Ah, he said this himself as well 🎙 Thibaut Courtois: “There was a magazine [FourFourTwo] in England that didn't put me in the top 10 goalkeepers in the world by the way.”— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) May 28, 2022 🗣️ "A lot of people laughed at me...now here I am as a winner..." 🏆Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois says he doesn't get the 'recognition' he deserves for his time at #CFC 🔵 pic.twitter.com/ZiIdx9vCM1— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 29, 2022 He did have some up and down periods though, and some weaker years (but then again, someone like e.g. Neuer can make major errors in successive tournaments - vs Hungary 2021 - and CL campaigns and nobody cares). Goalkeeping errors in Europe's top five league since 2014/15:🇪🇸 De Gea: 10🇩🇪 Ter Stegen: 8🇧🇪 Courtois: 8🇧🇷 Alisson: 7🇮🇹 Buffon: 5🇸🇮 Oblak: 3 pic.twitter.com/qKn2v9Z4dR— GOAL (@goal) January 7, 2019
Yeah, perhaps attention more easily draws to the 'home nation' goalie Casillas, including for the 2002 sub appearance (not to say it wasn't notable though): Kiyan Sobhani on Twitter: "shoutout to when Iker came off the bench in the champions league final and saved la Novena. https://t.co/uiWXtxr1jx" / Twitter Real Madrid: Iker Casillas' performance in the 2002 Champions League final is underrated | GiveMeSport I suppose Dudek (playing for Liverpool at the time) got quite a bit of recognition for his 2005 Final performance, although maybe it (or his name in general) is more likely to fade from memory/recognition as the years go by too....
Yeah, in comparison to Grobbelaar maybe so. Dudek was a bit erratic imho but had nevertheless an okay career. I'm not a Real Madrid fan though! Yes, I am aware of what Sid Lowe and Phil Ball have written on this (Franco became only personally attached later) but it is basically the original 'sportswashing' project, in what was back then one of the poorest countries in Europe, poorer even than some of the Warsaw Pact countries. While Atletico Madrid was indeed not clearly disadvantaged, the various teams outside the capital definitely were in my mind (with regulations, finances, with party memberships of the officials like Bernabeu as important mediator). However, the current incarnation of Barcelona and such can hardly claim the moral high ground, and standing one step higher in the staircase of civilization...
One other comment I read: "It's striking that Real is not participating in the madness keepers have to play good football and that backs especially have to have a good cross; and then always get proven right in big matches. Trent falls through the ice once again and Carvajal has knocked Diaz out of the game." With footballing keepers, with certain physical characteristics now being the default, maybe it does not help for Courtois getting noticed..
It's possibly going a bit off topic, as we probably can't see footage of Ladislao Kubala's best games (maybe some in highlight form, including even the game for Rest of the World vs England - Rest of Europe is probably the better description and even then, it didn't include Hungarians of course for example...other than Kubala himself by place of birth), but I read recently that apparently Samitier used some sort of connection with the Franco regime to help complete the transfer of Kubala to Barcelona, while Real Madrid wanted to buy him too...which seems a bit counter-intuitive!).
That's one aspect where Van der Sar had an advantage he doesn't of course. The role of a right back (as opposed to outright wing-back) and the best assets (including vs comparable opposition) could be an interesting topic - also in terms of teams compensating with an overly defensive midfield to allow full-backs to attack more and be covered etc (not to say that fits Liverpool exactly).
Liverpool can play that way because of the sweeping goalkeeper and VvD (see TAA in 2020-21 as a contrast). The changes in midfield has put even more responsibility on them, with as paradoxical result them not showing all their abilities (for ex. declined dribbling). Even then it is not always 100% safe, such as with the goal yesterday where VvD had to cover both the overlap and the (hail mary) cross. It are tight margins. The way he put Benzema offside (that whole sequence, positioning and movement) was very good though. https://one-versus-one.com/en/players/virgil-van-dijk https://theanalyst.com/2022/05/premier-league-team-of-the-season-optajoe-xi/ That over 25% of the crosses by wingbacks 'fail' is another challenge in this (TAA has something like a 70-80% accuracy; the ball landing near the target). It is noticeable Real Madrid tends to have one defensive full-back. Somehow the crowd accepts of Ancelotti things they didn't accept of Capello et al.
