As my reader, the one that I know of, would attest I have never watched reality television, but FIFA seems to have orchestrated one for me. And I am not one for conspiracy theories but a clusterfuck is a clusterfuck and the kvetching by each losing team is hard to ignore. Say what you may about Egypt’s 2-3 loss against Argentina. End of the day they could not hold, neither defend, and gave away three goals in span of ten minutes.
That is on you man. That is all I got to say. This and the rest are my perspectives.
And this Isreal- Palestine fatigue is real. Everything has become either Pro-Palestine or Anti-Isreal or vice versa. And neither of them two qualified for this world cup.
In the immortal words of Dolly Parton, ‘Honey get off the cross, somebody else needs the wood.’
Football is metaphor for life and life is unfair. There are winners and there are losers. Some are happy and some are dying. Not everyone can be pleased. Not everyone is pleased. But a Football World Cup is everything except a football World Cup. It is all kinds of things, and it is really something strange. It has all become business, some strange interests have taken over, and that is killing football.
It has become exorbitantly expensive. But it also mirrors the unequal society we live in.
Nothing you can do about it. It seldom trickles down.
The Vikings
Settlers are relieved that Norway is playing football and not raiding their settlements. Well, that is good. Less bloodshed outside of the playground. You need to keep the masses entertained. Entertainment helps us pretend the chains that enslave us are gone. So yeah keep us entertained by all means.
Erling Haaland is the new darling of the people, and the general public, and the press and the creators of reels, memes and such are fans of Norwegian fans.
A Bit about America
United States is a sports powerhouse and they can throw more money and more resources behind anything and everything. Heck they have sponsors and coaches for Cornhole. In football there are draws with neither team winning and you cannot end a game in a tie in America. If there are no winners, why even do this.
Of Brazil and Italy
The game has changed. The game has become too technical. The art of dribbling is lost or has been rendered ineffective. The players are pure athletes now and not the artists I had come to admire.
And Italy has been a defensive powerhouse and that sort of defence has been rendered ineffective with fouls for minor offenses and introduction of VAR
So yeah, there is that.
It is basically a new sport with hydration breaks, four quarters, VAR and Presidential review of Red Card and expulsion.
Speaking of Conjectures
A reddit user noticed an insidious correlation. I post verbatim with minor edits for spelling.
Since Japan have made their debut in the 1998 World Cup, they have progressed to the knockout phase 5 times. On each of these occasions an interesting pattern has developed:
2002: Japan were knocked out by Turkey, who were knocked out by Brazil, who won the World Cup.
2010: Japan were knocked out by Paraguay, who were knocked out by Spain, who won the World Cup.
2018: Japan were knocked out by Belgium, who were knocked out by France, who won the World Cup.
2022: Japan were knocked out by Croatia, who were knocked out by Argentina, who won the World Cup.
2026: Japan were knocked out by Brazil, who were knocked out by Norway.
Now I’m not saying Norway will win the World Cup. Just an interesting pattern to note!
If I were a betting man, I would not mind betting on Norway, as I say there are more miracles on the football fields than in the house of gods.
If you like Elvis and you like football, this is for you,
There is a whole lot more to say; but I am good. I must tend to my flock.