All eyes on Argentina

Have to say lads, whilst I agree Messi is better and always has been, the idea that they are on completely different planets is a bit far for me. He matched him in lots of ways in many of the seasons they've been playing, at least in terms of tangible achievements. He has also won more Champions League titles (admittedly that's the only thing he has exceeded Messi at, that and international goals).

You're talking about thousands and thousands of professional footballers as a reference point. The history books will show that Ronaldo wasn't all that far behind in relative terms.

I preferred watching Ronaldinho to both, personally. Not saying he was as good.
 
atypical_boro said:
Have to say lads, whilst I agree Messi is better and always has been, the idea that they are on completely different planets is a bit far for me. He matched him in lots of ways in many of the seasons they've been playing, at least in terms of tangible achievements. He has also won more Champions League titles (admittedly that's the only thing he has exceeded Messi at, that and international goals).

You're talking about thousands and thousands of professional footballers as a reference point. The history books will show that Ronaldo wasn't all that far behind in relative terms.

I preferred watching Ronaldinho to both, personally. Not saying he was as good.
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Spot on, I think Ronaldinho was a special player.
 
SmallTown said:
Yeah, if he only he could do it at port vale on a cold Tuesday!
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I do wish he'd gone somewhere other than PSG as a career challenge. I know winning the CL with PSG would be an achievement but not as impressive as if he'd gone to somewhere like Arsenal and said "I'm gonna get them back to the top" (yes he'd have had to have taken a pay cut but I'd have had huge respect for him if he had). PSG was such an uninspiring move for him in my opinion. That doesn't take away from how highly I rate him as a player and I would like him to win the World Cup on Sunday.
 
Bit disappointing, though unsurprising, to see the Argentine fans and players have been singing about the Falklands the whole tournament.
 
TeaCider said:
Bit disappointing, though unsurprising, to see the Argentine fans and players have been singing about the Falklands the whole tournament.
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Well a noisy cohort of our fans sing about German bombers, 'Surrender Monkeys' and the IRA, so we shouldn't judge the entire nation on it I don't think.
 
atypical_boro said:
Well a noisy cohort of our fans sing about German bombers, 'Surrender Monkeys' and the IRA, so we shouldn't judge the entire nation on it I don't think.
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Our players don't (that I'm aware of).

Plenty of criticism is thrown the way of England as a nation because of our often obnoxious fan behaviour though.
 
TeaCider said:
Bit disappointing, though unsurprising, to see the Argentine fans and players have been singing about the Falklands the whole tournament.
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Those in glass houses...

I loved the video on tin too of the Mexican fans singing "We all know in las Malvinas they speak english" to argentine fans on a bus. They weren't happy
 
SmallTown said:
Those in glass houses...

I loved the video on tin too of the Mexican fans singing "We all know in las Malvinas they speak english" to argentine fans on a bus. They weren't happy
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I'm quite happy to criticise England fans for long outdated jingoism too.
 
atypical_boro said:
As well as the fact that Mbappe will already be viewed to have reached almost Pele levels if he wins a second World Cup before his 24th birthday, Messi bagging one would probably put him above Maradona and Ronaldo in terms of international/club achievements as a combination, with only the Babe Ruth figure of Pele really able to claim he has achieved more at international level (yet).

But as well as this, short of a huge upset in the other semi, Argentina failing tonight would mean 9 of the last 10 finalists have been European. The previous 10 finalists only had 5 from Europe, and the 18 before that only 11.

Since Brazil in 2002, all winners have been European, but in the 17 World Cups prior, South America had actually won 9 to Europe's 8.

Is there a risk that the 48-team World Cup could slowly just become a glitzier version of the European Championships, hosted in other continents, with a few guest appearances from around the world?
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I'm glad Argentina put a halt to some of these trends.

However, I am fairly certain the trend of not retaining world cups (which has gone on since 1962) will continue in 2026. I don't think they have much chance of retaining it.

Brazil have never not won 6 world cups in a row. The tournament is in the Americas, are they a cert for 2026?
 
atypical_boro said:
The tournament is in the Americas, are they a cert for 2026?
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Not sure.

I think England, Spain, France, Portugal have some quite fantastic youngsters coming through, who will all be more experienced due to this World Cup.

Brazil may look great from an attacking POV, but defensively, they still don't look great. I know their defensive record is incredible, but I still don't trust them in KO football.

They don't appear to have a good crop of defenders coming through neither.

I'd be surprised if they won the 2026 WC.

I was shocked they were this years pre tournament favourites - hence why I predicted them to be the biggest underachievers.
 
Marvanelli said:
Not sure.

I think England, Spain, France, Portugal have some quite fantastic youngsters coming through, who will all be more experienced due to this World Cup.

Brazil may look great from an attacking POV, but defensively, they still don't look great. I know their defensive record is incredible, but I still don't trust them in KO football.

They don't appear to have a good crop of defenders coming through neither.

I'd be surprised if they won the 2026 WC.

I was shocked they were this years pre tournament favourites - hence why I predicted them to be the biggest underachievers.
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And what about Germany/Italy?

I honestly don't think I've ever known a WC where Brazil aren't one of favourites (second fav at worst) according to bookies odds.

They're still ranked #1 according to FIFA rankings.:oops:
 
atypical_boro said:
And what about Germany/Italy?
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Not sure I'd place them with the likes of the 4 I mentioned? Would you?

As for FIFA rankings, the only reason Argentina aren't #1 is the fact they won on pens and not during 120 minutes...

I take FIFA rankings with a pinch of salt to be honest.

I'm sure not long ago Belgium were #1 and they have won absolutely nothing, nor have they come close to winning anything.
 
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