Also by the alliance and the same contempt machinery (this guy Rohl has apparently replaced the binned Maric as the chief poindexter ): https://theathletic.com/3339176/2022/05/30/real-madrid-liverpool-tactical-breakdown/ Of course, rather than the soft soaped Klopp or Konate it is Van Dijk who gets thrown under the bus ('politically' and for the future employment networks the smart choice). If he does what Rohl says he should do (move towards the ball) then either the quick Valverde or Benzema on the front foot gets launched into space (VvD is coaching Konate about Benzema in his back), plain and simple. A much more dangerous proposition and riskier odds. Protecting the center in these situations is also how the Italians like Chiellini have always done this, and calculated the odds. Anyway, Van Gaal said today that he is very tired: "Virgil van Dijk plays in one of the Four Nations League matches with Oranje. The Dutch team captain will leave after the match against Belgium, in Brussels. ,,He needs after a long season rest, he is now at the end of his tether." Van Dijk played 59 full matches this season. "I would like to give Van Dijk a leave," said Van Gaal. ,,He was summoned today, otherwise he would miss the evaluation of the Germany game (1-1) and when we put the wrong pressure. He is the general, so he must be present. He only plays one game and then goes on holiday. " "Van Dijk has had a truly terrible injury," Van Gaal explained. "He has, I believe of all the players in the Premier League played the most matches. Then it is logical that he is at the end of his rope? If you know Virgil, he wants to play everything if he can be of use. But we must also listen to our doctors. And sometimes it's not wise to play. " https://www.ad.nl/nederlands-voetba...hij-is-aan-het-eind-van-zijn-latijn~a8887bf3/ Let's hope the VAR will also not mess up these national team matches (like Ned vs Ger game that Oranje should have won; with the flowers going to Attwell).
The names they love Nesta and Maldini apparently never got dribbled past before or looked shaky 😭— Maurice 🇯🇲🇧🇧 (@myles_morris) June 30, 2022 Only thing is: is it is not only Henry accomplishing this. Someone as Quinton Fortune did the same a few years later, also from the left, at the same spot.
Recently named by The Athletic to be the greatest individual performance in Premier League's history — Schmeichel single-handedly stops Keegan's Newcastle and decides the fate of the title race. “We played out of our skins but you could have chucked a handful of rice at Peter Schmeichel that night and he would have kept out every grain,” says Keegan. “It was the greatest goalkeeping performance I had ever witnessed.” “Peter was unbelievable as he thwarted Newcastle time and again,” writes Ferguson. “Our first concerted attack did not come until just before the interval. It was a relief to gather in the dressing room and take stock of our position.”
The full England vs Rest of the World(Rest of Europe excluding Hungary? - Di Stefano was originally set to play btw according to the Englandfootballonline site) is available on Youtube now I see England Match No. 282 - Rest of the World - 21 October 1953 - Match Summary and Report (englandfootballonline.com) England v Rest of the World October 1953 - YouTube @harms has made a Stanley Matthews compilation (I saw that one already but I realise he made them for Matthews vs Scotland and Germany in the mid 50s as well as the 'Matthews' FA Cup Final of 1953 now too) At first viewing (bearing in mind the footage is not as clear as for the available highlights, and at times Kenneth Wolstenholme goes through a period of play without announcing who is on the ball) I'd say Matthews, though not involved a big amount overall, would have been in the mix for MOTM - I'd probably say it's Vukas, him or Kubala myself and estimate a rating of about 8.5 for each. Maybe Ocwirk could get an 8, and after that I think Cajkowski, Posipal and Boniperti might each have done enough of what they were good at to be on about 7.5, but I wouldn't be far away from saying similar about Nordahl, Hanappi or Beara (who made one particularly good save shown on the Matthews highlights after coming on as sub), and Zebec has got to be close to a 7 at least I'd think so pretty much the whole Rest of the World team had good games I think (the mix up between Navarro and Zemen that gave away a goal might put them a bit further back, although Zemen especially (because Navarro was generally neat and tidy and quite alert I'd say) might be anyway for this particular game maybe, not that he hadn't played exceptionally to get his reputation as being a Rest of the World pick previously, and talking of great saves I noticed he was making those vs Hungary earlier in 1953 for example). England players had their moments of promise in attack (and Lofthouse links well to set up Mortensen for an excellent goal), and there were some good interventions by defensive players (certainly including the goalie Merrick making saves) occasionally (even though it was difficult to contain the opposition when they were in possession), but yeah I'd say Matthews seems the obvious, probably clear, choice as top English player.
