Of the remaining eight teams in the World Cup six are European. As I've written before, the World Cup should be reduced to twenty four teams with half coming from Europe. That would create the best tournament possible.
South American football has been put on notice.
Paraguay disgraced themselves. Uruguay got grouped. Brazil got send home crying in the round of sixteen. And now Colombia came up short against one of Europe's weaker national teams.
If it weren't for favourable reffing for the current title holders no South American team would be in the Quarter Finals.
Speaking of Argentina, I know there's a lot of controversy surrounding its 3-2 victory over Egypt, with an Egyptian goal getting called back, and VAR being selectively used to guide the game. But the fact of the matter is in sports the champions always get a soft whistle.
This is true for basketball, hockey, football, baseball, handball, and soccer. I don't watch rugby, cricket, curling, or darts, but I'm sure it applies to those sports as well. That's just the way it is. The champs earn the privilege of a soft whistle. The best teams and the best players earn it.
There's no sense in crying about it. The Jordans, Lebrons, Gretzkys, Crosbys, Mahomes, Currys, Bradys, Ohtanis, and Messis earn that privilege for themselves and their teams.
Winners get the benefit of the doubt.
Egypt was not robbed. Egypt choked.
What Egypt should have done is score a third goal and then a fourth goal, or maybe even prevent a goal. Make your victory undeniable. You have to play a perfect game. If you leave any room for error, the pendulum will swing the other way.
