Monday July 13 Links and Banter
WHERE ARE OUR WORLD CUP GAMES
About Tuesday's Games
Argentina 3, Egypt 2
Kind of...: England/Mexico was the match of the tournament for me. And Argentina/Cape Verde was more fun in an "Argentina almost lost" sort of way. This one was the "if you strike at the king, you must kill him." Egypt had this in the bag except 1) they pulled a Senegal, in part because 2) Argentina is better than Belgium.
Adding insult to injury were three different moments of VAR getting or not getting involved, all of which went against Egypt, and all of which were probably rightly decided, in a 60/40 sort of way. So very perfectly FIFA.
HoustonBoiler: There was a point early in the second half when Argentina seemed to be pressing, which allowed for Egyptian counter attacks that produced a goal(s). However, as Kind Of... has already said, Egypt had Argentina on the ropes being up 2-0 (many would argue that it should have been 3-0) late in the match but could kill the king as Argentina scored 3 goals in 13 minutes to win the match.
Switzerland 0 (4), Colombia 0 (3)
Kind of...: Not boring. But probably the least exciting high stakes game thus far, even though (or, maybe, precisely because) it went to extra time and then penalties. (Spain/Portugal had the good sense to end after 90). Colombia probably had the better overall run of things, but not by enough of a margin that this is some sort of unjust result. Switzerland CAN beat Argentina.
HoustonBoiler: From what I saw of this one, Colombia appeared to be the slightly better team. They had chances, but just couldn't finish as Jhon Lucumi's header struck the crossbar and after a defensive mistake, Jaminton Campaz's shot went over the goal late in extra time. Given the opportunity, the Swiss got it done in penalty kicks. So unlike their cheese, Switzerland had very few holes in the end.
Today's Matchups
France v Morocco
Foxborough, MA. 4:00 ET/3:00 GTZ.
Kind of...: Morocco REALLY wants this after being eliminated by France in the 2022 semis. Morocco IS better than they were in 2022. But France is France. At some point they string together 20-30 minutes of turbocharged brilliance, and everybody so far has crumbled. How do you stop that?
Well, there's a good chance that Morroco's answer is "get physical." And that was probably the case even before it became clear that star player Ismael Saibari (just acquired by Bayern Munich for a nearly $60 million transfer fee...but, yeah, it wasn't a talent deficiency that ended the USMNT run). Look for a lot of fouls and some chippiness. But Morocco isn't Paraguay, so hopefully there's some offense, too.
MaximumSam: We've done the dish and we've done the drinks - it's now time for dessert. France rolls hard with a Crème Brûlée, the classic custard with a topping of crispy torched sugar. Morocco responds with Chebakia, which is a deep fried pastry that is coated with honey and sesame seeds. That sounds pretty delightful, though I must stick with France.
Also, at Chateau Sam we are putting out a charcuterie for the game, as well as making Kir Royales. At least we will if I can find creme de cassis. If not, we will probably use Chambord. I'm told this actually makes it a Kir Imperial. Don't tell the French.
BoilerUp89: Either team is capable of winning out. Who has the moments of brilliance that define the tournament? Your guess is as good as mine but I hope it's Morocco.
HoustonBoiler: Kind Of... undersold Morocco when he said they really want this because they were "eliminated by France in the 2022 semis." That obviously plays a role, but there's so much more to this story. Moroccan independence ended in 1912 when the French occupation began and lasted until 1956. I have to believe the Moroccans remember and would love to stick it to their former colonial overlords.
All that said, both of these teams are really, really good. While I might give a very slight edge to France, a Moroccan victory would not surprise me. France needs their free flowing offense to setup their multiple goal scorers. I feel Morocco needs to control the ball to limit the number of French opportunities. Morocco has the skillful players to do this. So, who will exert their will in this match?
On a side note, going into the quarterfinals Lionel Messi has a one goal lead over Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland in the race for the golden boot. Will Mbappé add to his tally this afternoon?
