TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2018 19

OFF SIDE The football association is looking Spain grab late draw toward a time when the dust has settled among North America’s Morocco twice took the lead but Spain fought back to level through and Aspas three amigos he games have be- AFP | Kaliningrad, Russia gun. The World TCup kicked off on ago Aspas scored a VAR-as- June 14 with Russia fac- sisted equaliser in injury ing Saudi Arabia, during Itime as Spain scrambled a which the host country 2-2 draw with Morocco yester- pummelled the Saudis day in a dramatic finale to their in a match ending 5-0. MUSA OKWONGA Group B campaign. But some of the biggest Aspas’s winner, initially disal- drama was resolved a day earlier. lowed but awarded after inter- On June 13, FIFA announced who will host the games vention from the Video Assistant in 2026 — two World Cups from now. The United States, Referee, saw Spain stumbled into Canada and Mexico prevailed over the other top contender, the last 16 as group winners. Morocco. In some ways, I was a little disappointed. Part of The Spaniards will now face me had hoped that a second African country would have a World Cup hosts Russia in the chance to host the tournament. And Morocco’s unique cul- second round after Portugal ture — the food, the music! — would have brought something were held to a 1-1 draw by Iran special to this global event. in the night’s other game. Still, there are a couple of nice touches to the United Spain survived a real scare States-Mexico-Canada decision. For one thing, there’s some- from a spirited Morocco side thing nostalgic in it: Mexico, which will be hosting the World who had been leading 2-1 when Cup for the third time, was one of eight participants in the the 90th minute began. inaugural tournament in 1930. It also recognizes the hosting Aspas’ clever flick from a wide expertise of Canada, which held the immensely successful free kick was initially adjudged Spain’s Iago Aspas scores their equalising to salvage a point against Morocco and mean they topped Group B and will Women’s World Cup in 2015. face Russia in the last 16 by the assistant referee to have But there’s no ignoring that this seems like a strange deci- been offside. sion for FIFA to make in the Trump era. The three nations of But after intervention from Morocco coach Herve Renard sent Iniesta free inside Moroc- North America may make up the North American Free Trade VAR it was given as a goal, much said before the game his team, co’s box. He cut back with the Agreement trade bloc but are strange bedfellows these days. to the consternation of Moroc- the first to be eliminated this outside of his right boot to Isco, The American president has practically made enemies out Monday June 25 canSPAIN players and2 substitutes,2 MOROCCO some tournament, had been victim to who fired into the roof of Monir of his country’s neighbours. Donald Trump has been howl- of whom stormed the pitch. We would have “total injustice” in their opening El-Kajoui’s net from six yards. ing for a wall on the border with Mexico and insulting the 19’ Isco Boutaib loved to14’ have 1-0 losses. The Real playmaker country’s people. Mexicans, unsurprisingly don’t have much 90’ + 1’ Iago Aspas Group B En-Nesyri 81’ beaten Spain and The North Africans, who had was at the heart of every Spain love for him in return. And FIFA’s announcement seemed al- MondayMonday June June 25 25 SPAINSPAIN 22Referee22 MOROCCOMOROCCO Monday June 25 Monday JuneSPAIN 25 Monday2Monday2 JuneMOROCCO June 25 25SPAINRavshan2 Irmatov2 SPAINMOROCCOSPAIN (UZB)2 22 2MOROCCOMOROCCO that was why we yet to score a point or even a goal attack, caressing clever passes most comically timed: Just last week, Trump was in a war of 19’ Isco 19’19’ 19’ Kaliningrad StadiumIscoIsco19’Isco19’ KaliningradKaliningradBoutaibIscoIsco Stadium Stadium StadiumKaliningradKaliningrad14’ Boutaib Stadium StadiumBoutaibBoutaib Boutaib14’Boutaib14’14’ 14’ 14’ before yesterday, started bright- to teammates and weaving past words with Canada’s liberal prime minister, Justin Trudeau. GroupGroup B B came here tonight. 