Spain’s World Cup conquest over Argentina well deserved

 

In retrospect, the 23rd edition of the World Cup football tournament that concluded in the United States, Mexico and Canada was a colossal and phenomenal success in terms of match attendance and revenue generation.

Expectedly, the world’s numero uno  sporting event evoked unprecedented interest,exuberance,excitement and fervor  in sports enthusiasts around the globe.

From start to finish,the tournament   was talk of the world,dominating headlines and coverage in both electronic and print media.

The intensity,suspense and thrill of the matches kept  fans  transfixed,galvanized and awestruck throughout the championship.

 

Every single match venue across the host countries attracted record breaking numbers of spectators who filled every seat in the stadium.

The stadiums bore an electrifying, jovial, celebratory, musical and carnival atmosphere with drum beating, flag waving and vociferously cheering  supporters of respective teams.

Besides,globally football  fans of all ages, races, religions and nationalities across urban and rural areas were under one roof during the entirety of the tournament. 

As usual they were overwhelmed by the thrill and excitement of the games.Such was their  passion, enthusiasm and love for the sport that  they were glued to their television sets around the clock not wanting to miss any  action for which they had waited for four years.

Keeping aside the time  difference,they watched matches till late night and stayed up late for  early morning matches.

The month plus long championship kept  supporters of respective teams on the edge of their seats.They had to live with agony and ecstasy depending on their   teams’ performance  and  final outcome. 

The  competition for the first time   featured  48 participants,an increase of 16  from previous editions of 32 teams.

France’s ace striker and leading goal scorer Kylian Mbappe overtook Lionel Messi to win the  Golden Boot award for leading goal scorer of the tournament.

 

As a matter of fact, Mbappe who scored 10 goals became the first player to win the award for the second time.

 

The championship match between defending champions Argentina and Spain failed to reach the heights of expectations as the latter took control of the proceedings,fully dominating the exchanges. Without a shadow of doubt, they were well deserved winners. It was their second World Cup triumph.

Had it not been the brilliance of Argentina's custodian Emiliano Martinez,  the Spanish side could have been runaway victors. 

Argentina   spearheaded  by superstar Messi was a pale shadow of their former much to the chagrin and disappointment of their supporters around the world.

Spain dominated individual awards as well. Skipper of Spain Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante  was voted the best player of the competition for the Golden Ball award. 

Likewise his teammates Pau Cubarsi and Unai Simon were adjudged the best young player and goalkeeper respectively.

Europe had a stranglehold on the tournament with six  and  three teams reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively. In the third place playoff England prevailed over France in a surprisingly high scoring game(6-4). 

Compared  to  South America and Africa, Asian Football  Confederation teams had  a poor tournament with only Australia and Japan  reaching the round of 32.

Amongst the debutants,Cape Verde  made headlines by reaching the round of 32 and came very close to completing the biggest shock of the championship against Argentina before going down 2-3  in a  competitive match. 

World Cup’s most successful team Brazil failed to live up to their expectations as they went down to  emerging powerhouse of world football Norway 1-2 in the round of 16.

Similarly previous World Cup winners  Germany exited the tournament in the round of 32,following the defeat at the hands of Paraguay in the penalty shootout.

All three host countries the United States, Canada and Mexico had a relatively decent outing by making it into the round of 16.

Prior to the start of the championship, the spotlight was on the world’s two greatest players Ronaldo and Messi. Most football critics and analysts assumed  it was their last World Cup appearance. 

While Messi  looked forward to finishing on top for the second straight time, Ronaldo  desperately hoped to  bask in World Cup glory  for the first time.

The million dollar question was,could  Ronaldo,the world’s highest goal scorer end up with the   sport’s biggest and prestigious trophy?

However,Ronaldo’s dream of winning the World Cup was shattered as Portugal went down to Spain by a solitary goal in the final seconds of the match in the round of 16. At the age of 41 he became the first player to score in the knockout stage.

As predicted,strong contenders Spain, Argentina,France and England  reached the semifinals.

Spain seemed destined to win the final, following their dominant 2-0 victory over  France.On the other hand, Argentina faced quite a challenge from England before they narrowly completed a 2-1 win.

Argentina was at the center of controversy for being  allegedly favored by umpires and VAR officials.

 

There was wide outrage over umpires biased against opponents of Argentina. They were accused of helping  Messi and his team reach the final.

Evidently the Egypt vs Argentina match in the round of 16  created the  biggest fire storm and uproar ,exposing the umpire and VAR officials’ bias towards Egypt.

From a two goal deficit Argentina bounced back to emerge victorious with the help of the umpire’s questionable and controversial decisions favoring them.

Furthermore,umpires were accused of favoring Argentina against England and Switzerland as well,

A  barrage of criticisms came raining down on umpires from well known coaches,football analysts,fans,present and past players .

This kind of alleged  rule violation, favoritism and  bias on the part of both umpires and VAR officials is unacceptable and puts the game integrity at stake.

Additionally, there were other controversies  related to ticket pricing, logistics ,politics, environment and human rights.

There is virtually no room for  controversy of any kind  that endangers, compromises and ruins the integrity of the game moving forward.