FIFA… The Story Goes On… Yawn
Have you ever started something you wish you never had? Perhaps FIFA may relate?
My ‘accidental’ blog on the FIFA Club World Cup was due largely to my ‘football fix’ affection flourishing at the time whilst watching the group stages when nothing else in sport was happening last month, but in recent weeks (yes it has been going on for that long), I haven’t been able to give the full attention it probably would like me to give it (late nights, early mornings etc), and now I’m simply writing about this tournament, because as Magnus Magnusson often said, I’ve started, so I’ll finish.
You see, I’m heavily involved in the current cricket season, during the summer months I moonlight my winter football scouting with summer cricket analysing, and I’ve been watching the England A ladies take on New Zealand, as well as the England U19 men play India over a five match series, Rocky Flintoff, who you may have heard of (he has a famous dad who nearly died on Top Gear), looks to be an English superstar in the making, but even he’s a level below a fourteen year old Indian called Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Quite possibly the best teen talent I have ever seen in the flesh in any sport. He’s played in the IPL already, and he’s going to be better than Virat Kohli, going to be better than Sachin Tendulkar, just you mark my words.
It's not just cricket, I’ve been working on this month, I started my soccer pre-season scouting with a trip to Hitchin Town who hosted Barnet last Tuesday, one to watch...? Twenty-year-old speedy right winger Bright Siaw of Barnet, not quite Vaibhav Suryavanshi, but he could go on to have a half decent lower league career.
I suppose, sadly, the big news of the week, was the horrific death of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva who both devastatingly lost their lives after a tragic car accident in Spain.
There’s something that really sickly unsettles my stomach when a young footballer dies, it touches more than when hearing of random celebrity deaths in the news, it resonates because it feels real, he’s part of the game I love, and breathe, I don’t know Diogo Jota, but I’ve watched him countless times, in venue, at Wembley, at Anfield, on TV, he scored the winner against my team Nottingham Forest a couple of years ago in the Quarter Final of the FA Cup, a heartbreaker, his last goal a winner in the Merseyside derby, in the year he won both the Premier League, and the Nations League for his country Portugal, he was the sort of player, who you felt would always get a goal against you, a brilliant footballer, but so many since his passing have said what a brilliant person he was too. Recently married, leaving three children and a wife, he’s a son, a brother, a father, a husband, he had three Beagles, and as a fellow Beagle owner, that touched me even more when seeing his family picture, one of happiness, it makes one feel not ever to take life for granted, it’s bloody short, and it can get the better of you when you least expect it. RIP Diogo, I admired you from a far, buzzing around the pitch like a bee over dosed on honey.
Diogo Jota was the news this last week. Not the FIFA Club World Cup, which has even slipped below pecking order to domestic televised games of the women’s Euros in Switzerland.
That said, the show must go on, and we have started, so we will finish. Let’s get back on track.
Flu Continue Like I Do
Friday night, I was actually covering stats for Essex v Gloucestershire in the Vitality Blast at Chelmsford, but I managed to catch the highlights of Fluminense beating Al-Hilal.
Flu became the only team from outside Europe to qualify for the semi-finals, and I predicted they might have a good run in the competition due largely to the luck of their draw. (They are a bloody good side too).
They took the lead against Manchester City conquerors Al-Hilal with a cracker from Martinelli, before fellow countryman Marcos Leonardo netted his fourth of the tournament from close range for the Saudi billionaires.
Hercules to the rescue, he scored his second in as many matches, another late game changer, a half time sub that will probably feel he deserves a place in Renato Gaucho’s semi side.
Blue Is The Colour
Fluminense will play Chelsea in the last four, Enzo Maresca’s side came through a tricky tie against another Brazilian team in Palmeiras, they did take the lead in Philadelphia through Cole Palmer, who netted his first goal of the FIFA Club World Cup, a low effort from the edge of the box ahead of trademark celebration.
In the second half, Chelsea’s next best superstar, Estevao, in his last game for Palmeiras before he moves to Stamford Bridge, potentially, well he scored from a tight angle, at 18 even he suspects weaknesses in future team-mate Robert Sanchez’s game, but it was another goalkeeping error, at the other end, which was the vital difference in the end. Weverton had been relatively sound in the competition so far, before fumbling a Madueke cross into his own net with just seven minutes to go. The UEFA Conference winners are another team I predicted to do ok, and they are one step beyond, a final place to dream.
PSG Nine Bayern Nein
A team I thought who might have a Champions League hangover is the 2025 winners, PSG, who have proved me wrong, as they are now officially a serious winning machine.
This tight game looked to be going all the way to extra time until Desire Doue opened the scoring late on.
Paris Saint-Germain then had two players sent off, after Willian Pacho was red carded for a high foot, and Lucas Hernandez saw red with an elbow, but this team are made of different stuff these days. Luis Enrique has installed winning mentality, and although Bayern through Harry Kane thought they had levelled, only to be shunned by the offside flag, in injury time, with two less players on the pitch, the Parisians continued to attack, and when defender Hakimi found forward Dembele, he did the rest, name on the trophy perhaps? Name on the Balon d’or for Ousmane Dembele if so? Perhaps?
Real Fun
Finally, if you want serial winners, then Real Madrid are the best in the world at it.
Never in doubt? Within 20 minutes los Blancos were 2-0 up against Borussia Dortmund, who never really fancied their chances in winning against Xabi Alonso’s new styled team.
Gonzalo Garcia, again, netted his fourth of the competition, a player who not many outside of the Bernabeu had heard of prior to this competition, is one who has arguably been the competitions best player so far.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is another who’s enjoying himself Stateside right now, remember Real Madid had him on a free from July, but they paid £10m to get him in early to play in USA, and the signing is already paying dividends, he crossed to the other Garcia, Fran, who scored a second, but late on when all looked dead and buried, BvB forced fightback, Max Beier reduced the deficit, but Mbappe, who came off the bench, scissored Madrid towards the line with a stunner… It all looked good for Xabi and co for safe passage, before a late penalty conceded by Huijsen, the young defender seeing red, Guirassy stepping up to make it 2-3, then with the last kick, Thibaut Courtois kept out a Dortmund chance that would have taken the game to extra time, the Belgian stoppers desperate shot stop enough to ensure Real Madrid win, and they will face PSG on Wednesday night, in what is going to be an absolute thriller.
I’ll see you after that and Chelsea v Fluminense, with some more words ahead of the final.
theHEADscout.
I’m a sports DATA Analyst and PFSA associate scout with level two qualifications in talent identification and level one certificates in technical scouting & opposition analysis.