#Morocco World Cup squad | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aus-wnt · 3 months

Text

Matildas star Steph Catley was at a training camp for club side Arsenal when a nutritionist blurted out the news: Sam Kerr had ruptured her ACL while at a Chelsea training camp in Morocco.

“I literally felt like someone had stabbed me in the stomach,” Catley said.

“My stomach fell. I just felt really emotional really quickly just because I felt really removed from it and I couldn’t go and see her and I couldn’t speak to her in that moment.”

Women’s soccer is booming. Before her injury, Kerr, the Matildas captain, and Catley, the vice captain, were part of an Australian side that captured the nation’s attention in the Women’s World Cup in 2023. The Arsenal defender then flew back to London where she played in front of record crowds in the Women’s Super League, including 59,042 at the Emirates Stadium against Kerr’s Chelsea in December.

But that boom is hiding a serious issue.

As a female athlete, Catley is no stranger to serious injuries among her peers. As well as Kerr’s injury, Holly McNamara was called up for the Matildas last year but did her ACL. At Arsenal alone, four stars suffered ACL injuries in the space of just six months: Lionesses captain Leah Williamson, WSL’s record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema, European Championship Golden Boot winner Beth Mead and Austrian international Laura Wienroither.

Catley says the foundations of women’s soccer are not developing fast enough to keep pace with the product.

“Obviously it’s what we absolutely love doing, but I think now that the game is at a point where the standard is so, so high and the games are so challenging and physically demanding [that] a lot of teams and a lot of clubs don’t have facilities and don’t have the right calibre of staff that can keep players healthy and strong,” she said.

“They don’t have the facilities to cater for the amount of demand and the pressures that are on the women’s game now.”

On the eve of Williamson’s return to the playing squad late last month, the 26-year-old defender said the current calendar and demands on female footballers were unsustainable.

“We’re not bred for this. We get to October and girls are saying ‘I’m tired’ because you’re carrying so much from the previous season,” Williamson told UK’s The Telegraph.

“We are driving ourselves into the ground, so some sort of solution needs to be found soon, in terms of the schedule, otherwise it’s not sustainable.”

ACL ruptures disproportionately affect female athletes at a rate 3-6 times greater than their male counterparts.

Research into ACL injury prevention and causation is ongoing and newer reports suggest an intersection of risk factors of intrinsic (anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and hormones) and extrinsic factors (training, conditioning, preparation, facilities and resources).

While Catley was hesitant to speak on the causation of ACL ruptures as she was not an injury expert, she said there was no room to properly switch off mentally or physically on the merry-go-round of the calendar year, putting a lot of strain on the resources available.

“I don’t know if A, B and C leads to this. But yeah, it does logically make sense that if there’s that much demand and not enough support and not enough foundations underneath that people break down mentally, physically, in every way possible,” said Catley.

“I think that’s human and that’s the way bodies work.”

Some English clubs can play as many as three games a week during the height of the season when the WSL, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup calendars are running concurrently. The additional travel, plus the demands of national camps and tournaments, can further complicate schedules. Major tournaments occur in most WSL off-seasons, including a rotation of Olympics, World Cup and regional championships such as the Asian Cup, meaning most players will get one off-season free every four years.

When Matildas defender Ellie Carpenter ruptured her ACL just over a year out from the World Cup during Lyon’s Women’s Champions League final win over Barcelona, she referred to it months later as a “blessing in disguise”.

“I really needed this break. I was very fatigued, I’ve played a lot – a lot – of football in the last year and a half. I was just on the verge of [being] burnt out, really,” she told Forbes last March.

“The injury came, and, obviously, it was disappointing but at the same time, it was the perfect time for me to reset, get stronger, have a rest, have an off-season that I never really have had.”

In Kerr’s absence, Catley will captain the Matildas for the final Olympic qualifiers in Melbourne on February 24 and 28 against Uzbekistan and, if they progress, again at the Olympics in July. Catley did the same in Kerr’s absence for the first half of the World Cup.

Catley said as a kid, she never thought captaining a women’s team at the Olympics would even be possible. But now it is, it’s a “pinch me” moment.

“To be honest, even having that honour at the World Cup was extremely special and something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life, and cherish for the rest of my life, because it’s stuff that you dream of, really.”

