2022 World Cup Diary – Part Thirteen – the Semi Finals

 

One last spurt - Messi turns it on in surely his last World Cup   

Qatar gets its dream final   
Thursday 15th December 2022   

How ironic. Qatar – owners of Paris St Germain, the club who can afford whoever they want – will see two of PSG’s three big stars meet in their World Cup final on Sunday. So Mbappe versus Messi it is. In a pre-tournament predictions competition, I had my semi-finalists as Brazil v Argentina and France v Belgium. However, I then foresaw a Brazil v Belgium final with a sixth World Cup for Neymar and company. 

Once the last four became apparent, much as I’d prefer to see Argentina win (for Messi, who is worthy of winning the trophy after what he has given the game), I also wanted a decent final, and thought France would provide that more than Morocco, in spite of the much touted romance of an African side taking part. Much as I take my hat off to the spirit of the side captained by Chelsea’s Ziyech, they don’t really excite me that much. In honesty, I like to watch players I am a little more familiar with. On that note, Croatia have some more familiar names, for sure, but half the side are just a jumble of ic’s. Let’s get to the games anyway.

Argentina 3 Croatia 0 – Lusail Stadium

Given the incredible amount of support Argentina have received in Qatar, an estimated 40,000 having been there over the duration of the tournament, it’s worked out well that they will play five of their seven matches at the biggest stadium. Not so much in variety for their supporters, playing in only three of the eight stadiums, but if they were curious, it was possible to pick up tickets to see games elsewhere once they were out there. Not sure too many of them were bothered about that though – generally, the people at non-Argentina matches who were wearing their shirt seemed to be Indians, of which there are a huge number that live and work in the country. As TV pictures have shown, European teams are far less supported, put off attending for a number of reasons, although the cost of accommodation (which had to be booked before you could get a visa to enter the country) is probably the main one. In fairness to the Argentinians, I imagine they were more organized and snapped up the ‘cheaper’ options before European fans finalized their own trips. Certainly, where I stayed in the Clusters, they – along with the Mexicans and Brazilians – dominated. And I went for the cheapest option!

So it was like a home game for the semi-final, with blue and white dominating the stands. Croatia had a tougher run to the last four than in 2018, specifically having to avoid defeat in 120 minutes against Brazil. Subsequently, we learned that Richarlison was playing through injury, so I am uncertain how much of a factor that was in Brazil’s failure to score until extra time, but anyway, Croatia – as they did twice in 2018 and in the previous round against Japan – got through to the last four thanks to a penalty shoot-out. They are the great survivors. In the semi finals having won one (v Canada) and drawn four (Morocco, Belgium, Japan and Brazil). The secret to progressing in cups is not so much win at all costs, but simply do not lose and hope your penalties will see you through. 

However, one off day at the back and your forwards have to come good. Hence, Luca Modric and his team-mates are in the third place play-off this weekend. The aging Croatian midfield was talked up ahead of the game, and Argentina played due deference to it by putting an extra man in their own midfield. And in fairness, for much of the first half, Croatia controlled the game, without seriously threatening to score.

It is interesting to watch the way both Messi and Modric operate now. They put me in mind of an overweight squash player who wins games by simply controlling the T of the court. Not moving much but sending his opponent chasing around. Both are economical with their movement, but tidy and effective when they are on the ball. Mainly. Modric was dispossessed for the move that led to a penalty when Alvarez was brought down after getting the ball past the Croatian keeper. He did try and get out of the way, but Alvarez was too fast and too cute. Messi took the spot kick and made no mistake. Game on. The second involved another run by Alvarez at the Croatian defence, and with a little luck, he was able to poke the ball past the keeper without someone clearing it off the line as had happened when he won the penalty. To think, Manchester City have this guy on the bench, a backup option to Erling Haaland. Still, let’s not think about striking options just now – bit of a sore point for my more regular readers.

Croatia tried to create something in the second half, but it demonstrated that in the goalscoring department, they don’t have players like Suker and Mandzukic any more. They put four past Canada, but aside from that, scored two goals in their other five games. Their centre back Gvardiol has rightly been given a lot of praise over the last three weeks or so, but he was made to look like a mug by Messi, who toyed with him before setting up Alvarez for a tap-in. 3-0 and game over. In honesty, the thought of Croatia in the final hardly filled me with anticipation, and although there haven’t been any really standout teams in this tournament, Messi has reminded us that he wins matches in moments, and that he is a unique player we have been fortunate to watch. Croatia did well to make the last four, but the fairytale ending Modric hoped for isn’t to be.

