Ivan Zubov
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is gaining momentum. Yesterday, on November 23, the second sensation took place on it, after the defeat of the Argentines to the Saudis, the German national team lost to the Japanese with a score of 1:2. And quite on the case: in the second half, the Japanese team looked much more preferable than the Germans, and managed not only to level the score, but also to beat the tournament favorites.
On this occasion, Japan is a real holiday, but unlike Saudi Arabia, the day off was not declared there: work is above all for the Japanese!
However, the Germans also excelled: in a team photo before the match, the German national team players covered their mouths with their hands, thus protesting against the decision of FIFA, which forbade the captains of several teams to wear armbands with the inscription One Love.
“We wanted to use our captaincy to stand up for the values we share as a team: diversity and mutual respect. Together with other countries, we wanted our voice to be heard. It was not a political statement - human rights are non-negotiable. (…) That is why this message is so important to us. Bandage prohibition is like closing our mouths. We stand on our position”, - this is how the German Football Association commented on the actions of the national team.
By the way, the head of the German Interior Ministry Nancy Feather came to this match with the One Love armband, who was sitting at the stadium next to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
And one more news related to the Japanese. They managed to distinguish themselves not only on the football field, but also in the stands: after the final whistle, no matter how happy the fans were, they pulled out plastic bags from their backpacks and carefully collected all the garbage that had accumulated in the stadium during the match.
A good example, it turns out, is also contagious. Moroccan fans, following the example of the Japanese, who once again show their best at the championships, helping to clean up the garbage in the stands after the matches, have also joined this tradition. And they participated in cleaning the stands after the first match of their team at the World Cup in Qatar with the Croatian team, which ended in a draw.
The second impressive event on Wednesday was Spain's 7-0 victory over Costa Rica. There is also a lot of noise around the Spaniards. Firstly, the youngest player in the national team, 19-year-old Gavi, scored his first - and incredibly handsome! - a goal in the World Cup. His native club Barcelona is already offering everyone who wants to buy him, pay 1 billion euros (!) For the right to transfer to another club. Even Messi and Ronaldo never dreamed of such a thing. By the way, this amount is the same amount that Russia spent on hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
In addition, a purely family drama can happen at the World Cup, as the brothers Inyako and Nico Williams play for different teams - Spain and Ghana. If these teams suddenly meet in the quarterfinals (and this is possible), who will their parents root for?
And more about the victor: due to the ban on eating pork in Qatar, the Spaniards were forbidden to bring jamon with them. However, this did not affect their crushing victory over Costa Rica.
However, such victories mean nothing. Sports journalist Kirill Shulika writes about this: “I can say from experience that those who start the World Cup briskly, like Spain or like England, do not win it. Those who start weakly, like Germany or Argentina, begin to burn nerve cells and it’s not a fact that they will cope with it. But the Belgium team started as it should - 1:0 with Canada. Faded, without extravaganza, but won, inconspicuous, but the main result...".
Meanwhile, it became known that Elon Musk and Barack Obama could become guests of the World Cup. The organizers of the World Cup, TASS reports, are preparing to welcome them as guests of honor. This was told by the staff of one of the Doha hotels: “We are waiting at our hotel for Musk, Obama and other honored guests. Preparations for the arrival of guests of this level began even before the start of the World Cup. “Golden” passes to the VIP boxes of the stadiums and the best hotel rooms have been prepared for everyone”.