But before she flies to Melbourne, for a 48-hour stop to play the first qualifier, she is deep in the thick of an Arsenal campaign for the title.

The club is looking almost back to full strength after regaining Mead, Miedema and Williamson this season, and sit third on the table, below Chelsea and Manchester City.

Catley said the title race was heating up. And while in the past seasons her side has struggled in those bigger games, this year they’ve done well against top opponents – but let others slip that they’d usually win. This is best summed up by their 4-1 win over Chelsea in December and then a 1-0 loss to Tottenham the following week. On Sunday, they lost to relegation-threatened West Ham.

“You’ve got some incredible teams that are also in form and if anyone drops points at any point, it’s like sharks,” said Catley.

“It’s just so, so close.”

#steph catley #arsenal women #arsenal wfc #matildas #auswnt

111 notes · View notes

lucy90712 · 1 year

Text

Insecure- Pablo Gavi

A/n: hey all this if my first Gavi fic if you have any requests for him or Pedri feel free to send them to me

Wc: 1600 There is no way to escape the news it's every Instagram, Twitter, the actual news and even texts from my friends. No one will let me forget about the fact that literal the princess of Spain has a crush on my boyfriend. I'm used to people having a crush on Gavi because I mean look at him but usually it's just random people not the princess of Spain. I have tried my hardest to not let it bother me as I know Pablo will think I'm being stupid but it's so hard when everyone is talking about how the two of them could end up dating and what that would mean for his football career and whatever else.

I had managed to sort my head out and convince myself that if Pablo didn't love me he would have broken up with me but when I woke up today to find out that the king had been to visit the squad and gotten Pablo to sign a shirt for his daughter all my worries came back. The more videos that came out the more insecure I felt as he had such a big smile on his face signing the shirt and taking a photo with the king. All of this isn't helped by the fact that he's in Qatar while I'm still back home in Barcelona as we don't get to talk as often because of the time difference and our schedules. Not getting much time to talk means I never bring up my worries as I don't want to waste the time we get to call on what is definitely me being stupid.

Despite all of this I'm still excited as I'm actually going out to Qatar to watch the next game which Pablo doesn't know about so I get to surprise him after the game. We haven't seen each other in ages as of course he's been at the World Cup and even before that we were both so busy we didn't get to see each other so it's probably been about a month since I've seen him in person. The only person that knows I'm coming is Pedri as I told him so that he could help me organise everything as I have no idea where the best place to stay is and I know you can't get tickets so last minute but he helped me with all of that. Having to hide my plans has been difficult as all I want to do is tell Pablo that I will be there especially when he says he wants me to see him play but I've stopped myself from telling him as I hope he'll like the surprise.

There was a a lot of delays on my flight as the plane was late to board so then we arrived into Qatar late and then it took ages to get my bags so my schedule has been thrown out the window as I need to drop my bags at the hotel and head straight to the stadium to make it for the start of the game. Of course there is a whole load of traffic but luckily once I made it to the hotel I could walk to the stadium so I grabbed my bag and sprinted to the stadium and just about made it before kickoff. There was no time to catch my breath as the match had started and it was already pretty tense as this game determines whether the team make it out of the group stages.

It was very tense the entire game as at times they were going out and others they were top of the group and then they were second. The guys were trying so hard to score another goal but Japan were playing really well and just not letting it happen. Pablo was subbed at 68 minutes which I could tell he wasn't too happy about but he still sat and watched the team for the rest of the game. The match ended 2-1 to Japan but the boys made it through 2nd in the group which means they will be facing Morocco in the next round which I think will be a hard game as they have been playing incredibly well but I know they will put up a fight.

After the match finished I left my seat and went with all the other family of the players to go and meet them outside the changing room. Up until I was stood waiting to see Pablo I was excited but standing there I got nervous because what if he doesn't want to see me? What if he has thought about our relationship while we've been apart and thinks he'd be better off with someone like the princess. So many thoughts were swirling around my brain that I didn't even notice Pedri come out and walk over to me until he tapped my shoulder which got my attention.