France 2 Morocco 0 – Al Bayt Stadium

Ah well, this was the semi-final England would have made had things gone differently last Saturday evening. France under Didier Deschamps have learned how to win important matches after a decade long lull post 2006 and the retirement of Zinedine Zidane. Runners up in the Euros they hosted in 2016 – albeit to an extra time winner. World Cup winners 2018. Knocked out on penalties in the last Euros. Do we count the Nations League? Not really, but they are apparently the holders of that. Didn’t even realize the final was being played… whenever it was. Still, they saw off England here and faced local favourites Morocco for a place in the final. 

Now here’s a question. The Moroccan FA got hold of 13,000 tickets and distributed them for free to their supporters. Nice gesture, but the real question here, in a 65,000 or so stadium, is how that many tickets were held back for a semi-final game. I’ll admit that the French support would not have taken their full allocation, but even so, how many does each team get? I know a lot of tickets for the knockout games are sold to fans on a conditional basis – they get them if their team gets through. So yes, a fair number are held back, but 13,000? Regardless, the Al Bayt was dominated by Moroccan fans, and France had an illness in the camp that forced a couple of changes. Morocco turned out to have their own woes with the strapped up centre back Saiss only lasting 20 minutes. 

The crowd was silenced by an early goal for the French, which at least ensured that the north African side had to forget the idea of playing for penalties until they were able to score themselves, so we had a more watchable contest as a consequence. They had a go, hitting the post at one point with an overhead kick, and seeing more than one goalmouth melee not go their way. The roles were reversed in the respect that France were happy to play for the result once ahead, only going forward in numbers occasionally.  Ultimately, you felt that like Croatia, Morocco lacked a quality finisher. One goal in their three knockout games tells you defending is their real strength, and credit to them for at least preventing Mbappe from scoring. After 77 minutes Muani came on for Dembele and promptly scored within a minute – game over.

Cue shots of Moroccan fans crying, as we’d seen the evening before with Croatians. I can’t say I have ever felt the need to cry at a football match. Sure, you want your team to win, glory for your country. But hey, it’s a football match. I get feeling a bit sad that you don’t win, but really? Does it mean that much? Yes, it’s built into high drama by the media – because that sells. But are the stakes so high that you feel the need to bawl your eyes out? Doubtless we’ll see more crying fans on Sunday. I kind of get the players welling up. It means more to them as they are chasing individual honours. In fairness to Harry Kane, he’s won golden boots in the Premier League, broken records for England, but it's just possible he may end his career without winning a team trophy at club or international level. 

So we have a third and fourth place match on Saturday between two sides that have already met in the group stage – it finished 0-0. England and Belgium played this game in 2018, and again, it was a repeat of a group encounter between the two. I didn’t watch the third placed game in 2018. I can’t remember what I was doing, but even though England were in it, it just felt like it had no meaning. I figure that Morocco’s involvement will mean more interest locally, so I expect there will be a decent attendance, but outside of the two competing countries, I can’t imagine too many people tuning in. At the Olympics, there are third place play-offs for a medal. So I can see there is something on it there, but at a World Cup? I guess it makes FIFA a bit more money. 

As for the final, we have two teams who should make for a pretty even contest. I expect it will not be a feast of open football until someone scores, so let’s hope for an early goal. One final note – for anyone who is considering actually trying their luck and getting a final ticket – good luck in competition with the Argentinian fans and the touts. Face value prices range from approx. £485 for a category 3 seat (category 4s are only available to Qatari residents) to £1,300 for a category 1. I paid £135 for my category 2 tickets in the group stage – the final costs over £800 for the same seat. Six times as much. Ouch. And of course, there are hospitality options. However, good news – cheap accommodation in the form of the Clusters is now freely available. $87 a night for two people. You are half an hour from Al Wakra where the England team were staying and an hour from Doha proper. In the middle of nowhere. But hey, they will bus you to somewhere for free. Unsurprisingly, it’s a bit of a ghost town at the moment, although I am sure the still resident Argentinians made a bit of a racket on Tuesday night after returning from their game.

Back here on Monday or maybe even Sunday evening to wrap up this World Cup diary with my thoughts on the final and conclusions on the tournament.