The first weekend of the 2018 FIFA World cup has been eventful to say the least. It has ranged from absolute classic matches such as Spain versus Portugal and not so good games such as Egypt and Uruguay.
The Ronaldo or Messi debate continues and if this weekend is anything to go by for the future, Then it is the Real Madrid player that pips it. As a person who always thought Messi was the better player, My mind has been changed by the amazing performances by Ronaldo over the last few seasons. It seems Ronaldo is only getting better with age. A hat trick against Spain in a world cup is no easy feat, and it will be very interesting how far Ronaldo can carry this average Portuguese team in the competition.
Messi on the other hand, had a very poor game against minnows Iceland. Instead of taking the game by the scruff of the neck, he was nowhere to be seen for most of the match. Missing a penalty in the last few moments of the match did not help his case in this decade old debate.
Even with exciting games such as Spain versus Portugal and Germany versus Mexico, there have been a few stinkers as well. Uruguay and Egypt was very boring, and so was Morocco versus Iran (Which was expected in fairness).
As always, it is near impossible to make good bets on matches in this World Cup. Spain and Portugal drew along with Brazil and Argentina, while Germany lost. You can almost hear the England fans from here chanting “its coming home”. England are playing Tunisia tonight. The usual pressure of having their fans expecting to win the whole thing with blind optimism isn’t there this time. They might actually do well in this competition.
The World Cup has got off to an exciting start for the most part, and hopefully that will continue.
John McAuliffe