"Hey are you ok?" He asked

"Yeah I'm fine just nervous" I replied

"Ok well he'll be out in a minute I'll see you both later" he said giving me a hug and then walked away

Once again I was on my own just waiting which made all the thoughts come right even though it was just a few minutes I got myself so worried that my hands were all sweaty but also shaking with nerves. This time I was paying attention so when Pablo came out the door I locked eyes with him and tried my best to give him a smile. He came over right away and gave me a quick hug before linking our hands together and dragging me out of the stadium. I thought seeing him would make me feel less insecure but after that reaction I honestly feel worse. To me it just seemed like he didn't want me to be there and he didn't want anyone to see me there as normally after a game we will stand together for a bit before we leave but this time he just dragged me straight out. It also hurt as when he came out the dressing room he was smiling but when he saw me his smile seemed to disappear which almost made me cry but I held it together just about.

We made it back to the hotel and went up to the room together where I hoped he might actually seem excited to see me but no he just sat on the bed and went on his phone. I crawled on the bed next to him and rested my head on his shoulder to see that he was on Instagram looking at edits people had made of him and the princess together. That was the last straw for me and the tears started to fall rapidly down my face so I got up and shut myself in the bathroom where I just let all my pent up emotion go until I was sobbing. I tried to my best to be quiet but Pablo must have heard me as I heard him knock on the bathroom door before it opened as I didn't lock it. As soon as we looked at each other he came and sat on the floor next to me and pulled me into his lap. He tried to wipe the tears from my face but they just kept falling so he tried gently rubbing my back to calm me down.

"What's wrong mi amor?" He asked

"Do you still love me?" I asked back instead of answering

"Of course I do so much what makes you think I don't?" He questioned

"Well you didn't seem too happy to see me back at the stadium and when we got here you were looking at edits of you and the princess if you would rather be with her I'd understand but just tell me now" I said

"Oh sweetheart I'm sorry I didn't meant to give you the wrong impression I don't want to be with anyone other than you I promise" he said

"Then why did you act like you wished I wasn't here?" I asked

"I didn't mean to love I'm sorry I was just upset about the match and I wasn't expecting to see you I should have acted differently so I'm sorry but I'm very happy you're here" he said

We talked things through a bit more and he made me feel a lot better about my insecurity without making me feel stupid which I was worried about. Communication is all we needed but it was the one thing we weren't doing so when we actually talked about everything going on in our heads it made everything so much better. I promised to tell him when if I was feeling insecure and he promised to not let games interfere with our relationship which I think will help us in the future.

He said he wanted to make it up to me so he picked me up and carried me to the bed where he attacked me with kisses all over my face until I was laughing and smiling. When he'd cheered me up he turned the tv on and we watched a film together while cuddling. We also ordered room service most of which I ate as Pablo has a diet he is supposed to follow but I did make him eat a few things and promised not to tell anyone. We stayed up longer than we probably should of but eventually we fell asleep cuddling and much happier than we were a few hours ago.

#pablo gavi imagine #pablo gavi imagines #gavi imagine #gavi imagines #gavi oneshots #pablo gavi oneshots

202 notes · View notes

shirkers2018dirsanditan · 10 months

Text

If there’s a message for the national federations of Nigeria, Jamaica and South Africa, it’s this: don’t you dare try taking credit for their success.

This has been a World Cup defined by disputes between teams and the people who are supposed to be supporting them.

England’s disagreement over bonuses is ongoing, although they qualified for the knockouts with some ease. Canada are going home, at least in part because their preparation was virtually non-existent thanks to funding issues. Spain have a manager who, less than a year ago, 15 of their squad refused to play under. We’re really not that far removed from the USWNT’s long-running equal pay fight.

And then there’s Nigeria, Jamaica and South Africa.

The progression of those three teams to the round of 16 represents three extraordinary stories of glory over adversity; the sort of underdog tales that make international tournaments so thrilling and heartwarming.

Let’s start with Nigeria, whose players seem to have been involved in a constant, rolling dispute with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) for much of their existence. But this time it all came to a head in the weeks leading up to the tournament, when the NFF’s general secretary Mohammed Sanusi told the squad that, because FIFA had promised to give each individual player a bonus of at least $30,000 (£23,600) for participating in the tournament, the NFF would not be paying their own previously agreed bonuses to the players.

In the past, dissent has been sporadic and relied upon individual players speaking up — for which they were frequently punished. But this time, the whole squad rose up collectively and for a time there was the possibility that they would boycott their opening game against Canada. That boycott didn’t materialise, largely because the process is currently in the hands of FIFPRO, the international players’ union.

