Having already googled the exact dates of the Qatar 2022 world cup, verified that for us stateside people it possesses the exact same annoying time difference as Russia, it's safe to say I am in stage one of world cup withdrawal.
Yes, it is done with. And what a great way to finish, I heard the final described as the complete summary of the 64 game feast: Goals, own goals, goals from set pieces, VAR playing a prominent role and France - probably the most consistent team in the tournament - seeing things out to be crowned champions.
Croatia can feel hard done by. Having finally turned up in their fantastic red and white checked kit, bizarrely not seen since their opening game vs Nigeria, they played some good stuff again, demonstrating the semi-final result was no fluke. The free kick for the first goal was a dive, and while I agree with Birchy on the penalty - borderline harsh is right - I can see how those of a Croatian persuasion think otherwise. What I would say is - while maybe annoyed at the interpretation - VAR has ensured a very consistent approach to handballs in the box. Those types of incidents have been penalised all month, with the slow motion replays seemingly doing away with consideration of reaction times.
So now we all live in a world where Paul Pogba is a world cup winner. I look forward to Mourinho completely ignoring the videos of his excellent France performances and driving him back to stinking the place out at Old Trafford...
As if to solidify 2018 as a world cup for the ages, the final trophy presentations were the proverbial icing on the cake. Having kept the entire world waiting for an age while Vlad's guys presumably scoured the stadium for any other protesters, the heavens promptly opened with apparently only one umbrella in the entire stadium. A bone-dry Putin looked on as everyone else got drenched, and I loved it for many reasons. It brought the Infantino ego down a notch or two, having earlier been seen putting his autograph on a ball. (Who would want that?!?). Hard to see the progress from Mr Blatter. Along the line were the joyous leaders of both France and Croatia not giving a flying f*ck they were getting a soaking, as they got carried away with the moment of pride in what their respective teams had achieved. Brilliant. Hard to imagine Theresa May doing this had Gareth's boys done the impossible.
Then Mbappe picked up the Silver Ball. Would have been good to have realised this was a thing when I backed him to win the golden version. Damn. Clearly the winner by a mile and an exciting future awaits.... megabucks move to Madrid is only a matter of time. The RV 2026 fund took a hit there.
Modric crafted his team to their first final and was great again here. Can't be too many complaints with him picking up the Golden Ball, although 2nd place Hazard will find a way to.
Lloris started to warm up for the Spurs season by giving up the golden glove with his final blooper. A quick mention for Subasic also. It became more evident here that we missed an even bigger opportunity than we thought in the semi-final. The bloke couldn't dive!... take a look back at the tight hamstring inhibited dives for the first and fourth goal (and Trippier's free kick). He may not have got to them regardless, but he clearly couldn't jump off...
Harry Kane did secure the golden boot. I'm not going to be dragged into the "it was only against Panama / penalties....etc" negativity. He scored 6 goals at a world cup finals. Well done that man.
And that was it. Well, after the two blokes got out of the way as the trophy was lifted.
I'd love to go over my highlights of the tournament, but there's just way, way, too many. The fact that we only endured one 0-0 game out of 64 is illustration enough this was a highly entertaining tournament and a lot of fun to write about. A big thank you to Birchy for keeping the blog going over the years and already laying down a marker for a 2020 Euro effort.
I'm not quite ready to start focusing on the domestic season just yet, although I am mildly curious whether Glenn Hoddle will get a start for Spurs in August after about 98% of their squad made it to the final weekend. I was half expecting to see Harry Winks doing some ball-boying at the final...
Ok, I'm now realising I have endless YouTube loops of World Cup highlights on in the background; (we're onto Poland v Senegal). Stage two has been reached....
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