mental carry on.
de bruyne can create something out of nothing. But can he do it on the world stage against the very best like the lads I named? I doubt it.
the old number 10 is kind of gone. Messi is the closest to it
I thought Argentina would only have to show up in 02 to win it. Crespo, Veron, Batistuta, Zanetti, Ayala, Claudio Lopez, Simeone and Samuel. They looked like an unstoppable force. Didnât even get out of the group
werenât they murdering each other off the field that year, the squad and management? Bielsa was the manager
I canât really remember, I was only 14 when it happened. I know they had some issue with FIFA and the no 10 shirt.
It was pretty much a formality to win that WC with them in CM 01/02
They couldnât score despite their firepower. They dominated England but couldnât put the ball in the net.
Important distinction
Reads like a list of football boots I wore
Bielsa was in charge in that tournament.
Yeah the World Cup was magical then. It was a chance to see players youâd never have seen before but would have read about or heard of. Also the South Americanâs tended to play for South American clubs.
The 86 World Cup was my favourite World Cup. The big shadow over the pitch, the wave and Diego.
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Argentina underachieved with that bunch of players.
massively in my opinion.
fair enough - 98 they get done by Bergkamp. Canât do much about that.
98 was probably the strongest of all the world cups.
2002 was a shit world cup and they should have pissed it
Not that it matters but the 06 World Cup would be my favourite.
98 for me
got to see Ronaldo (real). Zidane. Bergkamp. Davor Suker. Batistuta etc all at their peak
Never again
the 98 all star team selected from that world cup
Aside from the goalies that would be hard bet
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Probably my first World Cup to watch. Ronaldo was a force of nature in the early rounds
I was doing my junior cert around the time of it. I think Brazil and Scotland was the opening game. I canât remember what exam I had but my mind wasnât on the exam.
Brazil actually werenât great in the group from what I recall. Ronaldo only got a goal against Morocco
England vs Argentina was an absolute absorbing game of ball.
That was some English team looking back at it
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Itâs harder for individuals to shine these days. Tactics are far more advanced these days and all about the collective
Iâd agree with that. Things like video analysis are done to the n-th degree to find a potential way of stopping a fella etc.
Also, the game is much, much faster paced now, a fella just doesnât have time to put the foot on the ball (bar very, very few players who can control the pace of it)
Back then though the way to stop the creative lads was to boot absolute fuck out of them - and they got little protection. Tough bastards as well as being brilliant
Yeah itâs very hard to compare across eras. In the past Maradona got the shit kicked out of him and played on terrible pitches but on the other hand there was more space on the pitch, opponents werenât as well drilled and it was a slower pace