Guns for hire and gegenpress eggheads bring World Cup subplots aplenty

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

The awesome thing about a World Cup is that – unlike the Premier League where almost every elite-grade head coach comes from the same scenic Spanish town – we get to enjoy some wonderfully varied managerial match-ups. Where else can we see grizzled international specialists against Big Cup-winning club gurus? Or retired national team legends opposite some bloke who got sacked by Everton? Or Ronald Koeman, who is both?

England, Brazil and USA USA USA are the obvious examples of teams who’ve splashed the cash on a gun-for-hire super-coach with no previous international managerial experience. And you can only imagine the relief if “The Professor” Tuchel, “The Eyebrow” Ancelotti or “The Hair” Pochettino are, at some stage, sent packing by a gritty Carlos Queiroz type, who will have protected his patch from these club-class dilettantes.

The Geopolitics World Cup delivers some fascinating face-offs in the coming days including Lionel Scaloni, who worked his way up the levels with Argentina before achieving glory, against Ralf Rangnick, gegenpress egghead and Manchester United legend [citation needed] who’d strictly managed clubs before taking over Austria at age 63. Or Didier Deschamps – mega-successful France legend who still gets grief from Les Bleus fans for refusing to release le handbrake – versus Graham Arnold, who spent 90% of his career enjoying success with/in Australia before thinking: where else next but Iraq?

Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.

We could go on. But as fun as the random encounters are, there’s an intriguing subplot. It’s often said that club and international management require different skill sets. If the likes of Tuchel, Ancelotti and Pochettino thrive, that theory starts to look outdated. And maybe when a job comes up, federations will hire an up-and-coming club coach rather than going for a patriotic icon or pressing the big button marked Queiroz, Renard or Advocaat. Either the old order holds firm, or the GWC becomes the tournament that changes international management for ever. No pressure, chaps.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

John Brewin comes out firing with minute-by-minute coverage of Spain 2-0 Saudi Arabia from 5pm BST (midday EDT), followed swiftly by Daniel Harris in the hot seat for Belgium 2-1 Iran at 8pm BST (3pm EDT). Beau Dure then brings you Cape Verde 1-3 Uruguay at 11pm BST (6pm EDT) before we go late/early/somewhere nearer the middle with Jonathan Howcroft for New Zealand 1-2 Egypt at 2am BST on Monday (9pm Sunday EDT).

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’m completely exhausted myself, it was absolutely amazing. ​She did so well, ‌there wasn’t much ‌I could say, I just had to help her work ‌and get him out. I’m proud, amazing. When I saw him for the first time, I was blown away. It’s absolutely insane. I’m ‌so happy and proud. It’s definitely the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced” – we’re sure Leo Østigård’s partner Aurora Eidmann is pretty exhausted herself, having given birth to their first child, with the Norway defender following from long distance over SnapTime. Congratulations!

ON THE BALL

Big Website’s app now features a special edition of On the Ball for the GWC. On the Ball: World Stage invites you to guess the World Cup player in five attempts – and it’s pretty tricky. You can have a go right now – and there are loads of other good puzzles to take up your time, too.

double quotation markI believe I must inform you that turkeys aren’t flightless (yesterday’s Football Daily). Boston’s beloved Scottish visitors have no doubt encountered the many wild turkeys on the streets in and around the metropolitan area. They fly into trees, on to buildings, across streets, and sometimes half a city block after a passerby who they believe has wronged them. I have seen people take shelter in buildings for minutes at a time waiting for their avian assailants to go away. As a New Englander whose father grew up in Istanbul, I have always taken pride in these birds. They’re tough! They’re fast! They yell back at Massachusetts drivers! Surely the example they set is one a soccer/football team would be happy to emulate” – Eileen Koven.

double quotation markCouldn’t agree more with Thad Brown on choosing Spanish language coverage over English language coverage (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). Growing up in the 1960s in LA, I first learned soccer at a Spanish-language day camp, and so my first language of soccer was Spanish. Plus for years, the only international coverage you could get in LA was KMEX Channel 34. Since then I’ve almost always chosen Spanish-language broadcasts for international tournaments. The best thing is that announcers unashamedly root for the Spanish-language teams. ¡El fútbol es mejor en español!” – Peter Goldstein.

double quotation markI find this hard to believe, as a resident of Spain who regularly watches games on domestic TV. Unless you like listening to four people all trying to talk at the same time, it’s impossible to watch Spanish TV coverage with the sound on. The RTVE commentators nearly missed the first goal in Bigger Cup final entirely as they were too busy yapping to each other to actually watch what was happening on the pitch; lead commentator (the legendary) Juan Carlos Rivero only just managed to interrupt as Kai Havertz was about to score. Oh for the days of Peter Alliss and Richie Benaud commentating on golf or cricket; you could go a comparative age without hearing a word spoken” – Mark Purchase.

