Another rewarding weekend in an amazing World Cup. I just had a game on Fifa 18 and quite by choice decided to recreate Russia vs Saudi, that seemingly dull encounter, that actually sparked the tournament off 3 and a half weeks ago. That's how hard the bug has bitten.
The quarter finals, often blighted by fear and negativity, carried on in the same positive vein as the rest of the tournament.
France and Uruguay played out an intense and tight encounter, which was tactically fun to watch. The absence of Cavani and his rock hard face was a deciding factor, as was Muslera's unfortunate throwing of the ball into his own net to put the tie to bed. Griesmann was too embarrassed to celebrate, and Uruguay bowed out.
Then came the big one, Belgium and Brazil. It didn't disappoint. The Belgians, with their wall of hair midfield, looked the real deal, Hazard was out of this world, De Bruyne was allowed to go forward, and slapped in a gorgeous goal, and at 2-0 they were sitting very pretty indeed. And then Brazil woke up. Douglas Costa showed that Belgium can be vulnerable, tearing down the right wing. He showed the nation just what they'd missed out on by sticking with hapless Jesus all tournament. *Editors not, opportunity for religious gag here.
Even Neymar briefly ceased cheating to try to get the game back on terms. Unfortunately the 3 weeks of previous cheating seemed to have the "cry wolf" effect, denying the Brazilians a stone wallwpenalty late on. The right team prevailed and serial divers Suarez and Neymar were scooting back to South America without really (positively) impacting the tournament. All tasty stuff.
On Saturday, England positively breezed their way to the semis. Croydon established itself as the beer-based Cape Canaveral, with thousands of pints of beer launched to orbit as Harry Macguire's header planted England ahead. Once Alli stopped misplacing passes and scoring instead, a few hundred more litres of ale went skywards and everyone was singing Lightning Seeds songs.
Croatia snuck past a relentless and passionate Russia team in a conveniently sapping match, setting up two good looking semis, and giving our boys a genuine chance of a final on Sunday.
The quarter finals, often blighted by fear and negativity, carried on in the same positive vein as the rest of the tournament.
France and Uruguay played out an intense and tight encounter, which was tactically fun to watch. The absence of Cavani and his rock hard face was a deciding factor, as was Muslera's unfortunate throwing of the ball into his own net to put the tie to bed. Griesmann was too embarrassed to celebrate, and Uruguay bowed out.
Then came the big one, Belgium and Brazil. It didn't disappoint. The Belgians, with their wall of hair midfield, looked the real deal, Hazard was out of this world, De Bruyne was allowed to go forward, and slapped in a gorgeous goal, and at 2-0 they were sitting very pretty indeed. And then Brazil woke up. Douglas Costa showed that Belgium can be vulnerable, tearing down the right wing. He showed the nation just what they'd missed out on by sticking with hapless Jesus all tournament. *Editors not, opportunity for religious gag here.
Even Neymar briefly ceased cheating to try to get the game back on terms. Unfortunately the 3 weeks of previous cheating seemed to have the "cry wolf" effect, denying the Brazilians a stone wallwpenalty late on. The right team prevailed and serial divers Suarez and Neymar were scooting back to South America without really (positively) impacting the tournament. All tasty stuff.
On Saturday, England positively breezed their way to the semis. Croydon established itself as the beer-based Cape Canaveral, with thousands of pints of beer launched to orbit as Harry Macguire's header planted England ahead. Once Alli stopped misplacing passes and scoring instead, a few hundred more litres of ale went skywards and everyone was singing Lightning Seeds songs.
Croatia snuck past a relentless and passionate Russia team in a conveniently sapping match, setting up two good looking semis, and giving our boys a genuine chance of a final on Sunday.
Comments
Post a Comment