Soccer has a unique power. It brings people together and unites communities for the love of the game. It can be easy to forget about the humanity of a crowd when watching from afar. The match takes center stage and suddenly, the massive crowd in attendance is nothing more than a backdrop for the commentary crew to reference periodically.
Not in Sevilla. Not for the fans of Real Betis.
Emiliano Martínez didn’t have a single shot come toward his goal until the 71st minute. From that moment on he became one of the key figures in Argentina’s 4-2 penalty shootout victory vs. France in the World Cup final after the game finished 3-3 at the end of extra time.
Martínez was one of the most polarizing characters at the 2022 World Cup. His haters despise him for his gamesmanship, taunting and excessive celebratory body gyrations. Martínez’s critics have one other thing to deal with: he’s a DAMN good goalkeeper.
An aortic aneurysm caused the death of Grant Wahl, an American sportswriter who collapsed and died last week while covering a World Cup match in Qatar, his widow said on Wednesday.
"Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium," his widow, physician Celine Gounder, wrote in a statement.
An aortic aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and torso, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website.
Once Marquinhos sent his penalty shot to the post, sealing Brazil's exit from the 2022 World Cup, Neymar broke into tears. The dream of lifting the most coveted trophy in sports was again unfulfilled.
Several teammates approached the PSG star, trying to solace him. Thiago Silva, Dani Alves, and Vinícius Jr. were among those patting his shoulder. However, the most touching moment in the sequence was when a small kid with a Croatian jersey ran to Neymar to console him.
Neymar Jr. tied Pelé’s record for the most goals scored for Brazil’s national team on Friday during his side’s 4-2 defeat on penalties vs. Croatia. Neymar’s go-ahead goal in the 106th minute was a classic display of his silky footwork and his 77th for Brazil.
Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic put in a nearly flawless shift denying and frustrating the Brazilians all game. It was going to take something truly special to put the ball in Croatia’s net, and Neymar was just the man to do it.
This World Cup is special for Lionel Messi — not only because he wants glory, not only because it's probably his last one, but also because his three kids are old enough to watch him play.
"From the very beginning, from kick-off to the final whistle, I'm thinking of my children," confessed the Argentine star after defeating Australia and qualifying for the quarterfinals against the Netherlands.
South Korea secured a spot in the Round of 16 of the World Cup on Friday with an incredible last-minute goal against Portugal to win 2-1. The South Korean victory paired with Uruguay defeating Ghana 2-0 meant that the Asian underdogs advanced due to the tiebreaker of having more goals scored than Uruguay.
Germany is out of the World Cup after an extremely controversial Japan goal vs Spain on Thursday. Germany defeated Costa Rica 4-2 but were eliminated due to having a lower goal difference than Spain.
Unpredictability is inherent in soccer, and major international tournaments seem to always throw up a heaping of craziness. The gulf between reality and previous perceptions reminds anyone who claims to know soccer that they don’t, and if we were truly as smart as we claim to be, we’d stop trying to predict results. Just embrace the unpredictability and the chaos and enjoy these moments.