Multiple legal disclaimers: today’s WC 2018 blogpost contains many references to animals. No malice intended at any nationality or race or religion, my apologies in advance if any of you are offended. Second: Mathew Jacob Subodh Balakrishnan and Dharmesh Karmokar are grinding their teeth and are currently calling me ‘animal’ names due to the amazing accuracy with which I have been able to predict the line-ups for the QF’s starting in a few hours. Their apologies are accepted in advance.
And then there were eight little pigs. And one Big Bad Wolf. Still not clear. Ha ! Allow me to explain. One of my all time favourite bedtime stories from childhood, I am sure many of you have used this story to get your little ones to sleep - is the Three Little Pigs. The story has the proverbial three little pigs sent out by their Mom to face the evil world. And each of them makes a home - one with straw, the second with sticks and the ‘smart’ one with RCC bricks. 🙂
And then comes the BBW - Big Bad Wolf and the story gets more exciting when we come to these famous lines:
Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
"not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."
We all know what happens eventually.
The Quarter Finals starting today remind me of the fable above. The billions of fans represent the proverbial mother in the story. And each team is like a little pig - 32 of them started the tournament. Some of these 32 have been patiently building houses since 2010 - e.g Belgium, Croatia, France and Uruguay. Some of them have been sitting on their glass tiled porches of their wooden cabins from club football glory and of previous World cups - Germany, Argentina, Spain !! Some of them have been pained from the last 8-10 years and have been going to ‘Piggy University’ to reinvent themselves - England and notably Brazil (the Brazilian boy on CNN news stating after the infamous 7-1 loss - UNVELIEVABLE !! Still rings in every home from São Paulo to Sydney) and some little piggies just have been swept into the last 8 stage by sheer doggedness, some luck and lots of hard work - Russia and Sweden. But all 8 stare at the prospect of the Big Bad Wolf bringing their houses down today and tomorrow. And some of them have already had their homes destroyed in the last 20 days.
Hope you get my angle to the story so far. Monisha Jain Prasad Swaminathan now is a good time for the Puns, just in case !!
My prediction on June 8 was as follows for the QF line-up.
July 6: France vs. Uruguay
July 6: Brazil vs. Belgium
July 7: Spain vs. Argentina
July 7: England vs. Germany
Glad that my two favourites - Brazil and France plus both underdogs - England and Uruguay are still in it. I genuinely think the only other team that deserved to be here but not - is Spain. But hey, this is my blog, so my opinion counts too !!
What can we expect tonight ? Which two piggies will get blown out of sight by the BBW assisted by VRA !!
P.S: These days, you need to use loads of fancy technology sounding three letter acronyms to even get noticed in the blogosphere.
Both matches today - absolutely impossible to predict. But one thing is for sure - don’t miss a second of either game - because we are going to witness absolute WC classics.
France vs. Uruguay: if there was one prayer I wanted answered before this game - it would be for Edison Cavani to play. Unfortunately he is injured and not expected to start. France on the other hand will start without the influential Blase Matuidi who plays for Juve. Many outcomes. If Uruguay’s defense holds strong (so far only one goal let in) and play deep in their own half, France will find it difficult to score. Mbappé and company are unlikely to find the spaces and free runs like they did against Argentina. However France has big game players in Pogba, Griezmann and co. Uruguay on the other hand has some big match players like Suarez. It takes one slice of magic from Suarez (especially with his pace that can lead to bookings for the French or a strike from the corner of the box into Hugo Loris’ net). If Uruguay score first, I expect them to win on a 1-0. Else it is going to be a 2-1 or better for France. Watch outs for today - a Pogba red card or a Suarez led penalty. Tons of money at 21/20 for a France win, but hey the bookies have made tons of money this WC so far.
Brazil - Belgium: Sanjay Shende, I know you are slurping up this one. So am I and 3 billion other fellow earthlings. Why is this tie so popular ? A 100 reasons. I will give you my top three. Brazil out to erase the ghosts of 2014. Belgium out to prove their golden generation can win something. This current team (9 players have played 60 internationals together) has never entered the semis of a major tournament - so bragging rights on tap. Both these sides had three players each on the 2017 Ballon d’Or shortlist; Neymar, Marcelo and Philippe Coutinho for Brazil, with Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens representing Belgium. That’s a lot of star quality on show tonight. But come to the crux. Brazil have the meanest defense in the tournament. Belgians the best goal scoring record. Marcelo is back in defense. Big plus. Coutinho and Neymar have not shown their true potential, yet. Belgians may have peaked. Both have the passion to win. Expect a thrilling 2-2 (or draw) in regular time and Neymar to score the winner in extra time !! Ha ha !! It can’t get any more clearer than this.
So friends - some advice before the games start. Manicure your finger nails (especially my 🇧🇷 friends Tatiana Moraes De Oliveira Ponce Lilian Cruz FabÃola Artoni Antonio Luis Galvao Costa ), have lots of beers and chips ready and get lots of tissues for the tears later on.
