But a lot of those teams, especially after 1982, were hyped ridiculously. I became bored and fed up with all the commentators slavering over distinctly average players. The modern team is great, but the cheats in the team spoil the achievements. Pele was class and wouldn't have dreamed of diving. I think they have maybe the worst offenders. They may end up playing Argentina, come on Mac!
I’ve seen highlights of many 1970 games. Germany, Italy, Brazil and England all had great teams, what a WC.
Portugal and a few other teams always have that effect on me. 10 outfield cheats running the clock down when a goal up.
Only in the Semi-Final. The Netherlands and Cody Gakpo might have something to say about that first though.
Yes, Portugal are awful. Forgot them for a moment. And Brazil are a great team again.
You must watch the whole 90 mins of the England/Brazil match from 1970. It was the ultimate crossover between 'old skool' and the new 'skillful' game. I still wince when Franny Lee kicks the Brazil keeper in the face, and Brian 'if it moves, kick the f*** out of it' Labone. Terry Cooper and Alan Mullery weren't exactly shrinking violets either
I think that Brazil team also had a latent toughness, coming from the Favela, you’d expect that. My Dad always said they were kicked out of the 66 WC.You must watch the whole 90 mins of the England/Brazil match from 1970. It was the ultimate crossover between 'old skool' and the new 'skillful' game. I still wince when Franny Lee kicks the Brazil keeper in the face, and Brian 'if it moves, kick the f*** out of it' Labone. Terry Cooper and Alan Mullery weren't exactly shrinking violets either
Back in the day we respected and admired Brazil - after all, they would have won four consecutive World Cups were it not for England in '66. Apart from from'58, teams didn't cross the Atlantic and win - in South America, South Americans won it - in Europe, European teams won it. The South Americans were dirty bastards though - not so much shitehousery as ABH - but that was Uruguay and Argentina, and club sides like Racing and Estudiantes, not Brazil.
Part of the problem is that you dont even mention the 60's when Brazil were truly great. I must admit I dearly loved watching Italy destroy them in 1982 because every commentator was spunking themselves every game when it was clear to me they had a flaw which Italy exploited. For a long period they were extremely dirty and completely ignored by the press in that they would dish it out but as soon as they got touched they would roll around for 5 minutes. A great example of this was when Flo for Norway was villified in the press/pundits for "cheating" for a pen against Brazil when the next day pictures of a fistull of shirt pulling occured seemingly this angle was impossible for the media to find the previous day. This overrating of Brazil continued for many years and not recognising other great national teams until after they won the WC the media bias has been really bad for a long time. However having said all that that this is a stunning great to watcch and very good Brazil side and for me it is between them and Argentina for this WC.
Bollocks!You must watch the whole 90 mins of the England/Brazil match from 1970. It was the ultimate crossover between 'old skool' and the new 'skillful' game. I still wince when Franny Lee kicks the Brazil keeper in the face, and Brian 'if it moves, kick the f*** out of it' Labone. Terry Cooper and Alan Mullery weren't exactly shrinking violets either
I'll put it down to the fact that you probably haven't watched that game for a while. After all we both know that we have a long history of taking a contradictory view over long running threads despite continual exponential evidence to the contrary
The difference between European and South American football was binary. Changes were afoot - the latin European clubs, particularly the Italians, were starting to take on 'old skool' South American, and the 'clever stuff' probably started with Celtic (yes, really) - Feyenord spotted how it was going and beat them at their own game in 1970, and the Dutch national team had fully taken it on board by '74.I'll put it down to the fact that you probably haven't watched that game for a while. After all we both know that we have a long history of taking a contradictory view over long running threads despite continual exponential evidence to the contrary
Because I wasn’t born until the mid 60’s
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You’re relentlessI'll put it down to the fact that you probably haven't watched that game for a while. After all we both know that we have a long history of taking a contradictory view over long running threads despite continual exponential evidence to the contrary
More hanging on to a dream, actually!You’re relentless
Yeah, not sure all the samba dancing was a particularly good look for a team clearly out playing their opponents on every area of the field. A little humility wouldn’t have hurt.
You can watch every single game in full on the FIFA website!
