World Cup Discussion Thread

[Occhidiangela]

The reason Brazil is always the favorite is because their style of soccer (or football for all the non-American types) is pretty and fun to watch. Add to that the fact that they really *are* usually strong....

OTOH, I've never been a big fan. When I used to play semi-seriously, the most skill-wise talented player on our team was from Brazil. The guy could dribble like no one else on our team. However he was the type of player who would rather take a bad shot than to pass to a teammate who was in a better position. He'd rather look good than make the whole team look good. I'm not saying that they are all like that, but I find their game to be too individualistic for my liking. Of course their skills really are great and that I think is the reason that they've been so successful in World Cups throughout the years, despite their flaws. Their skill often makes up for the lack of teamwork. Thankfully, *often* and not always.
-A

Perhaps they need a few more guys who remember Pele's leadership. There is talent all over that squad.

Part of what made Pele so brilliant was his playmaking ability. Like Michael Jordan in his playoff years, Pele made the players around him better. The best feed/assist I ever saw in a soccer match was Pele, 1970, Finals of the World Cup (Mexico City) Pele ball handling --> Pele passes right and forward without looking for his team mate --> leads him perfectly --> sprinting team mate catches the ball in perfect stride and sends a rocket into the net from just inside the penalty box.

Franz Beckenbauer was another talented play maker, based on my foggy memory of the Bundesliga games I saw as a boy.

Occhi