Morocco wrote its name in golden letters in the history of the World Cups by becoming the first African team to qualify for the Semifinals after eliminating Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the Quarterfinals of Qatar 2022. Video / AP
OPINION:
Chris Rattue runs through the sporting winners and losers from across the weekend.
LOSER: Football World Cup
Yes, the hoopla is winding up, but in truth the amazing fans are often better than the goal-shy football.
Or to put it another way: why aren’t there more players like ErlingHaaland, the giant Manchester City striker who terrorises defenders and is sadly missing from the World Cup tournament?
By some of their own skiting, they largely dominated France in the quarter-final.
Yet England couldn’t come up with one proper goal, and in their moment of need, star striker and revered captain Harry Kane didn’t get a penalty anywhere near the target.
It wasn’t as if full-strength England had all that much to beat. France were terrific until they scored their first goal in the 17th minute. The injury-hit world champs were mainly rubbish after that.
Elsewhere, Morocco’s march is a fairytale…and a nightmare. It would be a disaster if they made the final.
Morocco's Yahia Attiyat Allah (25) celebrates with teammates after the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match against Portugal at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Morocco are a limited, defence-minded team although this is masked by their colourful fans, lovable underdog status and a groundbreaking run for an African nation.
I get it, but would still rather see Brazil at this point in the tournament.
The quality of World Cups typically descends towards the final, although the drama increases.
This is because football is a sport in which blatant fouls — cheating in other words — are celebrated or at least highly tolerated as clever defending.
Look dangerous in certain areas of the field, and someone will kick your ankle like you just stole his bike. Then he’ll wave his arms around, like it was all some horrible mistake.
This will happen, say, a mere 20 times in a game.
Actually, in the truly horrible 2010 World Cup extra-time final between Spain and the Netherlands — teams with traditions of playing interesting football — there were 47 fouls.
In the 2014 final there were 36 fouls, in 2018 a mere 27.
The World Cup often turns into football without much football.
Afterwards, everyone blames the ref.
LOSER: The rugby coaching recycling bin
Has rugby run out of coaches?
The question is tempting: Wales has recycled Warren Gatland, Australia is allegedly preparing for the 300th coming of Eddie Jones, and New Zealand has chosen to keep spluttering along under former assistant Ian Foster.
Rugby isn’t the only big-time sport with a carousel of coaches dotted with a few blokes who imply that only they have THE KNOWLEDGE.
But rugby is becoming a serial offender.
Somewhere, during the past week, I read Jones being described as a ‘supercoach’.
Eddie Jones with Steve Hansen in 2019. Photo / Mark Mitchell
This is a man whose tyres were pumped up to bursting level after England crushed the All Blacks at the last World Cup, before his carefully constructed machine careered off the road in the final against South Africa.
My email inbox was flooded with notes from far and wide after England’s semifinal dismantling of the All Blacks.
Writers were gloating over an old prediction I had made (fair enough), while assuming the World Cup was on its way to Twickers (chuckle).
Losing the final didn’t seem to matter though.
A lot of people still regard England’s last World Cup campaign as a thing of wonderment, rather than the spectacular failure it turned into.
If Eddie Jones is a supercoach, why were England so badly prepared for that 2019 final?
Meanwhile, Gatland has been juggling a lot of balls, and not very well of late.
Foster is a disaster so far, carrying on where his old boss Steve Hansen unfortunately left off and turning the once mighty All Blacks into rubble, brick by brick.
Rugby has become such a big business — in the minds of those running it at least — that the beauty of risk and reward is being suffocated by something that looks like due diligence gone wrong regarding coaching appointments.
Or maybe I’m just sick and tired of the overrated, smart-arse Jones, boring-rugby Gatland and never-much-good Foster having such a say over a sport that is grinding to a halt.
WINNER: Lianne Sanderson
Wow. I love the beIN Sports World Cup coverage, led by host Richard Keys and including a feast of former stars like the fantastically resolute Peter Schmeichel, Ruud Gullit and Co.
Yes, they can talk over each other at times, and refereeing expert Mike Dean is so wishy-washy that you wonder how he ever reached a decision on the field.
Apart from that, it’s a joy to watch big-name pundits with something to say.
Sanderson, a former England forward, has emerged as an absolute star, with her sharp, no-holds-barred analysis.
Moments after England’s quarter-final defeat against France, she labelled coach Gareth Southgate as ordinary, and attacked his lack of proactive substitutions during the game. It was time for Southgate to go.