The good news, in theory, is that after making it past the first round, the bonus from FIFA will double to $60,000. That money will be distributed to the players by the NFF, under FIFA’s supervision; you just hope that the bonuses do actually make it to the players and that this extra money doesn’t strengthen the NFF’s resolve not to honour their own agreements.

You can also throw in a dispute between head coach Randy Waldrum and the NFF, over what he perceived to be inadequate backing from the federation for their pre-tournament preparation and an extraordinary situation in which his assistant, the hugely experienced American coach Lauren Gregg, was prevented from joining the team at the World Cup.

Waldrum spoke out against all of this, which led to a barely believable rebuke by the NFF’s communication director, Ademola Olajire, who called Waldrum an “incompetent loudmouth” and the “worst coach to have handled the Super Falcons of Nigeria by a country mile”, dismissing his claims as “bollocks”.

With that in mind, making it through the group stage ahead of Olympic gold medallists Canada without losing a game, only conceding twice (one of which was a late consolation) and defeating co-hosts Australia is simply phenomenal.

South Africa’s preparations were arguably even more chaotic, when a similar dispute over pay and a range of other issues led to their entire first-choice squad being banned from taking part in a tune-up game against Botswana, just over two weeks before the start of the tournament.

A scratch team was hastily cobbled together, which included a 13-year-old, to fulfil the fixture while the players that won last year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco had to watch on, unsure about what was going to happen next.

In the event, the dispute was settled a few days after that fiasco, but only after what was described as a “humble donation” was made from the Motsepe Foundation, an organisation that helps vulnerable groups across Africa. The foundation’s CEO, Precious Moloi-Motsepe, said they felt “duty-bound” to help after being approached, although no credit should be awarded to a national federation that essentially has to guilt trip a charity in order to pay their players.

Nobody was shocked when they lost to Sweden in their first World Cup outing, but they followed a 2-2 draw with Argentina with that extraordinary late win against Italy, inspired by the brilliant former African Player of the Year Thembi Kgatlana.

Jamaica’s is perhaps the most incredible tale, given that the team simply didn’t exist in pretty recent memory and, at regular points of their relatively young history, the Jamaican Football Federation has drastically cut and, on a few occasions, completely suspended their funding.

So much so that they were not even able to take part in qualifying for the 2011 World Cup, and the team was essentially mothballed until 2014 when Cedella and Rita Marley, the daughter and widow of Bob Marley, stepped in to offer some funding so that they could play in the 2015 qualifiers.

For this World Cup, they had to rely on a couple of crowdfunding initiatives, plus support from the Jamaican government and their kit sponsors Adidas, to even make it to Australia and New Zealand.

So for them to make it into the knockouts undefeated, without conceding a goal, having held France and Brazil to draws and beaten Panama without their key player Bunny Shaw, suspended after being sent off against the French, is simply unbelievable.

The hope is that these three national federations, all of whom have failed to one extent or another in their purpose (which is to provide support to their players and coaching staff), learn from this. You hope that they don’t use twisted logic to justify themselves, deciding that these results prove players didn’t need money for planning and organising or bonuses, or even spin things to suggest that the disputes provided a weird form of motivation for the teams.

Make no mistake: Nigeria, South Africa and Jamaica are through to the last 16 of the World Cup in spite of their federations — not because of them.

These have been collective triumphs of skill, togetherness, coaching, human spirit and the will to overcome adversity. The players and staff should be applauded as loudly as those above them should be derided.

#long post #wwc 2023 #women's world cup

15 notes · View notes

that-soccer-guru · 10 months

Text

HELLO THE 3 STRAGGLERS THAT ARE PROBABLY SEEING MY POSTS STILL, I HAVE MISSED THOU!

Happy world cup month, it is time for the biggest stage of the game and time for be to drop my obnoxious predictions that no one asked for but I'm gonna give anyways!

Here are my group predictions and notes

GROUP A:

I think Norway is gonna make a comeback and come in at #2 behind local New Zealand. The Swiss are great if they can rise to the occasion, and the Philippines has a great young core. They'll give us some very fun games going forward.

A1: New Zealand, A2: Norway.

GROUP B:

Honestly I think this is one of the TIGHTEST groups of this cup. With a fight down to the end I think it'll come down to goals and Fairplay. Depending on the result of Day 1 Canada vs Nigeria my picks are switching depending on the light with which I look at the table. SO.

