The most unserious moments from the World Cup round of 16: Brazil can dance if they want to
The players, coaches and referees who did the most to be the most unserious in the knockout rounds
•
3 min read
And then there were eight. The round of 16 is now wrapped up and we had some spirited displays, some beatdowns, but a lot of heart.
We are going to do this round of unseriousness differently.
As always this isn't meant to slander but to encourage us to do and be better.
Netherlands vs U.S.A.
The USA crashed out of the tournament. They got taught a footballing lesson, the second youngest side at the World Cup met one of the greatest managers ever in Louis van Gaal. LVG has been coaching for so long that he has coached Danny Blind (his assistant) AND his son Daley Blind, who scored against the United States men's national team. The young U.S.A. squad will learn their lesson. Tyler Adams was caught sleeping against the Dutch side for the first goal and Antonee Robinson had a torrid time out there. There are shouts for Gregg Berhalter to lose his job but he has been a success since he took over. There were some unserious things he did in this tournament and against Netherlands but this is a learning experience for everyone.
Argentina vs Australia
Most did not have the Aussies getting out of the group, so that is a win for them. The most unserious moment came when Matt Ryan tried to be fancy and got caught slipping by Rodrigo De Paul, letting Julian Alvarez effectively end the match with the second goal. Lautaro Martínez, come to the stage, he has been missing chance after chance, but his display against Australia was the art of not finishing your chances. Do better, your nation needs you.
France vs Poland:
Most, if not all, had France winning against Poland and they were not wrong. Poland did not do much wrong. They fought, but at the end of the day France's talent won out. Especially Kylian Mbappe, pretty good at football, that guy huh? Robert Lewandowski retook a penalty and the referee should have let Oliver Giroud's goal stand, the most unserious displays of the day.
England vs Senegal
Senegal should be very proud of themselves. They made it this far without injured striker Sadio Mane and they should not be ashamed of their effort. End of the day, England's talent won out and Gareth Southgate did a tactical masterclass. Praise that man. He earned it.
Japan vs Croatia:
The last time Croatia won a knockout stage game in regular time was July 4th 1998, against Germany. That streak continues because Japan took some aggressively unserious penalties. Japan did well to make it to this round but they need to do better with their penalties. Much better.
Brazil vs South Korea:
Brazil are tournament favorites for a reason and the first 36 minutes of this match showed it. A masterful display from the Seleção, South Korea got their own back with a wonder goal from Paik Seung-Ho. The unseriouness comes from Roy Keane in the media. Stop policing fun. Brazil danced and it was enjoyable to see.
Morocco vs Spain
Back to back World Cup exits for Spain at the Round of 16 with penalties. Spain had 1000 passes with nothing to show. They beat Costa Rica 7-0 and that was their only win. Are we unserious for believing in Spain or are they unserious for passing without any end product? Morocco should be extremely proud, enjoy these next couple of days, you made the African continent proud.
Portugal vs Switzerland
Murat Yakin why did you switch your formation?! What an unserious tactical display. Portugal sprung changes and had arguably the best performance from any team at the World Cup. Six goals without a certain captain. A new World Cup favorite on the horizon?