90’ + 1’ IagoPlayers Aspas 90’90’ + +90’ 1’ 1’ + 1’ IagoIagoGroupIago Aspas Aspas Aspas B90’ +90’ 1’ + 1’ IagoIagoEn-Nesyri Aspas GroupAspasPossession B 81’GroupGroupEn-Nesyri B En-NesyriBEn-Nesyri En-Nesyri81’En-Nesyri81’81’ Players81’ 81’ ly, compact without the ball and wrong-footed defenders. It’s hard to imagine these guys cooperating on something as Referee RefereeRefereeReferee RefereeReferee Possession We suffered, as 1 De Gea Ravshan Irmatov (UZB) RavshanRavshan Irmatov Irmatov Irmatov (UZB) (UZB) Ravshan(UZB)Ravshan Irmatov Irmatov (UZB) (UZB) 12 El Kajouievery team that breaking at speed. Boutaib missed a glorious complicated as hosting a huge international sporting event. 2 CarvajalPlayers PlayersPlayersPlayersPossession PlayersPlayers PossessionPossessionPossessionPlayers PossessionPossession Players2 PlayersPlayersHakimi PlayersPlayers Morocco took the lead on 14 chance to restore advantage (And in fact, the 2026 World Cup will be huger than ever: 1 De Gea3 Piqué 11 DeDe 1Gea GeaDe Gea 1 De1 GeaDe Gea 12 El Kajoui 12 El1212 KajouiElEl Kajoui Kajoui4 12Daplays12El CostaKajouiEl Kajoui against Spain 2 Carvajal 2 Carvajal 2 Carvajal2 Carvajal 68%2 Hakimi 32%2 Hakimi 2 Hakimi2 Hakimi minutes when Boutaib took ad- when he found Spain’s centre 48 teams instead of the traditional 32.) 5 Busquets22 CarvajalCarvajal 22 HakimiHakimi6 Saiss 3 Piqué 3 Piqué 68% 3 Piqué3 Piqué 32% 68%4 Da Costa 32%68%68% 4 Da32% Costa32% 4 Da4suffers, CostaDa Costa because vantage of a horrible mix-up be- backs sleeping off a throw only What’s going on? The golden rule in international football 5 Busquets6 Iniesta 33 PiquéPiqué5 Busquets 5 Busquets5 Busquets 68%68%6 Saiss 32%32% 6 Saiss44 DaDa Costa Costa7 Ziyach6 Saiss6 Saiss 85’ 6 Iniesta 55 BusquetsBusquets6 Iniesta 6 Iniesta6 Iniesta 7 Ziyach 85’ 7 Ziyach66 SaissSaiss their7 Ziyach7 85’Ziyach line-up85’ 85’ is a mix tween and Andres to fluff one-on-one with De Gea. is that if something looks odd, it’s pretty likely that behind 10 Thiago10 Thiago 6674’IniestaIniesta10 Thiago 74’10 10Thiago74’Thiago 74’874’El Ahmadi 8 El 7Ahmadi7 ZiyachZiyach 8 El8 El Ahmadi8 AhmadiEl Ahmadi85’85’ 15 Ramos15 ()Ramos (cap)1010 ThiagoThiago15 Ramos (cap) 16 15 15Ramos74’Shots74’Ramos (cap) (cap)6 1616 10 BelhandaShotsShots166 16 Shots63’6Shots10 Belhanda886ElEl 6Ahmadi Ahmadi10 10Belhandaof10Belhanda63’Belhanda Real Madrid63’ 63’ 63’ and Iniesta to race through and slide But La Roja should have gone the scenes money is saying all the right things. 18 Jordi18 AlbaJordi Alba1515 RamosRamos18 Jordi (cap) (cap) Alba 18 18JordiJordi Alba Alba 161613 BoutaibShotsShots 66 72’ 13 Boutaib1010 BelhandaBelhanda13 13Boutaib13Boutaib72’Boutaib63’63’ 72’ 72’ 72’ the ball calmly through David De in ahead at half-time, with Ini- FIFA and the Vatican have several things in common: 19 181874’JordiJordi19 Diego Alba Alba Costa 4 19On19Diego target74’Diego Costa Costa3 474’1474’OnBoussoufa target (cap)34 4 On Ontarget14 targetBoussoufa13133BoutaibBoutaib3 (cap) 14Barcelona14BoussoufaBoussoufa 72’(cap)72’ (cap) players - 21 Silva 84’ 21 Silva 21 21Silva84’Silva 84’1684’N. Amrabat 16 N. Amrabat 16 16N. AmrabatN. Amrabat 19 Diego Costa 74’ 44 OnOnOn target target target33 3 14 Boussoufa(cap)(cap) (cap) Gea’s legs. esta’s square pass missing Diego They are both largely self-regulating, they’re both wealthy, 22 Isco 1919 DiegoDiego22 Isco Costa Costa 5 22 22IscoFouls74’74’Isco 17 5 17 DirarFouls 175 5 FoulsFouls17 