“Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi starred for Argentina as they swept past Croatia to seal a place in the World Cup final. Messi opened the scoring from the spot after Alvarez was fouled by the Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. Then Alvarez bundled his way through a scrambling Croatia defence to make it two before the break, and the two players combined for a brilliant third goal in the 69th minute. …”
The Athletic
Guardian: Inspired Lionel Messi takes Argentina past Croatia and into World Cup final
The Analyst – Argentina 3-0 Croatia: Lionel Messi is One Game From Immortality
NY Times: Lionel Messi’s World Cup Magic Continues in Argentina’s Romp Over Croatia (Video)
Daily Archives: December 14, 2022
Are Qatar’s World Cup Stadiums the Future of Sports in a Warming World?
Cooling vents beneath the seats at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.
“Saud Ghani knows cool. In his air-conditioned Porsche, he pulled up to a shady spot at Qatar University. He entered one of the many laboratories in the engineering department where he studies thermal dynamics — mainly, how to keep people comfortable in a warming world. Even his title is cool: professor and chair of air conditioning. The university’s campus was empty because the semester had been suspended for the World Cup. The temperature outside was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The indoor labs were noticeably chilly. …”
NY Times
Hakim Ziyech’s Morocco redemption is the result of hard work as much as skill
“Somewhere on the outskirts of Cairo in 2019, Herve Renard’s Morocco were looking to break their Africa Cup of Nations hoodoo. Since finishing as runners-up to Tunisia in the 2004 version, Morocco had only made it out of the group stage once, in 2017. In the six editions before that, they had fallen at the group stage four times, failed to qualify once and been disqualified once. In 2019, they made it to the knockout stage once more, facing Benin in the round of 16. It was a match they were expected to win, having finished top of a group containing Ivory Coast, South Africa and Namibia. …”
The Athletic (Video)