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Key events
How wonderful it has been to witness Rodri absolutely thriving at this World Cup. There was a worry when he returned from his ACL injury that he would never be the same again. It has taken him a while to trust his body once more and be able to play to his maximum consistently.
I am mildly suspicious that he has played his final game for Manchester City but we shall see about that in the coming weeks.
When I became a teenager, foosball made way for girlfriends, wine, cigarettes and a job in a casino. Then I met a British woman and we got married. In 1986, with the war ongoing, we left Lebanon to set up home in Manchester. We had a son, a daughter and a foosball table in the kitchen. It remained a hobby until 2004 when I was managing the city’s Hard Rock Casino and bought a table for customers, with a sign: “Beat the manager”. Our weekly challenge had 30 competitors, but I always won.
That nice man Nick Ames answered a load of your questions yesterday. The poor chap really does love Harry Kane but he also loves offal. I do not know which he prefers.
Matthew Hall
“Football survived Sepp Blatter,” Mel Brennan writes, optimistically, in the book. “It survived Jack Warner. It survived Chuck Blazer. And it will survive Gianni Infantino.”
After a week of smelling wildfire smoke, I am finally breathing in some clean air. It is not too windy or too hot, so I am blogging from the garden. This is the dream we’ve all tried to live.
Mittu gets in touch to say: “All this talk and build up to the final and on a (much) lesser scale, the 3/4th playoff is well and good — but I can’t stop and think of what life will be without staying up midnights and waking up early mornings in a couple of days’ time. My biological clock had just adjusted. Maybe good way for me to get interested in the South American leagues and the MLS.”
It’s always an option …
More than 200 countries endorse Infantino for fourth Fifa term
An exclusive from Nick Ames and Matt Hughes.
Gianni Infantino has the formal endorsement of more than 200 countries for re-election as Fifa’s president despite the climate of unrest that has swirled since the scandal surrounding Folarin Balogun’s reprieve from suspension.
The Guardian understands only a handful of Fifa’s 211 member associations are still to send letters of support for Infantino, who is on course to be voted into a fourth term by a landslide at its congress in March. A small number of European countries are among the outliers, with Germany the highest-profile FA yet to provide official backing.
Now for something completely different … a match report from 1966.
I do hope the Guardian are pushing my work from Turf Moor in 60 years time. I reckon a sub-editor nowadays would insist on breaking up this intro. But who am I to argue with Cyril Chapman?
A new Argentina, discarding traditional defensive methods, and attacking from the first moment of a stimulating game at Villa Park last night, stirred visions of a first-class encounter with West Germany on the same ground on Saturday as they beat Spain through two goals scored by Artime, their irrepressible centre forward.
I am having a look through the European results last night. Looks like it was a cracking ending in Malta where Faroese side NSÍ Runavík knocked out Hamrun Spartans thanks to a 94th-minute penalty. It was so controversial that the police needed to step in while the referee produced a red card.
Trent Alexander-Arnold said it is “a pleasure” to work with reappointed Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho, adding that he has long admired the Portuguese coach and believes he can help the club win trophies.
Mourinho returned to Real Madrid in June for a second spell after a disappointing campaign last season in which they missed out on the LaLiga title and were eliminated from the Champions League quarter-finals.
“I have always admired the coach (Mourinho). I’ve played against him a couple of times, and it’s a pleasure to work with him and his team,” Alexander-Arnold said.
“It’s intense. The principles and the level of demand are very high, so I’m looking forward to seeing how, the more we get to know each other, the more we learn and the more he can teach us. And we’re all willing and eager to learn and improve. I’m sure he’ll teach us many things and help us win trophies this year.“
Alexander-Arnold, who joined Real Madrid from Liverpool last year, endured an injury-hit first season in Spain and did not always command a regular place in the starting line-up, rotating in and out of the side.
However, the departure of defender Dani Carvajal in May has opened an opportunity for Alexander-Arnold to establish himself as Madrid’s first-choice right-back.
