From the controversial lyricism of Gianni Infantino to the nightmare of the Germans, passing through the sadness of Neymar due to his new injury or the continuous references to Lionel Messi: these are some of the phrases that have marked the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, which ended this Friday, before the round of 16 kick off on Saturday.
. Demagogic?
“Today I feel Qatari, today I feel Arab, today I feel African, today I feel gay, today I feel disabled, today I feel like a migrant worker” (Gianni Infantino at the press conference on the eve of the start of the competition, alluding to the criticism received by the organization of this World Cup in Qatar).
. Tourist
“Yesterday, clearly wrong with the situation in Costa Rica, I said South America when it is Central America. My mistake is unforgivable because a few years ago I was on vacation there. On the beach in Santa Teresa with my family we had a great time. The slogan of ‘ pura vida’ have it tattooed. I really enjoyed the gastronomy, the weather, I surfed” (Luis Enrique on Twitch, after having made a mistake the day before when talking about Costa Rica, Spain’s first rival in the World Cup, as a South American team) .
. Political
“You can’t even imagine what these guys have been experiencing behind closed doors in recent days, simply because they want to express themselves as footballers. Whatever they say, people want to kill them” (Carlos Queiroz, Iran coach, after defeat 6 -2 against England on the first day, referring to the criticism and pressure suffered by their players in the face of protests in their country).
. motivator
“Do you want a photo with Messi?” (Hervé Renard to his Saudi Arabian players at half-time in their debut game against Argentina, trailing 1-0. In the first minutes of the second half, the Saudis came from behind with two goals and then sealed the victory, with no further changes in marker).
. Injured
“Today has become one of the hardest moments of my career… And again in a World Cup. I’m injured, it’s (an illness) annoying, it’s going to hurt, but I’m sure I’m going to have the opportunity to come back, because I will do everything possible to help my country, my teammates and myself” (Neymar, on Instagram, the day after suffering an injury to his right ankle that led to his change in the debut game against Serbia and which later prevented from playing against Switzerland and Cameroon).
. Ironic
“We didn’t create many chances, almost none really. Maybe we also attacked badly because those guys (the attackers) are too old” (Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen, being ironic about a few words from attacking midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, after the loss against Morocco 2-0).
. Genetic
“My mother was rosy-cheeked in her coffin when she died. It’s a matter of genes” (Louis Van Gaal, Netherlands coach, asked about his skin color).
. Acrobatic
“Leo Messi is like (former Italian skier) Alberto Tomba, he’s everywhere. As in a slalom, he overcomes one by one and it’s very difficult to stop him. No player can stop Messi alone” (Czeslaw Michniewicz, Poland coach, on the eve of facing Messi’s Argentina).
. Statistical
“It’s a joy to be able to continue achieving this type of marks, records, what do I know… Diego would be very happy because he always showed me a lot of affection and was always happy for all the beautiful things that happened to me” (Lionel Messi after beating Poland, on the night in which he reached 22 World Cup matches, surpassing his country’s record, which Diego Maradona had with 21).
. Dramatic
“He told us crying. There are many players who have cried, it’s goodbye for some players. It’s the World Cup, not a friendly match” (Michy Batshuayi, Belgium striker, on the resignation of coach Roberto Martínez after the elimination of the ‘Red Devils’ in the first round).
. Film
“That it happened like this is like a horror movie” (Kai Havertz, player from Germany, on the night of elimination in his group).
