Cav's Place

While I didn’t feel bad for any of the teams that didn’t pass the group stage at this World Cup, things definitely changed in the round of 32 and I felt really sorry for Croatia when they lost to Portugal, even more so since I can’t stand Cristiano Ronaldo, and for Senegal when they lost to Belgium despite really deserving the win and Belgium doing next to nothing until close to the end of the normal time. And I also found myself rather disappointed when Cote d’Ivoire lost to Norway, and somewhat torn when DR Congo lost to England, the issue there going past football and being that DR Congo is hardly a country you’d want to support, considering how things stand over there. And, on the other hand, I did cheer for Paraguay when they got past Germany on penalties, and was quite pleased when Morocco got past Netherlands, also on penalties, though the difference there is that I wouldn’t consider Morocco underdogs anymore. But Cabo Verde definitely were the very definition of the term all along, and they had already surpassed all expectations from their very first match, when they held Spain to a 0-0 draw, then did far better by getting through that group from second place, and tonight they should have really earned everyone’s respect, despite ultimately losing 3-2 to Argentina, after extra time.
Admittedly, I’d have felt bad for Messi to get kicked out as well, especially since this is almost certainly his last World Cup, but I didn’t even consider the possibility at the start of the match, and after that first goal I was sure that from then on it was just a matter of whether Argentina still cared to play and score more or the match was going to turn into one of those boring ones between a team that’s unwilling and one that’s unable to do much of anything, and that Cabo Verde had little real reason to change anything because losing only by 1-0, or even by 2-0, to Argentina would have still been a reason for pride. But then they drew level and that all changed, and I started paying more attention to just how they played, how calm and collected they were, how they never seemed to act in desperation, how they never cleared balls just to get rid of them. And taking the match to extra time seemed like a coronation for their efforts, so the fact that Argentina scored after just two minutes didn’t change my impression in any way… Only for them to not only get back on the offensive, but actually draw level a second time, and thanks to an amazing goal as well. And that made me actually consider Messi being eliminated so early as a realistic possibility, so I’d have felt bad for someone either way it went. But I’d have been glad if Cabo Verde would have somehow made it, while Argentina eventually scoring again, even if the ball came off a defender and what’d have happened otherwise being far from certain, and just managing to withstand Cabo Verde’s attacks until then end, just feels normal if I look at it from their side.
Now I guess I’m just left with Paraguay as an underdog to cheer for in the last 16, though I really don’t see how they could have any chance against France, so this may be pretty much it. I mean, there is Argentina’s next opponent, Egypt, but I can’t really see myself getting behind them in that manner. And, past that, Morocco is in a far better position against Canada than they were against Netherlands, possibly even being favorites, and while Mexico may also be seen as having pretty poor chances against England, they’re at a different level and not a team you can get behind in that manner and for such reasons. So maybe there will be matches that will be nice to watch in themselves, between two teams that will play well, but unless Paraguay will produce such a massive shock, this seems to be pretty much it when it comes to having real reasons to get behind such underdogs. Not that I won’t support Morocco if they’ll end up playing against France in the next round, but, again, I wouldn’t exactly call Morocco underdogs anymore.