This controversial and hotly debated World Cup has already delivered some remarkable moments and memorable games, and we’ve just completed Day 2.
There was a powerful and impressive start from England, who cruised into a 3-0 half-time lead over Iran, and eventually ran out 6-2 winners with goals and some sharp finishing from Bukayo Saka (2), Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish. Grealish provided a special celebration as requested by an 11-year-old Man City fan who has celebral palsy.
England – along with Wales and the Netherlands – had been forced to scrap plans to wear the OneLove armband promoting diversity and inclusivity under threat from Fifa of players being cautioned should they carry out the gesture of support.
Kudos to the Iranian team, who refused to sing their country’s national anthem in support of protests against the repressive regime, and to supporters who held up signs of defiance.
It was a strange game, with the Iranian medical team inexplicably leaving goalkeeper Alireza Beiramvand on the pitch after a bad clash of heads early on, and a length stoppage, only for the clearly struggling keeper to be subbed shortly afterwards. An extraordinary 14 minutes injury time was added at the end of the first half.
For Senegal it proved a disappointing first game of the tournament against the Netherlands. While they fought hard, they clearly missed their talisman Sadio Mane, and two late goals did the trick for the Dutch.
The Wales v USA (USMNT) game was very much a case of two very different halves. The Americans bossed the first half and thoroughly deserved their 1-0 lead at the interval, thanks to a clinical finish from Timothy Weah, son of Liberian legend George Weah.
But the Welsh came out fighting in the second half, pressed higher up the pitch and grabbed the equalizer their improvement warranted when their very own talisman Gareth Bale was fouled in the area, and he made no mistake from the penalty spot, roared on by the ‘Red Wall’ of 3,000 fans from the Principality.
The enduring image from the day was quite possibly the joy for Bukayo Saka, his two goals providing moments of redemption in an England shirt, following the disappointment of his penalty shoot-out miss in the Euros final. The photo above (BBC) shows him celebrating with team mate Jude Bellingham.
Saka is a follower of Jesus and in a recent YouTube video he stressed the importance of his faith recently and how it gives him strength and direction during the inevitable highs and lows of being a professional footballer.
Jesus promised his followers “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5), a promise which echoes God’s words to his people in the Old Testament. When the going is tough he promises to bring us through and give us a strong foundation for our lives.