2018 FIFA World Cup
- Thread starter DalilaD
- Start date
Wise words ... they seemed to fall apart after the OG like a mini Brazil '14. Salah looked just a little lost without some of his Liverpool teammates ....
I don't think anyone saw this coming from Russia, except the Putin conspiracy theorists, of course, lol. Their movement has been very impressive so far. If Cavani/Suarez are not on fire against the Saudis then Russia could win the group with just a draw against Uruguay ....
Meta, sometimes things don't go the way we think they should...I picked Poland to beat Senegal today!...don't forget we have the minority opinion!
Predictions for Wednesday:
Portugal 2 Morocco 2
Uruguay 4 Saudi Arabia 0
Spain 2 Iran 0
It's been a fun tournament so far ...
Portugal 2 Morocco 2
Uruguay 4 Saudi Arabia 0
Spain 2 Iran 0
It's been a fun tournament so far ...
Mexican Federation Fined $10,000
This is punishment for anti-gay comments directed at the German goalie:
http://www.espn.com/soccer/mexico/story/3536039/fifa-fines-mexico-federation-$10,000-for-chants-in-germany-match
This is punishment for anti-gay comments directed at the German goalie:
http://www.espn.com/soccer/mexico/story/3536039/fifa-fines-mexico-federation-$10,000-for-chants-in-germany-match
Absolutely correct Doc. That`s why Russia will win.
More interestingly have any of you guys, besides Doc and I, fucked an escort who dated a world cup player ?
Argentina sucks goat balls, that’s why they performed so badly at the Copa tournament as well. They are not as good as they once were.
Brazilians in the bar next to me pissing themselves laughing, all the way from the Caballero howler to the Messi exit at the end ....
T'as eu la chance d'être dans le vestiaire de l'Argentine en même temps que ces deux gars-là? Chanceux, toi!
Messi does not have a great team around him but even when Argentina had some better teams a few years ago, they got outhustled and out played by Chile in the Copa tournament, in which Messi sucked bad enough to quit the national team. At the time it seemed like a defeated overreaction by a frustrated player, who in fact did not play well in that tournament. I think there may be something to the criticism of his leadership abilities. Of course it is easier to lead when you have talent to lead. That being said, LeBron James just staged one of the greatest individual performances in NBA playoff history and it was nothing short of miraculous that he took a Cleveland Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals, where they expectedly got trounced. That is leadership- leadership of a team that was not great but LeBron James got in the driver's seat and pushed that car with a weak engine to a second place finish. I do not see that Messi has a similar ability to lift up a deficient team.
Messi does not have a great team around him but even when Argentina had some better teams a few years ago, they got outhustled and out played by Chile in the Copa tournament, in which Messi sucked bad enough to quit the national team. At the time it seemed like a defeated overreaction by a frustrated player, who in fact did not play well in that tournament. I think there may be something to the criticism of his leadership abilities. Of course it is easier to lead when you have talent to lead. That being said, LeBron James just staged one of the greatest individual performances in NBA playoff history and it was nothing short of miraculous that he took a Cleveland Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals, where they expectedly got trounced. That is leadership- leadership of a team that was not great but LeBron James got in the driver's seat and pushed that car with a weak engine to a second place finish. LeBron has taken his team to the NBA finals in 9 straight seasons I believe, which is remarkable and unprecedented. I do not see that Messi has a similar ability to lift up a deficient team.
I don't want to sound like a broken record in regards to Messi being the most overrated football player of his generation and perhaps the greatest choker of all time, however, it is pretty obvious that he is "garbage" in the eyes of many Argentinians! And I will leave it with the following quote from the great JF Kennedy:
In the end all that counts is: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,”
Messi will never be mistaken for the second coming of Maradona, or those other greats who have willed and helped their team to win WC. Fact is, he's not in the same league because first of all, he's not a team player and second, he's a quitter. Fun to watch for individual dribbling around opponents and goals scored. An uninspiring drag of a football player to watch also when his team is down.
As long as he's a member of the national team, Argentine will never win the WC.
As long as he's a member of the national team, Argentine will never win the WC.
Sharkman football is just a game.
You guys are all wrong.