B1: Australia (2W, 1D), B2: Nigeria (2D, 1W, Goal difference leaving Canada behind by ONE goal in a total group heartbreaker)

Group C:

Despite the big players refusing to play I think Spain has it in the tank for a great cup. If the Ticas can show some discipline they might surprise, but they're up against the TITANS of discipline so.

C1: Spain, C2: Japan

Group D:

Euro winners have one hell of a team. No notes for them today, second place is what is up for grabs. Haiti is always a dark horse pick but I think mettle and the money for great player health and conditioning will draw this one out so.

D1: England, D2: Denmark.

Group E:

One hell of a group here. Without Viv Midema the Netherlands is missing that finishing punch, but if they can bank on winning their other 2 games and forcing a draw or a one goal win with the US, they can go for first. Portugal is good but they have a lot of youth to adjust to the big stage. Vietnam has a delightful proposal and they play some very fun futbol, but they had the unfortunate luck of drawing 2 titans of the women's game.

E1: USA, E2: Netherlands

Group F:

The elderly stateswomen meet the bright eyed newcomers. Brazil is the titan of South America but they've proven to be way too rigid in their team selection. France is shaking off the cobwebs of a shit coach to see how far they can take it this time. Jamaica and Panama have everything to prove to show that 1. they belong here and 2. their federations NEED to stand in this fight with them. Despite the great teams I think this group is gonna be one of those low scoring ones where teams are making adjustments on the fly and we might get a surprise or two from some games.

F1: France, F2: Brazil (but just narrowly edging out Jamaica)

Group G:

Youth and a desire to prove that it's not only their men's team that know what's up. Argentina is pulling one hell of a legacy behind them, Italy is building a beautiful squad, South Africa comes up from fighting a war of speed and strength, Sweden has a chip on their shoulder. One hell of a group!

G1: Italy, G2: Argentina

Group H:

QUE VIVA COLOMBIA HP! An aging titan in Germany with some key injuries, a very disciplined squad that has been testing some amazing set plays and learning how to play through the lines in South Korea (but that tire out quickly), a fast and tough team that plays a fun midfield game with a solid defense in Morocco. And finally, a team composed of the women who paved the way for the youngsters, the maximum scorer in a Colombia jersey, a midfield filled with aggression and experience, a promising defense all led by the most promising young international that already took one team to a world cup final, Colombia promises a LOT to her fans. If Abadia can get his head out of his ass and learn how to make changes before exhaustion takes hold, this team can take it far!

H1: Germany, H2: Colombia

It's an amazing time to be a woso fan!

#woso #fifa women's world cup #wwc 2023 #group stage predictions #that soccer guru talks #im just here giving some notes no one asked me for but imma GIVE ANYWAYS

10 notes · View notes

calciopics · 2 years

Text

Morocco Portraits - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

#FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 #Official portrait session #Morocco NT #Morocco World Cup squad #Maroc #football #fussball #fußball #foot #fodbod #futbol #futebol #soccer #calcio

14 notes · View notes

after-zeno · 10 months

Text

Comment: At Australia and NZ's Women's World Cup, a gauche and unethical question framed in a way that put the interviewee and her team at risk legally.

Geneva Abdul 25 July 2023

Extract 1: “In Morocco it’s illegal to have a gay relationship. Do you have any gay players in your squad, and what’s life like for them in Morocco?” the BBC reporter asked at the post-match media conference in Melbourne.

Extract 2: Shireen Ahmed, a journalist for CBC Sports, was present at the press conference and said the question was bizarre and out of line. While the question was interrupted by a Fifa media officer, Ahmed said it should not have been asked in the first place.

“This isn’t an issue of journalistic freedom. You can inquire about social laws in different places without endangering people. Journalists have an obligation to be fair, accurate and practise with care. If reporting harms someone, it is not only unethical but dangerous,” said Ahmed.

Steph Yang, a reporter for the Athletic, described the press conference as a “little tense”.

“From a harm reduction perspective, this is not an appropriate question for a player and would have endangered the players themselves,” said Yang.

