Safe to say the party has well and truly started now. When Brazil’s good times danced their way all over South Korea’s misery on Monday night Roy Keane might have felt the darkness rushing back like an old friend.
But, for most of us, the World Cup had been ushered into the light. Along with a sense of relief and sheer joy. Granted, this tournament has been busy building up a head of steam ever since the last round of group matches provided some thrilling climaxes to what had been, for the most part, a dirge in the desert for much of its opening fortnight.
But it was the sound and sights of the Samba which really lifted it to a new level and put the smile back on football’s face. Even if it did very little to assist Keane in his eternal battle with anger management, at least some of the demons which have dragged Qatar 2022 into the Persian sands, were momentarily stripped of their clawing influence.
