JULY 29, 2018 • THE WEEK 47ON THE DAY of the World Cup fi nal,
Russian President Vladimir Putin
was beaming throughout. Th is World
Cup was everything he wanted it to
be. Entertainment? Check. Break the
myths about Russian society? Check.
Establish himself as a propagator of
soft power? You bet. By the end of
the tournament, everybody who had
visited Russia was in love with the
In many ways, Russia 2018 was
supposed to be like Argentina 1978.
Th e Cup had taken place two years
after a military coup in the South
American country, and politics had
heavily aff ected the tournament,
taking the focus away from the pitch.
Reporters used it as an opportunity
to show the world the hidden, ugly
side of the Argentine dictatorship.
Mercifully, the tournament in Russia
was only about football.
Th e hooligans and the racists were
missing, the action on the pitch was
insulated from political tension,
the local people turned out to be a
content lot and the host team made
it to the quarterfi nals. Th e only major
controversies revolved around the
video assistant referee.
Th e French triumph meant that
coach Didier Deschamps joined an
elite club. He became only the third
man in history to win the World Cup
as player and coach, after Brazil’s
Mario Zagallo and Germany’s Franz
Beckenbaur. Derided by most for
not having a tactical philosophy of
his own ahead of the tournament,
Deschamps proved that he was
more than just a fancy name. Ten
minutes into the second half in the
fi nal, Deschamps pulled off one of
his lynchpins, N’Golo Kante. Th e
diminutive french midfi elder had
been one of the best obstructive
players at the World Cup. But he was
not his usual self in the fi nal. Kante,
who was reportedly fi ghting a stom-
ach bug, had committed three fouls
in the 55 minutes he played and had
picked up a yellow card. Deschamps,
a defensive midfi elder himself in his
playing days, knew the importance
of that position. So, he made the
brave decision to replace Kante with
Steven N’Zonzi. It turned out to be a
masterstroke, as N’Zonzi took up the
mantle well.
France were far from aesthetically
pleasing, but Deschamps couldn’t
give two hoots about aesthetics. It
was more important to him that theycountry. Th e stereotypical Russian
bogeyman turned out to be quite the
warm host after all.
And, what of the football? Th e
consensus among journalists was
that this was the best edition ever.
Not just in terms of organisation, but
also in terms of the quality of play
and the excitement it brought even to
the seasoned reporter.