I’m a huge, lifelong soccer player and fan, and I always look forward to the World Cup. This year has been a little odd with the tournament in November/December and the many issues surrounding Qatar as the host, but I still can’t help but be wrapped up in World Cup fervor.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: The US is no longer in the tournament, and that’s okay. They played some decent soccer, and I’m proud of the players for putting their best on the field. I think the US team has a long way to go before they can compete at this stage, and they need to play to win instead of not to lose, but hopefully the right combinations of players and coaches will get us at least to the final four someday.
While I haven’t watched many of the games live, I’ve really appreciated the 5-minute highlight videos on YouTube. I still remember the days when the highlights were just the goals–this is much better.
I’ve mostly found myself rooting for underdogs throughout the tournament, and it was great to see some unexpected countries advance to the round of 16: Japan, Morocco, Senegal, Australia, etc.
Yet here we are, one more day left in the round of 16, and only 1 underdog remains (Morocco). The rest of the tournament is filled with familiar faces (mostly European, plus Argentina and Brazil). That’s fine, and I’m looking forward to some good football. I’m hoping for an epic Brazil-Argentina clash in the semis, then Morocco and either England or France on the other side of the bracket (I’ll say England since France won in 2018).
Also, by the end of the tournament I hope defending players will realize how silly they look after a goal is scored against them and they try to hold the ball in their arms instead of just letting the other team take it back to center field (and maybe the team who just scored could celebrate for a few seconds before trying to wrestle away the ball).
Have you been watching? What final four are you rooting for?
I’m also a long time football fan, the first final I remember watching was 1990. I always root for the European teams, especially Germany, France and Netherlands. I dislike both Brazil and Argentina so they need to lose ASAP 🙂 this is probably the fewest games I’ve even seen, Quatar really took most of the fun out of this one.
What is your best world cup memory Jamie?
One of my favorite memories was watching the Croatia-France final 4 years ago in a movie theater with a lot of other people. It was awesome!
Hi Jamey! Yes, I’ve been watching World Cup as much as I can, though here in Japan the time difference makes it difficult. I stayed up late last night to watch Japan vs Croatia. It was very disappointing to see Japan crash out on penalties. Such a cruel way to go… The second game starts at 4:00am here so no chance of seeing that!
It’s at the most interesting stage now and though I love seeing the underdogs do well, I really love seeing the top teams in the world facing off against each other. The prospects of a Brazil vs Argentina semi-final is mouthwatering. On the other side of the draw, I think that France will be a little too good for England. England have been playing well, but they haven’t really been tested by a top team yet and I think France have a lot of quality. Spain are looking excellent, but their team is quite young so I wonder if their inexperience will be a big factor. Portugal are a good team too, so it is hard to guess what will happen. My predictions – semi-finals with Brazil vs Argentina and France vs Spain, then Brazil to win the World Cup after beating France in the final!
Who do you think will win it?
I was definitely rooting for Japan…rough to see them have 3 penalties blocked. Spain vs Portugal could be exciting!
For me, France is the favorite to win it all.
Another big surprise there with Morocco beating Spain on penalties! France is a good bet alright, and Portugal are playing very well so definitely wouldn’t count them out!
Hi Jamey, as you know , football is a way of life here. When the England matches are on pretty much everything comes to a halt . Even schools let the kids see it on tv.
This has been a very odd World Cup , the time of year and the bitter sweet taste it has left . On the one hand the love of football /soccer but tinged with the plight of the poor exploited migrant workers and the unacceptable stance against anyone not heterosexual . It’s a shame not more pressure was put in the hosts to allow the armbands and also negotiated proper pay and compensation to the workers as part of the deal. Let’s hope things start to change .
I always root for the underdog in every situation unless it’s England or our other home nations .
I wanted USA to do well, they looked so organised and disciplined . I really think that one day they will lift the World Cup trophy.
I love the Netherlands, the people are so nice and friendly and they bring joy to every World Cup.
The Brazilians and Argentina look the most impressive so far to me, but you can’t rule out France or England .
I would think one of these 4 will lift that trophy.
Come on Engerlaaaaand!!!
Good luck to England! I think they have a good chance at advancing, but this next game will be very difficult.
I completely agree with the issues you mentioned. I hope things change too now that the spotlight has been on Qatar.
I’m an only occasional watcher of Soccer, but have caught a few matches this year.
The 5 minutes summaries you mentioned have been great, but in group play we found one minor issue with them that bothered us late in the group stage: they didn’t always make immediately clear what the group situation was from the start of the video.
Generally, through serendipity or good editing, a “if this result holds” or other “standings” would eventually be onscreen for a few seconds – but in so many matches in the group stage the “who needs what result” is not immediately obvious, and is vitally important to understanding what the teams are trying to accomplish.
All that said, I’m thrilled that Fox Sports has made them available, and for the rest of the World Cup they are a great resource for catching up on games I didn’t have time to watch.