FIFA World Cup 2014

[axecutioner18]

My father saw Itlay win it in 82 sitting in the Bernabeau, he saw Germany win it on Sunday sitting at the Maracana.

 

[RobertoBagg10]

My father saw Itlay win it in 82 sitting in the Bernabeau, he saw Germany win it on Sunday sitting at the Maracana.

serious???? Incredible!! Is he just a footballing fan? Please tell me he's not a member of FIFA hahahaha

 

[Darthrazz]

My father saw Itlay win it in 82 sitting in the Bernabeau, he saw Germany win it on Sunday sitting at the Maracana.

That's amazing!

 

[Darthrazz]

amazing story my friend without doubt one of the greatest times in the history of Argentinian Football along with 1978...however, the 86 victory was the first World Cup that I ever watched so I will always have fond memories...

For me personally, 2006 will never be beaten. It's not many times that you can say you saw your team winning the World Cup, I was only 5 when Italy won it in 1982 so I don't recall much of that tournament but 2006 was just unforgettable!!! Great times!!! Now I'll have to wait an eternity for them to win it again!!!

I think I mentioned it before, my parents were both born and raised in Italy , then lived in Argentina for 20 years were I was born and lived foir a small time before moving to the US.

1982 was my first cup, I was 10 and I remember Italy winning and riding my bike up and down the block celebrating. I have faint memories of listening to Argentina win the Cup on the radio with my dad in 1978.

So in my lifetime I've seen both Italy and Argentina win twice each and play in a total of 7 finals. Not too shabby! lol!

 

[axecutioner18]

serious???? Incredible!! Is he just a footballing fan? Please tell me he's not a member of FIFA hahahaha

Yes he is a fan. He is 67 now. He almost broke his savings as he was more crazy then. Now he is retired and has enough saved, but I still told him it was a waste of money. But he wanted it as he considers Brazil the mecca of football and a world cup there is like a grail.

A scan of my dad's 82 ticket

 

[RobertoBagg10]

I think I mentioned it before, my parents were both born and raised in Italy , then lived in Argentina for 20 years were I was born and lived foir a small time before moving to the US.

1982 was my first cup, I was 10 and I remember Italy winning and riding my bike up and down the block celebrating. I have faint memories of listening to Argentina win the Cup on the radio with my dad in 1978.

So in my lifetime I've seen both Italy and Argentina win twice each and play in a total of 7 finals. Not too shabby! lol!

Fantastic my friend you have the best of both worlds

Yes he is a fan. He is 67 now. He almost broke his savings as he was more crazy then. Now he is retired and has enough saved, but I still told him it was a waste of money. But he wanted it as he considers Brazil the mecca of football and a world cup there is like a grail.

A scan of my dad's 82 ticket

Waste of money? No way Man...I completely respect your dad for doing it! What a guy! I wish when I am 67 that I can do something similar and maybe take my son with me. Did he not ask if you wanted to go with him? I can't believe that scanned picture some people would pay good money for that

Also what is 2500 pasetes these days?

 

[axecutioner18]

That ticket is still intact because my mum took care of it and put it in an album. Dad says in those days there was not so much hype in the media or press about the World Cup nor so much security. So the hotel they stayed in also hosted the French national team. He had also bought a foam seat they gave to spectators who sat on the concrete seats for comfort. Sadly I realised that as a child I had played and punctured that cushion foldable seat and ripped it to pieces.
He had seen the 2 quarters, one semi and the final then. One of them was the infamous Germany vs France

He did say I should go, but I checked our finances and decided not to. Its pretty unreasonable for one person let alone two. I have however decided Ill either go to watch the French Euro next or the World Cup 2026 that will probably happen in England

This time he saw
Costa Rica vs Greece, Belgium vs USA, Argentina vs Belgium, Brazil vs Germany and Germany vs Argentina.

This time I hope he isnt as lackluster with the tickets and brings those 'pieces of paper' as he calls it safely home.

Also to answer your question about 2500 pesetas, I calculated online and it says its equivalent to 15 Euros.

 

[abake]

Your dad is a very lucky man, but he's also got his priorities straight!

 

[RobertoBagg10]

Also to answer your question about 2500 pesetas, I calculated online and it says its equivalent to 15 Euros.

WOW! certainly puts things into perspective of how much things cost these days...saying that, I suppose 15 euros was quite a bit of money back in 82

 

[Darthrazz]

WOW! certainly puts things into perspective of how much things cost these days...saying that, I suppose 15 euros was quite a bit of money back in 82

If I did the calculation right, it was $50.05 US.

