Let’s not go as far as that preposterous peacock, Fifa president Gianni Infantino, who had clearly been sniffing his own hype when he declared that this World Cup had been “the greatest human, social and cultural event that mankind has witnessed”.
And that was before Spain even lifted the trophy.
But it has been memorable. Many of us had wondered whether this would be a World Cup remembered more for problems played out off the pitch than matches played on it. Would stadiums be half-empty because of price-gouging? Would ICE officers be rounding up visitors to the US on suspicion of being brown? Would Donald Trump turn up at a load of matches, forcing fans to queue for hours to get through security checks? Indeed, would the insatiable and unquenchable egos of Infantino and Trump overshadow everything else?
Shorts
Trump clearly enjoyed handing out the medals and trophies. But it was quite right that he was doing that: the US was the principal host nation – of course he would be there. It was no different from a member of the Royal Family handing out the prizes at Wimbledon. I had no problem with the US President taking centre stage last night – though don’t get me started on Infantino wearing a suit and tie with white trainers.