Enjoy the best night of the tournament. What say folks ? Which little pig is going to be devoured by the BBW tonight ?
And then there were eight little pigs. And one Big Bad Wolf. Still not clear. Ha ! Allow me to explain. One of my all time favourite bedtime stories from childhood, I am sure many of you have used this story to get your little ones to sleep - is the Three Little Pigs. The story has the proverbial three little pigs sent out by their Mom to face the evil world. And each of them makes a home - one with straw, the second with sticks and the ‘smart’ one with RCC bricks. 🙂
And then comes the BBW - Big Bad Wolf and the story gets more exciting when we come to these famous lines:
Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
"not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."
"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."
We all know what happens eventually.
The Quarter Finals starting today remind me of the fable above. The billions of fans represent the proverbial mother in the story. And each team is like a little pig - 32 of them started the tournament. Some of these 32 have been patiently building houses since 2010 - e.g Belgium, Croatia, France and Uruguay. Some of them have been sitting on their glass tiled porches of their wooden cabins from club football glory and of previous World cups - Germany, Argentina, Spain !! Some of them have been pained from the last 8-10 years and have been going to ‘Piggy University’ to reinvent themselves - England and notably Brazil (the Brazilian boy on CNN news stating after the infamous 7-1 loss - UNVELIEVABLE !! Still rings in every home from São Paulo to Sydney) and some little piggies just have been swept into the last 8 stage by sheer doggedness, some luck and lots of hard work - Russia and Sweden. But all 8 stare at the prospect of the Big Bad Wolf bringing their houses down today and tomorrow. And some of them have already had their homes destroyed in the last 20 days.
Hope you get my angle to the story so far. Monisha Jain Prasad Swaminathan now is a good time for the Puns, just in case !!
My prediction on June 8 was as follows for the QF line-up.
July 6: France vs. Uruguay
July 6: Brazil vs. Belgium
July 7: Spain vs. Argentina
July 7: England vs. Germany
Glad that my two favourites - Brazil and France plus both underdogs - England and Uruguay are still in it. I genuinely think the only other team that deserved to be here but not - is Spain. But hey, this is my blog, so my opinion counts too !!
What can we expect tonight ? Which two piggies will get blown out of sight by the BBW assisted by VRA !!
P.S: These days, you need to use loads of fancy technology sounding three letter acronyms to even get noticed in the blogosphere.
Both matches today - absolutely impossible to predict. But one thing is for sure - don’t miss a second of either game - because we are going to witness absolute WC classics.
France vs. Uruguay: if there was one prayer I wanted answered before this game - it would be for Edison Cavani to play. Unfortunately he is injured and not expected to start. France on the other hand will start without the influential Blase Matuidi who plays for Juve. Many outcomes. If Uruguay’s defense holds strong (so far only one goal let in) and play deep in their own half, France will find it difficult to score. Mbappé and company are unlikely to find the spaces and free runs like they did against Argentina. However France has big game players in Pogba, Griezmann and co. Uruguay on the other hand has some big match players like Suarez. It takes one slice of magic from Suarez (especially with his pace that can lead to bookings for the French or a strike from the corner of the box into Hugo Loris’ net). If Uruguay score first, I expect them to win on a 1-0. Else it is going to be a 2-1 or better for France. Watch outs for today - a Pogba red card or a Suarez led penalty. Tons of money at 21/20 for a France win, but hey the bookies have made tons of money this WC so far.
Brazil - Belgium: Sanjay Shende, I know you are slurping up this one. So am I and 3 billion other fellow earthlings. Why is this tie so popular ? A 100 reasons. I will give you my top three. Brazil out to erase the ghosts of 2014. Belgium out to prove their golden generation can win something. This current team (9 players have played 60 internationals together) has never entered the semis of a major tournament - so bragging rights on tap. Both these sides had three players each on the 2017 Ballon d’Or shortlist; Neymar, Marcelo and Philippe Coutinho for Brazil, with Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Dries Mertens representing Belgium. That’s a lot of star quality on show tonight. But come to the crux. Brazil have the meanest defense in the tournament. Belgians the best goal scoring record. Marcelo is back in defense. Big plus. Coutinho and Neymar have not shown their true potential, yet. Belgians may have peaked. Both have the passion to win. Expect a thrilling 2-2 (or draw) in regular time and Neymar to score the winner in extra time !! Ha ha !! It can’t get any more clearer than this.
So friends - some advice before the games start. Manicure your finger nails (especially my 🇧🇷 friends Tatiana Moraes De Oliveira Ponce Lilian Cruz FabÃola Artoni Antonio Luis Galvao Costa ), have lots of beers and chips ready and get lots of tissues for the tears later on.
Enjoy the best night of the tournament. What say folks ? Which little pig is going to be devoured by the BBW tonight ?
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