Raphael Stevens

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    Brazil and Neymar Advance to World Cup Quarterfinals

    DOHA, Qatar — Even the coach was dancing.Dressed in a dark suit as he stalked the grass in front of Brazil’s bench, Tite allowed himself to be engulfed by his players as they cavorted in celebration around him, joining them eventually with a wiggle of his shoulders and hips. There were still more than 15 minutes left in the first half.That is how carefree a game it was for Brazil, how much joy it took in dismantling an outmatched South Korea squad in the round of 16 on a balmy Monday night in Doha. The Brazilians repeated the same pattern all night — coldblooded goal, happy dance — until the final whistle blew to end their fun. The lopsided score, 4-1, somehow did not fully capture the team’s dominance.Brazil’s display, even with South Korea providing only mild resistance to the outburst of collective skill, surely cemented its status as one of the favorites to lift the FIFA World Cup Trophy on Dec. 18. Brazil plays next on Friday against Croatia in the quarterfinal round, and it will be favored to win that game, too.The goal that got Tite, 61, doing his jig was the team’s third, which materialized from the foot of his striker, Richarlison, in one of the finest displays of individual wizardry in the tournament thus far.Tussling with a South Korean defender just outside the penalty area, Richarlison bounced the ball three times off his head in a stylish effort to keep possession. Finally, he brought the ball down, shimmied into a bit of open space, and knocked it over to a teammate. The ball was already on its way back to him as he sprinted toward the goal, and all he had to do was slide it past Kim Seung-gyu, South Korea’s goalkeeper.“I’m very happy with our coach,” Richarlison said of his sideline dance through an interpreter. “We rehearsed the celebration together at the hotel. And I was really happy we had the chance to do it with him.”A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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    Here’s How Extra Time and Penalty Kicks Work in the World Cup

    Tie games are inevitable at the World Cup, especially in the later stages when the stakes rise and the sinews stretch.But in the knockout stages, every game must produce a winner. That means if a game is tied after 90 minutes, it will go to extra time. Here’s how it works.After a short break, the teams will play two 15-minute extra periods, including any minutes of added time the officials deem necessary. There is no sudden death: Both periods are played to their conclusion, regardless of how many goals are scored (or not).If the teams are still tied after extra time, they go to a penalty kick shootout.In that, a coin flip decides which side goes first. The teams then pick five penalty takers, and they alternate attempts until a winner is determined. That can take as few as three rounds of attempts — if, for example one team converts its first three and its opponent misses all three — or as many as … well … as many as it takes.That can sometimes take a while, and the longer it goes, the more fun it gets.Except for the people involved. More

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    England Victory Sets Up Showdown With France

    AL KHOR, Qatar — England was floundering, looking nervous and giving up territory and opportunities to Senegal midway through the first half in Al Bayt Stadium. But then the youngest member of its squad made his presence count.Playing with a freedom and confidence that seemed to have deserted his more experienced teammates, Jude Bellingham, 19, produced crucial contributions to two first-half goals that sent England on its way to a 3-0 victory over Senegal. The win set up a quarterfinal match with France and a meeting with Kylian Mbappé, who was the breakout teenage star of the last World Cup.Mbappé became a household name when at 19 he exploded onto the global stage at the World Cup in Russia, becoming the first teenager to score in a World Cup final since Pelé in 1958. Bellingham, a midfielder, is also using the sport’s biggest platform to make his mark.“Jude is a fantastic player — he does everything well,” England’s captain, Harry Kane, said of Bellingham’s performance, during a postgame news conference. “I like Jude a lot, a good person, mature for his age and great leadership skills. All I would say is keep working and keep learning.”England had been at risk of falling behind Senegal, the African champion, when Bellingham made the first of what have now become his customary surges up the field. Seeing an opportunity to transition after Senegal lost the ball, Bellingham sprinted into space down the left side, received the ball from Kane and showed calmness to find Jordan Henderson in the center of the area. Henderson, the Liverpool captain and a most unlikely goal scorer here — having scored only twice before in a 12-year career with England’s national team — finished easily before asking the crowd to acclaim the contribution of Bellingham by pointing to the young midfielder as he wheeled away in celebration.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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    At Qatar’s Church City, Sunday Comes on Friday

