The 2022 FIFA men’s football World Cup in Qatar is all over – bar the shouting. There will not be much adverse shouting now, and it will surely go down as a great success, if only for the quality of the football itself in the Final. A Winners medal will also be seen, by neutrals, especially if there are any in football, as a fitting reward for one of the games’ greats Lionel Messi. At last he has the one trophy he did not have, along with the Golden Ball for the outstanding player of the tournament. FIFA will take the money as a sign of success and move on, despite all the human rights negatives before, and the EU investigations now.
Opta the sports analytic company have already published a “Team of the Tournament” based on the in-game statistics of players who performed for more than 200 minutes. Argentina’s Lionel Messi is of course there as is France’s Kylian Mbappe as winner of the Golden Boot for his 8 brilliant goals. The only other Argentinian was emerging young striker Julian Alvarez of Manchester City. His team mate Enzo Fernandez was not in, but the 21 year old won the Young Player of the tournament award. The only other Premier League (PL) outfield player in Opta’s team was Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United, although one suspects Josko Gvardiol the Croatian defender with 37 clearances will soon be on his way. The goalkeeper was the Croatian Dominik Livakovic with 25 saves, and not the World Champion’s Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa and formerly Arsenal. Martinez was rightly Yellow Carded in the penalty shootout. Whether it was unprofessional behaviour or intimidation it was foul play, so well-done Referee Szymon Marciniak of Poland. Will PL Referees follow suit if and when similar situations arise?
Premier London Derbies (PLDs) matches resume on Boxing Day 26 December 2022 with Brentford v Tottenham Hotspur (goalless last season) at 12.30 pm; Crystal Palace v Fulham at 3 pm; and Arsenal v West Ham United at 8 pm (a home win for the last 6 seasons). The Hammers’ World Cup connection, beyond Declan Rice, is that the Argentina Head Coach Lionel Scaloni was a former right fullback there. Spurs are unlikely to field their 3 World Cup medal winners: Cristian Romero (Argentina, Winner, gold); Hugo Lloris (France, Runner-up, silver) and Ivan Perisic (Croatia, Third-place, bronze). Will Harry Kane be captain and have a chance to step up to take a penalty and begin his rehabilitation?
Happy Christmas, “Keep Safe”, and enjoy your football. Andrew at PLDs.