Anyone who laces his boot, picks up a ball and gets signed to a serious contract by a professional football team can play ball. Simple, right? Nah! If it's that simple, we wouldn't have some players on £500,000 per week while others of the same age bracket playing in the same position get paid £50,000. That's some serious difference in calibre, status and wages. Even though the ongoing football festival in Qatar has produced upsets of massive proportions, it will be stupid of anyone to assume teams like Japan, South Korea, Morocco or Switzerland will go all the way and win the tournament. But, why not? The reason is simple...
“ All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. ”
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
The last time a less talented team made it to the last four of a World Cup was back in 2002 when a heavily 'supported' South Korea made the last four of the tournament they co-hosted. Uruguay made the last four in 2010, but they had prime Diego Forlan, ripening Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, and some battle tested veterans like Lugano, Gargano, Fucile etc in that squad. That squad had highly experienced footballers who played at the top level in Europe.
So far, any punter who decided to play the 1X2 bet for the four Round of 16 games played so far should get all four predictions right. Netherlands dispatching the USA was expected. Argentina, France and England qualifications to the quarters were inevitable. Sadly, I expect Croatia, Brazil, Spain and Portugal to make it to the quarters also. Switzerland will definitely prove a tricky customer for Portugal but, "...some animals are more equal than the others."
The chaffs are being separated from the wheat already, the quarter finals is when the real World Cup starts. Netherlands vs Argentina looks like a 50-50 affair to me. Both teams are not incredibly stronger than each other. Argentina defends doggedly and leaves it all to Messi to conjure the game winning goals. Netherlands on the other hand can play two or three different tactics to confound the opponents. They yielded the ball to USA in their last game despite having a coach that loves to keep the ball, Van Gaal, and two accomplished passers of the ball, Frenkie de Jong and Daley Blind, in the team. The result was that they hit the Americans where it hurts, utilizing the speed of Depay and agility of Dumfries to end them. Netherlands has never faced any talent like Messi so far; Argentina has yet to face a team as calculated as the Netherlands too. A cracking game awaits.
France were installed as pre-tournament favourites considering the form of Benzema and Nkunku, the presence of uber-talented Mbappe and their status as defending champions. On the other hand, England has more than shown what they are capable of so far. The English national team has always been the butt of jokes around the world, and that's largely due to the huge media presence in their league. However, making the semis in the last two major tournaments is no mean feat. These two against each other will be explosive with France having the edge simply because of in-form Mbappe. If England quietens the marauding dude, they'll score against the leaky French defence that has yielded goals in all four games played so far.
It takes a big slice of luck for some random, less stacked team to win a particular tournament against the established ones. As much as we all love the underdog story, the knockout rounds will not be providing any. We've had our fair share of underdogs upsetting the status quo in the group stage. It's now the game of the big boys. It's now top level shit!
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