World cup Russia 2018: first round of extra times, flopping and...

It has been two years since my last post and I might have not been here writing if desired situations have gone the way I hoped them to go. But this is life and it goes on nonetheless.

So I find myself in this summer 2018 watching football. I should admit first that I'm not a football fan, I become one only at the highest platform, continental cups or in this case world cups. Since not  a fan I am quite selective about the games to watch and very critical. Let me not lie, sometimes i get emotional too.

So the games of the extra-minutes, Being myself inclined  to certain type of literature my mind during those games merged certain knowledge with what I was seeing. Indeed in that line I remembered Napoleon Hill, whom in his book "Think and grow rich" had as one of the major principals one that stated "Always go the extra mile": I remembered also a great poem heard first from the great motivator Less brown and has become my phone screen picture since then. The poem is from Rudyard Kipling and it goes simply by "If", the paragraph related to the extra mile, lets say in this case most about the will goes like this:

" If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!"

For basketball fans or players every second counts, It reminds me of Tracy Mcgrady on 9 December
2004, the young man said to his soul " Hold don" and scored 13 points in 33 seconds while everybody thought it was over.
In this first round of Russia 2018 world cup a lot of teams said "hold on" to their feet, hearts, souls to make it possible. And they did even when it wasn't about life or death, like Denis Cheryskev who gave the first signal of  the world cup of extra times with his goal at "90+1" in the game of Russia vs Saudi Arabia few minutes later followed his companion Aleksandr Golovin at "90+4". They gave the signal that this world cup will be played to the last signal but did the teams pick up the signal quickly? No the first victim will be the Egyptians by the foot of the Uruguayan Jose Gimenez at minute 89'. Morocco will get its share of bitterness at minute "90+5" from the Iranian Aziz Bouhaddouz. The signals were clear but Spain couldn't see it. If you have watched the game Spain vs Portugal it was clear that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to score that free-kick. He showed higher level of focus that you rarely see in football but mostly in basketball, and indeed he scored at minute 88' to draw the game. Whenever you loose your alertness when you have been already warned is nobody fault but yours if you get hit, that i what happened to Tunisia sleeping on the 1-1 vs England until Harry Kane hit them at minute 90+1. Among all the teams that have and I hope will learn this lesson: " A boxer does not stand off-guard until they are officially and safely separated" is Germany. The previous world cup champion came in as one of the favorite in this one as well. They made a miracle by winning although loosing Kevin Boateng for the red card but they dropped their guard too easily before the end of the game and South Korea made them pay an expensive price with two goals at minute 90+2 (Kim Young g-gwon) & 90+6 (Son Heung-min).

This world first round of Russia 2018 has confirmed one of Less Brown favorite quote " It is not over until I win " attitude  it even said more if opportunities is given to you even in the last second, make it count. And that bring me to the last paragraph of Rudyard Kippling poem: 

"If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!"

In this case it clear that you'll be a winner. The teams able to fill the unforgiving minute were able to advance.

This first round has also shown the extra curricular activities of the players. Strangely it seems that most of the players outside football are swimmers, their abilities to dive in a football field where there is no water but green grass is quite surprising and irritating as well. Some comments through internet asserts that "maybe those players are wearing high hills to play soccer".  It is pitiful  to see the "best players" of the major teams flopping. Neimar Jr, Cristiano Ronaldo and so on, somehow have decided to mix their extra curricular activities with the football game. the FIFA should start thinking about some solutions. They need to implement fines and penalties for embellishment like Hockey does. This is embarrassing to watch. The diving at this World Cup is out of control, every match there are a few instances of players going down like they've been hit by lightning. It is hilarious but also infuriating at the same time.

I couldn't close this article without spending few words towards Senegal beside Nigeria Senegal seemed to be one of the African teams that were to considered advancing in the second round. But they seem to be their own enemies during the whole world cup by playing the game of " I score and I relax" in addition to the flopping. This type of attitude got them draw with  Japan. In the game of win or go home against Columbia beside the coach the players seemed to be contented with a draw hoping on other teams result. Whoever watched the game will agree to me that the Senegalese team was sleeping until Columbia scored. The worst of it is show by the attitude of the Gueye Idrissa with number 5, this young man showed that he was attending a modeling show rather than playing football game. The picture below says it all.

I still wonder how could a player be standing like this when a ball pass you by? It is outrageous but this guy, Idrissa really left me wordless. Although Senegal goes out because of fairplay, their exit is only on them.

Well, since I am not "connaisseur" of football entirely I'm open to any comments that might clarify my ignorance.

Bisuchio 29/05/2018
N'guessan Dido Simon Juste