Okay so I did miss a day. Fatigue and a gazillion things to do before I head back to the (Tas) ‘mania and a doctor’s appointment, etc. will do that to you.
Plus I had to do the Walk Of Death in Bogota a few times, a narrow bit of footpath near our apartment where you have about 85cm of safe pavement to traverse between a giant brick wall and oncoming buses at 50km/hour.
I did do some thinking about the weird interface between football and politics that has come to be in Colombia.
But firstly it did feel like the morning-after-the-tournament-exit-the-night-before as Bogota’s streets were strangely deserted. I was able to cross Carrera 13, normally like traversing Symmons Plains speedway during a round of the V8 Stupidcars, with my heart rate close to normal. Subtly, Colombian flag decorations were being taken down and squirrelled away until the next Great Patriotic Event.
Back in June presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella (furthermore Abelardo) began running football-themed campaign advertisements, and also posting videos of his team at Colombia game watch parties. This to be honest fitted pretty well with his right-wing patriotic schtick, but it became a little uncomfortable when the Colombian Football Federation appeared to be engaging with his campaign and not just more broadly with the country’s fan base.
Rival contender for the top job, leftist Ivan Cepeda, countered with some football-themed campaign material of his own, styled as a Panini collectible sticker (which are very popular here in Colombia), although it smacked of the nerdy senator being involved in sport for the first time in his life.
And so the politics played out with a run-off election on 30 June which Abelardo won by 12.96 million votes to 12.71 million, a pretty close margin of under 1% and the closest presidential election ever.
Unfortunately it tells a tale of a country very evenly divided between right- and left-leaning voters at the present time, which sounds like bad news for political stability.
Thus Abelardo is President-elect, and was blamed (?) by some quarters of the Colombian fan base for the country’s exit from the World Cup on Tuesday after a wan performance against Switzerland in the Round of 16 eliminator. The argument was something like that the political machinations were a distraction from the football.
I don’t quite buy that but the reality is that current President, Gustavo Petro, has stayed out of footballmania and is squarely focused on making things difficult for his elected replacement. He maintains that Abelardo is corrupt and that he should not be installed as President until current legal processes of investigation into Abelardo are complete.
He is calling for mass mobilisations on the 20th of July to protest what he considers the upcoming takeover of Colombia by ‘the Mafia’.
By then I’ll be a long way away but, as usual in Central and South America, democracy is a very fragile thing and you might need to keep clicking the refresh button to see who is President, who is in jail, and who is proclaiming the next revolution and/or coup-d’etat.
Along a similarly concerning vein is that Colombian player Jaminton Campaz has decided not to return to his home country for a vacation following the World Cup. He was ‘guilty’ of wasting Colombia’s best chance against Switzerland late in the game, for which he has received death threats. That means he won’t be able to see his family in Ibague and will likely head to Argentina where he plays for Rosario.
The issue reminds us all of the sad case of Andreas Escobar who was in fact assassinated in 1994 shortly after returning to Colombia following an own-goal that effectively eliminated his country from the World Cup the last time it was held in the USA.
To something more positive, English beast Jude Bellingham was seen giving his warm-up jacket to a wheelchair-bound mascot at the pre-game line-up as the rain came down in Mexico City. Class.
A funny video has emerged of a Socceroos fan who paid for in-flight wifi so he could watch the Australia v Egypt game…and ended up providing a service for most of the plane.
Vancouver has thanked those who visited the Canadian city for the World Cup. All remaining matches are in the USA.
Oh and as pop music fans mourn the death of singer Bonnie Tyler, remember that her It’s A Heartache also became an anthemic football chant.
Tournament-wise the (only) game of the day was the first of the quarter-finals, with one of the tournament favourites in France facing upstarts Morocco. The north African dream wasn’t to be as their semi-final nemesis from four years ago put them out a round earlier this time. The Moroccans didn’t sell their soul as dearly as I had expected as they went down 2-0, and didn’t even have a shot on target until they were well under water with just minutes left. Highlights here.
