Looking back at my evenings at Live House, there was much to like about having fun filled evenings and I wanted to remember some of the greater moments for me in the world cup. Most nights were warm and there was a lovely water feature to chill out on at this venue, there was even a foosball table!
As the nights ticked away and the teams went to battle for their chance in the playoffs, we same some amazing games. There were moments that I thought some of my favourite players wouldn’t see it out of the group stages. Ronaldo scored some fantastic goals against Spain and Argentina finally managed to make it out of their pickle. It was great to see Russia play valiantly all the way and really have to commend their performance all the way until their perhaps unlucky defeat against Croatia. That was a nail biting game that was back and forth. I could not have imagined so many goals to fly in right in the nick of time to take it to penalties. It was lucky I had some spirits on hand now and then to help ease some of this tension!
The world cup was such an amazing experience and really brought people together. We would play dice before and after games, having fun and enjoying the evenings. Football fans enjoying the games, cheering together and sometimes weeping. That’s how it went for a number of weeks. Perhaps the most shocking result was Germany’s untimely exit. The freaky statistics that show the cup winners going out in the group stage might be a coincidence but the pattern remains strong. England were able to break their own curse on penalties this time round though and I was happy to see them go quite far in this tournament. I wish Brazil had been able to string together a little more but unfortunately they went rolling away, just like the dice and a certain player.
Perhaps one of the most exciting games for me would be Japan against Belgium. Drama and attacking football was abundant in this game and I was very surprised to see Japan almost take the game. In fact, it was a done deal until the reds made some super substitutions and came back in stunning fashion. I couldn’t believe the last minute goal and felt a little in my heart for Japan.
France played a fantastic world cup and their youngest star, Kylian Mbappe was a joy to watch. He is such a young player and has bright future ahead of him. Wherever his career takes him, the world will be watching. France conquered some fearsome opponents in this tournament, their clash with both Argentina and Uruguay were deserving wins that were filled with excitement and finesse. The final was just as exciting and I was truly happy to see the Blues take the Gold. Congratulations France and thank you to everyone who made a fantastic World Cup!