#lqbtiq #soccer #fifa women’s world cup 2023 #australia #new zealand #bbc

5 notes · View notes

judectrl · 6 months

Note

Morocco ate so bad too like by the last games I was rooting for them because they literally made history and you can really tell they wanted it so much😭❤️

it was honestly an out of body experience like i didn't start clocking what happened until we were knocked out 😭 especially considering the full of drama year our national team was having & our previous world cup experience in 2018 was traumatising

i swear if our squad wasn't overtaken w covid & injuries we would've reached the final, we were unstoppable 🙃

3 notes · View notes

mchiti · 6 months

Text

also have you read this?

Hammer Nayef Aguerd looks certain to join the Morocco squad for their World Cup qualifying away game against Tanzania next Tuesday evening. The player took a nasty blow to the head in the game against Nottingham Forest and had been checked out for concussion by the West Ham medical team. Now he will be able to travel and take part in the match despite the issue given the concussion protocol. West Ham would prefer him to stay in London ahead of the important Premier League game against Burnley at Turf Moor next weekend, but the player is keen to join his national squad for an important match. And it appears he will indeed be allowed to play in the match if required as the protocol covering concussion within FIFA rules is different to the Premier League. Whilst the Premier League require to lay a player off for twelve days it is only seven within the world body’s regulations leaving the Irons central defender free to travel and take part in the game.

#the player is keen to join his national squad :(#i love my brothers 2 pieces #nayef aguerd #CONCUSSION? DON'T KNOW HER

4 notes · View notes

cloudsspoke · 1 year

Text

#TODOSJUNTOS World Cup 2022: a review

8 years ago, I wrote a review for WC’14 to remind me that all of my fave teams won the medals; Gold for Germany, Argentina the silver, and the Netherlands got bronze. As for WC’18 I wrote none because of Argentina’s catastrophic result. And now after the La Scaloneta fucking finally became the World Champion I know I have to write how history is being made from my point of view.

And to write better I also know I have to sort out all information that I have before I put it into words. The problem is, tho it has been a week since the most stressful night, my emotion is still fucking raw from what happened, and my head is dizzy thanks to my PMS, but I want to write it soon while my memory is still fresh. So, pardon my messy review.

I start this by telling you what I did an hour before Qatar played their first game against Ecuador. I went to google to know the players who’ll play this year. I wanted to check how many familiar names I know since I am no longer an avid soccer/football fan like I used to be in the past.

For starter, Der Panzer. They still have Neuer, Muller, Kimmich, Gotze, and Gundogan. As for Argentina even though I claim myself as their fan but tbh I really am not familiar with them since their last 2018 squad, so I only know Messi, Dybala, Di Maria, and Otamendi. Netherland: Van Dijk, Depay, De Ligt, and Blind. Spain: Busquets, Morata, Asensio, Dani Carvajal, and Jordi Alba. France: Mbappe, Griezzman, Giroud, Lloris, Dembele, Varane, Pavard, and Coman. Some other familiar players: CR7, Pepe, Suarez, Cavani, Ochoa, Modric, Harry Kane, and Maguire.

And then I also looked out to which games that worth watching because my old body can no longer wake up at 02.00 am to see my fave teams play.

You’d be surprised if I tell you that as far as I can remember I only watched Qatar and England’s 1st game, Spain vs Germany, some Les Blues’ games but I forgot the opponents, Netherlands vs USA (Round of 16), Morocco vs Spain, Netherland vs Argentina (QF), Argentina vs Croatia (SF), and ofc the Final match between Argentina vs France. #shameonme to only watch the last 3 games of Argentina. But I remember that I said this to myself,

I won't forgive myself if Argentina drops out of the tournament before I have a chance to watch one of their games.

Ironically the first game from La Albiceleste that I finally watched was when they went against the Netherlands. My heart is already torn into pieces because one of them will go home. Before Weghorst tied the game, I was confident for Argentina to face Croatia in Semifinal. But I wasn’t confident if they could beat Croatia since I heard news about just how marvelous Luca Modric’s team was (they brought tears to Neymar ffs!). But after Weghorst forced them to play extra time, my heart shifted direction toward Der Oranje. And so, they gave in to penalty shoot-out. Dibu Martinez blocked not one, but 2 penalty shoot-outs from the Flying Dutchman squad.

Funny how I wasn’t that sad for the Netherlands maybe because I know they are all still young there’ll be next time.

Next game, Argentina vs Croatia. My only comment was just how lucky Alvarez was to play alongside Messi in this World Cup. Messi’s assist to his 2nd goal was just the absolute best.

