Morocco the Star of This World Cup

12/11/2022

"Maybe these boys I stumbled upon long ago in a Marrakech back street were dreaming that one day Morocco might be in the Final Four of a World Cup. Or that maybe one day they might even get to play in a World Cup semi-final, maybe even the Final. This week that dream is coming true. Go Morocco!" ---Text and Photo: ©John McDermott (John has covered seven World Cups. GV)

Nobody could have imagined Morocco in the World Cup semifinals, the first African team to ever reach these heights. The Moroccans have been the highlight, with their skilled young players and their energetic young coach, just hired early this year, and their joyous fans. Morocco plays France on Wednesday in Qatar, after Croatia plays Argentina on Tuesday, both matches at 2 PM, Eastern USA time.

Luka Modrić

And speaking of Croatia, my favorite player of this World Cup is Luka Modrić , who runs the team.
Modrić reminds me of the great backcourt players of earlier basketball generations -- Cousy and McGuire, Wilkens and Nash, alert, unselfish.
With his darting eyes and sharp beak, Modrić also reminds me of a hilltop perch in upstate New York, where I sometimes watch hawks circling, catching a draft, looking for...something.
He swoops into an opening, goes as far as he can, dishes the ball off to a teammate who can handle his soft, accurate pass. Sometimes Modrić dips a shoulder or points his fingers to direct a teammate or two, but never to show off, only to improve position.
He is 37, veteran of brutal schedules of European club and national schedules, but he continues to catch the currents, seeking the best chance.

On Tuesday, in the first semifinal, Croatia plays Argentina, which has Messi, a totally different type.
Modrić vs. Messi.
And on Wednesday, surprising Morocco against the champion, France, with Kilyan Mbappe against the darling upstarts of this World Cup, which has perhaps saved the best for last.

Altenir Silva

12/11/2022 08:02:16 pm

Dear George: since the start of the tournament, I’ve been rooting for an African team. Let's go, Morocco. The party will be at Rick’s Café. Play it again, Sam, or it’s Bogie.
Be well/Altenir

12/14/2022 05:22:17 pm

Altenir: didn't happen....but they had a wonderful run. G

Tim Schum link

12/12/2022 02:45:18 pm

Hi George: I attach a link to a soccer book I've just published: https://cardinalpub.com/product/relentless/.

If you'd like a digital copy for review purposes please let me know.

Your email address is?

Best Wishes - Tim Schum. 607-727-5921

Randolph

12/13/2022 10:28:29 am

George,
It is a joy to watch Morocco and Croatia. They are throwbacks to a time when teams really were teams.
Thanks for including the magical photograph from John McDermott.
R

bruce

12/13/2022 05:26:16 pm

george,

well, the dream's over after that whupping today.

i enjoyed croatia's run and morocco's, but would prefer to see the two heavyweights in the final.

#10 seems to have regained some of what made him messi after many thought he was turning into a shell.

i'm interested to see how the japanese pitcher does with the mets.

the boys from nippon have been uneven since they started arriving in force after nomo made a splash.

a little more than two months before spring training starts.

bruce

12/14/2022 05:27:58 pm

Bruce, uneven, maybe, but I have two words: Shohei Ohani.
He is one of a kind, going beyond where the Babe went in versatility.
I can't say I am eager for baseball.
I think I have one column about the departure of DeGrom....after I un-sports myself for a few days after the WC final. (No DeGrom/free agency dialogue here, please, until next week....) GV

bruce

12/14/2022 05:51:08 pm

george,

i wonder what would've happened if the babe had been used like ohani has been.

they wouldn't have been as 'tender'.

ready to opine on the WC final?

bruce

bruce

12/15/2022 04:38:33 pm

Bruce, perhaps its all those summers in Magog, Quebec, but I am for France and Mbappe. Nothing against Argentina and Messi, just like Mbappe. Je me souvien.

bruce

12/15/2022 04:47:52 pm

ed,

i returned from france 6 1/2 weeks ago...probably mentioned it was my 27th trip with 10-12 to quebec as well.

so i'm leaning that way but i'd love to see messi have a great game.

probably most of all i'd like to see a classic game--with as little diving as possible.

croatia saturday.

almost blew it tho.

i assumed the final would be at 2 est only to have my daughter tell me it was at 10. i had to move back my xmas lunch 75 minutes.

bruce

Comments are closed.

QUOTES

Measuring Covid Deaths, by David Leonhardt. July 17, 2023. NYT online.
The United States has reached a milestone in the long struggle against Covid: The total number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal….

After three horrific years, in which Covid has killed more than one million Americans and transformed parts of daily life, the virus has turned into an ordinary illness.

The progress stems mostly from three factors:
First, about three-quarters of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine shot.
Second, more than three-quarters of Americans have been infected with Covid, providing natural immunity from future symptoms. (About 97 percent of adults fall into at least one of those first two categories.)
Third, post-infection treatments like Paxlovid, which can reduce the severity of symptoms, became widely available last year.
“Nearly every death is preventable,” Dr. Ashish Jha, who was until recently President Biden’s top Covid adviser, told me. “We are at a point where almost everybody who’s up to date on their vaccines and gets treated if they have Covid, they rarely end up in the hospital, they almost never die.”

That is also true for most high-risk people, Jha pointed out, including older adults — like his parents, who are in their 80s — and people whose immune systems are compromised. “Even for most — not all but most —immuno-compromised people, vaccines are actually still quite effective at preventing against serious illness,” he said. “There has been a lot of bad information out there that somehow if you’re immuno-compromised that vaccines don’t work.”

That excess deaths have fallen close to zero helps make this point: If Covid were still a dire threat to large numbers of people, that would show up in the data.

One point of confusion, I think, has been the way that many Americans — including we in the media — have talked about the immuno-compromised. They are a more diverse group than casual discussion often imagines.

Most immuno-compromised people are at little additional risk from Covid — even people with serious conditions, such as multiple sclerosis or a history of many cancers. A much smaller group, such as people who have received kidney transplants or are undergoing active chemotherapy, face higher risks.

Covid’s toll, to be clear, has not fallen to zero. The C.D.C.’s main Covid webpage estimates that about 80 people per day have been dying from the virus in recent weeks, which is equal to about 1 percent of overall daily deaths.

The official number is probably an exaggeration because it includes some people who had virus when they died even though it was not the underlying cause of death. Other C.D.C. data suggests that almost one-third of official recent Covid deaths have fallen into this category. A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases came to similar conclusions.

Dr. Shira Doron, the chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine in Massachusetts, told me that “age is clearly the most substantial risk factor.” Covid’s victims are both older and disproportionately unvaccinated. Given the politics of vaccination, the recent victims are also disproportionately
Republican and white.

Each of these deaths is a tragedy. The deaths that were preventable — because somebody had not received available vaccines and treatments — seem particularly tragic. (Here’s a Times guide to help you think about when to get your next booster shot.)
***

From the great Maureen Dowd:

As I write this, I’m in a deserted newsroom in The Times’s D.C. office. After working at home for two years during Covid, I was elated to get back, so I could wander around and pick up the latest scoop.
But in the last year, there has been only a smattering of people whenever I’m here, with row upon row of empty desks. Sometimes a larger group gets lured in for a meeting with a platter of bagels."

--- Dowd writes about the lost world of journalists clustered in newsrooms at all hours, smoking, drinking, gossipping, making phone calls, typing, editing.
***
"Putting out the paper," we called it.
Much more than nostalgia.
---https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/journalism-newsroom.html

Morocco the Star of This World Cup

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