International Soccer

10 players whose reputation tanked during the World Cup

The lasting memories of World Cups should be the celebrations of football — the glorious goals, the mesmerizing skills, the feel-good stories. But we also know that there's no joy without suffering and no winners without losers, and sometimes, it's those dramatic failures that really resonate because life's a snitch and then you die. 

Some of this is completely unfair to players who've given us so much over the years and to young guys who've got a lot of ball left to play, but these are the 10 individuals who really let me down in Qatar.  

Three USMNT players who earned January transfers after the World Cup

While the USMNT has been knocked out of the World Cup, they are far from removed from the public’s consciousness. This year’s electrifying roster is taking a short break before club soccer starts up again, but some Americans may not be staying with their current clubs for long. 

Transfer rumors are the reward for great performances at the World Cup and players across the pitch may be reaping the rewards come January. 

Vinícius Jr. gets unexpected feline visitor during press conference in Catar… sorry, Qatar

There was a humorous moment during Brazil’s World Cup press conference on Wednesday when a cat crashed the party while Vinícius Jr. was speaking. The Vini Jr. cat moment left the Brazilian superstar cracking up.

Vini Jr. Cat Press Conference Moment

While talking to the press a cat decided that the podium looked like a great place to sit. The feline is most likely a stray. The person writing this article spent a week in Doha, Qatar, and will say that there are tons of stray cats that roam the streets.

Ranking Portugal's goals against Switzerland from best to worst

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. 

Oh, boy! There is some work to do: 6 reasons behind Mexico's failure at the World Cup

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. 

The path to how Messi and Ronaldo can square off in the World Cup final

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. 

Can Messi face Ronaldo in World Cup 2022 Final?

Argentina's route to the final

El hombre que dejó a Cristiano Ronaldo en la banca lleva a Portugal a cuartos de final con un hat trick

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.

Gonçalo Ramos just stole Cristiano Ronaldo’s job with sensational hat trick vs. Switzerland

Portugal manager Fernando Santos made the incredibly bold decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo for his team’s 6-1 victory vs. Switzerland in the Round of 16 on Tuesday. Taking Ronaldo’s place was 21-year-old Benfica talent Gonçalo Ramos. 

The rest is history.

Ramos scored a hat trick and added an assist in a dominant performance. Ronaldo who? 

The rumor for why CR7 was benched is for a spat he had with South Korea’s Cho Gue-sung when being substituted out of Portugal’s final group stage game.

Oldest men's player to score in World Cup knockout stage is none other than Pepe

Who's the oldest men's player to score in the knockout stages of the World Cup? It's going to be one hell of a trivia question after the record was broken by an extremely unlikely character Tuesday — Portugal's Pepe is now the answer at 39 years and 283 days.

Portugal's World Cup Round of 16 match against Switzerland represented Pepe's 132nd cap, but heading into the game he'd only managed seven goals with his last actually coming in the last-16 of the 2018 World Cup against Uruguay.

Las atajadas de Bono y un Panenka de Hakimi dejan a España fuera del Mundial

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.

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