"So Greece could win the WC but Portugal can't? " Yes I do, in fact Portugal already lost to them twice at the same tournament in front of their own people. Winning tradition is created in long period but it does have an impact on players/team mentality. There's a reason why those big clubs or team like Brazil, Italy, Germany and Argentina reached multiple WC finals but team like Portugal havent manage to do it once. Without winning tradition, WC would have seen 15 different winners. Juventus wont win 30+ titles.
You can add... You must play badly in qualifier so you have to play 2 extra matches so you can add some more goals.
Like I said, Portugal had a horrible campaign and needed the playoffs. They needed the playoffs because they played like crap which is normal as Portugal historically only start playing better when they are facing elimination. Go figure. Mediocre performance is giving Portugal to much credit. It was horrible. I'm not a Ronaldo fanboy nor an anti-Messi hater so don't lump me in there. It wasn't just Ronaldo fans that said his stats matter, the voters did so he won the Ballon D'or end of story. The conspiracy theories are pretty well thought out this year and even funnier than previous years. Personally, I think the player with the best overall stats should win which most voters seem to agree with that. Previous years, Messi owned the stats so he was the rightful winner.
huh, why? 8 different winners is quite a lot considering we haven't had many World Cups. We haven't had 15 different winners because there aren't even 15 big footballing countries in the world, and usually just 7-8 countries with enough talent to be considered legit contenders in any particular World cup. BTW, Portugal have a much better all-time WC record than Greece.
But Messi's qualifying goals took place in 2011 and 2012. Excluding penalties, Messi scored 0 goals for Argentina in 2013. In contrast, most of Portugal's struggles occurred in 2012. No matter what they did in 2013, they probably weren't going to win that group since they were 5 points behind Russia with just 6 games left at the start of the year. But Ronaldo got 2 hat-tricks for Portugal in 2013. Granted it was a really easy group, but it looked like for a while Portugal weren't going to qualify and they wouldn't have without Ronaldo. Plain and simple. Of course, this same exact argument can be used against the Crynaldo fanboys who cried and complained when Messi won the 2012 Ballon d'Or. You wouldn't hear any Ronaldo fans bring-up WC qualifying games 12 months ago when they were making Ronaldo's case. It was all about the La Liga title then.
Why are Alcorcon always so good in La Copa? They have Espanyol on the ropes now (2-2, but ahead on AG). If they can hang-on they'll play LPB in the next round. Edit: OMG! Two goals for Espanyol in the final 6 minutes gives them a 4-3 aggregate lead.
So, an 8 year old Argentinian boy is being allegedly being shopped around all the big clubs in Spain. He already went to Valdebebas, and supposedly his next stop is a trial at La Masia. 8 years old. 8. Way too young. Let him enjoy the ********ing game, let him have some innocence. He's a kid not a paycheck. Is this the sick future of football? Where do we draw the line? And before anyone says it's hypocritical to say this since we have Messi, well in hindsight, I don't think that was so right either. But Messi moved because he needed life-changing medical treatment he would not get in Argentina. He wasn't shopped around and sold to the highest bidder like prize winning cattle. And at least he was 13 years old at the time. Not ideal, I agree...but not 8 years old.
But is he moving to Spain or is he just going for trials in Spain? Obviously its a bit ridiculous if he gets pulled from his home in Argentina at that age, but I don't see any harm in him going for a try-out in another country.
Aguero returned to action already this evening. Was subbed-on with about 20 minutes to play and scored within a minute in Man City's 5-nil win. Also Levante beat Rayo, so Barca will play Levante 3 times in the next two weeks. yawn
To sign an agreement? I don't know how it works exactly, but I thought one option would be a club can acquire his rights but he'll join the youth programme at a later date. That's how it works in North American sports anyway...
Messi did not even play in last 2 qualifier matches because Argentina already qualified. Penalty? you gotta be kiddig me, Ronaldo is also taking penalties, he's main penalty taker both in club and NT.
I was wondering the same thing, obviously he would have to live in Europe if the tryouts go well. Football is run on money these days, like most sports unfortunately.
I'm not sure what your point is? Yes I know Ronaldo takes penalties. What does that have to do with Messi scoring 0 goals for Argentina in 2013 excl PK's?
That would be unfortunate. I asked because in , say, ice hockey when a young player is signed he often still stays at his local junior team until he is 19-20 years old.
This is a pretty weird statement. As if Ronaldo wasn't in that "horrible campaign" and contributed to Portugal's mediocre performances. In fact, in the crucial game vs. Israel when Ronaldo could have helped Portugal qualify directly, he lashed out with a kung-fu kick that should have earned him red: And then, at the end of that 1-1 draw he drew a deliberate yellow, which allowed him to miss the final group game vs. Luxembourg and clear his disciplinary record for the playoff. FIFA ruled to clear him of a probable suspension. Without these huge bail-outs last year, where would Ronaldo be? Probably not on that stage on Monday.
Not going to railroad this topic by talking about hockey, but the main difference is that more than half the players in the league are Canadian. That's not the case in world football. The NHL has a few ways to get in, but the most popular route is to play in one of the three junior leagues (Western, Ontario and Quebec) between the ages of 15-20. Now kids get drafted by the junior teams when they are 15, and they probably will have to move at that age. So it's not quite 19-20 years old, more like 15-16, which is still better than moving at 13, and definitely much better than 8. With hockey becoming more international (as in, more players outside of North America) I know a few players from Europe have started to move over to play in the Canadian Junior Hockey Leagues, so that they can adapt to the style and pace of the NHL a little better and have a better shot at getting drafted. It should be noted that the ice surfaces in Europe are much larger than in North America. As for Ronaldo, we all know his exploits against Sweden helped him win the Ballon, why else would they extend voting? Though usually it has to be a World Cup win that seals it for a player (not in 2010 obviously). So it looks like winning one of the European playoff ties is now equated to a World Cup win.
Yeah Ronaldo was part of the horrible campaign and turned it around. Not sure what else there is to say. He could of, should of, etc..... He won the Ballon d'or, if haters have a problem, they can keep voicing their concerns on soccer forums all day long.
That's the best part of it all. The year where RM won La Liga, Barca won CDR, and Messi had the overwhelming advantage in stats, they were crying foul. This year Barca wins La Liga, RM wins nothing, Ronaldo has the upper hand in stats ... and suddenly he deserved it. I have no problems with him winning it this year. But the flip-flopping of some his fans in BS is pretty funny.