Popworldcupjustice: Mexico vs Cameroon

MEXICO V CAMEROON

Guest referee:
Michael Cragg — Features Editor, Popjustice

 Julión Álvarez Y Su Norteño Banda — ‘Te Hubieras Ido Antes’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve_SefZbb8w&feature=kp

“The video for your friend and mine Julión Álvarez and his Su Norteño Banda's heartfelt ballad 'Te Hubieras Ido Antes' has been online since January, 'racking up' over 35m views in the process. 'Interestingly', despite its early release date, the video opens with an overhead shot of a football stadium, proving beyond reas­on­able doubt that Julión is psychic. How else could he have known his song would have been awkwardly shoe­horned into a tenuously-linked football-based pop feature a mere five months later? While the glisten­ing stadium shot hints at a forth­com­ing cel­eb­ra­tion, 'Te Hubieras Ido Antes' (or 'you were gone before') is a slightly drunken-sounding ballad that sometimes feels like it's being played at the wrong speed. While the song brings to mind cheap pizzas in poorly-lit tavernas, the expensive-looking video is its sole saving grace — the interplay between the two central char­ac­ters during the flashback sequences (par­tic­u­larly the bit where Julión imagines his lover is sat beside him only for her to disappear) providing some unin­ten­tional light relief from all that horn-laced sorrow.”

 Jean Pierre Essome — 'La Femme'

“The first thing anyone with fully func­tion­ing eyes will notice about Jean Pierre Essome's video for 'La Femme' is that the man — like [NAME OF GENERIC RETIRED FOOTBALLER] — sure knows how to pull off a Burton's shiny suit. He has one for when he's being super­im­posed over some piano keys, another for when he's handing out money to some of his bikini-clad friends and a really spec­tac­u­lar grey one with pleats that sort of fans out while he wanders about with a cigar in his hand. Dating back to the halcyon days  of 2009 (it's still one of Cameroon's Top 3 videos, mind you), the video hasn't exactly aged well but I'm a big fan of the song's tendency to jolt from one tempo to another, skipping through genres seemingly at will.”

Michael's full time score:

Mexico 0 — Cameroon 2

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