With the Netherlands and France in the quarterfinals of the World Cup 2022 in Qatar, practically every soccer fan on the island able to will no doubt be watching them face respectively Argentina today, Friday, and England this Saturday. Excitement has understandably been building on the Dutch and French sides.
The natural local rivalry is buoyed by the fact that “Oranje” and “Les Bleues” cannot meet until the final or third-place match. Mind you, progressing to the last four will already be a challenge, as both face formidable opponents.
The Dutch did not look great so far but achieved results and coach Louis van Gaal has an axe to grind since he took the national team to the semi-final at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but lost to the Argentineans and their talisman Lionel Messi on penalties. However, it could be the latter’s last World Cup and he is obviously eager to help give his country just about the only major prize that has eluded him throughout his brilliant career.
France is the current champion and has proven why during this tournament with one of the most potent attacks in Mbbapé, Giroud, Dembélé and Griezmann. England, on the other hand, showed similar strength based mostly on players active in its own star-studded Premiership League captained by goalscoring machine Harry Kane.
The other two quarterfinals promise to be equally interesting. Regional favourite Brazil with its “beautiful game” and crack Neymar is going up against a tough and hard-to-beat Croatian side led by experienced Real Madrid playmaker Modric.
Morocco after its surprise win against European powerhouse Spain now faces Portugal and their superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. His not starting in their last game did not stop them from outclassing Switzerland and he could be a force off the bench.
Hopefully not, but there is of course a chance that the Netherlands as well as France are knocked out this weekend. If only one goes through, supporters of the other would show good sportsmanship by backing their brothers and sisters across the open border moving forward.