 

[axecutioner18]

RobertoBaggio since you really like Maradona and do bring him up in comparison to Messi, I would like to give you this article, read it. It perfectly echoes my sentiments.
https://www.insidespanishfootball.c...ly-define-lionel-messi/#.U8YLen_aIBw.facebook

My father too agreed after reading through. He said about both Maradona and Messi that Maradona was great no doubt, he did things that seemed unthinkable. With Messi its less of the showing but its a similar impact. However he says the only difference between both is Maradona was a wild horse, who would emote on everything a failed chance to a loss in a very animated manner, Messi however he says is too composed. Doesnt emote too much when sad which somehow doesnt endear him to all the fans. Fans love to see the emotion of players, that disconnect he says will always keep Maradona closer to the hearts of fans like one of them, while Messi will simply feel like a superstar, disconnected from the masses. Hence he will never have that endearment Maradona has had.

 

[RobertoBagg10]

RobertoBaggio since you really like Maradona and do bring him up in comparison to Messi, I would like to give you this article, read it. It perfectly echoes my sentiments.
https://www.insidespanishfootball.c...ly-define-lionel-messi/#.U8YLen_aIBw.facebook

My father too agreed after reading through. He said about both Maradona and Messi that Maradona was great no doubt, he did things that seemed unthinkable. With Messi its less of the showing but its a similar impact. However he says the only difference between both is Maradona was a wild horse, who would emote on everything a failed chance to a loss in a very animated manner, Messi however he says is too composed. Doesnt emote too much when sad which somehow doesnt endear him to all the fans. Fans love to see the emotion of players, that disconnect he says will always keep Maradona closer to the hearts of fans like one of them, while Messi will simply feel like a superstar, disconnected from the masses. Hence he will never have that endearment Maradona has had.

Certainly not the only difference in my opinion but I totally agree 100% with everything that is highlighted in bold...Messi is not a leader, Maradona was a born leader and was ready to achieve greatness at such a young age. I truly believe to become a champion, it takes more than just scoring goals and having exceptional skills. To be a true champion, you need to have the heart, the hunger, the desire, the determination to do whatever it takes to reach the top. Maradona had this abundance, maybe too much at times but with Messi I see absolutely nothing This was evident for all to see in the Final of the 2014 World Cup...I wanted to see some drive from him but he strolled about allowing his team mates to chase the ball down and do the hard work, I wanted him to take control of the game like Maradona would have done but too often he went missing from the game and when he did eventually receive the ball, it would 9 times out of 10 come to nothing. Seeing his reaction after Mario had scored the all decisive goal for Germany was the icing on the cake for me, if ever there was a time to show some passion, some fight and courage it should've been then...it was as if deep down inside he knew he had already lost the game...Maradona would've made himself heard, he would have gone round each player (whilst Germany were celebrating the goal) and picking the players up, giving them hope for those last 10 minutes that there is still a chance...Maradona would never stop believing

My friend, in my eyes, there are countless differences between Maradona and Messi. Maybe another time i can explain in depth these differences as its very interesting.

Okay, i have read the article and i am still not convinced my friend. The article appears to be very biased in favour of Messi...(you didn't write the article did you?) The fact he was talking about Messi being the most overcritized player...it is like this because he plays well for just one team, Barcelona. A team which consists of some of the best players in the world in Xavi and Iniesta and now Neymar to mention a few...Messi is not the same when he plays for Argentina because he doesn't have these players such as Xavi or Iniesta, etc...

Maradona, unlike Messi, didn't have the luxury of such talented team mates for his club side Napoli. I think at the time they had players such as Careca and Alemao...hardly the cream of the crop, yet Maradona won them the first league title in how ever many years - was this a coincidence? Of course not, it was because of Maradona that they achieved this incredible feat....and if there were any doubts, he went and did the same thing for his country in 1986...winning a tournament all by himself and in an Argentinian team which arguably was 10 times poorer than the team Messi played in for this World Cup! Let me conclude that one man winning a World Cup on his own will never be seen again, not from Messi, not from anyone.

 

[axecutioner18]

The argentinian team was not 10 times pooerer than this one, atleast thats what my dad says. The deal is we know and have heard about the big names in the argentine team like Di Maria, Higuain, Aguero this time, but however their performances were as mediocre as ever. Hence in terms of performance according to my father the 1986 team pulled through much better as he says, that team know Maradona would be their creator, but they had to take responsibility to see of whatever he created. Hence it worked.

If Maradona was such a one man machine, please tell us how many European cups he won 'single handedly'. If Messi's gold standard is to be judged simply by what he achieved in the World Cup, let Maradona be judged so by the European Cup which was definately the most prestigious tournament those days in club level. If Maradona achieved so much with the national team, lets see what he matches up in club level against Messi??

How do the odds sound?

 

[RobertoBagg10]

The argentinian team was not 10 times pooerer than this one, atleast thats what my dad says. The deal is we know and have heard about the big names in the argentine team like Di Maria, Higuain, Aguero this time, but however their performances were as mediocre as ever. Hence in terms of performance according to my father the 1986 team pulled through much better as he says, that team know Maradona would be their creator, but they had to take responsibility to see of whatever he created. Hence it worked.

If Maradona was such a one man machine, please tell us how many European cups he won 'single handedly'. If Messi's gold standard is to be judged simply by what he achieved in the World Cup, let Maradona be judged so by the European Cup which was definately the most prestigious tournament those days in club level. If Maradona achieved so much with the national team, lets see what he matches up in club level against Messi??

