Portugal must have seen Brazil’s emphatic drubbing of South Korea on Monday and thought, “that’s it?”
Without Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting 11 for its knockout round tie against Switzerland, Portugal was allowed to breathe going forward and discovered its creative side, without having the attacking muzzle that is Manchester United’s newest abdication.
Mexican soccer is facing a bleak present and an uncertain future. Despite the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics, the failures are piling up at industrial levels.
The elimination from the 2022 World Cup – the first in a group stage since Argentina 1978 – is the most notorious fall at the display, but the list of frustrations in the last two years is simply abysmal. Without counting Liga MX sorrows against Major League Soccer, the Mexican national teams seem to be wandering around without a clear North.
It was a long shot when the tournament began, but the answer to "can Messi face Ronaldo in World Cup 2022 final" is suddenly somewhat plausible with both Argentina and Portugal reaching the quarterfinals on opposite sides of the bracket.
That means Messi and Ronaldo both need to win just two more games to reach the final at Lusail Iconic Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 18. Here's how it's to be done.
Argentina's route to the final
Antes de su partido de octavos de final ante Suiza, el técnico de Portugal Fernando Santos sorprendió al mundo anunciando que Cristiano Ronaldo no sería titular. No porque estuviera lesionado, sino que por simple y llana decisión técnica.
La ausencia de CR7, sin embargo, no sería problema. Su reemplazante, Gonçalo Ramos, justificaría luego la controversial decisión de su entrenador, marcando el primer hat trick del Mundial y guiando la clasificación de los lusos a los cuartos de final del torneo, donde enfrentarán a Marruecos.
No es por venir a presumir, pero en el análisis de Marruecos antes del Mundial hice una predicción: que Yassine Bounou, su arquero atajaría un penal durante el torneo.
Y Bono, mi brother, no me decepcionó.
El arquero fue la figura de un Marruecos fenomenal, atajando no uno, sino que dos penales en la tanda con que los Leones del Atlas dieron el gran golpe de Catar 2022, despidiendo a España y avanzando a los cuartos de final del torneo.
DOHA - Samuel Eto'o, the former Cameroon striker and current president of the country's football federation, was involved in an altercation after Brazil's victory over South Korea on Monday, an American newspaper has reported.
La Opinion, a Spanish-language newspaper based in Los Angeles, posted a video on its Twitter feed in the early hours of Tuesday morning which it said showed Eto'o clashing with a man holding a video camera as he left Doha's Stadium 974.
"Baila Brasil, Baila"
Brazil got back to winning ways with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over South Korea, but the Seleção, and especially manager Tite, stole the headlines for what they did after each of their four goals.
Kylian Mbappé is tearing apart the 2022 World Cup. The French star has been phenomenal during the tournament, leading the Golden Boot race with five goals and making a solid case to grab the Golden Ball, too.
Another proof of his extraordinary performance is that he's won three man of the match awards in the four games he's played, the last against Poland in the Round of 16. As usual in this tournament, FIFA recognized the job with a trophy provided by Budweiser, one of their sponsors, and a photo immortalizing the moment.
The United States qualified for the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup. It had been over eight years since the men’s team had last reached this stage, only to fall in overtime to a strong Belgium side in 2014. This time, the Netherlands stood between the United States and a place in the quarters.
The Dutch side was no stranger to making it all the way to the final match. Their world-class team was headlined by one of the top defenders in the world, Virgil Van Dijk, along with Frenkie de Jong, a speedy midfielder in his prime. Netherlands were clear favorites to win.
DOHA - Ashraf Ali arrived at Stadium 974 six hours ahead of the Argentina-Poland World Cup match and, in desperation, raised a hand-written sign: "We need tickets."
Someone offered one for $2,000, nine times face value.
That was too steep for Ali, 30, who traveled to Qatar from Egypt to fulfill a dream to see Argentina star Lionel Messi play. Thirty minutes before kickoff, he managed to nab a ticket for $500 and witnessed Argentina's 2-0 win.