FALL OF TITANS ON FIFA 2018

FIFA World Cup 2018 will be remembered as full of surprizes and upsets. It has been one of the most unpredictable and thrilling international tournaments in a long time; Spain 3-3 Portugal, South Korea 2-0 Germany, etc. One might have expected - or hoped - that this would continue into the Round of Sixteen, but the predictable has reigned supreme instead. Nothing sums this up better than Portugal’s loss to Uruguay, where the game acquiesced to the defensive excellence of La Celeste as they continually repelled the Seleccao’s foreseeable attacks. And just when you thought that the game might flip on its head with Pepe’s goal, Uruguay stung Portugal on the break and effectively ended the contest.

So we saw the fall of major stalwarts like defending champion Germany, Cristiano Ronaldo backed Portugal, Messi led Argentina and also the fall of a Titan -- Brazil, wherein much hyped Neymar was not of much help to carry the team on his lone back.

The emergence of talents from countries like Uruguay - two-times winner of the World Cup upset Portugal by 2-1, Russia 3-0 -- later only humbled by France 2-0 at Quarter Final. France eased past Uruguay, courtesy of Raphaël Varane’s splendid header and an awful blunder by Fernando Muslera, to reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 2006. Well now France will face Croatia in Final today.

Belgium eliminated Brazil from World Cup to reach semi finals..... Belgium reached the World Cup semi finals for the first time in 32 years by holding off five-time champion Brazil 2-1, sending Neymar home without living up to the expectations of being soccer’s most expensive player.

Belgium scored the decisive goal on a counterattack just after a corner had been taken by Neymar. Romelu Lukaku surged forward with the ball and Kevin De Bruyne put it in the net to give Belgium a 2-0 lead in the 31st minute.

Croatia team surprised all by taking on another two times winners of World Cup --  Argentina 3-0 win. Croatia, appearing at their fifth World Cup, boast a host of world-class talent, including Real Madrid's Luka Modric, Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic of Juventus. Rebic, Modric and Rakitic --- the three Croatian midfielders devastated Argentina. At last Croatia humbled England 2-1 to play France in final today. By the start of extra time it was a case of counting who could still run. England looked done and cooked. Harry Kane limped gamely. Jordan Henderson kept on chugging about like a cavalry captain on a dying pony. Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli found weird depths of energy, running on fumes.

We all saw Raheem Sterling was selfish on the field. No matter, Sterling played his part, always running, but looking to create mischief, kept the ball to himself most of the time - denied Kane of lollipop opportunities to pass the ball to him waiting to put it in the net. But that couldn't be as he himself wanted to take the impossible chances to bring a goal to his credit, which he has not achieved for long in international football.

But see the energy level of Croatia who played more than 750 hours ---- a way far more than England!!!! The same team with tired leg and painful body with a day short of rest will face France today the Sunday --  15th July as set for the FINAL!!!

Samuel Umtiti header puts France in World Cup final with win over Belgium -- France wins the semi final 1-0. Belgium will go with a lot of people’s good wishes bearing in mind Roberto Martínez’s side knocked out Brazil to reach the semi-final and have contributed richly to what is being acclaimed as the most attractive World Cup in memory. Here, though, they could not build on an encouraging start and were worn down by a side with a superior blend when it comes to striking the right balance between attack and defence.

That will make France formidable opponents in Sunday’s final, no matter whether it is Croatia who join them in the Luzhniki stadium, and especially when the feeling persists that they may be capable of taking their football to a higher level. Semi final for France was a controlled victory, rather than an exhilarating one, but there were still plenty of reasons to admire the team Didier Deschamps has put together. France is most likely to lift the World Cup 2018 trophy today unless Providence allow the unpredictability and thrill to continue to bless Croatia with the most covetous award of football.