Messi got the golden ball as most valuable player of the WC 2014. He was really close just losing the final. Again it's just 1 game..
He is an absolute great ball striker that broke records in Barcelona.
Media talk would say he is not a leader in the locker room. That is bullshit. Anyone who has played high level sport will tell you how much this is an invention hype of the media. No one has scored from the locker room
The line to make it or not at the WC is very thin. Seems down the road Ronaldo will prove to surpass Messi this year in history this year if he makes it to the final and win it. Great for him if he does. Still my favorite player to watch remains Messi, followed by Iniesta of Spain
Cheers,
I respect your opinion Jalimon. Messi is a great player and has set many records with Barcelona (50 goals, etc, etc). But when the eyes of a nation are pointed at you and all the pressure is on you...you have to come through!...show leadership!...make your teammates better by elevating your game and their game as well!
If you look at Barcelona the key player is Iniesta...I love this guy as well!...IMHO he is the glue that holds Barcelona together with his midfield play. He reminds me of a speedier version of Didier Deschamps.
I would like to see Iniesta play with Argentina and see what would happen...I think the result would be much much different!
If you look at Barcelona the key player is Iniesta...I love this guy as well!...IMHO he is the glue that holds Barcelona together with his midfield play. He reminds me of a speedier version of Didier Deschamps.
I would like to see Iniesta play with Argentina and see what would happen...I think the result would be much much different!
Media talk would say he is not a leader in the locker room. That is bullshit. Anyone who has played high level sport will tell you how much this is an invention hype of the media. No one has scored from the locker room
You're taking the term locker room leadership too literally. Anyone who's played TEAM sports regardless whether it's high or low level would know exactly what that stands for, e.g. team spirit that extends beyond the locker room to the playing field. True, you can't score from the locker room. But you can effect attitude adjustments and loser mentality with locker room leadership.
I have coached boy's and girl's youth sports and I agree with Versaute's post. Years ago I was asked by a girl's softball league (a town summer league for high school girls) to coach a team they added to the league because more girls were interested than they expected. In essence, my team was the Las Vegas Golden Knights of that league, because I had all the girls nobody else wanted for their teams, but there was enough overflow for another team. It was looking like a certain last place finish in that league for that team, but a lucky thing happened. One of the top 3 female players in that town, who originally was not going to play summer ball, decided she wanted to, and she fell into our lap. This changed our whole season, because not only was she a top 3 player in the town, she was an excellent all around athlete and most importantly, a great leader by example. When your best player is also your hardest worker, has the best attitude, is first to show up at practice and the last to leave, consistently hustles, consistently roots for her teammates and gives them positive reinforcement, the rest of the team takes notice. She was our starting centerfielder and de facto team captain, and her positive energy wore off on the team, which had a few girls that had serious self esteem issue (including our best pitcher, who was prone to bursts of wildness and walks which would lead to her having near nervous breakdowns on the mound, and me having to make numerous mound visits to calm her ass down. Coaching girls requires lots of patience and behaving as a counselor more than an ass-whipper).
That girl's addition to the team was monumental, and we won the league championship by one game. It was the highlight of my coaching career, but truthfully that girl, our starting CF, was our team leader and I personally witnessed the incredible positive effect she had on her teammates. There is no way we would have even sniffed that championship wiithout her- the team was last place material without her and there was not a wide margin between first and last place in that league, which was competitive.
By the way, another one of the top 3 players in the town was my own sister, a shortstop, who did not play for my team because she had a pre-existing commitment to another one of the other coaches in the league. My sister's team was favored to win the league, but they finished second to us.
That girl's addition to the team was monumental, and we won the league championship by one game. It was the highlight of my coaching career, but truthfully that girl, our starting CF, was our team leader and I personally witnessed the incredible positive effect she had on her teammates. There is no way we would have even sniffed that championship wiithout her- the team was last place material without her and there was not a wide margin between first and last place in that league, which was competitive.
By the way, another one of the top 3 players in the town was my own sister, a shortstop, who did not play for my team because she had a pre-existing commitment to another one of the other coaches in the league. My sister's team was favored to win the league, but they finished second to us.
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