Hubris comes back at you fast. Doubly fast in Russia, where teams that settled for mediocrity were swiftly escorted out of the building by the opponent who was rolling on the pitch a minute before. Not even the forbearers of the game they named football are safe from the walking, running and scoring dead.
– “Hello, is that British Airways?”
– “Yes, sir, how may I help you?”
– “We’re coming home earlier than expected. Do we have to pay a penalty to bring the flight forward?” https://t.co/54AAcMhQn0— Andrew Downie (@adowniebrazil) 11 de julio de 2018
Given its chosen “easier” path to the World Cup final, England may have plenty of representatives at the Moscow Olympic Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Just none on the playing field.
During the group round, England and Belgium fielded their subs so as to lose and land on the gentler side of the draw. And now they get to field their subs again for the honor of a third-place finish. Call it karma’s rematch.
[dropcap]Major[/dropcap] displays of national pride have gone back behind closed doors in the Mission now that everyone’s teams are mostly out of the World Cup. English fans are more discreet when in foreign territory, but a fifth-minute free-kick by Kieran Trippier broke the early silence at Barrel Proof. No one was warm enough to spill their beers all over, though.
The “It’s coming home!” chant was doing the rounds again.
For an hour or so, it certainly seemed like they would get their wish. The young England team was outrunning the tired and more veteran Croatian side, but struggled to convert the second goal that would have practically sealed their pass. Instead, Croatia’s Perisic went leg-first as Walker dived to clear a cross. Fresher legs had been outsmarted by the streetwise elder.
WARNING PRAYER OVERLOAD IN ANGLICAN SECTOR #ENGCRO
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) July 11, 2018
Even American soccer fans were stressing for the former colonial overseer. Loosely paying attention to the screens, owner and bartender Henry was shooting tequila after mezcal after beer with the pressured crowd. Too excitable to talk, but still seemingly coherent, a blond English fan in a Beckham-era jersey kept screaming “what the hell?!” in his glottal accent.
What the hell, indeed. Midway extra time, Mario Mandzukic was poleaxed by English goalie Jordan Pickford, and remained on the pitch practically on one good leg. Five minutes later, his shot was in, and the graphic reporter was knocked out.
Mario Mandzukic crashed into photographer @YuriYurisky while celebrating Croatia’s winning goal…and he still got the shot! ?? pic.twitter.com/REgDd7Htwe
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 12, 2018
Hubris comes back at you fast. So does the Mick Jagger curse.
Jagger strikes again. https://t.co/ifFcuZbQtp
— David Biller (@DLBiller) 11 de julio de 2018
[dropcap]There[/dropcap] is a very straightforward Latin American expression for teams like England and Belgium: “mentira” (“lie”). Overhyped squads that have historically come short of expectations, often moving through the draws thanks to little else than a succession of lucky breaks, only to fall at the first tricky obstacle. Liar teams are usually the cold-chested ones; they lack the necessary rage to never settle.
On top of the lie, English media lost its mind after its squad’s victory against the pedestrian Swedish. Their big-headedness gave the Croatians some bulletin board material.
Zinger from Rakitic last night: “Each to their own … but they thought they were already in the final … they can keep doing what they always do.”
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) 12 de julio de 2018
Zinger from Modric last night “People were talking … English journalists, TV pundits. They underestimated Croatia and that was huge mistake. They should be more humble and respect their opponents more. We showed we were not tired – we dominated game mentally and physically.”
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) 12 de julio de 2018
Zinger from Vrsaljko last night “The idea was that this is a new-look England who have changed their ways of punting long balls upfield, but when we pressed them it turned out that they haven’t.”
— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) 12 de julio de 2018
By surviving three extra times amounting to a full extra game, Croatia will become the smallest country to play in the World Cup final since Uruguay in 1950. At 4.2 million people, there is no clear indication of what processes enabled its soccer prowess, outside of cultural devotion to the sport.
Croatia has no general program overseeing development across the country. Very few stadiums and training grounds have been renovated since the times of old Yugoslavia. Their coach, Zlatko Dalic, was appointed 48 hours before their last qualification game. The ethos of his players — most of whom were children during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s — seems to be just to take their chances. As their efforts have proved successful so far; they will dig deep to make it happen.
#WorldCup semifinals and final a magnet for the world’s wealthy. Atmosphere inside the arenas drops several notches, net worth of those attending spikes exponentially. pic.twitter.com/JdFEwZsuur
— tariq panja (@tariqpanja) 11 de julio de 2018
As another exciting World Cup bids adieu, so does the romantic idea of sport for everybody. Russia 2018 was a rough awakening for any Latin American fan who tried to mask via soccer the harsh realities of their region. Even with the meager results, soccer is the area where we actually overachieve. We will explore how our “paisas” are dealing with that and who they’re rooting for in an upcoming post.
For now, may we enjoy the vicarious life for a little longer.
Me walking into Marine Le Pen’s office to show her this gif so she gets mad and says but they’re not really French and I laugh at her pic.twitter.com/DIpWaVbDak
— Miriti Murungi (@NutmegRadio) 10 de julio de 2018