As of the writing of this post, the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup have concluded, and these matches have been the most memorable quarter-final matches in some time. I have another collection of random thoughts on my mind while watching these matches, and here they are:
The Netherlands-Argentina match was one of the wildest matches I have seen in a World Cup in a long time, mostly due to the worst refereeing performance I have ever seen in a World Cup. The ref had no control of the game, which became apparent during the confrontation between the Netherlands substitutes and Argentina players after Leandro Parades violently kicked a ball towards the Netherlands bench. I thought Argentina were going to hold on to a narrow 2-1 victory until an intricate free kick routine finished by Wout Weghorst tied the game up at 2-2 and sent the match to extra time. To pull a routine like that when you needed to score a sure goal took extreme guts.
Argentina ultimately won the match on penalties, which helped Lionel Messi get one step closer to potentially winning a World Cup and (lets face it) ending the football GOAT debate. There were some post-game shenanigans between The Netherlands and Argentina, including a visibly pissed Messi marching up to Netherlands manager Louis Van Gaal and saying some not very nice words. It was also funny to see Edgar Davids get in the middle of the two to try to calm Messi down.
So, how about Morocco? They are in a semi-final for the first time after beating a crying Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal 1-0. This is a crazy Cinderella story and now they have the backing of the Arab world, the African continent, and many neutrals watching the tournament. I think their Cinderella run ends against France (after defeating England 2-1) but I am secretly hoping for a Morocco victory against the French.
With the two teams that advanced out of Group F (Morocco, Croatia), there has been some significant talk from Canada fans declaring Group F as a 'Group of Death' as an excuse for Canada's relatively poor performance at this tournament and to feel better about themselves. Since when do people declare a 'Group of Death' after the group stages have already completed? It does not change the fact that Croatia embarrassed Canada in their group stage match or that Morocco punished Canada with 2 goals due to a lack of focus. It is fine to hope that Canada makes it out of the group stages, but we must draw the line between hope and delusion, and I saw several truly deluded opinions from Canadian supporters. Before the start of the World Cup, I saw more than a few opinions from Canada fans saying that Canada will finish ahead of Morocco, to the point of disrespect, and look where Morocco is now. The reality is that Canada has never played a team like Morocco prior to the World Cup, so it is difficult to judge how the game would go.
Watching Canada's matches at the World Cup, I kept an open mind. If they got past the group stages, then great! If they did not, then that is fine as well. Canada did well to get here, but the Men's team learned some hard lessons and now the whole Men's program has a new goal to try to achieve in time for hosting the 2026 World Cup.
Lastly, I have some brief thoughts about the passing of American soccer journalist Grant Wahl. When I first heard the news that he passed away, I was floored. I remember reading many of his articles over the years, reading his book on David Beckham's time at LA Galaxy, and listening to his podcasts. He is the premier American soccer journalist (not to mention introduced the world to LeBron James through his Sports Illustrated article) and he influenced many people in the sphere of sports journalism and beyond. He did so much for profiling the community of American soccer and North America in general. He will be missed.
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