Jonathan Liew's Blog, page 57
December 9, 2022
Tite to step down amid criticism after Brazil’s defeat to Croatia
Head coach has confirmed he will leave after six years in charge of the Seleção following World Cup quarter-final exit on penalties
Tite has confirmed that he will step down as Brazil coach after six years in charge. The 61-year-old had always maintained that he would leave after completing a full World Cup cycle, and so his reign will end with the 4-2 defeat on penalties to Croatia in the World Cup quarter-finals.
“The cycle has ended, and I keep to my word,” he said. “There are other great professionals that can replace me.” But in a sober and largely emotionless press conference, Tite left with a defence of his team’s record, not just against Croatia but in the tournament as a whole. “When their goalkeeper is the best player on the field, the game is talking to you,” he said in reference to Croatia’s Dominik Livakovic. “We had to be more effective in making goals. But did Brazil show their best? Overall, yes.
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Casemiro and Modric as close as ever in duel of old friends turned foes
The Brazilian and Croat grew together at Real Madrid and remain telepathically linked despite wearing different shirts
They keep looking for each other on the pitch. Just like they always did. Stealing little glances over their shoulder, like ex-lovers secretly stalking each other on Facebook. Occasionally as they pass each other they will share a brief word, a hand on the small of the back. It needs nothing more than this. They’re professionals, doing a job. And yet somehow it feels comforting, almost validating, to know they are not alone.
And Luka Modric and Casemiro are rarely alone. For more than two hours as Brazil and Croatia duel in the desert, these two midfielders yoke themselves together, their fates divergent and yet intertwined, like a habit they just can’t kick. They even swap shirts at half-time. And for the majority of the game, with the exception of the very end, they are within about 10 yards of each other.
Continue reading...December 7, 2022
Antoine Griezmann greases the wheels to get best out of France
The reluctant superstar hasn’t scored but has made more key passes than anyone to make his team run more smoothly
“At least he’s not tired,” Didier Deschamps observed sardonically. It was September and Antoine Griezmann was in the latest circle of a recurring nightmare. Back at Atlético Madrid on loan after a gruesome two seasons at Barcelona, Griezmann found himself in the surreal position of being allowed to play only 30 minutes per game, lest an automatic buy clause in his deal be triggered. And so for several weeks, despite being fully fit, Griezmann would watch from the bench, before being wheeled out as a substitute on the hour mark.
Still, you could rely on the France manager to put a positive spin on things. Of all the stalwarts of the Deschamps era, it is Griezmann with whom he seems to have the closest bond of all, an almost paternal connection that has held firm through the toughest of times. Even as Griezmann withered away at Barcelona, even as he languished on the bench in Madrid, even when it seemed as though the peak years of this extraordinary footballer were winnowing away, Deschamps’ faith in his talismanic forward never wavered. Now, in their third World Cup together, we are seeing the results.
Continue reading...December 6, 2022
Gonçalo Ramos’s treble marks him out as Portugal’s present and future | Jonathan Liew
The 21-year-old Benfica forward’s life will change after his hat-trick against Swiss that put the rest of tournament on notice
We should probably start by discussing the notable absentee from Tuesday’s World Cup last-16 game. Specifically, Switzerland. Granted, the Swiss would make their belated entrance in the second half, a cameo appearance to console the thousands of fans who had come to support them. But the result was no longer in doubt, and ultimately their presence was largely inconsequential. A reminder, if any were needed, that in this rarefied air those who are not prepared to put in a defensive shift quickly dissolve into irrelevance.
But of course there was a genuine star here too, and he was playing up front for Portugal. Gonçalo Ramos is 21 years old, comes from the Algarve and had not played international football until last month. He left Lusail with his life changed forever: a hat-trick and an assist, accomplished with the irrepressible confidence of a young man convinced the stage is his to own.
Continue reading...December 5, 2022
Brazil dismantle South Korea to dance into World Cup quarter-finals
It was a still and sultry night in Qatar’s capital: the grass a little greasy to the touch, the stadium bouncing and jiving, the football from a brighter and less troubled world. And there were times when watching Brazil’s symphonic demolition of South Korea when it was briefly possible to leave behind earthly cares, partake of the simpler pleasures in life, lose oneself in the pure, riotous joy of football.
Brazil really were that good. For the first 40 minutes, as they waltzed and wove their way to a four‑goal lead, they played the sort of football we have not seen from them for many years: special-effects football, computer-game football, football so filthy you needed a cigarette and a shower after watching it.