And I was happy that Scaloni finally gave Dybala a chance to play for the first time when he replaced Alvarez 15mins before the game ended. Not only that, but I also read how Scaloni wasn’t afraid to let the young players take part by letting them play.

There was 2 days break before D-day. I used it to watch La Seleccion’s docu-series the one available on Prime. It tells about Argentina’s journey to win Copa America 2021, Finalissima 2022, and their Road to Qatar. By watching that docu I got more insight into this team and learned more about the players.

While watching Argentina I noticed they have Walter Samuel as one of their Assistant Coach. But from the docu, I just realized that they have Pablo Aymar and Roberto Ayala as well. I am familiar with the three of them, but I don’t remember their coach Lionel Scaloni as a player at all.

From the docu I believe we’re all agreed that one of the factors that this team looks pretty amazing is because of the camaraderie between the players and the whole Coaches/Staffs. It’s obvious.

The players show so much respect towards Scaloni. And I love how the young players really look up to the senior players (to Messi, I mean) while at the same time the senior players seem like make sure these chicos are comfortable during the whole training sessions and thus, they create such a strong bond.

In one interview Dibu said he’d be happy to see the senior players win the title, seeing just how much pain Leo, Di Maria, Kun, and Otamendi had to face from all the previous losses (4x Runner Ups: 3 Copas, 1 WC), he also added that he’d die just to win the tournament on behalf of Messi. I think everyone on that team is more than willing to die just to see their captain lift that World Cup trophy.

Then I thought, my decision to watch that docu could backfire on me because now I know the inside story of this team, it’d crush me more if they lost for the 5th time. I mean, I’ve been there in all those devastating final games, I don’t think my heart can afford to see if Di Maria cries one more time, not when I know this final will be his last game with La Seleccion. That’s why I only watched 3 eps out of total 6 episodes from the docu series.

Everything about this final game is nothing but pressure. And without further ado, to the final game we go.

First of all, something I didn’t get it is when I read some fans said they don’t wish to see Di Maria in Scaloni’s starting lineup. Some fans said Di Maria only plays better as a replacement.

But guess what? Scaloni did the opposite and Angelito was the reason behind Messi’s first goal, which was taken from a penalty kick after Dembele’s foul on Fide.

Not only that, he also showed us once again his magic. That this guy always scores a goal in every Final game that Argentina ended up winning. 2008 Olympic game 1-0, 2021 Copa America 1-0, and the latest 2022 Finalissima 3-0.

Then he was benched in the 2nd half. The pundit said there was a change once Di Maria was out because Acuna couldn’t play like him, and meanwhile, France got their chance to attack back and that’s how Mbappe tied the score with his 2 goals which led to the extra time. I wondered why Scaloni had to wait until ET to play Lautaro and Paredes. And oh boy, once he was in, Lautaro gave new energy for Argentina right away and that’s when Messi scored his 2nd goal,

but the celebration didn’t last long when Mbappe scored his hattrick that made Di Maria cover his teary worried face with a towel. El Fideo cried already.

At last, a Penalty shoot-out would determine the winner.

I’m telling you this, I always feel like throwing up every time I get stressed because of watching a penalty shoot-out. That happened again in this game. And I always cover my ear and shut my eyes when it’s my fave team’s turn to kick. I did the same when Messi, Dybala, and Paredes kicked the ball. But I was aware when Dibu blocked Coman’s penalty and closed my eyes again when it was Montiel's turn.

Otamendi Kun is exactly me during the penalty shoot-out

Players marched toward 3 different points; Messi, Martinez, and Montiel.

So that’s how history is written. One that will definitely live in our head rent-free. How Messi led his team to win the World Cup. Added 1 star for Argentina’s jersey, the 3rd title after the last one they had with Maradona in 1986. Everyone agreed this final is one for the book with all the dramas that happened on the field. Mbappe stole the Golden Boot with 8 goals, while Golden Gloves, Best Young Player, and Golden Ball all belong to Dibu, Enzo, and Messi.

What a night. What a memory.

Interesting stories from this WC to name a few:

The host Qatar sparked controversies at the beginning of the tournament. One of the reasons, due to the weather FIFA delayed the tournament until December and put a temporary pause on the ongoing European Leagues, which caused so many star players couldn’t participate due to the injuries that happened during the leagues.