    In a nation deeply rooted in Islam, worshipers from other faiths find community in a government-sanctioned island of Christianity on the outskirts of Doha.DOHA, Qatar — Behind closed doors on Friday, in small rooms usually used for teaching catechism, the children celebrated Christmas.There was food, drink and songs. Wreaths and stockings decorated the walls. A few adults wore red Santa hats.Nearby, across the complex of mostly unmarked sand-colored buildings, a Mass was being celebrated in a 2,700-seat sanctuary, its altar backed by painted angels and Jesus on a cross. There would be another mass every hour, 15 of them on Friday, said in 10 different languages: English, Tagalog, Indonesian, Korean, Urdu, Malayalam, Tamil, Konkani, Sinhala, Arabic.“We do as many masses as possible, to make people feel they belong somewhere,” Rev. Rally Gonzaga said.The busiest place on Fridays in Doha might not be at any World Cup soccer stadium. It could be this sanctioned island of Christianity — the only one in the country — on the dusty southern edge of Doha.The Qataris, and their road signs, cryptically call it the Religious Complex. Most others refer to it as Church City.And at the center of the eight churches planted here, from Anglican to Greek Orthodox, is the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary. Father Rally, as congregants call him, is a 52-year-old from the Philippines. He leads a team of 11 priests.Rev. Rally Gonzaga of Our Lady of the Rosary, one of the main churches at what Qatar labels the Religious Complex.This church has an estimated congregation of 200,000 — or it did, Father Rally said, before the coronavirus pandemic, and maybe before Qatar finished or suspended the construction projects related to the World Cup that had employed so many migrant workers. Now, maybe it is 100,000. He is not sure. He just knows that they come in droves.“Most people are social beings, so they want community,” Father Rally said. “They want belongingness.”A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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    Messi’s Score Sets Tone for Argentina in World Cup Win

    AL RAYYAN, Qatar — For all of his accomplishments, and there are many, there was one thing Lionel Messi had never done at the World Cup: score a goal in an elimination game.Now that he has done so — his first-half shot helped carry Argentina to a 2-1 victory over Australia on Saturday night — he still has a chance at another first: Messi has never lifted the World Cup trophy.A championship, of course, is still a ways away. But squint your eyes as Messi darted through the Australian defense at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium on Saturday night and it still seems possible. For 90 minutes, Messi, 35, looked like the Messi who made his World Cup debut at 18 and has torn through club opponents across Europe for decades.With the win, Argentina advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will face the Netherlands on Friday. A potential matchup with Brazil looms after that, and maybe one with France or Spain or England if Argentina (along with one of those other teams) can reach the final.Messi’s last act on the World Cup stage is perhaps still a ways away.“I’m very happy for taking another step forward and achieving another objective. It was a very physical and difficult match,” Messi said, then alluding to the fact that Argentina’s final group stage game was three days before. “We had played recently and didn’t have much time to rest up. We were a little concerned about that.”A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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    A Bitter World Cup Finish Brings a Chance for Team USA to Look Forward

    AL RAYYAN, Qatar — The whistle blew on the United States at this World Cup, and through the Khalifa International Stadium loudspeakers came a Dutch version of “Auld Lang Syne.”The song is familiar to Americans as a New Year’s Eve anthem, played just at the moment between two distinct phases of time, a switch in the calendar. And so it was for this U.S. soccer team: a chance to reflect on what was, and to resolve for improvement in the future.The winning team from the Netherlands, the 3-1 victors headed on to the quarterfinals, danced in a huddle. The Americans stood quietly on the outside, mostly with hands on hips.“It’s frustration to begin with,” United States captain Tyler Adams said of the complex emotions. “But after reflecting for that quick moment, you could just really sit here and think it’s probably the first time in a long time where people will say, ‘Wow, this team has something special.’”This year’s U.S. team was seen as young and talented, the second-youngest roster in the tournament, with the youngest starting lineup. But this World Cup is a bit mistimed, perhaps, for a program that believes it is a couple of years from full bloom.The goal in Qatar, at least to most fans and commentators, and perhaps even to some of those close to the team, was to advance through the group stage, to reach the round of 16. That was accomplished. But goals ratchet up with each success, so the loss to the Dutch was greeted with heartbreak, and then perspective.A disappointing game. A pretty good tournament. A bright future.“When you put four performances like that out on the field, it really gives people something to be excited about,” Adams said.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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    Hometown of Tyler Adams, U.S. Captain, Still Proud Even With Loss

