The Confederations Cup came to an end on Sunday evening with World Champions Germany lifting the trophy for the very first time in their history, a wonderful tournament it was but the tales of controversy trail certain VAR induced decisions but we couldn't help but notice the emerging young Germans eager to takeover the World.
1. Video Assistant Referees Are A 'Killjoy'
Football is a game of events both the pleasant and the not so pleasant, it is important to let the game of football flow, let the audience be thrilled, the controversies that trail a football match also make up our love for the beautiful game, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) seems to make football 'perfect', while we all might have the distasteful task of grieving when our teams have rightful decisions go against them, football fans should also keep in mind that referees are just as human as the players and are also prone to mistakes. Sir Alex Ferguson once said good and bad decisions by referees cancel themselves out in the course of a season, he couldn't be more correct.
the Portuguese scenario
the Portuguese scenario
In their opening game against Mexico, Pepe had a goal disallowed because the VAR was consulted and the goal was 'correctly' ruled offside, four games later Portugal was handed a penalty via VAR, the point here is VAR or not those decisions would have cancelled each other.
Touchline referees, retrospective punishment and VAR are actually good developments but they act in such a manner that 'mechanizes football', it's all about business (of course it is) but the fun part is killed, football is a game that should be enjoyed along with the 'poor decisions', the pub arguments, the talks at paper stands make up the totality of football. The blunders of VAR are also there for the eyes to see because it is humans who would do the watching, the imperfection of football is its beauty and perfecting those imperfections will be the death of that beauty.
2. Germany Will Rule For Another 10 Years
Joachim Low caused a stir with the announcement of the team chosen ahead of the Confederations Cup in Russia, after a nervous win against Australia and a draw in their second Group game against Chile, the Diemannschaft became more like a unit and played with fluidity and understanding, well this is not the World Cup yet, not by a long shot but 'Low's kids' just gave the World a specimen of what is yet to come not just in next year's World Cup but in the next 8 - 10 years. Julian Draxler the captain is just 23 years old, Timo Werner who helped shoot RB Leipzig to the Champions league is just over 20.
The core of the German team was nowhere near Russia, even 21 year old Leroy Sane was not in the team that showed so much confidence. The potential of the team was underlined as the final whistle was blown. The team had overcome a Chilean team that had played together as a Unit since the World Cup in 2010, really the La Roja have made little or no changes to the core of the squad that featured in 2010, they are South American Champions twice in two years and are in their own right a World Class Team but the young Germans never got the memo as they went about their business with finesse. A stronger eleven could still be named from the Germans that weren't invited. It is safe to put your money on Germany retaining their title.
The core of the German team was nowhere near Russia, even 21 year old Leroy Sane was not in the team that showed so much confidence. The potential of the team was underlined as the final whistle was blown. The team had overcome a Chilean team that had played together as a Unit since the World Cup in 2010, really the La Roja have made little or no changes to the core of the squad that featured in 2010, they are South American Champions twice in two years and are in their own right a World Class Team but the young Germans never got the memo as they went about their business with finesse. A stronger eleven could still be named from the Germans that weren't invited. It is safe to put your money on Germany retaining their title.
3. Russia 2018 Will Be Lit With Goals
43 goals in 16 games is testament to the fact that this was a thrilling tournament and surely a sign of things to come. There was only one game that produced no goal, two games that produced a single goal, four games that produced just two goals and nine games produced more than two goals. This was an average of 2.6 goals per game (adding Adrien Silva's extra time goal v Mexico). The emphasis for top quality football keeps for increasing on these players. The World Cup should be goal filled and Entertaining to as we can clearly see after the two-week showdown in Russia, and what's more? the stars shone. Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal, Julian Draxler, Claudio Bravo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Javier Hernandez and Ter Stegen, really no star seemed absent minded in this tournament and each player managed to lay down a marker for next year.
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