i thought you were going to drop Olaf Thon on me. IMO, '86 was one of the best World Cups in the modern era. surely the best that i've watched. i wish for the newbies, that we had these games recorded so we can could show them on the projector at the Mezz. it would be a great education and had one of the best collection of players ever. the ones i remember playing during the WC and/or during qualifying: Hugo Sanchez Michel Platini Maradona Lothar Mattheus Socrates Enzo Scifo Emilio Butragueno Enzo Francescoli Paolo Rossi Gary Lineker Gianluca Vialli the USSR's defense .....and many more.
Re: [NDR] USMNT vs. México 2/6/2008 at Reliant Stadium - Part II [R] schwabe's right. and besides i've gone on to a more interesting conversation, 86 World Cup. the above conversation is boring me. yawn.
Re: [NDR] USMNT vs. México 2/6/2008 at Reliant Stadium - Part II [R] i'm jealous and i hate you for being at the game. i was going to ask you if 'Abuelo' Cruz was indeed offsides on the goal they called back, but i just re-read the you were behind the goal.
Re: [NDR] USMNT vs. México 2/6/2008 at Reliant Stadium - Part II [R] My viewing point was not the best, but I didn´t see any offside, unfortunately TV never showed a good angle.
Re: [NDR] USMNT vs. México 2/6/2008 at Reliant Stadium - Part II [R] Agree, that would be something. Check this: http://www.lacancha.com/Soccer_V1162.html Maybe as an educational expense from Sr. Cools position as a Coach?
So we do not further derail the US - Mexico thread. Your Opinion(s) on the best World Cup and World Cup Matches in history. One of my favorite matches was this one from 82: [SIZE=+1]WEST GERMANY - FRANCE [/SIZE][SIZE=+1]5-4 ap (3-3,1-1,1-1)[/SIZE] GOALS 17' 1-0 Pierre Littbarski 26' 1-1 Michel Platini (penalty) 92' 1-2 Marius Tresor (assist - Alain Giresse) 98' 1-3 Alain Giresse (assist - Didier Six) 102' 2-3 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (assist - Pierre Littbarski) 108' 3-3 Klaus Fischer (assist - Horst Hrubesch) PENALTIES Goal 0-1 Alain Giresse (FRA) Goal 1-1 Manfred Kaltz (GER) Goal 1-2 Manuel Amoros (FRA) Goal 2-2 Paul Breitner (GER) Goal 2-3 Dominique Rocheteau (FRA) Miss 2-3 Uli Stielike (GER) Miss 2-3 Didier Six (FRA) Goal 3-3 Pierre Littbarski (GER) Goal 3-4 Michel Platini (FRA) Goal 4-4 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (GER) Miss 4-4 Maxime Bossis (FRA) Goal 5-4 Horst Hrubesch (GER) Pure drama from start to finish.
Many of these matches can be downloaded on the internets (torrents). Others can be found on Ebay in homemade DVD form. Socrates was untouchable: the beard, an M.D., and he smoked. He also had some leftish political dealings in Brasil...Anderson can tell you more.
not the best ever, but one of my personal favorites: France 98 Belgium 2 - Mexico 2 20 June 1998 BORDEAUX Goals scored: Marc WILMOTS (BEL) 43, Marc WILMOTS (BEL) 47 Alberto GARCIA ASPE (MEX) 55 Penalty goal, Cuauhtemoc BLANCO (MEX) 62 Sent off: Pavel PARDO (MEX) 28, Gert VERHEYEN (BEL) 54 background: Mexico had lost every friendly before the start of France 98 and not much was expected out of them in this WC. in group stage they had S. Korea (win), Belgium (tie) & Holland (tie). in 98 Holland was an incredibly strong team. so for the 2nd game, Mexico had to minimum tie to be able to advance to round of 16 because they weren't going to get any points off Holland. game: Mexico goes down 2 goals and Pavel Pardo is sent off in the first half. a Belgian takes down Ramon Ramirez in the penalty box and since he was last man with the ball in the direction of the goal, the belgian is properly given the staright red. knowing that they have to tie, Mexico comes in waves until Blanco pulls out his ass what i believe is one of the better/most unique goals of France 98.
