Canada 0, Morocco 3; Mexico 2, England 3; USA 1, Belgium 4
So, the co-hosts of this rotten World Cup have been eliminated, pop-pop-pop, in the same early knockout round, and I couldn’t be more pleased; I’ve waited eight years for this moment. Canada, I fault only for having joined a corrupt alliance. (I didn’t much like how the Canadian team played, but put that aside.) Mexico, I fault for having long ago entered into faustian hosting arrangements with the United States, in this World Cup and in other tournaments; for having greedily sought to host the World Cup a third time, ahead of turnless countries; and for gross inhospitality. All of Ecuador cheered when England beat Mexico. I certainly did, even though I cheer for the English team as little as possible. (I’ve done so just three times since the 1998 World Cup.)
As for the USA, well, it may not be gracious to “pile on,” but certain matters must be addressed. If you don’t know the immediate context, you can read about it here or in countless other sources.
Know this, at least: a certain U.S. politician admitted – bragged – that he’d interfered in a disciplinary process conducted by a supposedly neutral agency.
As it turned out, the meddling hurt rather than helped the intended beneficiary. The U.S. team already was out of sorts when it took the field against the Belgians. Those opponents eviscerated the U.S. with strict professionalism – until the last minutes, when the ball was trickling into the U.S. goal every which way; then, they unleashed the “Trump” dance.
It’s gratifying to see on-field retribution. But the urgent lesson is that stricter and more explicit rules against political interference must be adopted, or else matches themselves will lose whatever credibility they once had. (Today, undue controversy was attached to Argentina’s victory over Egypt.)
Moreover: in a better world, certain FIFA officials would be impeached. And a certain country would be barred from the World Cup, for at least as long as the Chileans were barred in the early 1990s for their procedural violation.
It might be objected that in the present case, the politician’s meddling backfired, and so no harm was done. I couldn’t disagree more. A legal analogy: specific instances of bribery, intimidation, or witness or jury tampering might backfire; but they should be punished, all the same, because such offenses corrode the integrity and trustworthiness of the court.
As for the USA, well, it may not be gracious to “pile on,” but certain matters must be addressed. If you don’t know the immediate context, you can read about it here or in countless other sources.
Know this, at least: a certain U.S. politician admitted – bragged – that he’d interfered in a disciplinary process conducted by a supposedly neutral agency.
As it turned out, the meddling hurt rather than helped the intended beneficiary. The U.S. team already was out of sorts when it took the field against the Belgians. Those opponents eviscerated the U.S. with strict professionalism – until the last minutes, when the ball was trickling into the U.S. goal every which way; then, they unleashed the “Trump” dance.
It’s gratifying to see on-field retribution. But the urgent lesson is that stricter and more explicit rules against political interference must be adopted, or else matches themselves will lose whatever credibility they once had. (Today, undue controversy was attached to Argentina’s victory over Egypt.)
Moreover: in a better world, certain FIFA officials would be impeached. And a certain country would be barred from the World Cup, for at least as long as the Chileans were barred in the early 1990s for their procedural violation.
It might be objected that in the present case, the politician’s meddling backfired, and so no harm was done. I couldn’t disagree more. A legal analogy: specific instances of bribery, intimidation, or witness or jury tampering might backfire; but they should be punished, all the same, because such offenses corrode the integrity and trustworthiness of the court.