Neymar antics are a controversial subject.
The question of whether Brazil’s superstar should be punished for his constant feigning, flopping and deceitful attitude leaves no one indifferent.
There are two sides to the story. First, you've got perhaps the most skilled player at dribbling who gets fouled, well, a lot. He is in fact the most fouled player of this World Cup thus far and is therefore considered to be a victim.
France takes on Uruguay in the first quarterfinal of the 2018 World Cup at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Friday, July 6, at 10:00 a.m. ET. The match will serve as the tournament’s first truly fascinating clash of styles: the attacking zest of Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba versus the hard-bitten play of Diego Godin, Jose Gimenez and Luis Suarez. It’s all on the line with the winner advancing to the semifinal to meet either Brazil or Belgium.
As expected, the Sweden vs. Switzerland match was low scoring and relatively low action, finishing 1-0 for the Blågult. Sweden is through to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1994 thanks to the Emil Forsberg goal vs Switzerland, one he probably celebrated a bit too much given the strike’s quality.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, you would have heard that the host nation of the 2018 World Cup, Russia, managed to send Spain packing by defeating them on penalties. Not many people, if any at all, gave Russia a glimmer of hope of advancing past La Roja, but here we are, awaiting a quarterfinal between Russia and Croatia.
England are trying to get to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2006. Do they have to horses to beat James Rodriguez and Colombia? Jose Pekerman has yet to say if the Colombian star is fit to play, but Harry Kane and company will try to reverse the notion that the Three Lions choke at the World Cup. Then a battle between Switzerland and Sweden will surely be a defensive chess match. Who will be able to break through?
Champions. No, world champions. What does it take to earn that preposterously prestigious title? Today, both Brazil and Belgium took a step towards finding out. In many ways it was well deserved — Brazil rode some individual moments of excellence to a 2-0 win, Belgium came back from 2-0 down to win in the 94th minute.
But then there’s the fact that this Brazilian side is decidedly evil and Belgium’s golden generation almost hilariously fucked it up again well short of its first genuine test.
The Round of 16 is off to a flying start, and it's everything we need in a World Cup. The underdogs have been ruthless — Russia taking down Spain and Japan nearly beating Belgium.
Every game this weekend from the Round of 16 was an absolute nail-biter. Two games went to PKs and the world's two best players went out in tight, goal-filled games. It was awesome.
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host Trevor Noah is a soccer fan. The native of South Africa is watching the World Cup for the first time as a resident in the United States. And the Trevor Noah World Cup commentary on Fox commentators is spot on.