CROATIA V MEXICO
Guest referee:
Matt Hooper — Music writer
Domagoj Dorotić (and the Croatian Armed Forces Orchestra) — 'Lijepa naša domovino'
“Performing the Croatian national anthem is Domagoj Dorotic. The song itself is called ‘Lijepa naša domovino’, which translates as ‘Our Beautiful Homeland’. Presumably they’re talking about Croatia but you never know, it could be an ode to a US political TV thriller. Domagoj Dorotic is a very good opera person. Firstly, look at the seriousface. It’s the best seriousface this side of Neon Jungle’s ‘Louder’ video (I realise that was only a few weeks ago but still). Imagine being told a joke by Domagoj. I’d probably cry. Obviously he has quite a good singing voice, and without trying to go too Louis Walsh, he has a slight whiff of Dominic Cooper about him. Perhaps the greatest thing about the whole Domagoj Dorotic visual experience, however, is the lady on the third row who clearly didn’t get the dress code memo. What a woman.”
Marco Antonio Varela — 'Himno Nacional Mexicano'
“Now to Mexico, represented by Marco Antonio Varela, who is singing the imaginatively titled ‘Himno Nacional Mexicano’. Even with the song on mute, Marco should be rewarded for matching his bow tie with his microphone. Unlike his Croatian counterpart, Marco lacks any serious opera face. Simon Cowell would probably raise his arm and ask him to sing ‘Nessun Dorma’ if this were Britain’s Got Talent. However, this is Popworldcupjustice, so I’d raise my hand and ask him to sing the Freemasons remix of Kelly Rowland’s ‘Work’. There are some interesting shots of one of the boxers getting his armpit wiped part of the way through, which is kind of hilarious. Perhaps the most shocking thing about this video is that it's not in fact from the eighties. Nor is it from the nineties. It’s from 2003. 'Sound of the Underground' is older than this."
Matt's full time score:
Croatia 2 — Mexico 0
Now you can vote for your own favourite.
[poll id="49"]Next up: Costa Rica vs England and Italy vs Uruguay