A lot has been said about France’s powerful array of attacking talent but it must be recognised that the defence marshalled by Dayot Upamecano at centre-back has only conceded two goals in six games…six straight wins in fact, including three in normal time in the knockout rounds. That’s a pretty sound launching pad from which to make an assault on the trophy.
In what is now an all-European (plus Argentina, although some cynics suggest that they are representing FIFA and not South America) World Cup pointy end, the French will play the winner of Spain v Belgium who clash on Friday in the Americas at Inglewood in California, USA.
Enjoy the football and have fun!
ELIMINATED TEAMS NOW MARINATING IN THE QUAGMIRE OF PUNGENT SADNESS
Now that we are at the stage where teams are being eliminated I am keeping a running list of them and also doing a brief summary of how they went. The list will be in three groups: Overachieved, About As Expected, Underachieved. Newly-addeds are higher-up and in bold.
Overachieved – Canada, Paraguay, Cape Verde, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, DR Congo, South Africa, Curacao, Haiti
Egypt – Round of 16 – Egypt have never been higher at the World Cup. Perhaps the nosebleeds affected them when they were 2-0 up against reigning champs Argentina with just 13 minutes to play and couldn’t bring it home. Undefeated in the group stage, they squeezed past Australia on penalties. Apart from Mo Salah they have plenty of pace and style to turn on and are a team who will be suited to the next World Cup in 2030. They will need to put the refereeing thing behind them and focus on their football which certainly good enough to lift their current ranking of 29 to new heights.
Canada – Round of 16 – I didn’t really rate Canada. They eventually succumbed 3-0 a good Moroccan team after an up and down win-lose-draw group stage and a 1-0 win over South Africa in the 32s. A cohesive unit, they lack a superstar or two who can turn the game. After their previous World Cups in 1986 and 2022 saw them despatched in straight sets, they have definitely set a marker here. Well done Maples.
Paraguay – Round of 16 – a penalty win over Germany in the 32s made this look a better tournament than it was for the Paraguayans. They defended ferociously but had little to offer at the other end of the field and notched just three goals in five games. As much as I like the broad brush of their bold red and white vertical stripe shirts, which scream South America, their football is relentlessly dour and terrible to watch. As a team ranked 41 in the world, last 16 here still counts as overachievement. And the German scalp will be talked about endlessly.
Cape Verde – Round of 32 – easily the surprise packet of the tournament. First-timers who looked like cannon-fodder showed up for draws with former champions Spain and Uruguay as well as Saudi Arabia to bag three points and finish second in their group. They twice equalised against current holders Argentina and battered their goal in a furious finale as they went down 3-2 in extra-time. Every player will be a legend in their home country and the ‘Blue Sharks’ are a surprising new force in African football. I feel like sending this team thank you cards for the sheer entertainment they provided.
Australia – Round of 32 – not the exit we wanted, but an honourable loss after a penalty shootout is something we know what to do with. The defensive effort was very good for all four games although it feels like coach Tony Popovic has no natural instinct for how to structure an attack. As much as we swell with pride at our best ever World Cup result, any team we need to play any time soon will be comforted by the lack of potency in our attack. In the end it’s another Beach-head for Australian football, but we can and will do better. The late, great Johnny Warren would expect as much. And that will require a braver personality than Tony Popovic who is prepared to let our naturally-talented players do their thing. Mark Milligan said it well.
Bosnia-Herzegovina – Round of 32 – copping the USA in the elimination round was bad luck, particularly this USA that has a bit of swagger about it and home support to boot. The country’s football set-up is improving steadily as the war years fade into the past and they surpassed their 2014 World Cup achievement. BH getting out of the group that included another co-host in Canada and the experienced Switzerland was already a fine achievement. The Bosnians will farewell the classy Edin Dzeko but their future looks bright with some classic Slavic ballplayers in their line-up.
Democratic Republic of Congo – Round of 32 – only their second time on the world stage, and a decisively better account than in 1974 when they lost all three matches and conceded 14 goals. This time around they notched a draw with Portugal, a narrow loss to Colombia and their first ever win 3-1 over Uzbekistan. Unfazed by England, they pushed a much more experienced tournament team all the way in a narrow 2-1 loss. “They died with their boots on,” said Diego sagely as we watched the game over breakfast on a mobile phone because the breakfast cafe wasn’t showing football because reasons. This DR Congo team was way under-rated going into the tournament and stereotypical jibes about dictators, genocides and so on seem even more ridiculous now.
