Among the smiling faces in the draw for the World Cup keys, this Friday (5), certainly one of them was Donald Trump.
FIFA likes to please him: they let him hand over the trophy to Club World Cup champions Chelsea; opened an office in Trump Tower; does not react when Trump threatens to remove World Cup games from some host cities.
The draw was at the John F. Kennedy Center, in Washington, where Trump is chairman of the board – you could even walk from the White House. There was a concert by the Village People, whose bubblegum hit “YMCA” was one of the themes of his presidential campaign. And, if he didn’t win the Nobel, now he has a Peace Prize to call his own.
FIFA created an honor and awarded Trump during the ceremony. According to the English press, the initiative would have come from the entity’s president, Gianni Infantino, without a list of nominees or a voting panel.
Those who are “one of the guys” couldn’t complain either. In addition to Village People, another guest in the draw was NFL star and Gisele Bündchen’s ex-husband, Tom Brady, who was in Trump’s VIP box at the Club Cup final.
Cristiano Ronaldo was already happy before finding out who Portugal will face, as he will not be left out of any World Cup match. CR7 received a red card in the European qualifiers, and the penalty was a three-game suspension. He served one and would miss the first two of the World Cup, but FIFA turned the punishment into a “conditional” period for one year. The decision came a week after the Portuguese had dinner with Trump and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Other players who suffered similar punishment did not receive the same treatment.
It will be a tournament in which politics and sport will mix until the final, on July 19th. But, let’s go to the real stars of the event – teams and players.
In a competition with 48 teams divided into 12 groups, some Europeans were hoping for a bit of luck (we’re talking about you, Germany). The four-time world champions, who were eliminated in the first round at the last two World Cups, fell into a relatively relaxed group with Ecuador, Ivory Coast and Curaçao. But, with irregular recent performances, they arrive at the World Cup humble.
England debuts against Croatia with a mix of excitement and distrust – the only men’s world title was in 1966, when many fans weren’t even born –, in addition to the disappointment with the runner-up finish in the last two Eurocups. They have a new coach, the German Thomas Tuchel, and a great team, but they still need to prove how far they can go. Panama and Ghana are the other opponents.
Spain, number one in the FIFA rankings, arrives as favorite in the group that includes Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, and for the title. France, always dangerous, is in a difficult group that has Senegal, Norway and a team that will leave the playoffs. Portugal faces Colombia and Uzbekistan and also awaits the last opponent.
The new format also means that, if Spain, Argentina, France and England, the top four in the rankings, lead their respective groups, they will only face each other in the semi-finals.
The World Cup gets more and more real. We will monitor the order of clashes, projections, and the final preparation of the teams. Sports will start to dominate the headlines. If Trump lets him.
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