anderson is it true or urban legend that he played a couple of games while drunk/buzzing? he also was South American player of the year in 1983. btw, look at this list. that's an incredible list of names. Year Footballer Club 2007 Salvador Cabañas América 2006 Matías Fernández Colo-Colo 2005 Carlos Tévez Corinthians 2004 Carlos Tévez Boca Juniors 2003 Carlos Tévez Boca Juniors 2002 José Cardozo Club Toluca 2001 Juan Román Riquelme Boca Juniors 2000 Romário Vasco da Gama 1999 Javier Saviola River Plate 1998 Martín Palermo Boca Juniors 1997 Marcelo Salas River Plate 1996 José Luis Chilavert Vélez Sarsfield 1995 Enzo Francescoli River Plate 1994 Cafú São Paulo FC 1993 Carlos Valderrama Atlético Junior 1992 Raí São Paulo FC 1991 Oscar Ruggeri Vélez Sarsfield 1990 Raúl Vicente Amarilla Olimpia 1989 Bebeto Vasco da Gama 1988 Rubén Paz Racing Club 1987 Carlos Valderrama Deportivo Cali 1986 Antonio Alzamendi River Plate 1985 Romerito Fluminense 1984 Enzo Francescoli River Plate 1983 Sócrates Corinthians 1982 Zico Flamengo 1981 Zico Flamengo 1980 Diego Maradona Argentinos Jrs. 1979 Diego Maradona Argentinos Jrs. 1978 Mario Kempes Valencia CF 1977 Zico Flamengo 1976 Elías Figueroa Internacional 1975 Elías Figueroa Internacional 1974 Elías Figueroa Internacional 1973 Pelé Santos FC 1972 Teófilo Cubillas Alianza Lima 1971 Tostão Cruzeiro
I only remember 4 WC's. Not sure if I watched '90, I was only six. Best WC match for me: WC 2002 US v. Mexico.
Mexico should have won the game with their talent... Glad the red devils from BELGIUM for such a small country played to a tie against such a huge soccer power house mexico WAS!! Vive La Belgique!!!
The best team I've liked in the World Cups would have to be Holland's '74 and '78 teams. I don't remember them losing to W. Germany, but when they played against Argentina in '78 it was a very colorful game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ4RCQRBsQ0&feature=related here's a better looking one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP4zu1G-iL4&feature=related
One of my favorite World Cup games was in the Round of 16 in 1998. Germany 2 (Klinnsman 75, Bierhoff 86) Mexico 1 (Hernandez 47) I was a huge fan of all three of the goal scorers and I thought the match was as well played as possible.
One of my favorite matches involving the Belgians was the match with the USSR in 86. The Soviets led twice in Regulation and each time the Belgians equalized. They then went on to win 4:3 in OT. That was after the USSR breezed through the Group Stages with a 9:1 Goal differential and the Belgians struggled in the same only qualifying as one of the better third place teams. Belgium then upset Spain in the 1/4 Finals and only lost to Argentina in the semis. I think the third place game against France went into OT as well with France winning third overall.
Number one on my personal list is Greece-Bulgaria in Chicago in 1994. Stoitchkov was all over the field and scored two PKs. It is number one for me because that was the only World Cup match that I ever attended. That was the only game that I could get off work to attend that summer. I almost made it to the U.S.-Swiss game at the Silverdome but I was managing a summer camp and just couldn't get away. 1990 was the first time that I was able to watch a lot of the World Cup. In the World Cups before that I was mostly relying on reading about games and then watching the finals because that was all that aired. The England-West Germany match in 1990 is the one I remember the most even though it was probably not a great game. I should go back and watch some of the old games. I understand a lot more of the game now and I could appreciate them better.
