Tell me, what comes to your mind when you think of the third spot game at a World Cup?
The reality is that a large number of football fans are not aware that there is a third-place match. Maybe it’s at the back of their heads but then, a year from now, that game is usually forgotten.
Yet, this match must be played by two losing semi-finalists and one cannot blame the players for not having their hearts in the game. They played the semis to go to the ultimate match, and the third spot was never in their minds.
However, there are advantages to playing the third spot game: ranking.
The side which wins will get a better ranking in the FIFA table and they will also get to play one other match from which, a victory can work to soothe the pain of losing the semi-final.
To go back home with a smile – that’s the motive here and when it’s England versus France, the old rivalries often come to the surface.
When one means ‘old’, one refers to historical rivalry going back more than a thousand years.
These two nations were locked in the 100 Years War (116 to be precise) in the middle-ages followed by countless other wars fought over military and economic dominance.
Looking back to our own history, if Nawab Siraj ud Daula had won the Battle of Plassey in 1757, this sports analysis would be written in French.
Anyway, for England and France one famous line encapsulates the mood: the most-dear enemies!
At this World Cup, France came with the mission of regaining the title and they were playing as a side determined to go all the way.
But they say, it takes one off day to spoil the whole endeavour.
When the Musketeers took on the Spanish Armada, they looked edgy. Spain played their game, never lost composure, overcoming the French challenge.
On the other side, England was never deemed a side that would move to the last four by the pundits. The team began emphatically but as we have seen with many English sides before, failing to maintain momentum had often been their weakness.
But this time, the Three Lions did show promise: they played cohesive football, scored and intimidated the opponents.
However, in the match against Argentina, despite taking the lead, the Three Lions went for a total defensive posture in the last thirty minutes in the face of relentless Argentine fusillade.
The Albiceleste tactic throughout the World Cup has been the adoption of a ‘total pressing attack’ in the last quarter and the dividends of that strategy are there for all football lovers to see.
So much is the bite of the attacks that opponents become totally unnerved. In such situations, either there will be a goal, or the opponent will make a glaring blunder.
England played solid football throughout the tournament but were simply not the side to go to the final – that should be the realisation of Kane, Bellingham and others.
Whoever wins the third-place match, the fans of that side will have something to cheer about.
England, facing with volatile economic times, reportedly saw a 7.6 per cent boost in her economy during the World Cup and on the night of the game against Argentina, 14 millions pints of lager were sold, providing a fillip to the struggling pub house owners.
This means for the third-place game, the pubs will fill up, maybe not like the semis, but at least two thirds, which will be seen as a boon by economists.
Go for it, England and France, there’s always a next time.
Lions should wake up again and the Musketeers will take a holiday, reflect and then putting on their tunic, chant: we will be back!
