Well, poop.
This is the entirety of the Blob's sober, intelligent analysis of the World Cup semifinals, which went exactly the way they were supposed to go, dammit, and which means we won't see the Checkered Shirt Boys or that joyous bunch of bracket vandals from Morocco in the final on Sunday.
Nope. Croatia went down 3-0 to Lionel Messi and Argentina, and the Atlas Lions (love that name) fell 2-0 to Kylian Mbappe and defending champion France. As fully expected.
This sets up a dream final as Messi and Mbappe vie for the Golden Boot and Golden Ball (top goal scorer and top player) and the big prize itself, the World Cup. It's likely Messi's last chance to bring the Cup home to Argentina, and it's France's shot at doing something that hasn't been done in 60 years -- win back-to-back World Cups.
Either way, the form sheet will reign. And that's too bad.
This is because the Blob is a big fan of chaos, and who better to embody that than Croatia and Morocco?
Croatia got to the semis four years after starring as Cinderella in 2018, when it got to the final in what was largely considered a fluke. And Morocco, which became the first African and Arab nation to reach the semifinals, was the darkest of dark horses. The Atlas Lions weren't supposed to do anything.
But then they knocked out Spain and shocked Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal, even though the zebras tried their best to help out the Portuguese with a bogus late red card against Morocco's Walid Cheddira. But the Atlas Lions hung on to win anyway, so neener-neener-neener, ref.
France and Mbappe brought the lovely dream to an end, however. Sometimes you can't stave off reality no matter how hard you try.
Anyway, it's France and Argentina. And that's as it should be.
But, damn. Didn't you want to see those Moroccan fans light the place up with their joy one last time?
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