PT Barnum may have been right 150 years ago, but The Greatest Show on Earth these days gets underway this afternoon, despite the shameful corruption displayed by Fifa. By comparison, the Olympics is a sideshow. My first experience of the World Cup was watching Scotland play Zaire in 1974. For 20-odd years the tournament had participation value for Scotland, even if the joy of being there was short lived.
These days the joy is all about being a neutral football fan and soaking up the drama and brilliance from the game.
Statistically it is difficult to look past Brazil, who will benefit enormously from home advantage. European teams have never won the tournament in the Americans, where Brazil and Argentina have won every competition since Uruguay triumphed in the last time the tournament was held in Brazil 64 years ago.
Leo Time
Lionel Messi was, until recent times, the undisputed best player on the planet, but his position in the all-time greatest list is in considerable dispute. Ask an older Barcelona fan, who has watched Cruyff, Maradona Ronaldo and Messi all do their stuff at the Camp Nou, and they are likely to tell you Leo is by far the better player. His stats as a striker bear this out, but ask an Argentinean, and he’ll scarcely get a mention in the same breath as Diego. There is not even a debate that Messi is the greatest Argentine.
After giving a spectacular display of goal-scoring prowess in 1982, then 25-year-old Diego Maradona singlehandedly led Argentina to their second World Cup in 1986 and back to the final four years later. By Comparison, 26-year-old Messi has looked comparatively pedestrian in his two previous tournaments. He’ll be 30 by the time of the next tournament, which will be held in the completely different environment of Russia. If Messi is to be considered an all-time great, he needs to take Argentina to the final. If his career ends without an outstanding World Cup, he’ll slip somewhere between Eusabio and Cruyff in the list.
I’d like Belgium to win. Belgian clubs and FA go about their business correctly and brought a remarkable bounty of talent to Brazil. It’s always been easy to back Brazil but I’m still not over the Neymar thing. The guy is an abomination in the Brazil No. 10 shirt, a vastly over-rated charlatan. Anyone but Neymar, please.
Bertie Auld live chat, tomorrow, 1pm, on CQN. Be there.
Visit the CQN Bookstore to get Tommy Gemmell to sign your personal copy of his tome, All the Best.
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Neymar 1-1, scuffed shot
Brazil go NUTS!
Neymar – crime pays.
Wid need tae be ratboy that sclaffs an equaliser…
Pletikosa doon like Rab Douglas. :)
Took them at evens so hope they go on now…
Syd Negakev
LOL
Peach of a goal from him that shall not be named!
Cheat
Twists n Turns
Thanks mate
£466 return in this hoose
Mrs said yir invited room for tea and scones
HH
Now I know why we didnae sign Pletikosa!
HH!!
Its all gone quiet over here.
“Anyone but Neymar”
Paul67
Twists
Many thanks ……..ur info was bang on
Took Maynard @ 12s and went back in
again…..when it became a bumper.
Your the man!
well the neymar rat will count as first scorer with the bookies so they will have had the scants removed from them with the amount of folk who would have had that bet on
Pletikosa could have thrown his bunnet on it.
circa 1962 jokes CSC
I like this Perisic guy
Make up your own mind
https://twitter.com/102greatgoals/status/477187295414480896/photo/1
Bournesouprecipe
Auld wans are the best
Hulks a big laddie!!??
He’s incredible
You don’t want to see him when he’s angry
He’d look good in green
He’d suit a green top!
Sign him Peter. Go on go on go on…
MrsDoyleCSC
HH jamesgang
Spoooky!
Or obvious?
;-)
Funnily enough he played for Tokyo Verdy who play in green.
The ole ‘Shake & Vac’ !
Robbie Fowler would snort that
The white spray to keep the “wall” 10 yards
is a good idea.
Scottish refs now only need to learn to count to ten.
That wad Scottish off side :-)
That’s another fine mess you got me into Olic.
Not much of a game. Hibs could take this lot. Hertz and Falkirk too.
HH jamesgang
Robbie Fowler has left the studio and is now down sniffing the 10 yard line.
Blog stuck???
Paddy McCourt @The_Derry_Pele 36m
I remember when Rangers were linked with Ivica Olic, until they realised his wife’s name was Cath
twists n turns…….
Cheers for Mr Maynard.
I had a small bet on a win and passed the info onto my betting buddy who has just been diagnosed with the big C.
His £10 e.w. at 12/1 really did lift his spirits.
Watching in a downtown bar in Chicago so don’t have to gag on biased English commentary.
Glad that the biggest thug in European football Marcello scored an OG for first World Cup goal. Hope someone sticks one on him!
Back to the ESPN studio at HT and it’s Alexi Lallas, Gilberto and Roberto Martinez so balanced perspective, no ex-Huns and no ‘1966ers’.
BTW, England in 66 must be the only team ever to win playing all their games at their home ground! Their semi was ‘switched’ from Goodison to Wembley.
Oh well, it’s 27c outside and the Blues Festival weekend starts tomorrow also. How sad, what a shame, never mind !