Good morning, afternoon, or middle of the night, everyone. Welcome to Wednesday's World Cup liveblog, with around 35 hours to go until the big kick-off. Excited? I kind of am, despite myself. Yesterday was a rather unedifying day, as some fears about the cruel politicisation of the tournament came to fruition. The fallout from the barring of Somali referee Omar Artan, members of Iran's entourage being denied admission to the United States, and their ticket allocation seemingly being withdrawn, plus the earlier long detention of Iraq striker Aymen Hussein upon arrival, all contributed to a somber mood. FIFA, normally insistent on imposing full colonial demands on host countries, has acquiesced with all this.
Infantino's 'Happy Barbarians' Quip
But never mind, because FIFA overlord Gianni Infantino has been joshing about the United States being invaded by friendly 'barbarians'. Speaking at the tournament's star-studded launch shindig in Los Angeles, the FIFA president quipped: 'You will be invaded. You will be invaded by a horde of barbarians. But it's happy barbarians, don't worry.'
'Men, women, children, grandparents, doesn't matter, they will all have their faces colored with the colors of their countries,' he said. 'They will just want to enjoy and have fun because that's what we want to do with the World Cup – we want to unite the world.' Good luck with that.
Argentina Defeats Iceland in Warmup
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Argentina beat Iceland 3-0 in Auburn, Alabama, in their final World Cup warmup. Lionel Messi came off the bench in the second half and scored his side's second goal, from a penalty, as he continues to manage hamstring soreness. Valentin Barco had put Argentina ahead in the eighth minute, and Thiago Almeda wrapped things up with a third four minutes from time. Elsewhere, Iraq's final tune-up before their Group I campaign begins ended in a 2-0 loss to Venezuela.
