From his room at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo Pele was surely smiling on Monday evening as Brazil advanced into the quarter finals after beating South Korea 4-1. It wasn't just that Brazil won the game it was the manner they won it. Their play, build up and goals underlined everything we have known about the Selecao since we were all kids- they play the beautiful game.
The goals rained down on South Korea and all in the first half. Vinicus Junior's was a peach, Richarlison's outrageous and Lucas Paqueta's had shades of that great Brazil 82 side. The team seemed fired up and happy. They made football look rather easy and while the Koreans are hardly the highest bar in world football they are no pushovers, but on this occasion they were being pushed into another dimension. The celebrations and dancing after going 3-0 up even involved the manager Tite, and that drew criticism mostly from the English press. Roy Keane poured cold water over a celebration that Brazil had been doing long before he was born and it seems that nobody has factored in that perhaps even Tite getting involved was simply to make that man, that legend, currently ill in hospital, Pele, feel better and lift his spirits. The national side did just that and to anyone who really loves football they lifted the spirits of all football fans, South Koreans apart. At least the Koreans didn't leave the World Cup empty handed and indeed their consolation goal, a long range shot, was arguably the most Brazilian and best of the game. But when Brazil play like this it is very hard to see even the most disciplined European sides beating them.
Qatar 2022 keeps on giving and while some have respectfully decided to boycott the competition you can't help but feel they are missing out. What this World Cup has provided is the rarest of things in major competitions, an interesting group stage. We have been so used to witnessing teams playing with ultra caution in past group stages trying not to concede goals and games petering out but almost every group stage game did not have a dead rubber as a third match and there was so much excitement to get lost in. The round of 16 hasn't let up too and we have witnessed a cracking 28 goals. The one disappointment though will be that apart from Morocco there have been no surprises in the round of 16 and it has hit home yet again just how predictable a lot of international football can be. There are over 200 countries that play the game, 32 here and yet can anyone really see past just 4 nations to take this World Cup? Only Brazil, Argentina, France and England have really looked the part in an all round way. It would feel like a surprise if one of those nations were not to win the trophy.
Of course one can point to the Netherlands and Portugal that could well prove to create more speed bumps in this competition then there is Morocco. However for all of Morocco's heroics in knocking out Spain it would feel like a stretch to believe that they can go on and win the competition. As for the Netherlands Louis van Gaal will be very happy and he has repeated that his side can go on and win the whole thing, they have been solid especially in defence but do they really have what it takes? Portugal have just destroyed Switzerland 6-1 and they have perhaps the best youngsters in the competition. It was telling that Goncalo Ramos the 21 year old brought in to replace Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick and it felt like a new dawn was upon Portugal. Ronaldo benched this time smiled and showed support when Portugal kept scoring goals but of course he would have loved to have been a part of it on the pitch. The media are very quick to jump to conclusions that Portugal play better with him not on the pitch, but only time will tell, one match against Switzerland is not conclusive proof, and it could be that Ronaldo has to come to their rescue at some point in the tournament.
The mood in the English camp is very positive and here we have a national side who have not won any major trophy since 1966 and we are led to believe that this could be the year. However it has been the same story for decades although it cannot be questioned how brilliant Gareth Southgate has been for England. It really has been the perfect fit and win or lose if Southgate did leave the England post after the World Cup it would be a huge blow for the team. This England side have many attacking options, they look calm on the ball and they look confident. One must remain grounded though after all England have faced some poor opposition in Iran, Wales and Senegal. But you can only beat who is in front of you of course but the real test will be at the weekend when they face off against the current world champions France, what a game that should be.
To win the World Cup: Brazil 2.75, France 5.00, Argentina 7.00, England 7.00, Portugal 7.00
The top goalscorer at the World Cup is hotting up too and France's Kylian Mbappe is currently topping the list with 5 goals. Ever since 1974 only one player has scored more than 6 goals and that was Ronaldo not Cristiano but the Brazilian when he scored 8 goals in 2002 including two in the final. Can the magic number of 6 be beaten this time?
Golden Boot: (Top Goalscorer): Kylian Mbappe 1.57, Richarlison 7.00, Lionel Messi 13.00, Goncalo Ramos 21.00, Olivier Giroud 21.00
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