NewsBite

Neymar, Maradona, Cahill and Ronaldo’s epic quads: part one of what we loved about Russia 2018

IT’S been one of the greatest World Cups of all time, with the weird and wacky mixing with incredible upsets, brilliant on-field action and the bizarre antics of troubled genius Diego Maradona. PART ONE.

Joe Barton and Dave Hall
8 min read
July 13, 2018 - 5:41PM
Maradona, Ronaldo, Neymar and Cahill... the 50 things we loved about this World Cup.
Maradona, Ronaldo, Neymar and Cahill... the 50 things we loved about this World Cup.

WORLD Cups — as much as being about the winner — are about the moments.

The worldies, the upsets, the theatre and the memories all come together to make a rich tapestry that is football’s greatest show every four years.

And Russia has been as memorable as any World Cup in history — we could have picked out 1000 weird, wacky and brilliant moments from the past six weeks.

But instead, it’s been boiled down to 50.

So without further ado, here’s part one of Why We Loved the World Cup.

READ PART TWO OF WHY WE LOVED (AND HATED) THE WORLD CUP HERE

1. Belgium’s comeback v Japan

The Belgians look like they might live up to their billing as tournament favourites after their underpants-ruining fightback against Japan in the round of 16. Two goals down with 40 minutes left, it looked as though a higher power was with the Red Devils as the goals came from three highly unexpected sourced. First Jan Vertonghen scored, then Maroune Fellaini bagged an equaliser. But it was Naser Chadli who put the Samurai Blue to the sword, tapping home a lightening counter-attack in th 94th minute.

2. The Mexican fans who brought an unusual companion

It’s the trip of a lifetime, right? Well. Not for everyone. One group of Mexico supporters were a man short when their friend was forced to stay home for one simple reason: his girlfriend wouldn’t let him go. But, because he has good friends, Javier was there in spirit — and in the form of a cardboard cut-out — as Mexico escaped their group with a stunning victory over Germany.

Mexican fans carry a cardboard cut-out of their friend, Javier.
Mexican fans carry a cardboard cut-out of their friend, Javier.

3. Neymar gets torn to shreds

Undoubtedly one of the best players on the planet — and someone capable of true brilliance with the ball at his feet — Neymar made headlines for the wrong reasons when his theatrical dives against Belgium prompted fans across the globe to do the #NeymarChallenge

4. Gary Lineker’s embarrassing predictions

England was one of the success stories of the Cup, bringing together a youthful team filled with underrated players and an unfancied coach. Until they were undone by Croatia, it worked magnificently. And England greats have swelled with pride as a result — including legendary striker Gary Lineker. But it wasn’t always so. Before the tournament Lineker believed England should ‘write off’ their chances in Russia and focus their energies on blooding youth and the 2022 event in Qatar instead. “Just write it off, we haven’t realistically got a chance,” Lineker said in May. He changed his tune somewhere along the way.

5. England’s wild fan celebrations

To say it’s been a bit of a drought for England would be an understatement — they’ve not won a major tournament outside of their 1966 World Cup victory (a wait which continues) and knockout wins have also been hard to come by. So the Poms celebrated long and hard with every step forward this tournament. And while some went too far — wrecking ambulances and trashing Ikea stores — the celebrations were mostly good-natured and genuinely uplifting.

6. #Floptus

The story of the first week of the World Cup was Optus’ disastrous coverage — with many Australians locked out as the subscription-based streaming service crashed time after time. In the end, Optus conceded defeat and opened the doors to SBS — who showed the remainder of the group games as well as all the knockout fixtures. It was an extraordinarily costly exercise for Optus.

7. FoxBrazil mercilessly mocking Germany

Look, when you get towelled up 7-1 in a semi-final you’re bound to hold a grudge for a little while — and Brazil certainly did when their 2014 conquerors, Germany, were bundled out by Mexico.

8. VAR’s entrance leads to Very Angry Randoms

The video review system at the World Cup was always going to be under the microscope, and not everyone was a fan — including most of Australia after a controversial penalty was awarded in France’s favour during our 2-1 group stage loss.

9. Tim Cahill’s last stand

It felt like we waited forever for the greatest ever Socceroo to make his mark on the World Cup — but in the end he was injected with Australia 2-0 down and their campaign already over. But it gave Socceroos fans a chance to say farewell, if this was indeed the 38-year-old’s last time in the green and gold.

Australia's forward Tim Cahill touches the post in perhaps his last act as a Socceroo. Pic: AFP
Australia's forward Tim Cahill touches the post in perhaps his last act as a Socceroo. Pic: AFP

10. Japan’s psychic octopus meets brutal end

Rabio, the octopus which wowed a nation and correctly predicted all of Japan’s group games by swimming out to one of three baskets of food, representing wins, draws and losses, should’ve been a national hero. Instead, it was sold off and eaten. The replacement — Rabio Jr. — was less effective, incorrectly predicting a Japan win before their heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Belgium.

11. Argentina’s minute’s silence

Argentina’s World Cup was not a success. From the word go their campaign was on the ropes — well before their early exit

After opening with a draw against Iceland, a 3-0 capitulation to Croatia left them on the verge of going home in the group stages.

It’s fair to say their millions of fans back home didn’t take to the news kindly.

After the loss, one TV station even mockingly held a minute’s silence to mark the death of the national side. Ouch.

12. Benjamin Pavard v Argentina

The French right back has enjoyed a breakout tournament, putting his name up in lights — but nothing compares to his staggering goal against Argentina in the extraordinary 4-3 Round of 16 victory.

