XtraTime Web Desk: The FIFA World Cup in Russia will be coming up with a lot of new things. At the same time, the fans will miss a few things as well. Here goes the three aspects, nwe believe the fans will miss the most.
Ibrahimovic
If ever there was an appropriate stage for a player of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s talents, it is the grandest of them all – The World Cup. The Swedish striker is in the twilight of his career and recently traded the inauspicious climes of Manchester for the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, where he will see out his days as the latest aging superstar to score a hatful of goals in Major League Soccer. Ibrahimovic retired from international football following the European Championships in 2016, but Sweden’s unlikely qualification for this summer’s tournament has led to calls from the public for him to end his international exile and pull on the yellow jersey once again. However, these dreams were dashed when the player ultimately decided against a swansong with Sweden and head coach Janne Andersson at Russia 2018.
Paul – The Octopus
Of all the things that won’t be at this summer’s tournament, it is the absence of a clairvoyant octopus which will be felt most keenly by those hoping to make a few bucks by gambling on the results of the games. Paul the Octopus made international headlines during the 2010 World Cup by inexplicably predicting the winners of several games throughout the tournament. How so? His handlers would place two food boxes into his tank, each emblazoned with the flag of the two nations who were playing each other. Paul would then eat the food from one of the boxes, thus ‘predicting’ the winner of each match.
Major nations to miss out