FIFA World Cup Qatar — end of semi-final talking points

Lionel Messi has a date with destiny. The most common headline I have probably ever read in media. Will he do it and become immortal by lifting the missing cup? We’ll see. In the other case, we’ll talk of crowning the sublime French era, reaching 4 finals in the last 7 tournaments. First, let’s see what we have learned from the semi-finals.

1. What if you concede first?

As a footballer, you get used to changing managers. I remember once having a newly arrived manager who got us going like no one. We won 7 games in a row.

But instead of leaving things alone, he came to us and said: “Listen. Well done. Enjoy your honeymoon period. But be aware that there will come a match when we won't score first. And that’s when we need the right response. We’ll focus on that this week.”

We conceded first in the 8th game but didn’t lose at the end. Up to this day, I give this manager a credit for this achievement.

When watching Morocco, I must say that I didn’t get the feeling that they addressed this possible scenario too much in the game’s preparation. After all, they only conceded a single goal up to that point. So, trailing?

Yes, after an early goal, they did try to break a well-structured France defence down, and had some awesome chances …

But, we are talking about tiny details here. They needed too much time to bounce back into their game plan or scenario if you’d like. And that was also one point why they lost.

2. What if you don’t have a plan B?

Despite the above-mentioned talking point, Morocco did cause massive problems for France and a match could easily go the other way around.

On the other hand, we can not say that for the Croatians. Up to the semi-final, they played their own way. They had a plan A, they stuck to it and it worked.

Their vast major tournament experience, majestic midfield in the hands of Luka Modrić and penalty specialist Dominik Livaković did the trick over and over again.

So, when that heavily collapsed in the first half, their shortcoming became ever more painful to watch. They didn’t have a plan B. And without it, they left the semi-final stage without ever seriously threatening the Argentinians.

3. What if we just saw a new (midfield) role?

In every major tournament, there are players that emerge. Players that played exceptionally well and can justifiably hope to boost their careers. On the other hand, there are some that revived theirs.

Sounds familiar? I am sure it does. We are talking about Sofyan Amrabat, a Morroco midfielder from Fiorentina that got everybody excited with his performances and the one and only Antoine Griezmann who reminded everybody what a master he can be.

Although I should have honourably mentioned some other names, like Argentinian Enzo Pérez, I have pointed out Amrabat and Griezmann because we may have seen the rise of a new role. Or at least the foundations for it.

A role in midfield that may not seem so surprising at first, but when you look at the whole picture, it offers something new. A role of being an everywhere player who gets noticed by the majority. A “Griezmannkante” as Paul Pogba published if you like.

But this isn’t just a role of tirelessly running all over the place. It defines the role of also mastering the position, spotting the real danger on the pitch, and appearing in these endangered areas, so they couldn’t be missed.

Every time Marocco’s players put the ball in the danger zone, there was Antoine Griezmann dealing with it.

On the other side of the pitch, there was a joke on social media that 30 % of Morocco is covered by desert and the other 70 % by Sofyan Amrabat.

We can joke that even if he was late for the challenge (remember a sliding tackle on Kylian Mbappé?) his reputation masked it into a non-believing foul.

Do you even wonder why football was frequently “boring” for a neutral spectator in this semi-final? Blame these two guys.

4. What if the GOAT debate reaches an end?

At last. The greatest of them all left in the tournament. Lionel Messi. It wouldn’t be fair if I forgot to mention his name.

In recent years I really enjoyed listening to the debates, about who is better. Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. They both took football to another level.

They both scored goal after goal, produced magic on the pitch, won golden balls for the best player of the year, and lifted trophy after trophy. Yet, none of them ever won a world cup.

Therefore, will a GOAT (Greatest of All Time) debate be over if Lionel Messi wins a world cup? I’ll leave that decision to you, dear football fans around the world.