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 ...
Can you believe that in 4 years time we would be watching the world cup in November -December? The brilliant FIFA committee voted to make the quadrennial tournament shift from its June-July heyday to a relatively barging winter. All because the next tournament is going to be played in a desert.
Qatar is a brilliant country in the sense that they are rich, having some of the highest per-capita income of some nations. And frankly speaking all this talk about the illegality of the venue ....its not really that..how you say.. disconcerting ..illegal or not..What happened, has happened. It's too late to go back. Any idea of changing the venue will mean the new host country would have a measly 4 years to encounter aa serious logistical nightmare. It gets worse if that new country has to build stadiums. And Qatar sheikhs will definitely not be impressed. Most of us anyway watch the matches on our TV sipping juice boxes while lackadaisical nodding to someone talking about the impending (insert whatever global thing you can think of) crisis. Cuz obviously football is important.
All the talk about Russia having hooligans, bucket loads of steroids, and the grim visage of Putin were easily quelled as the tournament progressed. To be honest this was probably the most exciting world cup ever. The hosts were amazing, some of the own goals were amazing, England went further than expected meanwhile Germany were quick to book their return tickets. And who could forget the finals?
A most unexpected yet thrilling encounter between France and Croatia produced 6 goals. 6! Never has such a goal haul been witnessed by the roaring masses, unless you go all the way back to the year in which "It Actually Came Home" (1966 btw in case you weren't alive). The last 2 world cups have had nail-biting extra-time winners while the 2006 edition was decided on penalties. 6 bloody goals. Some great teams haven't been able to score that many in this entire tournament.
France were deserving winners, especially after the first 20 mins. Croatia were relentless in their attack just lacking the finishing touches. Mandzukic own goal lowered their confidence by like 50 %. Still, they persisted and Perisic soon found the equaliser, thumping his shot and showing his bazooka sized leg muscles. Of course, most of you already watched the match so you know how the story goes from there. Hugo Loris's oscar-winning attempt at a 'Karius' there was egregiously comical. And Karius was actually elbowed in the face! Hugo would have been one hated man if the score had been 1-1 and his blunder would have gifted Croatia's World Cup-winning goal. All in all, it was an amazing final. The sheer happiness in Macron's face when the final whistle blew...he seemed happier with France winning the Cup than when he won the elections.
So what now in Qatar? One can only wonder. South Africa has been the only host team who have failed to get out of the group stages and Russia's stunning quarterfinal run will be excruciatingly difficult to match for a team ranked 98th in the world. There are incessant rumours about Spain and Barca legend Xavi taking the helm for the squad, so we will have to see how it turns out. They have 4 years so maybe something might happen. Their minimum aim would be to get out of the group stages and you wouldn't put it past them to celebrate like Panama when they make it to the last 16.
However with the showpiece now during winter, the Champions League, as well as several other leagues, are very likely to be affected. All the talk about EPL actually getting a winter break will have no use as several Premier League players will now have to spend it in Qatar. It is going to be a massive hair-pulling headache for UEFA, the Fa, La Liga, etc. The thought of it being a 48 team tournament is only going to increase the number of matches and several players who have a deep run are going to be haggardly exhausted come the time when the leagues resume. And it is very tough to say how the world will be like in the next 4 years. There are a lot of ifs and buts and a whole lot of ear-splitting 'F**ks'. Guess we'll have to wait whether Qatar would be a step forward or a giant backward leap for the football adoring mankind
Qatar is a brilliant country in the sense that they are rich, having some of the highest per-capita income of some nations. And frankly speaking all this talk about the illegality of the venue ....its not really that..how you say.. disconcerting ..illegal or not..What happened, has happened. It's too late to go back. Any idea of changing the venue will mean the new host country would have a measly 4 years to encounter aa serious logistical nightmare. It gets worse if that new country has to build stadiums. And Qatar sheikhs will definitely not be impressed. Most of us anyway watch the matches on our TV sipping juice boxes while lackadaisical nodding to someone talking about the impending (insert whatever global thing you can think of) crisis. Cuz obviously football is important.
All the talk about Russia having hooligans, bucket loads of steroids, and the grim visage of Putin were easily quelled as the tournament progressed. To be honest this was probably the most exciting world cup ever. The hosts were amazing, some of the own goals were amazing, England went further than expected meanwhile Germany were quick to book their return tickets. And who could forget the finals?
A most unexpected yet thrilling encounter between France and Croatia produced 6 goals. 6! Never has such a goal haul been witnessed by the roaring masses, unless you go all the way back to the year in which "It Actually Came Home" (1966 btw in case you weren't alive). The last 2 world cups have had nail-biting extra-time winners while the 2006 edition was decided on penalties. 6 bloody goals. Some great teams haven't been able to score that many in this entire tournament.
France were deserving winners, especially after the first 20 mins. Croatia were relentless in their attack just lacking the finishing touches. Mandzukic own goal lowered their confidence by like 50 %. Still, they persisted and Perisic soon found the equaliser, thumping his shot and showing his bazooka sized leg muscles. Of course, most of you already watched the match so you know how the story goes from there. Hugo Loris's oscar-winning attempt at a 'Karius' there was egregiously comical. And Karius was actually elbowed in the face! Hugo would have been one hated man if the score had been 1-1 and his blunder would have gifted Croatia's World Cup-winning goal. All in all, it was an amazing final. The sheer happiness in Macron's face when the final whistle blew...he seemed happier with France winning the Cup than when he won the elections.
So what now in Qatar? One can only wonder. South Africa has been the only host team who have failed to get out of the group stages and Russia's stunning quarterfinal run will be excruciatingly difficult to match for a team ranked 98th in the world. There are incessant rumours about Spain and Barca legend Xavi taking the helm for the squad, so we will have to see how it turns out. They have 4 years so maybe something might happen. Their minimum aim would be to get out of the group stages and you wouldn't put it past them to celebrate like Panama when they make it to the last 16.
However with the showpiece now during winter, the Champions League, as well as several other leagues, are very likely to be affected. All the talk about EPL actually getting a winter break will have no use as several Premier League players will now have to spend it in Qatar. It is going to be a massive hair-pulling headache for UEFA, the Fa, La Liga, etc. The thought of it being a 48 team tournament is only going to increase the number of matches and several players who have a deep run are going to be haggardly exhausted come the time when the leagues resume. And it is very tough to say how the world will be like in the next 4 years. There are a lot of ifs and buts and a whole lot of ear-splitting 'F**ks'. Guess we'll have to wait whether Qatar would be a step forward or a giant backward leap for the football adoring mankind
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