You mean the 4:3 after PK's? It was a nailbiter for sure, but not a great game IMO. The round before that with Germany vs Holland (the spitting Dutchman game) was a much better game. That Game was played with 10 a side from early on after both Rijkaard and Voeller got ejected. Why Voeller got ejected after being the player spat on is still a bit of a mystery. One of the better matches from the entire Cup was the Italy vs US, even with a loss the US earned much respect for the performance in that game. Especially after getting blown out by Yugoslavia in their opening match. All in all 90 was a pretty disappointing WC. Even though the correct team won.
I love Sócrates, mostly because I happened to be living in São Paulo in the early 80s while he was having some of his best moments for Corinthians and for the national team. I've heard those rumors about him playing while drunk. I doubt it. I'm admitedly biased because I've been a fan for over 20 years, but he had a very long and successful professional career and I'm not sure anyone's ever been able to point to a game where that may have been the case. He was also usually a leader, often the captain, of some pretty impressive teams for Corinthians and Brazil (including those amazing teams with Zico, Falcão, etc.). It's unlikely that his coaches and teammates would've trusted him if had those kinds of problems. He did have a reputation for heavy drinking and some hard partying, but that's a different matter. He was also a pretty big deal in the democratization and leftist movements at that time, as ethan points out. He was basically a leftist intellectual who happened to also have been one of the most gifted soccer players that Brazil has ever produced. He was a member of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers' Party), the leading leftist political party that was emerging during the transition from the military regime to democracy. His interviews on TV tended to involve politics more than soccer and he could discuss leftist political theory. There probably just haven't been many world class soccer players who could also debate dialectical materialism. He's just a pretty interesting guy, to the extent that you find that sort of thing interesting. (To be fair, the Brazilian military regime was always more lenient than its counterparts in other South American countries (it was the textbook political science example of the "bureaucratic authoritarianism" regime type) and the last President of that regime, João Figueiredo, had already begun the "abertura" process that was designed to transition to democracy. That's not to say that Sócrates and others weren't taking some risks - and at the very least their leadership helped the process - but Figueiredo wasn't exactly running a brutal operation (when asked about his legacy and how he wanted to be remembered by the Brazilian people, he said "me esqueçam" - "forget me") and the regime was already phasing itself out. But anyway, there you go.)
you're welcome for 1990. after all it was a Mexican ref (Eduardo Codesal) who called the non-existent PK in that final. and i have to agree that US-Italy was one of the best games of a very disappointing WC. for you that didn't watch this game, when you have time look at the line-ups. the US had no business losing only 1-0 to Italy, in Rome nevertheless. it would be the equivalent of a Senor Cool's Lamar High School team losing 1-0 to the Dynamo in a sold-out Robertson. Tony Meola played his ass-off in that game. very similiar to Shaka Hislop holding-off England in WC 06. the Luis Hernandez goal is quality. the one he missed is even better quality. [youtube]N_U74KzvGUc[/youtube] you could of stopped at Stoit.... seriously, Stoitchkov was an animal and his left leg was amazing. for proof see the goals he scored in 94 against Mexico & Germany. pretty much one of the best players in the world the 1st half of the 1990s.
Lemme see...Brasil v CCCP in 82, when the evil reds went ahead only to be crushed (well, 2-1 I think) by the Brasilians. 94, Brasil - Holland, 5 goals in 2nd half, in Dallas...and I was there! 78, Argentina Holland, after the Argentines bought Peru off and scored 5 or 6 goals to advance, which was the only mathematical way to advance. Or something. All the Cameroon games in 90 and Nigeria in 94. Especially Cameroon Colombia, where Higuita came out and lost the ball to the legend Mila. I got tons more, but the above where the ones, especially in 78 and 82, that cemented my love of the game when I was young. Let's not forget 06, where the Portuguese had a great run (with a memorable game against the Dutch) and only lost to a diving PK by the French. Then got crushed by Germany...but who counts 3rd place games?