- No booze allowed in stadiums
- Players and attendees expected to adhere to Islamic laws, primarily abstaining from sex, alcohol and consumption of meat
- Allegations of people paid to be fans
- News then broke of said payment to said fans were reneged upon
- Controversy over the disallowing of rainbow armbands, threatening actual in-game punishment for those who defy, resulting in players all not wearing them in fear of yellow card penalties
- Qatar was the first host country team in World Cup history to lose their opener, mostly because they had no business participating in the first place
- Argentina also lost their opener, to Saudi Arabia, in a highly speculated (by me) fixed match
- The World Cup app used for attendees to access stadiums crashed, resulting in hundreds of fans unable to get into games
- Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing with a Saudi club for a gozillion dollars overshadowed Portugal, resulting in him falling out with the team and getting benched
- Argentina and the Netherlands had a battle royale disguised as a futbol match where there were 18 yellow cards issued and a player kicking a ball full force into the Netherlands’ bench, erupting in a fight
- American sports journalist, Grant Wahl, has an aneurism and dies, in the middle of the Argentina/Netherlands match
- Underdogs Croatia and the first-ever African and Arab nation, Morocco, advanced to the semi-finals
- But got bounced by powerhouses, Argentina and France
- And despite ugly matches against Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands, Argentina ends up winning the World Cup
- Where goalkeeper Emi Martinez immediately makes an ass of himself and his country with this meme-worthy photo that will plague the rest of his career and Argentinian futbol until the end of time
However, despite all of my criticisms and snarky tone in regard to the Qatar World Cup that shouldn’t have happened, even I have to admit that it was one of the most exciting tournaments, like ever. At least as long as I’ve had any interest in World Cup futbol.
In spite of the typical powerhouse final between Argentina and France, there was a level of parity shown by a lot of the world, saying they’re catching up in terms of skill. Even Korea made my entire tournament by winning a critical match against Portugal in dramatic fashion.
Goalkeepers stole the show in my opinion, with numerous GKs throughout the field demonstrating all sorts of ice water in their veins, stopping shots and looking like gods throughout the numerous shootouts that occurred once the knockouts began. Croatia and Morocco’s especially did yeoman’s work for their countries en route to their path to the semis, and had either of their semi matches went to PKs, the ending might’ve been a different story.
So it’s kind of an unsurprising irony that Emi Martinez ends up winning the Golden Glove award for best GK of the tournament. He won it solely because he was basically the last GK standing for the winning club, but not because he really deserved it. Sure, he stopped France twice in the shootout that decided the game, but the reality is that he still let Mbappe and even the Saudi club eat his lunch numerous times beforehand.
And maybe it’s because he’s aware of the irony that he decides to act like a clown with his award, but more likely because the fact that he’s just a dumb jock, lucking into success at a children’s game. Either way, as funny as I do think the photo is, I have this feeling that this is a shot that will lead to a lot more regret than it will entertainment for him. Not only is going to be immortalized in countless memes in coming years and generations, it’s going to be the poster image of any and all goalkeeper fuckups, Martinez’s, Argentina’s, Liverpool’s or anyone else’s.
Championship glory lasts forever, especially for those who experience it first-hand, but a good mocking meme not only also lasts forever, but it has greater reach to those among the casuals and those just looking on the internet for people to pile on to. The glory of Messi’s triumph will live for those who love futbol, but the goofiness of Martinez will reach far beyond and define the entire tournament for the unofficial wrath of the internet.
