Newslaundry Podcast

Rahul Puri and Samar Khan discuss once again the vagaries of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2018. Speaking from London, Rahul reflects upon how the underdogs have broken into the quarter-finals in this edition of the World Cup after vanquishing their stronger opponents through extraordinary football and athletic grit. He thinks that even though the big players are expected to make it into the advanced stages, “it is the other side of the draw that I think has got a lot of the mystery about it.” Samar observes that World Cups differ because they demonstrate “defensive mindsets” across teams: “There is not the attacking, free-flowing football that we’re used to seeing -- the kind of football people pay to see. Teams are actually slugging it out.” Rahul says that even though that might be true for the first two rounds of the group stage, he points out that “the second round has been full of goals, I think the last stages of the group stage was also full of goals.” The two discuss questions surrounding the Video Assi