South Africa – Round of 32 – after making history in 2010 as the first host nation to not pass the group stage, the Bafana Bafana had a point to prove here. No-one was confident of that after their opening round shocker losing 2-0 to Mexico with two players sent off. A come-from-behind draw against Czechia gave them a sniff before they did the business with a historic 1-0 win over Korea. The Saffers pushed Canada all the way with a respectable 58% possession in the round of 32 game but lacked punch up front. Overall the tournament was a big learning experience and a marker of progress for South African football.
Curacao – Group stage – the smallest nation at the tournament, and from their first appearance they will go home with a goal and a point. The entire squad will be legends in the nation’s footballing history.
Haiti – Group stage – not the worst, and if they had got something out of their first game to Scotland instead of a 1-0 loss maybe things could have been different. They put a couple of goals on the board against decent teams in Morocco and Brazil and overall put up a better showing than their only previous World Cup appearance in 1974.
About As Expected – Colombia, USA, Mexico, Ghana, Algeria, Austria, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Sweden, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Panama, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Scotland
Colombia – Round of 16 – a good unit, the Colombians acquitted themselves well and copped a penalty shootout loss after a flat 0-0 draw with Switzerland in the 16s. The result is short of their best at the World Cup, 2014 quater-finalists. While the defence did a superb job, star attackers Luis Suarez and Luis Diaz did not gel as a combination and couldn’t find a goal between them after the opener against Uzbekistan in four games plus extra-time. Ageing stalwarts Yerry Mina, Juan Quintero and James Rodriguez should call time on their international careers so coach Nestor Lorenzo, very astute technically, can continue the rebuild with younger talent. Beyond that it also feels like this team lacks a bit of killer instinct, knowing how to win, and developing that is not easy.
USA – Round of 16 – this team had tickets on themselves. The socials are full of ‘new’ soccer fans who are somewhat surprised the USA isn’t going to win it. Spoiler: they were never going to go close. After bullying Paraguay and then an Australia that wimped our selection, and indeed Bosnia in the 32s, the USA looked quite crumbly when attack-minded teams had a go at them. Belgium’s 4-1 romp in the Round of 16 was a class tactical and on-field performance from which the USA is still light years away in terms of ability and squad depth.
Mexico – Round of 16 – to be sure it was a relief that Mexico won their first knockout match in 40 years when they punched out Ecuador in the Round of 32. Unfortunately they copped an England team that has quality and that was that. Overall their tournament featured four wins and the single loss, plus four clean sheets. That their defence went inexcusably to sleep for three minutes and conceded a pair of Jude Bellingham goals against England is something for new coach Rafa Marquez, himself a former defender, to mull. Outgoing coach Javier Aguirre can be proud of his efforts and some of the best Mexican moments of the World Cup displayed glorious speed and movement, against the backdrop or raucous celebrations. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this World Cup came a little early in the current cycle of development, but I feel Mexico has a big enough base of talent and resources to actually win the World Cup within 20 years. Respect.
Ghana – Round of 32 – I don’t feel the Ghanaians showed much as they bowed out without a shot on target against Colombia. After a slim win against Panama and a grungy draw with England were enough to secure a third-place ticket out of the group, my expectations were low. Mainstays Jordan Ayew and Thomas Partey look well past their use-by date for international football. Coach Carlos Queiroz’s future is in doubt.
Algeria – Round of 32 – it’s one thing to bully other African nations that often lack facilities, quality administration, a stable background and so on. It’s quite another to put yourself about on the world stage against bona fide football countries that have their act together. Algeria are dynamite at the former and pants at the latter and this tournament did not change that. Third in the group and then despatched 2-0 by Switzerland in the first elimination match is the proof of the pudding. The Algerians are fine by African standards and struggling to make the next level. See you next time, hope you have a bigger vision.
