WE CAN BE HEROES<\/p>\n
Every World Cup produces cult heroes, icons who make it possible for us to sit back and start misty-eyed recollections by saying: \u201cDo you remember Roger Milla\/Saeed Al-Owairan\/Keisuke Honda\/Paul the Octopus?\u201d Well, the Geopolitics World Cup has not let us down! Here are 10 cult heroes who\u2019ve emerged from this tournament.<\/p>\n
Yaya Sithole: a catastrophic start as the South Africa midfielder\u2019s error led to the first goal of the GWC against Mexico, compounded by a second-half red card. Bounced back with a vital display in the win over South Korea, leading his country to the knockout round. Decades from now, people will still be talking about the Yaya Sithole redemption arc. Possibly.<\/p>\n
Vozinha: who else? Cape Verde\u2019s players all became cult heroes, but especially the 40-year-old keeper who spent last season in the Portuguese second tier and this summer keeping out Spain as the Blue Sharks went unbeaten in the group stage, then pushed Argentina to extra time in the last 32. Vozinha\u2019s mum<\/a>: get in line \u2013 we\u2019re all in his fan club now.<\/p>\n Djed Spence: a toss-up with Dan \u201cthe modern-day header-beast\u201d Burn for England\u2019s cult hero, but let\u2019s give it to the Spurs full-back who transformed from the hapless scourge of Thomas Tuchel\u2019s existence in the group stage to a chin-strapped Cafu in the knockout round. Spence\u2019s slide tackle on Giuliano Simeone (albeit sans chin-strap) will live long in the memory.<\/p>\n Djed Spence to the rescue. Photograph: Will Oliver\/EPA<\/p>\n Mat\u00edas Galarza: Paraguay\u2019s most magnificent git was always involved despite rarely trying to play football. Almost every time we saw the midfielder he was moaning, playacting, needling opponents \u2013 truly putting the \u201cart\u201d into the dark arts. Also scored against Turkey and later nicked the referee\u2019s watch and strapped it to his own wrist. Timeless \u2019housery.<\/p>\n Keyne: poor Lamine Yamal, who turned a craggy 19 during the GWC, must be feeling pretty aged considering he\u2019s been usurped by his three-year-old brother. Keyne gurning and giggling in the crowd has delighted fans in Spain and beyond<\/a>. Considering some of the other people who\u2019ve hogged TV cutaways, the toddler has been a welcome sight.<\/p>\n Iv\u00e1n Barton: Salvadorian referee grabbed the globe\u2019s attention when he sent off Miguel Almir\u00f3n, bawling at the winger like a mum sending a misbehaving youngster to bed with no dinner. \u201cAfter review, No 10, Paraguay, covered his mouth! The decision is red card!\u201d No PlayStation either, Miguel!<\/p>\n Eloy Room: move over, Vozinha, and make room for Eloy! Yep, another veteran goalie starred at this GWC as Cura\u00e7ao bounced back from shipping seven (7) against Germany to hold Ecuador to a 0-0 draw. The 37-year-old Room made 15 saves<\/a> \u2013 a record for a 90-minute World Cup match \u2013 to earn the tiny Caribbean island their first ever point.<\/p>\n Eloy Room to the rescue. Photograph: Ed Zurga\/AP<\/p>\n Danny Murphy: or should it be Bob the cat? The deadpan BBC pundit\u2019s tale of how a family moggy once made a break for freedom inside a Royal Mail van \u2013 sparked by Oscar Bobb coming off the bench for Norway \u2013 proved so engrossing that viewers demanded, and got, several follow-ups. A purr-fect hydration-break diversion. Honk!<\/p>\n Hossam Hassan: Egypt\u2019s perma-angry, black T-shirted head coach was an intimidating presence \u2013 especially paired with his identical twin brother, the team director, Ibrahim Hassan. The pair had a row with Dallas police<\/a>, led the Pharaohs to the last 16, saw Egypt take a 2-0 lead against Argentina \u2026 before the final 15 minutes helped Hossam reach new heights of apoplexy.<\/p>\n Romelu Lukaku: how can Belgium\u2019s record goalscorer be obscure enough for cult-hero status? Well, when you polish off USA USA USA 4-1 and celebrate your 93rd international goal with a Trump dance near the corner flag in the aftermath of Balogungate. Thanks, Big Rom (Bigliest Rom?) \u2013 the planet is with you.<\/p>\n Romelu Lukaku to the rescue. Photograph: Lindsey Wasson\/APLIVE ON BIG WEBSITE<\/p>\n Join Rob Smyth from 8pm BST (3pm EST, 5am AEST) for hot updates from Spain 1-1 Argentina (aet; 4-5 on pens) in the GWC final. The animals below agree, though the punters in New York City disagree<\/a>. Meanwhile Tom Lutz will be in situ for another liveblog mopping up all other business outside the game, which we\u2019re tempted to call Everything But The Goal.<\/p>\n Moo Deng, a two-year-old female pygmy hippopotamus, picks Argentina at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand Photograph: Anusak Laowilas\/NurPhoto\/ShutterstockPoty the jaguar sides with the holders too at BioParque, in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: Tita Barros\/ReutersQUOTE OF THE DAY<\/p>\n \u201cThis game will help us for sure \u2013 even if you can never fully celebrate a bronze medal. It\u2019s the first [men\u2019s World Cup] medal for 60 years, first [at a men\u2019s] World Cup on foreign soil, and I hope the players can be proud of that at some point. We set ourselves the highest dream to chase, and we were very, very ambitious with our dream to make the final in the World Cup. So it\u2019s very, very painful if you miss out, the pain will stay for a while\u201d \u2013 England head coach Thomas Tuchel after overseeing a quite preposterous 6-4 win over France<\/a> in the Third Place Play-off.<\/p>\n England with their bronzes. Photograph: Paul Childs\/Reuters<\/p>\n double quotation markMay I be one of the 1,057 pedants to point out that it\u2019s little wonder Brazil lost to Poland in the 1970 TPPO (yesterday\u2019s Football Daily<\/a>) as they would have been resting players for the next day\u2019s final against Italy (which they won 4-1 to claim their third world crown \u2013 Pel\u00e9, Carlos Alberto and all that). You must have meant the 1974 TPPO. Easy to be fatigued at this stage of the tournament; just ask Harry Kane\u201d \u2013 Jonathan Westwood (and 1,056 others).<\/p>\n If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com<\/a>. Today\u2019s prizeless letter o\u2019 the day goes to \u2026 Jonathan Westwood (and the 1,056 others). 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