Psyched up for the World Cup ? Hardly

Now you tell me : where is the magic going to spring from ? What ingredients are there to create madness ? There are no surprises in store for us. Is there any single worthwhile player on the different
rosters that we have not seen in the last six months ? Any coach ? Any referee ? We have seen them all, we know them all, they all have been regular guests on our TV screens most weekend nights in the past seven months.

The modern World Cup of Football is fast becoming a nauseating rerun of familiar fixtures. Barcelona v. Real ; Leicester City v. Liverpool ; Partizan Belgrade v. Bayern ; Paris St-Germain v. Benfica, and so on. The mystery has been erased. I know, you know what to expect from Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappé, Kane, Ngolo, Sané or even the lesser talents from the Arab Peninsula. They have lived with us all year long. Basically, I consider that they are overstaying their welcome. We need a rest.

Léon Gwod