Amazing Goals

Belgium is ranked No. 3; Panama is ranked No. 55. Yet for the first 45 minutes the two were equals in Group G action at the World Cup on Monday. Then came the Dries Mertens goal vs Panama that completely changed the narrative of the match.

Panama held Belgium at bay for the first half of the match. Near the end of the first half, the favored Red Devils looked to be running out of ideas as the Concacaf side swatted away every attack. Goalkeeper Jaime Penedo looked like a Gianluigi Buffon doppelganger out there. 

The original game plan for Brazil had to have been work an opening with Neymar on the ball, twist and turn into some space and then put it in the net. That almost happened in the game’s opening stages, but Paulinho somehow missed from a couple yards out. This is probably the miss out the tournament so far (from open play). 

SO. CLOSE.

Paulinho *just* misses wide for Brazil! pic.twitter.com/vxIPwa4wVr

Time after time, Germany has found itself shook by Mexico’s lightening pace on the break. If not for some more assured decisions in the final third, El Tri could’ve certainly opened the scoring before Hirving “Chucky” Lozano beat Manuel Neuer in the 35th minute.

No matter.

Mexico is playing some lovely stuff with Lozano taking the game to the much-heralded Joshua Kimmich, Hector Herrera hasn’t put a foot wrong in midfield and Chicharito looks sharp up top. 

The opening goal was a microcosm of Mexico’s play on the whole. It’s been simply breathtaking at times.

You don’t stand in the way of an Aleksander Kolarov rocket. That’s a well-known fact, and if you’re the least bit ignorant about that, you’re dead. Just look at what happened to this ref back in the day.

Group C is off to a wicked start folks. I’m going to get this out of the way early.

I never understood why Gonzalo Higuain got time over Sergio Aguero on the Argentina national team. That decision really personifies the shit show that is the Argentine FA. Sergio Aguero, who's been out with a knee injury since the end of April, made his return and showed just why he’s more valuable than Higuain. He can make something out of nothing in an instant and finish. (Now watch Higuain come in a score the game winner.)

France defeated Australia without entirely convincing, and the same sort of analysis could be applied to its myriad of attacking talent. Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe are both absolute spectacles in full flight and Antoine Griezmann is the spice that is the variety of life, but the three just couldn’t combine with the sort of intricacy and understanding that fellow frontrunners Spain and Brazil enjoy.

Cristiano Ronaldo has finally arrived at a World Cup. Sure, he’s scored at the last three tournaments, but the goals came against inferior competition. The Ronaldo hat trick vs Spain was one of the Portugal striker’s greatest moments for his country, as the Iberian derby finished in a 3-3 draw on Friday in Russia. 

Anyone else hungry for nachos? I mean, I’m always hungry for nachos, but something about that Nacho goal vs Portugal has me even hungrier that usual.

The first half of the Portugal-Spain matchup was absolutely bonkers. But the second half didn’t peter out like the first season of Westworld (I haven’t watched Season 2, so no spoilers).