The Englandfootballonline site should have said the pass for Boniperti's second goal was by Vukas actually, evidently (the footage is clear at that point, and Vukas plays the pass after a one-two with Nordahl, who had also pre-assisted the other Boniperti goal of course, like all available footage of that one always showed I think). Maybe interesting to compare the Rest of Europe/World team performances to the Hungary players vs England the same year (quite soon afterwards). Going from memory of watching the Hungary game (rather than re-watching today) I'd say, just based on these games, combining the teams into one XI could go like this: GK - Probably Grosics would get the nod but if Beara had had a whole game potentially it'd have been a close call (both did their most impressive work saving efforts to prevent goals after Matthews set up chances!). RB - I think I'd say Buzanszky, maybe even without the back-pass faux pas by Navarro, but more on the defensive side than when in possession probably. CB - Posipal over Lorant I think, making quite a few good interventions and doing well facing Lofthouse in general (maybe better than the Hungarian in possession also). LB - I'd go with Hanappi over Lantos, being better and more involved in possession (including playing what might have been an assist if Vukas had not been brought down for the penalty) and also doing a thorough marking job on Matthews (even though not a completely successful one of course!). RHB - Bozsik over Cajkowski overall, though up to a certain point of the 1st half I might have been seeing it the other way possibly. LHB - Ocwirk over Zakarias, although the latter made a good 4th defender for Hungary and that kind of role wouldn't suit Ocwirk as much I suppose (so whether he'd improve Hungary's team could be debateable - I'd say though that he wasn't really the more attacking partner with Cajkowski - Cajkowski got forwards towards the opposition area a little more even and it might be Ocwirk was back near his own area slightly more too) RW - Boniperti over Budai, probably even without his goals, but certainly with them (interesting to see how many times he made the runs into the central area to receive passes/crosses - it wasn't only when he scored) IR - Kubala over Kocsis, even though the latter certainly played well/very well I'd say, and again he might be more suitable in Hungary's system alongside Puskas. 'CF' - Hidegkuti over Nordahl (in truth their roles were a bit different although Nordahl did play as a 'deep dropping' centre forward pretty well quite often at least actually himself - probably a year or few past his prime but did link play well and didn't have a lot of chances to shoot) IL - Puskas over Vukas, but not by a big margin I think. LW - I think a really close call between Czibor and Zebec (both were a bit average/lacking in end product having got in good positions maybe, although both still assisted a goal and played a good part in fluent moves at other moments too), but maybe an edge to the Hungarian for being slightly more elusive and effervescent (both ended up on the right wing at times interestingly, and it seemed to be a tactic for sure with Zebec which was working well). So I have it at 6-5 to Hungary (interestingly given they won by a comfortable score and the ROTW drew their game - Hungary had familiarity as a plus of course but the ROTW were very good in their interplay too to be fair). I'd say though that in terms of marks out of 10 I'd be having Hidegkuti possibly up at a 9.5 (if using increments of 0.5), and Bozsik and Puskas too in the region of 8.5 to 9 probably, so Matthews wouldn't be in contention for top 3 of the game IMO even though his performance was maybe close to as good (and quite similar in some respects) in the Hungary game too (maybe with Kocsis and Grosics for example it'd be more touch and go whether he might be rated above, and probably I'd give him a higher rating than Czibor) - again from memory I think I'd have put him as top England player vs Hungary too anyway.
