In the eyes of many, USMNT legend Landon Donovan is now a massive sell-out. The man with the second-most appearances in the history of the USMNT and the joint-leader for goals has decided to support El Tri at the World Cup (in partnership with Wells Fargo) despite his role in turning the Mexico-United States soccer rivalry into one of the biggest in the world.
No event escalates individuals to the status of national hero or global villain as dramatically as the World Cup. The idolatry that follows success and the stigma that follows failure are woven into the fabric of history, and the repercussions will typically follow footballers for the rest of their lives. Daily, we’ll take a look at who played the role of hero and who played the role of villain at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Croatia vs Nigeria was the last match of a long day at the World Cup, one that began at 6 a.m. ET (that’s 4 a.m. for yours truly). We could forgive you if you couldn’t stay awake for the match, which wasn’t quite up to par with the first three — especially if you were following our lead making World Cup cocktails and playing drinking games.
The Denmark vs Peru match finished 1-0 in favor of the Danes, but the scoreline did little to capture the end-to-end nature of the match. Peru looked the more threatening side during the first half, which culminated in a Christian Cueva penalty kick that landed 20 rows deep behind Kasper Schmeichel's goal.
Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson led his island nation to an improbable 1-1 draw against heavyweight Argentina, sparking Fox play-by-play man John Strong to say "Iceland beats Argentina, 1-1."
Halldorsson came up with six saves against an Argentina side that controlled 78 percent of the possession. His stop on Lionel Messi's penalty will play on World Cup highlight reels for years to come.
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.
France meandered around the pitch for about 55 minutes without creating much in way of scoring opportunities. Then, with the help of the very first use of World Cup VAR, Les Bleus took the first lead of the match against Australia on an Antoine Griezmann penalty kick on Saturday.
No event escalates individuals to the status of national hero or global villain as dramatically as the World Cup. The idolatry that follows success and the stigma that follows failure are woven into the fabric of history, and the repercussions will typically follow footballers for the rest of their lives. Daily, we’ll take a look at who played the role of hero and who played the role of villain at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
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).