How do the odds sound?

Please, call me Andy by the way RobertoBaggio is just my user name who in his day was another great, great player!

I still don't think your grasping my point Axe...Messi is a great player, i am not disputing that whatsoever. What i am trying to explain is that Messi belongs to a Barcelona team which is filled with best players from all over the world...he is not a one man team at Barcelona, therefore the accolades and trophies that he has won at club level is not purely down to him alone, it is down to all the team. I'm sure if you were to ever meet Messi one day and asked him the question about why he's scored so many goals at Barcelona that would answer it was mainly down to the help from his team mates. Find me the stats of how many of Messi's record breaking goals were all down to just Messi and how many were set up for him by another Barcelona player? Also, another point to mention is that Messi is more the striker at Barcelona whereas Maradona was more the creator, thus he created more for his team mates than he scored himself.

So basically, yes Messi's record at club level is second to none, again i am not disputing that...however, put him in a team like Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester utd or Bayern Munich and see if his record would be exactly the same. Better still, put Messi in that 89/90 team of Napoli or the 86 Argentinian World Cup team and see if the outcome would've been the same as it was for Maradona You see, when you reverse it the other way and ask how much better would Maradona have been if he played for Messi's Barcelona team...wow! I couldn't even imagine!

 

[axecutioner18]

Let me ask you... if Burruchaga didnt score that goal from that Maradona pass... would Argentina have won the World Cup? No. Miss that and it would be Germany again. However his goal led to Maradona being given all the credit.

How is it that the same doesnt work for Messi? because Higuain and Palacio were inept? Messi setup those clear chances despite the team setting up to mark him out of the game.

Asfor Barcelona you are mistaken... most seasons Mesi not only does score 50% and more of Barca's goals but also in the top two of the assists makers. So his ability isnt limited to Goal scoring.

 

[RobertoBagg10]

Let me ask you... if Burruchaga didnt score that goal from that Maradona pass... would Argentina have won the World Cup? No. Miss that and it would be Germany again. However his goal led to Maradona being given all the credit.

How is it that the same doesnt work for Messi? because Higuain and Palacio were inept? Messi setup those clear chances despite the team setting up to mark him out of the game.

What chances did Messi set up in the final? Higuains chance came from a Tony Kroos back header and don't think Messi set up a chance for Palacio or Aguero either. I remember Palacio having the other best chance in the game where he lobbed it wide but was that from a Messi through ball? Furthermore, i do remember Messi missing an equally good chance in the second half which he screwed wide...

 

[axecutioner18]

OK with all the conspiracy theories on why he got the Golden Ball, one of the members of the FIFA Technical Committee who are in charge of the award gave a small explanation. He ofcourse didnt go into the details but did mention some of the points that he had taken into account
And guess who the guy is? Its Gerard Houllier.
Read if you like, I know some will still say its a marketing stunt and that all the opta and everything is wrong and they should be in the committee instead of these coaches and statisticians since they obviously can judge and analyse the game much better
https://eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/s...a-technical-study-group-member-174341628.html

 

[leon]

I'll try to summarize soccer and the World Cup to brazilians today:

Most Brazilians blindly love football by nature, but, today, people have become less alienated by football.

Brazilians are also suspicious and definitely, most don't believe in politics due to high corruption that plagues the government.

Many brazilians have understood football as part of "bread and circuses" to cover up the corruption both in soccer as in politics.

As a result: some people decide to don't support the Brazil national football team. It was not my case, but, I feel more excitement supporting my football club (Botafogo Futebol e Regatas) than for Brazillian team.

 

[crows]

I'll try to summarize soccer and the World Cup to brazilians today:

Most Brazilians blindly love football by nature, but, today, people have become less alienated by football.

Brazilians are also suspicious and definitely, most don't believe in politics due to high corruption that plagues the government.

Many brazilians have understood football as part of "bread and circuses" to cover up the corruption both in soccer as in politics.

As a result: some people decide to don't support the Brazil national football team. It was not my case, but, I feel more excitement supporting my football club (Botafogo Futebol e Regatas) than for Brazillian team.

Did people cry and stuff?

 

[franpincho]

I'll try to summarize soccer and the World Cup to brazilians today:

Most Brazilians blindly love football by nature, but, today, people have become less alienated by football.

Brazilians are also suspicious and definitely, most don't believe in politics due to high corruption that plagues the government.

Many brazilians have understood football as part of "bread and circuses" to cover up the corruption both in soccer as in politics.

As a result: some people decide to don't support the Brazil national football team. It was not my case, but, I feel more excitement supporting my football club (Botafogo Futebol e Regatas) than for Brazillian team.

Hmn. They are not supporting them because they don't play well anymore.

No one has that sense of "fear" when they go against Brazil, not even freaking Bolivia. The era in which Brazil was a giant and incredible hard to even get a tie with, are OVER.