SENTINELCELTS

It’s easy to be cynical in this day and age, very easy. War, numerous governments failing their electorate, price gouging, climate change, and many more travesties can all lend to the notion our beautiful globe is quickly spinning out of control.
 
Club football, our supposed refuge from the day to day worries, hasn’t exactly helped give relief to the masses. A bad news story is always close for those who are engaged in Scottish football, where there’s an underlying feeling those calling the shots would prefer a footballing backwater to stay on the gravy train over a professionally ran transparent setup aimed at growing the sport.
 
That’s why it’s so refreshing when football actually delivers and reminds us all just how much it can offer.
 
About a week ago I wrote of wanting a different than usual tournament for this particular World Cup, the first to take place in any Arab nation.
And it’s delivered alright, it’s delivered in spades.
 
The Celtic right back rising to a man of the match performance to pap out the mighty Brazil,,
German efficiency fell apart,,
Ronaldos fantastic International career ends with a whimper,,
Spain’s technical ability overcame,,
Morocco’s stubbornness has them within one game of the final,,
And of course England get beaten when the going gets tough with their Captain now haunted by a crucial penalty kick miss just like his manager in a past tournament.
 
And there’s plenty of fun left. The final shall either host a north African team for the first time, or the world’s best player who shall never have a better chance to lift the trophy and stake a genuine claim as the greatest of all time.
In order to do that they shall face the best attacks in modern football (Mbappe, Giroud, Greissman, Dembele) which should give every defense nightmares, or the European Brazilians of Croatia who consistently churn out supreme talent at a rate unequal to their meager size. Their talisman has actually improved with age, unlike CR7, and our right back is two victories away from being a true World Champion. Write Croatia off at your peril.
 
An entire league season can be a long slog, and under Ange we win most weeks which can make victory almost routine. There’s season highlights, peaks and troughs, with fleeting outpourings of emotion but the World Cup simply takes the game to the next level.
 
Day after day we witness the most sweetest ecstasy or the depths of despair. Entire stadiums and nations erupt in victory chants or become silenced in the hollow pain of defeat. Mortal men can elevate themselves to become eternal legends, while some fail to rise to the huge occasion.
Tears of joy and sadness, pressure the likes of which most alive will never face,,,day after day this Cup wrings everyone involved through the emotional gamut,,,
Yet there can be only one.
 
Over the last week or so I’ve been reminded of why I fell in love with football in the first place,, why I raced to that park as a young boy to lay down my jumper as a goalpost and claim ‘Im Maradona!’,,why this sport has become the world’s biggest no ifs, ands, or buts.
Why we are gathered here and continue to do so.
 
I needed a nudge and a reminder, and it duly arrived.
It’s been a pleasure to witness this tournament and all it’s ups and downs so far.
It’s a great feeling to sit across from that screen and know you’re about to experience a true emotional rollercoaster with scenes that have never been witnessed before and will never be recreated, priceless moments you’ll never forget, images and effort that sear themselves into the brain permanently.
To see real history in the making.
 
Football, bloody hell.
It truly is the beautiful game.
 
Mon the Croats!
By Mahe