Ronaldo and Morocco — the ecstasy and the agony of the World Cup
I once cried because I had no shoes to play soccer, but one day, I met a man who had no feet. Zinedine Zidane
The Qatar World Cup has confounded many of its critics with the pulsating drama it has served up on the pitch.
We have witnessed the quite astonishing story of Morocco’s success, a team that went into the tournament as 300/1 outsiders; we have enjoyed the wonderful performances of Gareth Southgate’s England team, a multiracial and multicultural monument to modern Britain in defiance of Brexit; we’ve seen the early exit of the Germans; the shocking upset that saw Brazil knocked out by Croatia in the quarter-finals; and perhaps most of dramatically of all to this point, we have borne witness to the tragic sight of Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo walking down the tunnel in tears, unconsolable after his team were knocked out by the previously mentioned Morocco to end his storied international career without adding a World Cup winners medal to his extensive collection.
Taken together, we have been treated to more drama than the entire works of Shakespeare over these past few weeks of the Qatar World Cup.
Okay, I exaggerate, but hopefully you get the drift. The point is that regardless of the many justified criticisms of the tournament being held in…
