There is precious little soccer left. Twenty four teams are gone. We must cherish all that we have left. Luckily, we have so much beauty left. The World Cup quarterfinals begin on Friday, with two matches per day, and the first day is a firecracker. We begin with France vs. Uruguay, two former World Cup winners, a battle of style and substance, France’s youth and verve against the tenacity of Uruguay. That afternoon sees Brazil take on Belgium, the two teams that have created the most chances at the World Cup, in a match that promises to feature beautiful, attacking soccer and, one can only hope, plenty of goals. Saturday is another feast, though one serving underdog: First we have Croatia and Russia square off, and then England vs. Sweden, when the question of whether or not it is coming home gets tested again. Soccer, beautiful soccer. Narratives, somewhat beautiful narratives. (Well, plenty of stupid narratives, too.) It is time.
Jordan Pickford only had 3 caps before the World Cup, and now he’s England’s hero
Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty ImagesJordan Pickford wasn’t supposed to be a World Cup hero this early. Just a year ago, he figured he was third or fourth in line for the England No. 1 shirt.
Coming into this World Cup, England was facing a bit of a goalkeeping crisis. Joe Hart, the long-time starter, simply wasn’t good for West Ham last season. Manager Gareth Southgate made the brave and certainly correct decision to drop him, but England’s other options in net all had question marks too. Fraser Forster hasn’t been the same since his serious knee injury in 2015. Jack Butland wasn’t responsible for Stoke’s relegation, but he didn’t have his best year either. Nick Pope had a wonderful campaign with Burnley, but has no international experience.
Read Article >Holy crap, Thibaut Courtois!
Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty ImagesI have a secret to share: Most amazing saves are actually almost errors. At least half the time you see a goalkeeper make a mind-blowing, World Class save, they had to do so because they reacted slowly or had a bad starting position. And in the case of some shorter goalkeepers, saves that larger goalkeepers would have made look routine are made to look sensational because of their lack of size.
I do not say this to denigrate goalkeepers or take anything away from anyone’s amazing save. There will be no highlight trutherism today. I simply point this out so that you can better appreciate this save by 6’6” Thibaut Courtois.
Read Article >4 quick thoughts on Kevin De Bruyne’s brilliant goal to give Belgium a 2-0 lead over Brazil
Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty ImagesKevin De Bruyne fired in a rocket of a goal to give Belgium a 2-0 lead in their match against Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinal on Friday. The goal came after a brilliant midfield run and pass from Romelu Lukaku, and left giants Brazil standing around stunned, wondering what had happened.
Let’s watch the goal, and then break down exactly what did happen here:
Read Article >England have found one effective, clever way to score — will that be enough against Sweden?
Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty ImagesWe need to talk about England’s chances. No, hang on. That makes it sound like we’re talking about the odds. We’re not. Let’s start again.
We need to talk about the chances England make, for Gareth Southgate’s quarter-finalists are a curious team. They are simultaneously very good at making the best possible kind of scoring chance, but kind of bad at creating most of the others.
Read Article >
