Human beings love a good contest. It is good when it is fair. Everyone is satisfied, no one grumbles. It is even better if there is some controversy for then it raises very passionate debate. Best of all is if it is tight, closely fought, bringing out all the skills and emotions of the combatants. That is one reason we love sport, and none can beat football in excitement, passion, controversy and upsets. Even with VAR (video assistant referee) the controversy has not gone away. And so every four years we look forward to the great spectacle of the football world cup. We marvel at the silky skills of some players and are awestruck by out-of-this world individual brilliance of others. Even where these are lacking, we can’t help but admire the sheer grit, organisation and team work of some of the teams. At every world cup, new stars appear and shine brightly, sometimes so brightly they dazzle. Some will be around for a long time to come. Others may shine too intensely too quickly and burn out. Older stars still show some sparkle but even that is beginning to fade and will soon flicker and die. Those who had been elevated to the status of gods and have been used to our paying them homage will soon have to learn to live like ordinary mortals again, with reduced adulation. They will be replaced by new gods. In time these tool will find that deification is not a permanent status. It lasts as long as performance on the field of play does. Upsets can be more thrilling than wins for those expected to do so. That’s the beauty of sport. It has everything for everybody. The football World Cup currently underway in Russia is no exception. It has provided us with the excitement, the usual thrills and controversies, upsets and the unexpected.. Some of the favourite teams to lift the trophy have been dismissed rather early. Germany, the reigning kings and four-time champions did not even make it out of the group stage. They were dethroned with so much ease and embarrassment. Argentina, two-time winners and perennial favourites, fell at the first knock-out stage. So did Spain, 2010 champions, and Portugal, reigning European champions. With the fall by the wayside of these great footballing nations, their leading stars have also been dimmed. Their dejected look at being ejected early from the competition told the story. The great Lionel Messi and Andreas Iniesta of Argentina and Spain respectively and both of Barcelona FC will probably retire from the international game. Portugal’s and Real Madrid’s Christiano Ronaldo might follow suit. So too Manuel Neuer of Germany, and a host of others. We will miss them but others will take their place on the field and in people’s hearts. It always works out that way. As for the Africans – well, they always promise but fail to deliver. This time not a single African nation made it out of the group stage. We had hoped at least one of them would go one better than in the past and get to the semi-final at least. Of course, some of the big teams remain. France is still there, with a big representation of players of African origin. Some Africans might be tempted to transfer their support to France. England, too, is still in and must be fervently praying for a win. The 1966 triumph is a distant memory and might soon be forgotten altogether. They need to make good their claim to being inventors of the beautiful game. There are other pretenders to the throne, like Belgium and even Croatia, still in there. Even the unfashionable hosts whom no one, including themselves, gave a chance are hanging in there. In less than two weeks, it will all be over. There will be a new champion, hopefully a nation that has not lifted the trophy before. We will have had our fun and gone through a whole range of emotions - joy and ecstasy, anger, disappointment and despair, anxiety and even heartbreak – until Qatar 2022. That’s how sport is. There are usually no half measures. In the meantime the regular club football season will restart in August and tribal loyalties and passions of a different nature resume.