Dirar14 1417BoussoufaBoussoufa17 17 17DirarDirarall exceptional 21 Silva 2121 SilvaSilva 84’ 84’84’ 1616 N.N. Amrabat Amrabat16 N. Amrabat Spain were level five minutes Costa’s outstretched right boot they both enjoy remarkable tax breaks, and they are both 17 Asensio22 Isco 222274’IscoIsco17 Asensio(cap) = Captain17 17Asensio74’AsensioYellow card(cap) = Captain574’51174’FajrFoulsFoulsFouls(cap)(cap)Yellow = Captain = cardCaptain1717 1763’ 11 YellowFajr1717Yellow cardDirarDirar card17 11Dirar11Fajr63’Fajr 63’ 63’ 20 Iago Aspas 74’ 20 Iago AspasSubstitution20 20Iago74’Iago AspasRed Aspas card Substitution74’1974’En-NesyriRedSubstitution cardSubstitution72’ 19RedEn-Nesyri Redcard card 19 19En-NesyriMOROCCO72’En-Nesyri COACH 72’HERVE72’ RENARD later when some crisp passing by millimetres from point blank. exponents of religion to the masses. The two institutions 9 Rodrigo 171784’AsensioAsensio9 Rodrigoog=own goal, pen=penalty9 Rodrigo74’74’9 84’Rodrigo (cap)(cap)og=own = = Captain Captain goal,84’20 pen=penalty84’Bouhaddouzog=ownog=ownYellowYellow goal, goal, pen=penaltycard card pen=penalty85’ 20 Bouhaddouz1111 FajrFajr 20 20Bouhaddouz85’Bouhaddouz63’63’ 85’ 85’ 17 Asensio2020 IagoIago Aspas AspasSource: FIFA74’ 74’74’ (cap)Source: =Substitution SubstitutionCaptain FIFA Source:Source:Red FIFARed FIFAcard cardYellow card 1919 En-NesyriEn-Nesyri11 Fajr 72’72’ 63’ are also alike in strategy: They take a very long view. FIFA 20 Iago Aspas99 RodrigoRodrigo 74’ 84’84’ og=ownog=ownSubstitution goal, goal, pen=penalty pen=penalty Red card 2020 BouhaddouzBouhaddouz19 En-Nesyri85’85’ 72’ is looking toward a time when Trump will have sent his 9 Rodrigo 84’ og=ownSource:Source: FIFA goal,FIFA pen=penalty 20 BouhaddouzWORLD CUP85’ PREDICT AND WIN last tweet and the dust has settled among North America’s Source: FIFA three amigos. And in that distant future, North America is a glorious choice: It provides the vast area needed to host games among 48 countries — and thus to generate equally vast profits. Estimates say the 2026 games will rake in $11 billion. Even Trump, who doesn’t seem to be a fan of either football or international institutions, seems to get this. Ac- cording to reporting in The New York Times, he sent FIFA letters assuring that the United States would grant visas to officials and visitors related to the tournament. All in all, while countries may compete for the World Cup every four years, it’s FIFA that always wins. On that note, I suggest that the official anthem of the 2026 tournament should be a famous tune by those true North American heroes, the Wu-Tang Clan: “C.R.E.A.M.,” or “Cash Rules As the Daily Tribune World Cup 2018 Predict and Win contest is getting an enthusiastic response from the football-loving readers, an exact forecast of each day’s Everything Around Me.” matches is becoming tougher and unpredictable which adds to the excitement of the game. The contest winners of last week were given the gift pack sponsored by Coca-Cola. The winners Soosai Thommai Paul Rakesh, Ezekiel Nyanumba Osoro, Blake Tyson D’Souza, Duncan Deverel , Marie Bernadine Castillo and Kamelia received (Musa Okwonga is a poet and writer based in Berlin. He is the prize from TDT Advertising Sales Head Abhitab Kumar and Sales Coordinator Asna Nayab. The Daily Tribune readers can participate in the Predict and Win the author of two books on football, “A Cultured Left Foot” contest by filling in the contest form published in each days TDT sports page or Website and sending it to WhatsApp 33609505 or email: [email protected] and “Will You Manage?”) Yesterday’s lucky winner is Reema Farakh Winner will be contacted

DAY 13, 26th JUNE 2018

DENMARK FRANCE DRAW

AUSTRALIA PERU DRAW

NIGERIA ARGENTINA DRAW

ICELAND CROATIA DRAW

Entry should be submitted before 2pm