Years ago, long before I was spectator of the World Cup, before I wheezed my way through indoor soccer matches, and even before a one-year term my junior year on the high school soccer team, I took part in another type of soccer world cup.
Aside from my junior year of high school, soccer was a sport I initially played up through the eighth grade. Autumns were spent on the pitch -- as the refined fan likes to say -- as a start to a seasonal rotation involving basketball and then baseball.
Summers were spent either on the road to visit family in the far away land of California or in a variety of sports camps, including for a couple of summers participating in a soccer camp.
The instructors of the Britannia soccer camp arrived from overseas, mostly from the UK. These camps were like most other sports camps, with a mix of instruction, drills and games taking up our hours on the grass field.
One of these soccer camp games was called "world cup". Sitting here today, I can't remember for sure if the teams were comprised of two or three players or we were sent out as individuals. The game was played in the six-yard box and the goal was to be the first team (person) to score a goal and advance to the next round.
So five teams of two competed to knock a ball into the back of the net with no goalie to stand guard. A team scores, they advance and step aside. The remaining teams go again, repeating the action until only one team has not scored. That team is eliminated, the four teams who scored return, and set about doing playing the same game, until only three teams remain. And so on until a winner emerges.
Thinking back thirty years, I'm sure there were variations on this game in which my memory escapes me. But I do remember the early the mornings, a layer of sweat between shins and shin guards, the jostling for position, and the thrill of outlasting your soccer mates in a competitive game of world cup.
The pressure, the nerves, and the rewards build with each passing round. Goals are tougher to come by when the stakes are raised and, for the eight teams remaining in the 2018 World Cup, they will likely experience all of these same emotions. Only with a lot more at stake.
Quarreling in the quarterfinals
Extra time, late goals, and penalty kicks have been the story from Russia over the past few days. Surprises also took places, with the host team possibly being the most underdog story of them all.
The team from Russia, ranked 70th in the world by FIFA, used a second-place finish in Group A to advance to the knockout stage. In turn, they were matched up with a Spain team and not given much of a chance to advance much further.
Surprise, surprise.
A competitive game, in which Russia packed the box in defense of their goal in order to slow down a Spain team bent on passing, passing, passing (and passing some more), was decided on penalty kicks.
Russia won 4-3, sealed with this fantastic kick save:
Believe. In. Akinfeev. pic.twitter.com/gkrdXS5SLz— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 1, 2018
All told, penalty kicks helped decide three matches. In addition to Russia, England (over Colombia) and Croatia (over Denmark) advanced on penalty kicks.
Japan nearly joined Russia as a surprise entrant into the quarterfinals, taking a 2-0 lead in the second half over the favored Belgium squad.
Belgium proved to be too much, storming back for a 3-2 victory to advance.
And for the seventh consecutive World Cup, the team from Mexico -- who began on such a high note with a victory over Germany -- was sent packing by the feet of Neymar and 2-0 Brazil victory.
The likes of Ronaldo and Messi were eliminated in the knockout stage, but we'll still get to witness stars like Neymar, Harry Kane, and France's Kylian Mbappe. The 19-year old scored two goals in France's 4-3 victory over Argentina.
Sweden and Uruguay complete the eight-team quarterfinals. Matches take place on July 6 and July 7. The schedule is below, with predictions in bold (I went six of eight in the last round so do with that what you will).
7/6: Uruguay vs France (8 AM MT)
7/6: Brazil vs Belgium (12 PM MT)
7/7: Sweden vs England (8 AM MT)
7/7: Russia vs Croatia (12 PM MT)
Be sure to check back after the quarterfinals for more. Or to stay up to date with results, highlights, pop culture and more, be sure to follow Jason on Twitter: @jasonrh_78
photo credit: maxipixel.net
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