Morning all from freezing cold Dublin.
We now know the two teams who will play the World Cup final on Sunday after France beat Morocco 2-0 last night. I guess most people love an underdog story – unless you’re the overdog – and last night’s game did threaten to give us that despite how early the French side took the lead.
Clearly Morocco weren’t helped by the fact they lost a player in the warm-up, and captain Roman Saiss after about 20 minutes. I think we can all understand giving it a go in the circumstances, but hamstrings can … well … hamstring you, even with the best of intentions.
There was just so much to enjoy about this game. France came close a couple of times in the first half: Olivier Giroud smashed a shot off the post, then curled one casually wide in a way I swear I’ve seen him do a dozen times for Arsenal. At the same time, Morocco played some really nice stuff, and had some chances themselves. I thought the guy Ounahi (what’s my name?) was fun in midfield, and there was such intent and bravery about the way they played – particularly in the second half when they were well on top in terms of possession and territory. And what about that overhead kick that came off the post? Imagine that had gone in.
Some of the one-touch stuff, especially down the right hand side was great to watch, but as with other sides in this tournament who have had plenty about them from a technical perspective, the lack of cutting edge/end product in the final third was the big problem. So, when Kylian Mbappe’s lovely footwork saw him take a shot which deflected to the back post with the defence caught a bit flat-footed by that, it was 2-0 and there was no way back at that point. It was a huge effort, especially with the injuries and all the rest, but congratulations to France.
Still, Morocco have had a tournament to be proud of. The fans in the stadium were amazing last night, and have been since the World Cup started, and this is a team which made history by becoming the first African side to reach a semi-final. It’s small consolation this morning I’m sure, but when you look at some of the teams who have departed much earlier, it will – on reflection – be something to be really proud of. I remember how absolutely mental Ireland went when we got to the quarter-final in 1990, I imagine it’ll be much the same in Morocco when the team return to what will surely be a fantastic welcome.
So Sunday’s final will no doubt be framed as Lionel Messi v his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe, but what we’ve got are two teams with obvious superstars, but also two teams that are far from perfect. Which, hopefully, should give us an entertaining game regardless of what the outcome is. More on that over the weekend, I’m sure – and don’t forget our World Cup podcasts will continue over on Patreon this morning with a review of the semi-finals.
—
Not a lot of happening from an Arsenal perspective. Tomorrow I’ll try and round-up some of the transfer tittle-tattle that’s doing the rounds. The names are coming thick and fast, and we’re still some way away from January. Is the fact that Mykhaylo Mudryk is reportedly in Dubai at the same time as Edu and Tim Lewis something to be encouraged about?
Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergei Palkin confirms to @AdamCrafton_ @TheAthleticFC talks happening over Mudryk but “quite far from what we want & what clubs propose”. Adds: “It’s not so far but it is not what we need. We have discussions. It is maybe 50-50 with regards to winter window” pic.twitter.com/3meXfCcDhE
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) December 14, 2022
Is it us? Are Brentford back in? Has another club ‘joined the race for the fleet-footed Ukrainian flyer?’. I guess we’ll find out in due course.
Of course we have to take a moment to think about those less fortunate than ourselves. and after the news that Twitter has banned any kind of live-tracking via publicly available flight data because the new owner is a paranoid loon who is wrecking the place by being its main character every single tedious day, the transfer lads are going to have to find another way to keep track of potential arrivals and departures.
I guess they’re going to have to take their stalking to new levels, perhaps in-person. That’s always a nice, polite way to do it. Bring some flowers.
Right, I can’t feel my toes. Time for some breakfast. Back tomorrow with more and a brand new Arsecast.
ps – I mentioned Lana’s visit to the vet yesterday, and they’re very pleased with how the new hip/implant has taken hold. Everything has gone according to plan, so hopefully now she can let loose a little bit!