    Schoolmates, friends and others packed a pub early to watch their hometown hero, Tyler Adams, lead the United States men’s national team, which was eliminated from the World Cup by the Netherlands.WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. — The United States may be out of the World Cup, but the team’s elimination on Saturday did little to dim the pride for the team’s captain, Tyler Adams, in his Hudson Valley hometown.Adams, 23, is one of the youngest players to be captain of the U.S. men’s national team, and his play in Qatar had captured the attention of those around his hometown, Wappinger, between Poughkeepsie and Fishkill, near the banks of the Hudson River.At the County Fare Bar & Grill on Saturday morning, it seemed that nearly half the town showed up to cheer for Adams. That included Matt Ball and Joseph Cavaccini, who had grown up with the soccer star and his brothers, as well as a bus driver known to boast over her loudspeaker that Adams had graduated from nearby Roy C. Ketcham High School.Family friends, former schoolmates and neighbors recalled Adams as a driven young man who regularly missed social and school functions — including his own graduation ceremony — because of sports commitments.Adams worked hard, Cavaccini said using, more colorful terms. “That’s why it’s not a surprise. It’s just pride — we are just so proud,” he said.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More

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    For Young Americans, an Honorable Exit Against a Wave of Dutch Goals

    AL RAYYAN, Qatar — The United States players doubled over at the final whistle, their white jerseys drenched in sweat, their faces twisted with exhaustion. They hung their heads and left them there.The Americans had arrived in Qatar last month fresh-faced and with modest expectations. They were the second-youngest team at the tournament, representing a country returning to the World Cup for the first time in eight years. Qualifying for the tournament had been cause enough for celebration.But the grandeur of the World Cup, with all the spirit and fanfare on the ground, has a way of making a group of players want more, of making them believe they can have it.The Netherlands dashed those dreams — that little feeling of what if — in clinical fashion on Saturday night, exposing all the Americans’ deficiencies in a 3-1 loss before 44,846 fans at Khalifa International Stadium.“This is a tough one obviously to swallow for us,” Coach Gregg Berhalter said. “The guys put everything they had into it. It’s such a good group of guys, such a close-knit group of guys, you just want more for them, and tonight we just came up short.” The U.S. team will return home having achieved one small goal: vanquishing whatever lingering shame the program might have felt since 2017, when a previous team’s failure to qualify for the last World Cup triggered a yearslong period of rebuilding and soul searching. It may feel like it could have gone further.The Netherlands will play the winner of Saturday’s match between Argentina and Australia.Julian Finney/Getty ImagesBut it was a satisfying result for the Netherlands, a team whose ambitions for this World Cup were made clear when its coach declared before the start of the round of 16 that his squad had four matches left to play. The Netherlands will play again on Friday night against the winner of Saturday’s late match between Argentina and Australia.Ambition, for an American men’s soccer team, can be a trickier thing to articulate.In 2014, the last time the United States participated in the World Cup, Jürgen Klinsmann, the team’s coach at the time, mused before a ball was even kicked that his group had no chance of winning the tournament. He said he was being realistic. Some fans in the United States responded by suggesting Klinsmann, a native of Germany, leave the country. (The team was eliminated that year in the round of 16.)Heading into this year’s tournament, Berhalter assumed a safer, savvier stance. Whenever the subject of ambitions arose, he would say that he viewed the World Cup as two smaller tournaments. The first was the group stage where each of the 32 teams played three games. Berhalter said his only aim was to make it to the second, the knockout stage where 16 teams would eventually produce a champion and in theory anything could happen. It was a useful bit of rhetoric, a sort of verbal step-over dribble. But it was not hard to read between the lines. For his young U.S. team, anything after the group stage would be gravy.A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More