World Cup - Daily Ramblings - July 15, 2018

France, a nation which once conquered and enslaved much of the world, will face off in the World Cup Finals against Croatia, a once conquered nation (and one of the smallest countries in the tournament). A true David vs. Goliath moment! After a month of great - yet surprising - matches the day is finally here. In my opinion, this has been the best World Cup in my lifetime. Here is a recap on how we got here.

Let's start with the US. The US failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since the 80's, showing the world that things go better when we don't get involved in the world's affairs.

Japan beat Colombia in their first match, making them the first Asian country to beat a South American country in World Cup history.

Iceland, the smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup, matched up first against Argentina which resulted in a draw. It was a great example to all the Americans that poo-poo the fact that a soccer match can end in a tie, as to why a draw can still be very exciting! The most unlikely team in the tournament draws against one of the favorites in the tournament. And did I mention that 99.6% of all Icelanders tuned into the match?!

Speaking of Argentina, they barely made it out of group play to begin with, and then proceeded to lose in their first match in the knockout rounds - along with Spain. It goes to show that a team can have the best players in the world (Argentina with Messi and Spain with Ronaldo) and those players can't win games on their own. Right, LeBron?

England proved that they don't always crap the bed in a major tournament by finally making it to the semifinals before finishing fourth.

Finally, host team Russia made it just far enough in the tournament (the quarter finals) to give their country something to cheer for, but not far enough for the world to suspect that the entire tournament was rigged. Plus, I hear there is an election coming up and they need all hands on deck.

There were so many more highlights from this tournament I could write about, but I'll stop for now. I'm hoping today's final will continue the storyline of an exciting and surprising World Cup!

In other news, the Cubs are now in sole possession of first place in the NL Central and the Cardinals have fired their manager, Matheny. All is right in the sports world this morning!