After the hype, let’s enjoy the football
After weeks of hype, promises and previews it was something of a relief when the 2018 World Cup finally kicked off in Moscow on Thursday. No more second guessing about who must do what — now the respective teams have to deliver. The Sun newspaper got into the spirit of things in its own inimitable way with the headline “And We’re Offski!”
This past week the newspaper football pages have tended to look more like medical bulletins as every little twinge or ache amongst the world’s superstars prompted panic. Hamstrings, groins, dodgy knees and misbehaving toe nails have got a lot to answer for.
Mercifully the organisers limited the opening ceremony to half-anhour, just enough time for Robbie Williams to race through his rather ancient hits in the 81,000 capacity Luzhniki Stadium. He sensibly left out Party Like a Russian from his repertoire.
It’s not every World Cup that opens with the two lowest-ranked teams in the tournament, but that was quickly forgotten as the hosts romped to a 5-0 victory over a very poor Saudi Arabia. You don’t usually get many goals in the opener so this was a real bonus. It’s has also given the Russian players some much-needed confidence for what they know will be a difficult game against Egypt.
It could not have been a better start for the hosts who had been in dire form in recent times. It was also a plus for the tournament with a feel-good atmosphere in the stadium and an abundance of happy Russians by the end of the match. Happiest of the lot one suspects, was a certain Vladimir Putin, who managed to control his delight with a few shrugs of the shoulder and the hint of a smile.
It’s always fun speculating on the eventual winners, but the reality is that the ultimate prize will likely go to one of the usual suspects — Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany and Spain. However, La Roja made their task just a little harder by abruptly sacking coach Julen Lopetegui.
As always there has been much speculation about how far England can go. Their fans have suffered over the years, mainly through unrealistic hopes. They will take any improvement on the 2014 edition when they embarrassingly fell at the first hurdle.
Manager Gareth Southgate has probably picked the right squad, but whether he can get an effective starting XI for each game is another matter altogether. It is a sad fact that players who are legitimate stars at their clubs rarely look the part when the put on an England shirt. It all comes down to confidence, and a win in their opener against Tunisia on Monday would be a huge boost. But a poor showing and the pressure will really be on.
For many years the majority of Thai fans were strong supporters of England in the World Cup, primarily because of their familiarity with English football. But in recent years they’ve begun to see the light. According to a recent poll, taking over the top spot in popularity amongst Thais are Germany, followed by Brazil with England limping in a distant third. As to who Thais think will be the most likely winners, Germany and Brazil are by far and away the favourites.
One potential problem is how the referees handle the VAR (video assistant referee) system. Officials have the power to issue yellow or red cards retrospectively during a match if they think the referee missed it. Although it might sound fair, there is a large grey area over interpretation and the uncertainty could lead to chaos. Many feel it is too early to introduce VAR and that it will create more problems than it solves. It wasn’t called upon in the opening match so we can only wait and see.
The World Cup would not be the same without some silly stuff. There is always an animal oracle, the best known being Paul the Octopus who made many correct predictions for the 2010 tournament. At the 2014 event we had a Swiss guinea pig called Madame Shiva, a British piranha named Pele, not to mention Shaheen the Camel and Nelly the Elephant, but they were all a bit erratic.
This time around we have Achilles, a deaf white cat whose day job is chasing rodents in St Petersburg’s museum. Apparently deaf cats are very intuitive. Achilles got off to a good start on Thursday by predicting a Russian win and probably got an extra bowl of “Whiskas” for his efforts.
Each World Cup brings favourite team shirts and leading the way this time is the Nigerian outfit, an eagle-wing pattern in vivid green and white which would be equally at home in a hip hop concert. Another striking outfit is Peru’s wonderful red sash which has been sadly missed since their last World Cup appearance in 1982.
Croatia’s red and white check will also catch the eye, with the checks much bigger than in previous tournaments. One of the most popular will be Argentina’s sky blue and white stripes, an outfit you can happily wear even when there’s not a football tournament going on.
It is foolish to make predictions, but that has never stopped us before so here are the teams that Nobby thinks are most likely to make it through the group stage:
A: Russia, Uruguay; B: Spain, Portugal; C: France, Denmark; D: Argentina, Croatia; E: Brazil, Switzerland; F: Germany, Sweden; G: Belgium, England; H: Poland, Colombia
However, one suspects the deaf cat’s predictions will turn out to be much more reliable.