The most-shocking result came from German, who failed from the first start thanks to Japan.

Marocco steals everyone’s heart by beating Spain (Round of 16) and Portugal (Ronaldo’s last World Cup, he returned to the dressing room walked in tears) as they marched toward semifinal, becoming the 1st African country ever to do that.

As from the Argentina squad, people from across the world unite as one to celebrate Messi made his dream come true. While haters talked about how this is a rigged tournament as they believed FIFA is in favor to let Messi win World Cup because half of his goals are from a penalty kick.

And then we got Emiliano Dibu Martinez who sparked controversies after controversies which later gave him this....

Are you #TeamDibu or not?

And Kun Aguero who retired last year due to his heart problem, came to Lusail Stadium (as per Messi’s invitation) with Otamendi’s #19 jersey, blended in just fine with the other ‘official’ squad when Argentina celebrated their winning over France.

People don’t get John Terry’s jokes istg something is wrong with those people. I mean, I even get the joke!!

As for Dybala, crazy how he played no longer than 30-40mins throughout this WC but ended up as one of the key players for his successful penalty shoot-out in the Final and his last minute’s tackle/clearance over Mbappe’s attempt.

Dybala later said Dibu gave him the direction to where he should point his shoot

And my personal favorite goes to the jokes of the year about how people nicknamed Rodrigo de Paul as Messi’s bodyguard, just because when there’s Messi, you’ll see De Paul right next to him. Always together, rarely separated.

Also, it’s a crime not to mention how Papu transformed himself into ‘Beckham’ with his new haircut which also began “the Beckham jokes”, all thanks to Kun’s Twitch streaming which took place a couple days before the QF game.

And again, thanks to Kun’s IG Live streaming, we saw all the crazy stuffs La Scaloneta squad did as part of their celebrations on their dressing room.

Messi gone crazy + Nico (one of their staff) took a dive into a trashbin

I can’t wait to see Messi goes back to France, meeting Mbappe on PSG after his whole squad did this to his clubmate 😂

+bonus pict: Kun & Beckham Gomez

The final night felt so magical. Maybe because everything is about Messi and his dream. Although this team started off badly, losing to Saudi Arabia in their 1st match but they came back stronger afterward. And people who believe in such a thing as fate will say that the stars have aligned for the Scaloni team. Copa America 2021 for instance, they should have played the 2nd game against Brazil in Argentina, but due to Covid19 they were forced to play the final in Maracana. It was later revealed from the Netflix Docu (the one I don’t watch yet because the series isn’t available on my country) that Messi's pep talk to his team was about how fate led them to win the long-awaited trophy against their long-time rival, Brazil, in their enemy’s own place.

De Paul also got his prediction correct for the 2nd time; first when he -while intoxicated- said in a video that they will win Copa in Maracana, and 2nd when he wrote “La Seleccion will win World Cup 2022” on his jersey.

As if all that Nostradamus prophecies isn’t enough, Di Maria’s wife also revealed the WhatsApp chat Fide sent to her a day before the final, for her husband who strongly believed they will win the trophy and for him to score another Final goal.

Now, can we talk about Di Maria?

This national team has been through so many thin moments ever since the Messi era, but I stay loyal since 2007 Copa America because I have my favorite players (Mascherano then, Di Maria now), and Fide was the reason I felt so overpoured with emotions.

This is the feeling that, even though I cheer for Germany & Netherland NT, but with them I have no players I dote on. And I’m beyond relieved knowing both Fide and Leo stay for more games with their Argentina jersey, cuz I can’t afford losing the legendary trio (Leo - Fide - Kun) altogether in such a short time.

In short, this World Cup is really a happy ending story for so many souls. Most notably, as I said previously, this triumph belongs to the trio Leo - Kun - Fide who’ve been side-by-side since the 2008 Olympic games, bestfriend from that moment, although club-wise the three of them once a rival in La Liga -before Kun finally moved to Barca only for Messi to leave him to play with Fide in PSG for a while (Kun only has a roommate priviledge but Fide won the prize for being a clubmate with Leo)-. Within a year, the trio helped their National Team to win all 3 prestigious tournaments.

p.s: I cried watching the crowd erupted when Fide-Leo hugged each other 😭

Such an unforgettable moment for us to live by as we are all so lucky to witness this World Cup final game :’)

17 notes · View notes