Cruel World Cup third-place game is torture for England and France | Opinion
· Yahoo Sports
The World Cup’s third-place game simply does not need to exist.
This year’s England-France match features two teams who had designs on a world championship and are openly stating they don’t want to be there! Both teams suffered gutting losses in the semifinals. They just want to go home.
Visit freshyourfeel.com for more information.
Said France boss Didier Deschamps: "The best thing for France and England would be for this match not to exist."
Instead, after getting knocked out of the largest World Cup in history, drained after playing seven high-intensity matches in a month, the 52 players have to stick around for another one with no real stakes.
Oh, it’s also being played in South Florida before the sun goes down with the heat index higher than 95 degrees.
It feels genuinely cruel to everybody involved.
Frankly, both teams should do the absolute minimum on defense, let their less-used players have some fun, and most importantly, make sure nobody gets hurt.
“None of our players and none of the French players want to play this match," England manager Thomas Tuchel told reporters.
Risk of injuries
For those unfamiliar, the World Cup begins just days after the world’s top players finish grueling 10-month-long club seasons. Players ran themselves down and are now playing through even more pain for their countries this summer.
France defender William Saliba helped Arsenal win the Premier League title and reach the Champions League final. He arrived in North America with a back injury, barely trained all month but still played 90 minutes in five games at this World Cup. Ultimately, his back gave out and he had to be subbed off in the semifinal. Early reports are that he’s going to miss months.
The risk of injury is way too high for these elite athletes, especially on the less-than-optimal fields at NFL stadiums and with brutal temperatures.
If anyone gets hurt or aggravates an existing ailment on Saturday, coaches are going to be crucified for playing them. Millions of fans around the world are going to be furious. And perhaps the only thing that matters to FIFA, they will be hearing about it from their corporate partners who pay some of those players’ wages and sponsor the club leagues they play in.
This game is a bummer on every level and, sure, it earns the FIFA Industrial Complex a bundle of money, but hopefully this year’s France-England contest will be the last third-place game we ever have to sit through.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cruel World Cup third-place game is torture for England and France | Opinion