Austria – Round of 32 – forever in the shadow of neighbours Germany, Austria has a poor record at major tournaments. A win over Jordan and a draw with Algeria either side of a loss to Argentina gave them four points and second place in the group. Spain easily ended their campaign in the knockout round and this team will need to learn from experience to become capable of going further; in the Europa Nations League they are a B team and it shows.
Ecuador – Round of 32 – a win over Germany to secure their passage from the group was their tournament highlight and one that they will surely talk about for a long time. That said they were unadvisably clinging to an ageing Enner Valencia in attack and struggled in their eliminator against the pace and movement of Mexico. Facing a host country was always a big ask. Energetic coach Sebastian Beccacece is out the door with his contract finishing with this tournament. I suspect he’ll land on his feet, as will the Ecuador which has plenty of young talent to work with.
Ivory Coast – Round of 32 – a far cry from the 2010 version that featured absolute stars like Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Salomon Kalou, an aura still surrounds the IC as one of the classier African outfits. It’s surely fading now after this team eked out modest wins against Curacao and Ecuador, lost to Germany, then lost a winnable eliminator against Norway. They didn’t show a lot to be honest and an exit at this stage is their current level.
Sweden – Round of 32 – a sparkling 5-1 win over Tunisia got them off to whirlwind start, though they reversed that scoreline in the next game against Netherlands before drawing with Japan. That only put them in third place in their group and yes the punishment for that is banging heads with one of the top teams. France duly showed them what football is about. This is not a bad Swedish team but really needs a very gifted manager to make it a better-than-the-sum-of-its-parts outfit. Currently ranked 38 in the world and that feels about right.
Japan – Round of 32 – really the Blue Samurai didn’t do too much wrong. They started with a credible 2-2 draw with Netherlands, bushwhacked Tunisia 4-0 and drew with Sweden to finish second in their group. Unfortunately the draw paired them with Brazil in the eliminator and that was never going to be easy. With a 1-0 lead at half time they were in a position to cause an upset, but late Brazil pressure told with an equaliser and then Martinelli’s winner five minutes into stoppage time. As a team ranked 18 in the world they were capable of going further and might look back at this as a missed opportunity. Overall very competitive and a chance in any tournament when a slice of luck goes their way. I’ll monitor fan reaction and see if they agree with my categorisation!
Saudi Arabia – Group stage – the team struggled in qualifying and is clearly going through a generational change. I expected them to slot into third at best and in the end they were stonewalled by the brave Cape Verde unit.
Tunisia – Group stage – before this tournament Tunisia had qualified for the World Cup finals six times and failed to progress beyond the group six times. Make that seven and seven. Sacking the manager after game 1 smacked of chaos in the camp. They have a major goalkeeping problem with Chamakh rating 2.9 for the first game loss against the Netherlands, one of the lowest I have ever seen on Flashscore.
Panama – Group stage – only their second appearance at the finals, they lucked out with a difficult group. They drew three teams that have been at the quarter-finals or better since 2010 and all still with decent pedigree. Unsurprisingly they went down to straight losses, although all quite competitive. Better luck with the lotto ball sorting next time.
Iran – Group stage – on paper a good side but war and US immigration hard-ball was against them. Their travelling fans being denied entry and having their tickets revoked also didn’t help. I expected the dramas to be a bit much to handle and they were. As formeroo Socceroo and pundit Craig Foster said: “Above all, the World Cup must have exactly the same rules, treatment for all teams. Otherwise, it is not a ‘level playing field.’ Which is the inviolable premise of competition in football. Equal opportunity to compete, to excel. That has not been the case. And it’s shameful.”
Uzbekistan – Group stage – first time at the Big Dance for the Uzbeks. They certainly boasted a star coach in former WC winner Fabio Cannavaro, but still lack a bit of quality on the field. Some impressive moments and they will not be too disappointed in the end.
Jordan – Group stage – another debutante who copped a group with very experienced opponents including of course reigning champions Argentina. Three defeats was in the tarot and thus it was.
