain are the victorious matador and Germany the fatally wounded bull in their next match, then who knows how far they'll go! As for Belgium, as one of the favourites to win the competition, they were bloody awful against Canada, scraping to a 1-0 win, a match they could and should have lost. How can a team with so many great players be so inept. Maybe they’re on a diet of beer, waffles and chips with mayonnaise – they can only get better or can they!

The last match of the round saw Brazil dazzle by comfortably beating Serbia 2-0. Always the better team, they really shone in the second half, particularly after the departure of everyone’s favourite obnoxious git, Neymar – not a coincidence! Their second goal was the best of the tournament so far, a fantastic, unstoppable scissors kick. Even more pleasing, they continued to press for more goals, none of this European “parking the bus” nonsense. Hmm, this is worrying – I might actually get to really like this Brazilian team if their form and attitude continue in this vein!

The end of round 1 means that 25% of the World Cup matches have already taken place (16 out of 64). By the end of round 2, we’ll be half-way there.