Ronaldo Cried, Morocco Advanced, and I Learned How to Be Wrong With Data

This article is a Vietnamese sports commentary by Duong Tien. It opens with Cristiano Ronaldo crying after Portugal lost 1-2 to Uruguay at the 2026 World Cup. The author explains that his early controversial article about Ronaldo taught him that provocative analysis needs strong evidence. He then recalls wrongly predicting Italy's elimination at EURO 2026 and learning to write public self-criticism. Using Morocco's 2026 World Cup semi-final run, he argues that selective pressing and defensive organisation can be more valuable than naive ball possession. The author also warns against turning data into a new dogma, and ends with a testable prediction: a team with less than 45% possession but excellent selective pressing will reach a major continental final within 18 months.