Scotland – Group stage – ‘as expected’ as this is their first appearance at a Finals since 1998 and they clearly lack major tournament know how. That said, with the classy McTominay and other players from the Serie A and Premier League this is a somewhat golden generation that were very impressive in qualifying. After a win against Haiti the lack of any points against Morocco or Brail left them flapping in the third-place repechage. I think they’ll go on from here and Scots fans can look forward to next European Championship with a positive mood. Coach Steve Clarke stepped down after the exit.
Underachieved – Morocco, Portugal, Brazil, Croatia, Senegal, Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Qatar, Uruguay, Czech Republic, Turkey, Iraq, Korea Republic
Morocco – Quarter-finals – a harsh call, perhaps. The north Africans looked very impressive all the way through until bumping up against a France team who squandered a penalty but still coasted home 2-0. After losing to France in the semi-final in 2022 in Qatar, Morocco would surely have fancied going a little further here on the tide of revenge. Coach Mohamed Ouahbi’s magic touch deserted him, livewire midfielder Ismael Saibari was sorely missed and the team played like they were never in the game; that’s why it feels like an under-achievement. Still, some bitterness at the exit gate will motivate them greatly for 2030 where they are already guaranteed qualification as a host nation. Can’t wait to see them hit the field in Casablanca in front of 115,000 fans at the upgraded Hassan Grand Stadium, and probably in Rabat and Tangier. Bring it on.
Portugal – Round of 16 – generally failing to impress, the Portuguese looked hampered by continuing to select a slow and immobile Cristiano Ronaldo. The ageing star clogged up crucial space and left little for his more agile countrymen to work with. Apart from a 5-0 park stroll against a poor Uzbekistan the Portuguese struggled for rhythm in three and a half matches out of five. As a country ranked 5 in the world (currently) they would have dared to dream of at least a semi-final or better. Admittedly Spain was a tough draw in the 16s but this is senior football, amigos. Coach Roberto Martinez has already gone.
Brazil – Round of 16 – eventually put of their misery by Norway, this was a Brazil team that only just squeaked past Japan in the 32s and benefitted from a group featuring weak Scottish and Haitian opponents that were easy pickings. Brazil’s modern problem is that it doesn’t seem to produce the prodigiously-talented jogo bonito ballers it once did, nor can it find the right recipe to meld serviceable professionals from top leagues into a unit with a distinctive style and edge. The writing was on the wall when Brazil struggled in qualifying for this tournament, as the CONMEBOL zone is a darn good indicator of whether you are in shape to face the rest of the world. Round of 16 is not acceptable in Brazil, not least for a country still ranked sixth in the world.
Croatia – Round of 32 – the Croats have plenty of pedigree, having reached the final just eight years ago where Luka Modric (still playing) was the best player at the tournament. This time around they were beaten by England in their opening match before lumbering to slim wins over Panama and Ghana. A dominant Portugal defeated them 2-1 in the first elimination round and for a country ranked eleventh in the world that will feel like underachievement.
Senegal – Round of 32 – after losses to both France and Norway, no disgrace as such, Senegal relied on a 5-0 goal feast against Iraq to catapult themselves into the last of the eight slots allocated for the best third-placed teams. This guaranteed them a tough opponent and thus they fell to Belgium through a cruel last-minute penalty after coughing up a 2-0 lead with just minutes of normal time left. Senegal had come into the tournament after having beaten Morocco in the African Cup of Nations Final earlier this year (although the title was later stripped for ‘excessive protests’ against the referee), and they are indeed the second-highest-ranked African country in the FIFA list. In that context they would have fancied a run to the quarter-finals or beyond. They will be very disappointed at having condeded three goals to all three European opponents and that is not a winning recipe.