“I’ve been out of action for a long time, so it’s good to finally be back and to lay a solid foundation for a successful season,” the 27-year-old Englishman added. Reuters
James Moriarty writes: “The thing that is really bothering me, in this endless Brave England’s failure autopsy, is this - Tuchel was, until the semi-final, universally praised for making game changing substitutions. Which is all well and good, but it happened seemingly in every game, which surely points to a bigger issue: namely that NONE of his starting line-ups worked, and games were only won by substitutes changing the course of the match. England were staggeringly lucky to get as far as they did, and were the worst of the semi-finalists by a country mile, so perhaps we should all be grateful that Tommy T has spared the embarrassment of getting humbled by Spain in the final.
Anyway, I’m very much looking forward to France Reserves vs Jordan Henderson XI tomorrow.”
I would argue in the world of five substitutions that there is always a plan to throw the ‘finishers’ on. I think the subs against Norway were rather odd, to be honest, too.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will attend the World Cup final to see his country take on reigning champions Argentina, his government said Friday.
Sanchez, a vocal critic of US President Donald Trump – who also plans to attend Sunday’s final in New Jersey – will then travel to Algeria for an official visit. AFP
Club football is back on the agenda but Pitbull will not stop.
Krishnamoorthy asks: “Who does it better, Carlo Ancelotti or Leo Scaloni? Their (lack of) reaction when a winner is scored in the 96th minute is unreal.”
I am an Ancelotti Ultra.
What approach should Tuchel take to the third place game? Try and win it or give everyone some minutes. I think it is fair to give a half each to the goalkeepers, let Watkins and Toney play. Mainoo also deserves time on the pitch.
Donald Trump will attend Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
“We look forward to the final match on Sunday, and I know the president looks forward to attending,” Leavitt said. “This is a fitting conclusion to a tournament that showcased America’s ability to host the world on the grandest stage.”
Keir Starmer supports the idea of Fifa investigating Argentina players who displayed a banner touting their country’s claim to the Falklands Islands after their World Cup semi-final win against England, Downing Street has said.
Jeff Rueter
As is true for most of La Albiceleste, pulling on the white-and-blue turns Romero into one of 11 bleeding hearts who leave no yard uncovered and no stud unshown for the good of the cause. Partnered with Lisandro Martínez, he is the relative hardman, often the final obstacle between an attacker and Emiliano Martínez. Save for Lionel Messi and the Aston Villa goalkeeper, Romero has arguably been Argentina’s most consistent player en route to their third World Cup final in four tournaments.
Aaron Timms
Over in America, Fox’s World Cup coverage goes under the microscope as it enjoys a final hurrah.
Goodbye to Geoff Shreeves, Fox’s middle-aged Oliver Twist chirruping on the sideline for the approval of his American masters. Goodbye to Tom Rinaldi, to his pocket squares and his “lyrical” meditations on balls and planets and stars or whatever. Goodbye to Chef Nick, now forced to rein in the extravagance of his early contributions (kangaroo corndogs, fufu chicken tikka masala) in the face of the tournament’s gastronomically subdued final four. And goodbye to Jameis Winston, the Fox fan correspondent, whose distressingly antic and sweaty stadium dispatches gave him the unvarying appearance of a man being electrocuted in the middle of a baptism.
We shall begin with the latest coming out of the England camp.
Thomas Tuchel is sticking about. Maybe he will download Football Manager and avoid the temptation of going Ultra Defensive.
Unsurprisingly, the players were a bit bemused by the tactics that saw them crash out.
Barney Ronay points out the bigger problems facing England than nonsensical subs.
Why everything went wrong … in numbers.
Preamble
We can all be sure that the England postmortem will continue for a little while longer, even if there is the pointless nature of the bronze medal match on Saturday to look forward to. Thomas Tuchel’s bizarre substitutions have seemingly not cost him his job, so we cannot drag that conversation out much longer.
Hopefully, the more interesting stuff on this fine Friday is getting excited about the final. Lionel Messi v Lamine Yamal and all that jazz. It should be a fascinating encounter between one very good team and an excellent one, you can decide which is which.
We will bring you all the latest and probably chuck in a few curve balls too.
