The 21st edition of the FIFA World Cup finals hosted by Russia, ended on Sunday, July 15 with 1998 Champions, France lifting the golden trophy. They beat Croatia 4-2 in the final. The previous day on Saturday, star studded Belgium had beaten the Three Lions of England to lift the third place medal.
Russia 2018 had its ups and downs, (early exits for defending champions, Germany in the group stage, Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo) but it also featured plenty of surprises, (England and Belgium reaching the semis and Croatia finishing second)
Apart from the team trophies and medals, some great individual performances were also recognised and given awards.
Cameroonian-born 19 year-old French player, Keylian Mbape won the Young Player award. It is for 21 year-old players and below who make the most impact in World Cup tournament. Mbape scored four times in seven matches and he is only the fourth teenager to ever play in a World Cup final. He also scored in the final against Croatia, making him the second youngest player to score at that stage after Pele.
Paul Pogba won it in 2014, Thomas Muller of Germany in 2010, Lukas Podolski in 2006, Landon Donovan of USA in 2002, Michael Owen of England in 1998 and Marc Overmas of Holland at USA \’94.
Luka Modric of Croatia, the superstar midfielder who served as the heart and soul of the team\’s dream run to the final, earned the tournament\’s Best Player award and was given the Golden ball. The runners up to the award were Edin Hazard of Belgium with the Silver ball and Antoine Griezmann of France, the Bronze ball.
Harry Kane of England, despite not being the best striker at the tournament, however won the Golden Boot by finishing as top scorer with six goals. James Rodriguez of Colombia won it in 2014, Thomas Muller of Germany in 2010, Miroslav Klose of Germany in 2006.
The Belgian goal keeper, Thibaut Courtois was voted the best goaltender and got the Golden Gloves. He conceded six goals in seven matches and blocked more than 25 attempts at his goal. Courtois\’s saving rate was more than 80 percent, especially against Neymar when Belgium played against Brazil in the quarter final. The Golden Gloves award was formerly called the Yashin Award, after Russia\’s great goalkeeper, Levtashin Yashin.
Spain, despite going home early, was adjudged to have the best disciplinary record and were given the Fair Play award. Colombia got it in 2014.
It is another four years for the best footballing nations of the world to gather in Qatar in 2022 for the 22nd edition of the World Cup. The only difference is that instead of the June/July timebtable, it will hold between November 21 and December 18 because the heat will be too much in summer in the arid Arab country.
MESUT OZIL
One of the shocking news as a fallout from Russia 2018 is the surprise announcement by German and Arsenal player, Mesut Ozil that he would not be featuring for Germany again because of the racism of the German Football Federation, otherwise called DFB and the German media. \’I am German when we win and I am Turkish when we lose\’, ge Tweeted. He blames the DFB for failing to defend him against his most strident critics. He singled out the DFB President, Richard Grindel.
His photograph with Turkish President, Recep Erdogan had sparked question about his loyalty to Germany. He said, \’Like many people, my ancestry traces back to more than one country. Whilst I grew up in Germany, my family background has its roots firmly in Turkey. I have two hearts, one for Germany and one for Turkey.
No doubt, this is a bad development in German football if such a fine, gentle and easygoing footballer could be treated this way.
NFF AND THE SUPREME COURT VERDICT
Just before the World Cup ended, trouble broke out for the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, following a Supreme Court judgement on July 2, sending the Amaju Pinick board packing while the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung directed factional NFF leader Chris Giwa to take over.
Giwa moved in and the first thing he did was to sack the Secretary General of the Federation, Mohammed Sanusi and appoint Emmanuel Ikpeme to replace him. Ostensibly to forestall FIFA sanctions, the Nigerian presidency moved in, directing men of the State Security Service to evict the Giwa faction from the NFF Glasshouse while the sacked Sec Gen. was reinstated. Pinick has thanked President Buhari for the intervention.
The crisis started in August 2014. Will the Amaju Pinick board be reinstated? Another NFF election is just around the corner.
In the meantime, former Super Eagles coach and CAF Instructor, Chief Adegboye Onigbinde has urged the Federal Government to disregard FIFA\’s ban threat because its statutes are not above those of our Supreme Court. He blamed Amaju Pinick for going ahead with the 2014 election which he won despite FIFA\’s directive not to hold it.
The 80 year old Modakeke Chief said \’Let FIFA excuse us for two-years to reorganize our football which needs total overhaul. He wonders why there are no cries of government interference when it pays for everything concerning football in the country. I agree with him on this because I cannot put my money in running a venture and won\’t have control of such a venture.
So much for now, catch you next week. All the best.