double quotation markAs an 89-year-old Wolverhampton expat in Canada, I recall many years ago watching Wolves win the 1949 FA Cup, and have been saddened by the team’s more recent gradual decline. I also remember more vividly the summer of 1951, when at no charge, Billy Wright, Jimmy Mullen and Johnny Hancocks spontaneously drove in one small car to visit my UK boarding school in Brewood, Staffordshire, to coach our senior football team. Perhaps some older readers can imagine the impact on 14-16 year-olds of the Wolves and England captain, plus friends, coaching a rural school team!” – Peter Froud.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day is … Eileen Koven. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Football Weekly continues its Stateside jaunt with a review of the latest action, including double Dutch doubles and more Deniz Undav supersub heroics.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Graham Potter is still grasping at the positives after Sweden’s 5-1 gubbing by the Netherlands, for whom Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo grabbed doubles. “We lost to the better team, ​for sure,” he sighed. “The scoreline’s a little ‌harsh, but sometimes ‌that happens in football, especially with the quality of the opponent we faced. I thought we had some good opportunities, shots. But they were more clinical. Their finishes were more deadly, shall we say.”

Tunisia have been knocked out of GWC despite the presence of everybody’s second-favourite international manager, Hervé Renard, in the dugout for the first time. Japan were next in line to give them a pummelling, winning 4-0 in Monterrey.

Curaçao keeper Eloy Room has said he “needs a statue” on the Caribbean island, after making 15 saves to earn the country’s first-ever World Cup point against Ecuador. Elsewhere in Group E, Germany had Deniz Undav to thank for avoiding an upset at the hands of Côte d’Ivoire, the 2-1 win sending them through to the knockouts.

Luis de la Fuente has insisted we must not compare Lamine Yamal to Messi or Maradona. A mere seconds later,the Spanish head coach instead compared him to Dalí and Michelangelo. That’ll keep his feet on the ground.

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has poked fun at Neymar’s ⁠knack-hit tournament. Speaking at an event in Belo Horizonte, Lula asked ⁠a boy in the audience who he thought was the national team’s best player. “Neymar,” the child replied. “Neymar isn’t even playing, man,” honked Lula. “Neymar is the ​world’s first ‘work-from-home’ national team player. A ‌work-from-home player.”

And environmental campaign groups have criticised Gianni Infantino for the private jet usage that is fuelling his trips to virtually every GWC match. “Just one hour in this plane emits roughly what an average human being emits in an entire year,” said a spokesperson for French carbon footprint assessor Greenly.

STILL WANT MORE?

Having missed Ghana’s win over Panama after being denied a Canadian visa, Thomas Partey faces an uncomfortable reunion with several former clubmates when the Black Stars take on England, writes Rob Davies.

Who wants an update from the England camp? Jacob Steinberg has been watching Thomas Tuchel do some barking in training. Bukayo Saka is expected to remain a sub for their next match against Ghana with Declan Rice and Marcus Rashford providing some fantastic fitness boosts.

Move over Messi, Mbappé and Haaland – we’ve put together a team of the GWC so far that doesn’t involve any superstar names. It includes Canada’s stand-in left-back, wouldn’t you know.

Maybe we should give some of the bigger names their due. Jonathan Wilson has been doing exactly that with France’s Michael Olise.

American TV viewers are still waiting for a WWE-style descent into chaos in the Fox studio as Thierry Henry and Alexi Lalas continue to try to work together. Aaron Timms has been watching, popcorn out. Meanwhile Gary Lineker is back on British TV, taking a break from his New York apartment podcast studio to appear in ITV’s New York apartment TV studio.

BEYOND THE GWC

Grimsby Town have paid tribute to Alex Hughes after his death at the age of 38. Hughes, the son of former Manchester United and Wales striker Mark Hughes, was player recruitment lead at the League Two club.

Real Madrid insist they have not made any contact with Bayern Munich and France’s Michael Olise over a potential transfer, amid reports they are lining up a €200m offer. Madrid say they have an “excellent institutional relationship” with Bayern, adding the reports “do not correspond to reality”.

And in maverick publicity stunt news, the 46-year-old Ronaldinho is set to come out of retirement and join Ravenna in the Italian third tier. “I can’t wait to get back dancing with the ball again and to write a new story,” whooped the Brazilian. “Football has always been a source of joy for me. I want to bring the same spirit to Ravenna.” The club’s vice-president, Ariedo Braida, took a different angle. “He’s a magical player, that’s a huge coup for us. Will he play at 46? That depends.”

MEMORY LANE

Look away, England fans. It’s 21 June 2002 and “Safe Hands” David Seaman has been lobbed from 40-odd yards by a still young Ronaldinho’s free-kick in the World Cup quarter-final. That tragicomic goal would prove enough to secure a 2-1 comeback win for Brazil. It was a hapless, if not quite unprecedented, moment for the Arsenal keeper and Seaman feared he would be pilloried by the English public upon his return home, in the same way as David Beckham had been after his red card against Argentina in 1998. Poignant then that it was the England captain pictured consoling Seaman after the final whistle.

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