This FIFA World Cup is proving to be a roller-coaster ride with a series of unexpected and intriguing results in the newly built arenas of Qatar. To some extent what is not surprising is that the host country has already been eliminated from the tournament after two defeats, with one game still to play in their group. They are now the worst-performing hosts in the 92-year history of the tournament. South Africa is the only other host country which did not progress from the group stage in 2010 but they did manage to get a win and a draw from their games.
Barring the underwhelming performance of Qatar which many had feared, the biggest highlight in the early fixtures has been the resurgence of Asian teams in the global football showpiece. While Saudi Arabia sent shock waves across the football world by felling the mighty Argentina of Lionel Messi in one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, Japan did the unthinkable by dismantling the sleek German machine. What is more impressive is that they did this after going down by a goal, scored in both instances, from the penalty spot.
Meanwhile, Iran quickly buried the ghosts of an embarrassing 2-6 defeat by England to register a morale-lifting last-gasp 2-0 victory against Wales. The other fancied Asian team, South Korea played out a goalless draw against the dangerous Uruguay. The string of results by these Asian sides shows us why the World Cup is such a spectacle. Here, the underdogs can bloody the giants who can trip after a single misstep.
One giant of the game who did not trip at the first step was Brazil. This South American team has such a big fan following that anything other than a win against Serbia would have caused mayhem in the country, where everything comes to a standstill whenever their team plays in a World Cup. However, for sixty minutes, the legions of their fans would have been anxious as the Selecao failed to penetrate the disciplined Serbian backline. Then Richarlison stepped up to score a pair of goals, his second one a thing of beauty to be included among the best goals in the highlight reels of this World Cup. A sour aftertaste for the Samba Boys was a serious-looking injury to their star Neymar, who hobbled off the pitch with an ankle injury and was seen in tears on the bench. It is a familiar feeling at a World Cup for the Brazilian forward who got injured in the quarterfinal of the 2014 World Cup at home. If their talisman is sidelined again, it would be a big loss to Brazil so early in their campaign.
Another talisman who grabbed headlines in Qatar was Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portugal star became the first player to score in five different World Cups when he converted a penalty against Ghana. The decision by the referee to award the penalty though was controversial and termed by the opposition coach as a "gift" to the Portuguese star. Whatever the debate about the fairness of it, the goal is just another milestone for Ronaldo in his quest for a maiden World Cup for his country.
Make ODIs relevant
Across, in the cricket world, a debate has started over the relevance of One-day internationals in a world consumed by the glamour and thrill of Twenty20 cricket and the old-school charm and reverence of Test cricket. The recent Australia-England series saw very low crowd attendance which is a testament to the fact that the popularity of ODI cricket is at its lowest.
The retirement of England star Ben Stokes from 50-over cricket also points to a lack of appeal of the format to the players themselves, who have criticized it as just an extension of T20 cricket without any ebbs and flows that cause excitement. With the ODI World Cup due to be played next year, it is time that the game's bosses and lawmakers make some changes which can spice up the format.
