After World Cup ’18, Russia Says To The World, “Remember Me!”

After the games, Vladimir Putin said: “Our World Cup has broken stereotypes about Russia.” He’s probably right.

It has been a week or so since we’ve said goodbye to the 2018 World Cup, Russia. To the surprise of some, it was a non-violent tournament in a politically violent country. It was–in a few words–one of the greatest World Cups ever.

German National Team: (photo, m.dailyhunt.in)

The 2018 World Cup had it all. The defending champion–Germany–was eliminated early. That’s a trend, you know. 2006 winner, Italy, were knocked out in the Group Stage of 2010 World Cup, South Africa. The 2010 Champions, Spain, were eliminated in the Group Stage of 2014 World Cup, Brazil.

But one thing changed this time. The belief that the World Cup is not a place for underdogs was blown away by play on the field. We saw so-called powerhouses fall. In addition to Germany, we had Argentina, Portugal, and Spain go home early. Brazil, Uruguay, and Switzerland left, too.

Host Russia–the lowest ranked team coming into the tournament–defied the odds by going to the quarterfinals. Croatia, an underdog, went all the way to the finals. And France won it all with the youngest squad at the tournament.

World stars–Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, and Neymar–were overshadowed by others. Sweden reached the quarters without their egomaniac talisman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. And for the first time since 1990, England made it all the way to the semifinals.

There were penalties galore, too–the most ever–perhaps the result of introducing Video-Assistant-Refereeing [affectionally known as VAR].

After the games, Vladimir Putin said: “Our World Cup has broken stereotypes about Russia.” He’s probably right.

This World Cup was one to remember.