FootBiz newsletter #179: The importance of not jumping ahead
PLUS: a big old news round-up
It’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses, and a weakness of mine is not being particularly organised.
So it tells you how powerful football is, how powerful the World Cup is, that I somehow booked all my flights and hotels for the tournament months ago.
One flight I booked was with Volaris, possibly the worst airline I’ve ever flown (consider it Ryanair’s Mexican cousin, spiritually) but the only one which offers a midnight flight home straight after the round-of-16 game that has, since December, promised to be a potential England vs Mexico clash at the Azteca.
So, imagine the odd feeling that surged through me when this week I received an email from Volaris offering 6000 MXN (just over $300) to anyone willing to change flight. Is this… is this heady mixture of smugness and tranquility what it feels like to have your shit together and be organised?
Thank you, Volaris, for making me feel something other than the usual emotions of anger at being delayed, or physical pain at cramming myself into your seats, which are built to dimensions that suggest you decided to become the very first airline that solely catered to people with no leg below the femur.
The Azteca will host a potential Mexico vs England round-of-16 clash
Knowing Mexico City logistics and after trying to get about the city around the tournament opener, that game is going to be a complete mess. But the reward for those making the trip is seeing a host meet a favourite in a cathedral of the sport. It’s already giving me goosebumps.
And that’s where you fall into the classic tournament trap. The “what ifs” and the jumping ahead.
England haven’t even played DR Congo yet and Ecuador are probably a better team than Mexico (in my mind, they’d be favourites on a neutral field).
You can’t get carried away.
Such is the weird way my brain works that I was actually a little disappointed that Paraguay knocked out Germany.
It’s true. Once I had stopped laughing, it dawned on me that it would rob us of a France vs Germany epic in the next round. France vs Germany sounds much more like the sort of fixture that you get in the quarters, or even the semis. What a treat it would have been to have an R16 game of such immense quality and stakes.
Instead we get to see if Paraguay can jam another win with 24% of possession.
But I’m aware that’s not how most people think about the tournament. This is not a lost opportunity for us to have a France v Germany, it’s an opportunity for Paraguay to make history.
“Long live Paraguay. National holiday tomorrow” tweeted the Paraguayan president.
Germany and the Netherlands both going out already is a reminder that anything can happen and I now fear that by Wednesday night I may be scrambling to accept Volaris’ kind offer… after Yoann Wissa (close-range finish, 73rd minute) knocks England out of the competition.
This pain must be the price of being organised.
Table of Contents
Keep reading the full breakdown.
FootBiz members get every article in full, from £3.99/month — plus event and networking access at Exec level and above.
Already a member?