I don't usually watch these games, but have watched a lot this time around.
The overall standard of football was really good even from the lesser known teams, Some great games and great goals. Something that impressed me with most of the games was the lack of play acting and going down easily, although the North Africans (Morocco, Egypt, Algeria) sadly did a lot of it.
The stadiums were great, and I was surprised how much rain fell in nearly all the games.
The referees in the early stages were really good, not so much in the last few games.
VAR was nearly as slow as the English version, and did ruin a lot of moments
Senegal and Nigeria looked the best teams, but Nigeria didn't really turn up in the semi final and lost on penalties to Morocco which was a shame.
The final was fairly quiet for 90 minutes, then all hell broke loose in injury time.
Within minutes Senegal scored but was immediately disallowed because Hakimi fell over after a light touch, then Morocco get a corner and Diaz falls over after a slight touch from West Ham's Diouf and the ref gives a penalty after a VAR review. Senegal go mad and after lots of pushing and shoving they are told to walk off the pitch in protest.
Sadio Mane remains trying to act as peacemeker and eventually they come back.
The penalty is finally taken in the 24th minute of injury time by Real Madrid's Spanish striker Diaz, who tries a stupid panenka straight into Mendy's hands.
Pape Gueye scored a brilliant goal in extra time to win it for Senegal.
The overall standard of football was really good even from the lesser known teams, Some great games and great goals. Something that impressed me with most of the games was the lack of play acting and going down easily, although the North Africans (Morocco, Egypt, Algeria) sadly did a lot of it.
The stadiums were great, and I was surprised how much rain fell in nearly all the games.
The referees in the early stages were really good, not so much in the last few games.
VAR was nearly as slow as the English version, and did ruin a lot of moments
Senegal and Nigeria looked the best teams, but Nigeria didn't really turn up in the semi final and lost on penalties to Morocco which was a shame.
The final was fairly quiet for 90 minutes, then all hell broke loose in injury time.
Within minutes Senegal scored but was immediately disallowed because Hakimi fell over after a light touch, then Morocco get a corner and Diaz falls over after a slight touch from West Ham's Diouf and the ref gives a penalty after a VAR review. Senegal go mad and after lots of pushing and shoving they are told to walk off the pitch in protest.
Sadio Mane remains trying to act as peacemeker and eventually they come back.
The penalty is finally taken in the 24th minute of injury time by Real Madrid's Spanish striker Diaz, who tries a stupid panenka straight into Mendy's hands.
Pape Gueye scored a brilliant goal in extra time to win it for Senegal.
