World Cup 2022 Daily Diary
Day 17 – Quarterfinals are set
If you can find better narratives than here…fuck it!
Not for the actual game, because it was pretty turgid for most of it, but for the story. Ferran Torres doesn’t really do anything (beware any player that Pep Guardiola decides he can’t salvage within a season).
Game of the day: Spain 0 – 0 Morocco (Morocco wins 3-0 on penalties)
And Spain had no direct or long-ball threat either to try and back Morocco up. The other got the U.S. pretty much held at arm’s length and heading home. What would the U.S. do then with everyone in their prime?
The lowest branch ever is to say that Ramos scored all the goals that Ronaldo can’t now, given that none of them involved him ...
Other results: Portugal 6 – 1 Switzerland
...standing still at the penalty spot. As I saw one Tweet, the next one he attempted to get on he started five yards offside.
There was just more snap to everything Portugal did. It’s obvious when Portugal are a better side. He’s not a player who can play on the counter.
Look at how much he struggled to get into the wide open spaces today, and that’s against a Switzerland team that had already given up. Even he can’t ignore how they looked without him.
It’s what anyone on the street would pick. Naturally, Lalas picked Ronaldo before Portugal-Switzerland, and he wasn’t ...
Did Alexi Lalas say anything stupid?
...even fucking playing! Probably because Lalas has no idea who Ramos is nor has he ever watched Benfica play.
A eulogy for the departed
Spain – This is how Spain will probably go out of every tournament, unless they win it. Deny them space, and they’ll just keep the ball and make keeping a lid on things their first priority.
Switzerland – The minor player to the narrative-machine that Portugal became right before the game. They clearly weren’t prepared for a Portugal attack from all angles.