Netherlands – Round of 32 – still probably the best footballing country to have never won the trophy. The Dutch have been runners-up three times and are out in here in the first elimination round. After they coughed up a lead to draw 2-2 with Japan in their opener, they were flattered by the 5-1 scoreline against Sweden. 3-1 over the abject Tunisia gave them deserved pole position in their group, but unfortunately put them on course for Morocco who finished second in Brazil’s group. The Africans looked marginally superior all game it was no surprise they held their nerve in the shootout. At least on the surface it’s hard to understand why a team who scored 10 goals in the group games sat so low (more players behind the ball than the 4-2-3-1 formation used in the group) and surrendered so much possession. Coach Ronald Koeman will have a lot of explaining to do. With the Netherlands having plenty of experienced coaches with big egoes looking for their next challenge, I think Koeman’s a goner. A Dutch fan commented: “Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) never misses with the truth bombs. He’s right the Dutch have always been about attacking flair, total football, taking risks. This team looked lost and defensive. Losing your identity in a big tournament is the ultimate sin for Oranje. Koeman under pressure now. What do you think: time for a change?” Update: Koeman gooooorrrnnee.
Germany – Round of 32 – after crashing out in the group stage for the last two World Cups, this is a slight improvement. But for the second-best national side in World Cup history after Brazil, it’s just not good enough. This was not a German team with anywhere near the pedigree of some of the former incarnations. Clinging on to goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who is now over 40 was to me symbolic of a lack of decisive leadership by coach Julian Nagelsmann. Bullying Curacao 7-1 in the first game was fools’ gold, 2-1 over Ivory Coast acceptable, but the writing was put on the wall with a 2-1 loss to Ecuador in the last. Nagelsmann had several days to sort out his team’s issues with South American opposition and didn’t quite get it right. One German fan commented: “Julian Nagelsmann should be sacked with immediate effect. The squad has not improved since he took the helm. There is a fundamental lack of personality in this squad. Robotic in nature, not clinical, pass backwards, can’t dribble, etc. That includes the Bayern Munich players as well. When all of the players get worse, there’s a structural problem and for that, Nagelsmann must go.”
New Zealand – Group stage – the All Whites dared to dream after a promising 2-2 draw to start and fine team goals. That was as good as it got with Egypt and then Belgium showing the gap in quality that is still to be bridged. I think third in the group was gettable so it feels like an underachievement to head home with another wooden spoon to add to that of 1982.
Qatar – Group stage – playing their second World Cup in a row, and in hot conditions, and presumably with a generation coming through that was inspired by hosting the tournament in 2022, I thought the Qataris might have been competitive. A 1-1 with Switzerland must have given hope of qualifying, but a 6-0 reverse to Canada flipped the script. Another loss to Bosnia and the departure lounge it is.
Uruguay – Group stage – trying to find something polite to say. Failing. Uruguay fans expect better than third place in the group and a miserable two points. As coach Marcelo Bielsa admitted, he failed to get the best out of the squad he had available. No excuses, their tournament was a disaster. Good analysis here.
Czech Republic – Group stage – have players playing in top leagues but did not put it together as a team. Just disappointing all round and the side looked strangely intimidated by the atmosphere and conditions.
Turkey – Group stage – they were a bit full of themselves prior to the tournament and paid the penalty. Their very expensive forward line failed to hit the target in the first two games and by then it was too late. Personally I think they were flattered by their ranking of 22 in the world and it will perhaps fall back to a more realistic 30-something after this tournament.
Iraq – Group stage – 1-4, 0-3 and 0-5, the Iraqis leaked goals to everybody. The Lions of Mesopotamia (spoiler: there are no lions and never have been in Mesopotamia) are renowned as a steely side and it just vanished here. See ya! As a caution to Australia, some of the Asian sides that have been caned at the World Cup will be licking their wounds and determined for a better showing in the Asian Cup in early 2027.
Korea Republic – Group stage – a shock 1-0 loss to South Africa in the final game left them on only three points. The Koreans generally put themselves about pretty well in World Cup group stages and this is definitely a fail by their standards. Coach Hong Myung Bo was sacked the day after their exit was confirmed. Aaaand South Korea president Lee Jae Myung says he is “utterly baffled” at the national team’s World Cup group-stage exit and called for the country’s sports ministry to investigate. Taking it well then…
Alan Whykes is a Tasmania-based writer and an ex- too many things to list.
This blog is the start of a new section called Tas At Large which showcases stories of Tasmanian diaspora let loose upon the world.
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