Just to expand on the above couple of posts - it looks to me like the bottom result here is saying that the Hungarians Bozsik, Kocsis and Puskas were originally selected as part of the FIFA squad to play the warm-up/trial games ahead of the England vs Rest of World/Europe game: Results for 'puskas kubala' | Between 1st Jan 1953 and 31st Dec 1953 | British Newspaper Archive
GameofGoals has done a page for this game now I see (I know they've done several games since I last posted any). They've actually rated all players for this game too (which isn't typical of how they do it - I say 'they' but it's maybe whichever of their people looks at and reviews the game so Francesco Sabar in this case it seems....): 1953: Inghilterra-Resto del mondo 4-4 - Game of Goals Translated ratings/verdicts: England Merrick 6.5 Honest craftsman of the door, woody and technically rudimentary but effective and author of some good parade. Ramsey 6 Good feet combined with poor mobility, he is lucky enough to happen on the side of Zebec, a linear player that he manages to contain. He scores the penalty goal of the unexpected equalizer. Ufton 4.5 Classic midfielder "brush" from English WM, against Nordahl he practically never sees it. Wright 6.5 Authentic soul and leader of the albionic midfield, omnipresent in the defensive phase, certainly revisable feet and technique. Eckersley 4 He plays as a left-back opposite to Boniperti and is a real disaster, slow and technically poor. Dickinson 5 A classic midfielder, he is often in no man's land with Kubala often joking at him. BEST Matthews 7.5 The only player of crystalline class of the English eleven, in dribbling humiliates Hanappi several times and puts his hand in at least two goals of the Winterbottom team. Mortensen 6.5 Classic attacking bull that in this game acts as a midfielder, inexhaustible but often confusing. Lofthouse 7 Classic battering ram typical of English football, so-so feet but great physical presence and competitive malice that Posipal struggles to contain. Quixall 5.5 Another English half as versatile as inconsistent and messy, does not show anything that. Mullen 7 He is one of the strengths of Wolverhampton Wanderers and it shows, even if he has to "thank" the offensive direction of Matthews, he is a fast and nosy winger who knows how to move well on the offensive front and attack the goal with the right time. REST OF THE WORLD Zeman 6 Classic 50s goalkeeper, elegant and snappy, small in stature and therefore not very comfortable on high slopes. Some good intervention worthy of note, especially outgoing. From 44′ pt Beara 7 He enters the second half and proves to be a goalkeeper of a higher class than the good Austrian, feline in reflexes and more confident in exits and dominance in the area. Fantastic his long, low and tense postponements in drop with the ball that often arrives in the opponent's area. Navarro 5 The Real Madrid full-back is the only player of not excellent class in the Rest of the World, he has great difficulty containing Mullen and combines it big on the second goal. Posipal 5.5 The German is a classic systemist midfielder, physical but also dynamic in the movements, he too often struggles against the physicality of Lofthouse. Hanappi 5 The Austrian is a versatile player who knows how to play in every role but put on the left-handed out as a system fullback to face a specialist like Matthews he constantly goes doll. Cajkowski 7 The Yugoslav plays a great game as a right midfielder, he is an authentic all-rounder who combines running with good feet, a little in difficulty only in defending. Ocwirk 7 Classic midfielder from Metodo, very skilled in the game of shuttling from one area to another, in this game he plays as a system midfielder and is a bit "imprisoned" in his midfield tile where he still releases class and wise direction. THE BEST Boniperti 8 The best in the field, he starts from the right wing but in reality varies on the entire offensive front. Although he does not possess the physicality of Nordahl and the pure technique of Kubala, he can do a bit of everything demonstrating a hunger and a competitive malice with few equals. Kubala 8 Classic Danube Half Method, slow and composed but with a pure technique and a fairy foot, although not running much is always in the right place at the right time and scores a double. Nordahl 7.5 Complete striker, a bison with honey feet and the agility of a dancer. In fact, he already plays Hidegkuti by giving headaches to slow opposing players, half a vote less only because (inexplicably) he makes a lot of mistakes in the finalization phase. Vukas 7 A sort of Yugoslav Puskas, technical, short and razzente even if very anarchoid, it is often the most advanced terminal of the attack of the Rest of the World. Zebec 7 A "balancer" left winger, the Croatian is a versatile and linear player capable of doing everything, he often reverses position with Boniperti even if he often lacks the final flash.
After that game, Sir Alex Ferguson said: "[Neuer] was fantastic; in my time at United it was probably the finest display of goalkeeping against us." Neuer is arguably the best player in history at his position. He revolutionized the position. In addition to his defensive qualities he still plays with his feet. This puts him above goalkeepers like Buffon, Casillas, etc... He is for goalkeepers what Beckenbauer is for the central defenders
A rout because Maradona was directly involved in 6 goals Maradona vs pescera 88/89 2 goals(0 pens)+3 assists+1 pre assist Scoreline 8-2 Stat padding is when your team scores 8 and you score 1 Not when you are the sole architect of the win Minus his 6 direct goal contributions and you are left with a draw instead of one the biggest margins of victory in 1980s Serie A
Rivelino vs Italy - 1970 WC Final pic.twitter.com/IpVzCobVWN— 𝕄𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠 🔴 (@Sendo922) October 5, 2023 That were a true masterclass in a world cup final. Rivelino is underrated imo
Zico 1982 Brazilian league semifinal Guarani 2 - Flamengo 3(the best Zico performance to me) Zico 1986 - Rio (carioca) Championship Flamengo 4 fluminense 1 Falcão - Internacional 3 Palmeiras 2 - Brazilian league semifinal 1979 Giovanni - Santos 5 Fluminense 2 1995 - Brazilian league semifinal 1995