“This is the first match ending in a draw at this World Cup, maybe it’s the worst one so far,” the reporter began, before describing hearing boos and seeing disgruntled spectators leaving the stadium early. “What do you think about this? How do you assess the situation?”

Perhaps sensing Hareide looking a bit put out as the Russian-to-Danish translation came through his earpiece, the reporter quickly added: “Congratulations on the playoff and on further participation! Best of luck to you.”

Stating the Obvious

Given a captive audience of journalists on deadline, coaches often take the opportunity to wax elegant about the game, uttering what amounts to a series of fancy banalities disguised as deep truths.

“It’s true that this is a playoff, a life-and-death match, and there will be only one team going through,” Russia’s Cherchesov said before his team played Spain. “If you lose, you are out.”

Asked to comment further on Denmark’s scoreless tie with France, Hareide, the Danish coach, responded with some random thoughts about the sport itself.

“Football is an ongoing process,” he said. “Sometimes you have to replace this or that player. You have to be able to handle playing different styles. You know, you need to do what you need to do in order to win.”

And Fernando Hierro, Spain’s coach, unleashed some important observations of his own in one particularly memorable non-answer. “In football, there’s a fine line between winning and losing,” he said. “It’s football, and football is sometimes like that.”