A Brazil Star Comforted an Opponent. Now He’s Being Criticized for Being Too Nice.

Matheus Cunha did something after Brazil beat Japan in the World Cup that apparently counts as a problem. He walked over to Japan’s Ao Tanaka, put a hand on his shoulder, and gave him a moment of consolation before joining his teammates in celebration. A genuinely human gesture from a professional athlete who just competed against the guy.

According to Jeremy Cross of the Daily Mirror, that moment apparently reveals something uncomfortable about the Manchester United forward. The take is that Cunha is too nice. That he lacks the edge needed to become a great footballer, not just a good one. That for a country that produced Neymar and Vinicius Junior, Brazil needs someone meaner.

This is the same Matheus Cunha who once got banned for snatching the glasses off an Ipswich security guard during a scuffle. That incident alone undercuts the whole narrative that he’s soft. But the argument here is that his personality is an awkward fit for Brazil’s expectations, especially when the conversation turns to who replaces Neymar as the face of the national team.

Cross’s closing line makes it clear: when Neymar eventually steps away, the baton goes to Vinicius Jr., not Cunha. That’s probably true. But it has nothing to do with Cunha being a decent person. Vinicius is just a different caliber of talent right now. One thing doesn’t cancel the other.

Nagelsmann Snaps, But Did He Actually Snap?

Meanwhile in Germany’s exit to Paraguay on penalties, Julian Nagelsmann had a tense exchange with a reporter after the match. The MailOnline ran with a headline about the Germany coach snapping at a female reporter, which felt like a deliberate choice. The same story referred to her as just a reporter in the body text. The word female only appeared in the headline and the caption under her photo.

The clip shows a slightly uncomfortable back and forth between two people doing their jobs. Nagelsmann is clearly frustrated after a very public failure. He didn’t yell. He didn’t storm off. He answered questions with visible irritation, which is pretty standard for any coach who just got knocked out of a World Cup. If that qualifies as snapping, then every postgame press conference is a riot waiting to happen.

Harry Kane’s Ego Gets a Weird Defense

There was also a curious paragraph from the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope about Harry Kane. He called Kane the humblest of superstars but also claimed he has a stubborn streak of high self-regard. Hope then contrasted that with Jude Bellingham, who he previously described as a divisive soloist and a poster boy for moodiness. The logic broke down pretty fast. Can someone be the humblest of superstars while also having high self-regard? Probably not. But the double standard between how English players get described versus how Bellingham gets framed is hard to miss.

Hope also tried to explain why Barcelona might appeal to Kane by pointing out that Bayern is not Barca and the Bundesliga is not La Liga. He defined Der Klassiker for readers as Bayern versus Dortmund, just in case anyone forgot. It was a weird flex from a writer who seems to think Bayern Munich is somehow a step down from Barcelona despite Bayern going further in last season’s Champions League and winning more trophies.