Continue reading...World Cup 2022: England head for quarter-finals as last-16 continues – as it happened
Aaron Timms has written for the Guardian on how Fox Sports’ US World Cup coverage is an unmissable abomination, with the broadcaster offering up “a feast of gaffes, stupidity, and unconquerable on-air awkwardness” which, frankly, sounds unmissable:
Insults to our collective intelligence have come from all angles: the constant, tedious analogies to American sports (stepovers and feints described as “dekes” and “hesis”, corners constantly compared to “pick and rolls”); the neverending quest to “contextualize” the world game by comparing whole countries to American states (“Qatar is the size of Connecticut,” we were told repeatedly on the opening day); the network’s embrace and promotion of the interminable “it’s called soccer” cause (who cares?); the strange extended segment in the run-up to USA v England about how much Harry Kane likes American football (ditto); the employment of Piers Morgan as a special guest pundit (no thanks).
I’ve said it all along. I don’t think we get the credit we deserve in our performances. I think if you look at other teams, like the Netherlands and Argentina, they win their games comfortably and they get called masterclasses. With us, it always gets picked off. The negative things always come that way.
If you look at the last couple of games, it’s been faultless. I think countries, like I said the other day, should be starting to fear us now because we’re a great team.
We’re silencing the critics. Going into the tournament, there was a lot of talk that we don’t score enough goals. That’s another one we’ve kept people quiet on. There was a lot of scrutiny around the defence and conceding goals, but it’s been solid. We’re going to keep building and pushing.
Continue reading...World Cup 2022: England head for quarter-finals as last-16 continues – live
Aaron Timms has written for the Guardian on how Fox Sports’ US World Cup coverage is an unmissable abomination, with the broadcaster offering up “a feast of gaffes, stupidity, and unconquerable on-air awkwardness” which, frankly, sounds unmissable:
Insults to our collective intelligence have come from all angles: the constant, tedious analogies to American sports (stepovers and feints described as “dekes” and “hesis”, corners constantly compared to “pick and rolls”); the neverending quest to “contextualize” the world game by comparing whole countries to American states (“Qatar is the size of Connecticut,” we were told repeatedly on the opening day); the network’s embrace and promotion of the interminable “it’s called soccer” cause (who cares?); the strange extended segment in the run-up to USA v England about how much Harry Kane likes American football (ditto); the employment of Piers Morgan as a special guest pundit (no thanks).
I’ve said it all along. I don’t think we get the credit we deserve in our performances. I think if you look at other teams, like the Netherlands and Argentina, they win their games comfortably and they get called masterclasses. With us, it always gets picked off. The negative things always come that way.
If you look at the last couple of games, it’s been faultless. I think countries, like I said the other day, should be starting to fear us now because we’re a great team.
We’re silencing the critics. Going into the tournament, there was a lot of talk that we don’t score enough goals. That’s another one we’ve kept people quiet on. There was a lot of scrutiny around the defence and conceding goals, but it’s been solid. We’re going to keep building and pushing.
Continue reading...December 4, 2022
Phil Foden gives seminal display to show England he really is sensational | Jonathan Liew
Manchester City’s young attacker delivers his best work yet on the biggest stage for his country in his preferred role
A very normal thing happened on Sunday night. Phil Foden was sensational. I do not want to oversell this. There is no deep or meaningful theme here.
There are no hidden layers or wider significances, no political or cultural context. It rests almost entirely on a single argument, and the argument is that Foden is sensational. If you are not on board with this idea, the next 840 words may not be for you.
Continue reading...December 3, 2022
World Cup 2022 diary: every good feeling in Qatar is lined with guilt
Away from the stadiums, there are ‘scenic’ strolls, gristly burgers and a chastening kickabout with Nedum Onuoha
My colleague Sid Lowe and I decide to take a leisurely stroll to the nearby Al Bidda Park. Good news: it’s only 15 minutes away. Bad news: you have to dodge a six-lane dual carriageway to get there. The park is practically deserted and the view of the glittering ocean only marginally tarnished by the enormous sewage pipe flowing into it. A timely and poignant reminder that in Qatar all beauty is fatally tinged by ugliness. Later, Spain draw 1-1 with Germany.
Continue reading...Lionel Messi guides Argentina to victory over Australia despite late scare
Nothing this precious ever came easy. Two parts ecstasy to one part agony, Argentina qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup. They secured a two-goal lead through Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez, played some of their most unfettered and spellbinding football of the tournament and peppered the Australian goal with shots during a gripping second half.
And yet, did you expect Australia to sit down and accept their fate? This Australia, with its SPFL stalwarts, its honest journeymen, its plethora of guys with surnames as first names? Australia took the hard road to Qatar and they took the hard road out of it, outgunned but never outrun, even burgling a late consolation goal and threatening a staggering shock.
Continue reading...Jonathan Liew's Blog
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