The first half was a pouring of stale English sparkling wine and some sour or oxidized Argentine Malbec. The second brought a new picture. The English took the lead, and with twenty minutes to go their coach, the German Thomas Tuchel, began to close the game with substitutions and unreasonable scorekeeping.
The German led the English to defeat
It was a move akin to putting the most expensive English sparkling wine in the fridge and taking out the cheapest fizz, such as Bacchus from Denbies Winery.
An expensive move. The Argentines opened the game as if they had poured Kaiken Ultra or some other Malbec made from grapes grown at an altitude of a thousand or so meters above sea level, then equalized, and scored the winning goal in stoppage time.
What will they toast to third place with?
The English may toast their most expensive sparkling wine, Gusbourne's prestige cuvée 51°North, if they win the third-place match on Saturday. They are playing against a disappointed French team who, even if they win, will certainly not be opening Domaine de la Romanée Conti, the most expensive wine in the world. Maybe Lynch-Bages, the most underrated Bordeaux red, which is in the fifth grade of the famous 1855 classification, and deserves third or second.