Pavard defied logic — and perhaps physics — with his brain-bending half-volley with the outside of the boot which sliced through the air and curled around defenders before hitting the netting in the top left corner of the goal.

It was the best strike of the World Cup.

13. Diego Maradona’s crazy World Cup

One of history’s greatest ever players had one of the wildest ever World Cups, encapsulated best by his performance during the rollercoaster Argentina-Nigeria match.

And we say performance because Maradona was at his theatrical best, riding the highs and lows as Lionel Messi scored early — then Nigeria equalised from the penalty spot in the second half — and finally as Marcos Rojo netted the winner with four minutes remaining, whereby the controversial legend appeared to become a touch possessed.

And then he reminded some fans sitting nearby what the full-time score was. At least we think he’s referring to Argentina scoring two goals here?

14. Luka Modric v Argentina

The Croatian wizard has put his hand up for player-of-the-tournament honours, and he was at his majestic best against Argentina when he turned Nicolas Otamendi inside out and unleashed this stunning strike — which curls back having started outside the right post to beat Willy Caballero. Class.

15. Senegal’s unusual training techniques

They went out in the group stages — somewhat unlucky, under the fair play ruling — but Senegal’s players proved they have the best moves at the World Cup when they busted out this cheery number at training.

16. Mexico’s jubilant fans at the South Korean embassy in Mexico City

After suffering a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Sweden, Mexico needed South Korea to deliver a stunning upset of Germany to ensure their progress to the knockout stages.

South Korea delivered in style, with two late goals sending the defending champions home.

And Mexico’s fans were keen to show their appreciation: dancing and cheering outside the Korean embassy in Mexico City.

17. Young mascot’s amazing mullet

Senegal pulled off one of the upsets of the tournament when they snared a 2-1 win over Poland to open their campaign — but no one was talked about the game in its aftermath.

They only remembered the actions — and haircut — of one youngster known only as mullet boy.

His shocking blond locks were trimmed in a fashion that would make any beer-drinking Aussie bogan proud.

It was, truly, legendary.

18. The best beard of the World Cup

Sticking with the hirsute theme for the moment, it’s time to take a moment and appreciate the gloriousness that is Mile Jedinak’s beard.

The skipper was not only the only Socceroo to find the back of the net in a mostly forgettable campaign, he also rocked face fungus better than anyone.

19. Cristiano Ronaldo’s GOATee

The GOAT (greatest of all time) debate didn’t get settled at the World Cup — both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi bombed out in the round of 16 within four hours of each other.

But that’s not to say they didn’t fire any shots.

Ahead of the Cup, Messi — somewhat bizarrely — posed with an actual goat.

It sent Ronaldo to new extremes in the rivalry: by growing a goatee.

Cristiano Ronaldo sporting some rare face fuzz. Pic: AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo sporting some rare face fuzz. Pic: AFP

20. The emergence of Daniel Arzani

Look, there wasn’t a whole heap to cheer up Socceroos fans — aside from the age-old ‘hard-fought loss/draw’ which keeps our spirits up every four years.

But in livewire Daniel Arzani, the youngest player at the World Cup, we found hope: his brief cameos in each game brought a certain spark which is desperately needed upfront.

Will be 23 when the next World Cup rolls around, and hopefully by then he’ll be ready to lead the Aussie front line.

Daniel Arzani (R) showed in Russia why he’s the Socceroos’ future. Pic: AP
Daniel Arzani (R) showed in Russia why he’s the Socceroos’ future. Pic: AP

21. Ronaldo’s massive quads

The Portuguese superstar takes great pride in his appearance — and works incredibly hard to maintain an extraordinary physique. And he set social media alight with his free kick routine, where he would hoist up his shorts to reveal his massive quads.

22. Ronaldo’s hat-trick v Spain

We should’ve known we were in for a special World Cup when on just day two of action, Portugal and Spain played out a 3-3 thriller — and Ronaldo was at the centre of the drama, banging in all three of Portugal’s goals. The clincher? This pinpoint 88th minute free kick to level the scores.

23. Lucy Zelic’s perrrrrrfect pronunciations

For reasons unbeknown to us, SBS anchor Lucy Zelic became the target of online abuse for correctly pronouncing the names of players at the World Cup. Let’s just finish by saying there’s never anything wrong with being right.

24. The World Cup’s most popular — and tidiest — fans

You wouldn’t find a soul in Russia who had a bad word to say about the Japanese fans travelling the country. They were respectful during the game. They cheered. And at full-time of every clash, they spent half an hour cleaning up the stadium — including after their crushing Belgium defeat, when they cleaned in tears.

25. Reese Witherspoon tweets the World Cup

Now, we’re not against a good old-fashioned, generally-unfunny-and-bland-but-you-can-put-up with-it-for-two-hours-for-the-sake-of-the-bedroom romantic comedy when the mood strikes and the other half demands recompense for weeks of World Cup-related insomnia. But, somehow, Hollywood rom-com queen Reese Witherspoon’s constant tweets for Russia 2018 might just make the next single-mom-falls-for-loveable-rogue-who’s-rebuilding-a-boat movie a little more bearable. #everydaysexism #irony

HAVEN’T HAD ENOUGH? THE REMAINING 25 IS IN PART TWO, RIGHT HERE

Add your comment to this story

To join the conversation, please Don't have an account? Register

Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout

Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/football/world-cup/neymar-maradona-cahill-and-ronaldos-epic-quads-part-one-of-what-we-loved-about-russia-2018/news-story/feb7eabd46df72553b2a3af672d9a0aa