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The Altcoin Rises

O n May 11 2020, the crypto world experienced the phenomena knows as Bitcoin halving . For those who are still a little looney-toons regarding this phenomena, here's the lowdown . Moral of the story is that, as the Bitcoin supply decreased and it's 21 million market cap slowly approached, it was widely accepted that the low supply and high demand will increase the price of the cryptocurrency back to its previous highs. Basic business right? Wrong! Source: Equity Trust Company BTC prices actually fell and after briefly holding steady, are only just rising above the 10000 USD range. Surprise eh? Well, we are not done yet. Because while the most valuable crypto coin wasn't showing it's expected gains, some other cryptocurrencies shot to outer space. There was no SpaceX rocket nor a Tesla Roadster involved. These "altcoins" bumped up in their market value thanks to the entire underlying system of cryptocurrency: investor speculation.  But what exactly are these ...

Would this be the World Cup where a 'Leicester' might wing it?

My analysis might be too premature, but forgive me for saying this...all the favourites have started miserably for their world cup campaigns. Spain drew with an inspired Cristiano and a Karius De Gea. Argentina drew against Iceland where Lionel Messi won the Miss Penalty beauty pageant. Again. So-called top favourite Brazil drew against Switzerland. Perhaps Neymar wanted access to free chocolates. And worst of all Germany lost to salsa..I mean Mexico. France did beat Australia but they barely scraped by due to some poor Aussie finishing.

Image result for mexico vs germany

And talking about finishing Mexico could have absolutely destroyed Germany. But poor Mexican finishing, like visa, or immigration, let them down. They still got 3 points. Which is a lot better than the rest of the favourites barring the 'Baguette Army'. Mexico was absolutely terrifying their mighty opposition. Apart from one Werner chance, Mexico was amazing. They were playing smooth exquisite football, the likes you expect to see from Argentina or Spain. Of course, Germany aren't amazing on Russian soil ( Just look at WW2. History always repeats itself), this was an opportunity for Mexico to do to Germany what the German had done to Brazil (2014). And this is a team who's alleged star player is Javier ' Chicharito' Hernandez.

You have to agree that Russia and Mexico are probably the most exciting teams for the moment. Russia's thrashing of Saudi Arabia means they now have more goals than France, Germany, Argentina, and Brazil...combined. The Russian team might not, in the end, do as well in the tournament as the favourites but as of this moment, Putin must be cursing himself for not ending the tournament prematurely. Belgium did beat Panama, but Belgium were never the favourites, just dark horses. And another surprise is England beating Tunisia.

So the question remains, can we see a Leicester moment this year? I have a feeling we can if all the non-favourite teams play like Iceland or Switzerland. The Northerners barely gave their much Southern counterparts an inch of space. That is why when Aguero scored it was an 'amazing' goal. Not that it was shabby but it was the first and only positive moment they had the entire match. Maradona is right about Sampaoli, he is not the best coach to take Argentina forward. While 2 Copa- America wins is makes a very impressive CV, he should have got a runners up medal in 2015 if Higuain hadn't decided to beat Messi at the Miss Penalty challenge. And in 2016 when Lionel Messi took matters in his own hand. Messi is right, Argentina deserved to win and so did Brazil. With 75% possession, even Chicharito could have scored.



And you could say that if Paulinho was better with his legs, or if the Swiss weren't incessantly bogging down the Selecao top stars, Brazil would have made them pay. But that is the beauty of football. And Neymar's hairstyle. Everyone loves an upset, as well the latest Maggi sponsorship adds.  All the teams which are not favourites, know that the only way they can win is to do a 'Mourinho' and pray for the opposing defence to have a backline as strong as cheese slices. Mexico didn't park the bus .in the first half at least and played with such ferocity in the first half that Germany witnessed another capitulation on Russian soil. In the second half, perhaps knowing that their finishing wasn't better than Bieber, Mexico understandably played defensive. And Germany was literally giving it their all, but the Mexicans fought more for the win than they did against Trump. Boateng and Hummels looked aged after the match. Merkel probably wasn't impressed.

Both Tunisia and Egypt were let down by extra-time goals, so England and Uruguay shouldn't necessarily be happy. Uruguay is luckier, as England have Belgium in their group as well.
But if the non-favourite teams time their pressing to perfection and improve their stamina against the big boys, we just might witness a change in the guard here. Stay tuned. Russia and Egypt are coming. Saaaaaaaaaaalah

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