So I thought it would be fun to throwback to the World Cup.
Feel free to comment what your WC memories are, or what your first impressions were of the players and most importantly who were you supporting!
So my friends and I decided that we would pick two teams to support. One for the win and the other, a team that will most likely not win the World Cup.
I had chosen Sweden, mainly because I LOVE the sport of Curling, and Sweden is one of the best, if not the best European curling teams.
(Prior to the World Cup, I had no idea who any of these players were, and now you could show me a picture and I'd probably be able to name most of them)
The team that I had chosen for the win, surprisingly, was France.
Call me fake, but the last French game I had watched was the Euros 2016 final, and the only player I knew was Griezmann🙈
But as the World Cup went on, I found myself investing more of my time in getting to know the players
The first game was France - Australia. I remember coming home from school, having finished writing an exam to watch the game
I won't lie, the form of the French team scared me. I thought playing Australia would be a walk in the park, but they put up a fight.
France had the honor of getting the first penalty as a result of VAR. Griezmann took the penalty, and I don't think there was a doubt in anyone's mind. We knew it was going in.
A player that stood out for me, apart from Pogba and Griezmann, was Pavard.
I remember thinking, "Damn, this guy could clean tackle a striker blindfolded,"
I was surprised to find out how young he was.
What impressed me most about the French team was how young majority of them were.
I think Deschamps did a great job of balancing out experience and youth, especially considering the great names within that French squad.
It was great to see him put faith in young players like Hernandez, Mbappé and Pavard, while relying on players like Lloris, Griezmann and Giroud for their previous World Cup experience. It was a perfect balance.
With three points on the board, France's next opponent was Peru.
Again, I was fooled into thinking it would be an easy game. With the game ending 1-0, France's shining star Mbappé put his name on the score sheet.
At this point I was oblivious to what talent he really possessed.
With six points, it was almost certain that France would make it through to the next round.
So in the game against Denmark, the B-team had a chance to make their mark.
We saw Varane take over the captain's armband with Mandanda in goal.
This game won't go down as the most intense game, but it did the job and we left with one point finishing top of the group.
ROUND OF SIXTEEN!!!
(Check the YouTube video of this game's highlights ☝)
We knew that getting Argentina would be no easy task to take out. Messi & Di Maria would put up a fight, and that's what they did.
Till this day, this match will go down as my favorites of all time. It was intense, there was lots of goals, and there was never a moment where I wasn't on the edge of my seat. .
Griezmann scored from the spot in the 13th minute.
Di Maria scored an equalizer in the 41st minute taking it into half time.
48 minutes in and Mercado scored leaving France trailing. I remember thinking Argentina was going to park the bus and it was the end of the road for France.
But then, in what went on to be the goal of the World Cup, BENJAMIN PAVARD scored an amazing goal in the 57th minute. Translating to: There's everything to play for now.
Just minutes later, Mbappé makes it 3 for France.
This was a game that really showed me how good he was.
He had pace, his dribbling skills were unbelievable and he knew how to score.
In my opinion, this game made Mbappé. The world had their attention focused on him
And just when you thought he couldn't get any better, Mbappé makes it 4, and it seemed to be over for Argentina.
In an honorable attempt, Agüero pulled one back for Argentina in the 93rd minute.
You could see France scrabbling defensively towards the end, knowing that Argentina just needed one more to go into extra time. But to everyone's relief, the final whistle blew and France was through to the quarter finals!
I remember thinking "France is winning it," after that game. I saw them play together as a team, with a hunger to score and make it to the final.
I watched the Uruguay Portugal game after that, and I was impressed by the Suarez Cavani partnership, not knowing that they would be our next opponent.
In an unfortunate, fortunate event, Cavani got injured which meant it was up to Suarez to hold the fort down against France.
With Blaise Matuidi suspended, there was an even playing field for both teams.
Varane ended the deadlock with an assist from Griezmann, who later shut up shop with a second.
It wasn't the best day for the Argentine goalkeeper, making a mistake, that, had it not happened, could've kept Uruguay in the game.
What grabbed my attention was Griezmann not celebrating his goal, with respect to his Atletico teammate, and godfather to his child, Diego Godin. It was honorable from him.
Semi final day came and I think everyone was terrified to face Belgium. They had an amazing World Cup campaign, and there wasn't much between the two teams.
It was a battle of World Class players.
Lloris vs. Courtois
Griezmann vs. Lukaku
Varane vs. Vertonghen
Pogba vs. De Bruyne
I remember thinking "How the hell are we going to put a goal pass Courtois?"
But Umtiti's goal put France through to the final, and you really had faith that we were winning it.
In the conferences that followed, I was a bit saddened to find that Belgium players were accusing France of not playing "real football" but none of it mattered because there was now a 50% chance of winning the title, all that was left, was Croatia, no easy opponent.
I remember laying in bed the night before the final, thinking about what was running through the players minds.
Were they nervous? Had they flipped the switch on their emotions? Could they feel the weight of France on their shoulders?
In the days leading up to the final, you could find me using the hashtag #AllezLesBleus on any willing person and I got to know the players a lot more than what I had a month ago.
I knew the Kanté meme that 70% of the world is covered by water and the rest is covered by him.
I knew about the criticism on Giroud for not scoring.
I could name you every player on the team including the club they played for.
I could tell you about Mbappé's move to PSG & Griezmann's loyalty to Atletico, and Lloris' career at Tottenham.
In hindsight, the World Cup was the start of my love for football.
Final day had arrived and seeing the changing room gave me chills because I knew that, when they return 90 minutes later, the mood would be one of two options. Euphoria or Heartbreak.
The final was nothing like the 2014 final.
There was goals, handballs, VAR decisions, penalties, mistakes from goalkeepers. It was everything you would want a final to be.
With the game ending 4-2, France were Champions du Monde!
The rain was falling, there was confetti everywhere and it was somewhat emotional.
The bitter sweet feeling of being happy that you're team won, but sad because you knew that the World Cup, you had waited 4 years for was over in a span of a few weeks.
The smiles on their faces were priceless. The 2018 World Cup was the first World Cup that I was 110% invested in and I'm so happy that France put the second star on the jersey ⭐⭐
It was well deserved.
Russia was the birth of a star.
Russia was uniting a nation.
Russia was Blue🔵
Allez Les Bleus!
I know this wasn't a preference, but I hope you enjoyed hearing a bit of my World Cup experience and how this book came about.
So feel free to comment on what you thought✌