The names of leading players were the first to arrive at the World Cup party and FIFA, and the tournament organizers will be very grateful for that
Lionel Messi was one of several big stars to shine in the early stages of this World Cup (Image: Getty Images)
You can see how great this World Cup has been so far. Hydration breaks stopped winding me up.
Maybe they shouldn’t have gotten everyone so involved in the first place. When their introduction was announced last December, we all knew what they would be like. Commercial break.
All kinds of riots were supposed to happen then. In what should be a continuous sport, these are mild anomalies, but you get used to them.
In fact, my friends who watch the game at the pub love the hydration breaks. Always remember to drink in moderation. However, if you’re thirsty on a warm night and don’t have work to do in the morning, the three-minute break in the middle of your half is the ideal time to refuel.
And when regulations were phased in that allowed teams to use a large number of substitutes, football ceased to be a truly continuous sport. Oh, and when time-wasting escalates unchecked. Oh, and when VAR was introduced.
And at least we know that, unlike most new gimmicks in soccer, hydration breaks won’t be adopted into the wider game. This is tournament specific. Made for American television.
It’s not really ideal, but we can live with it because football is attractive. And to be fair to FIFA, this is no easy feat, but they seem conscious of the need to keep things flowing now that they’ve made the game a four-quarter game.
A throw-in was canceled because the players took too long, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo took too long to take a goal kick, giving Portugal a corner kick. And, as always, the VAR system in this competition seems to be working much more smoothly and quickly than in the Premier League.
Harry Kane scores twice in England’s entertaining win over Croatia (Image: (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images))
But what happened between them was so funny that the hydration break became bearable. There were some doubts about the goalie, but that only added to the hilarity.
For example, unless you’re Algerian, it wouldn’t have been as interesting if Luca Zidane didn’t assist a few goals that would rival Lionel Messi’s record.
While Messi’s performance was emblematic of the competition’s leading players making their early statements, Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to perform anywhere near the same level as his former Ballon d’Or rivals, or make the impact of Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland. But he has time to prove people wrong.
The tournament’s expanded format has also drawn a lot of criticism. But knowing that one win gives us half a chance of making it to the knockout stages made the early stages feel even more adventurous.
Erling Haaland scored twice in his first match of the World Cup tournament (Image: CJ Gunther/UPI/Shutterstock)
And even the most vocal opponents of the 48-team tournament must have softened a little when Bosinha, Cape Verde’s 40-year-old keeper, broke down in tears after keeping a clean sheet against Spain. Curaçao suffered a crushing 7-1 defeat to Germany, but one of the moments of the first round game resulted in the equalizing goal.
And it’s been a clean tournament so far. In the first game, three players were sent off, but in the following game, 23, there were no ejected players. This is one of the positive effects of VAR.
Of course, things can change. Niggles may creep in, teams may become more cautious, goalies may start saving shots, hydration breaks may start to bother again.
And there is simply no scenario in which the ticket price, hotel and travel scandals and bans on supporters (not to mention officials) from certain countries are forgotten. But FIFA and the tournament’s organizers, especially the United States, were looking to soccer for help. And so far, it has done just that.
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