Running, all-purpose World Cup thread

You want the best midfielder in the last month, I'm taking Zidane.

 

Absoloutley. But once everyone returns back to their respective club teams, we'll get to see how good Ronaldinho is again. But I will say this, Zidane has been playing great. He's one of the greatest of all time and I love to watch him play. He sort of passed the torch to Ronaldinho, and now, Cristiano Ronaldo. Those two have the same type of game as Zidane. They both have the ability to make spectacular dribbling moves. Ronaldinho has become a great passer, but Ronaldo hasn't gotten that part of the game yet.

 

Zidane was in Beckenbauer, Maradona territory before this World Cup. It's forgotten that both of those two only won one Cup apiece. God-like status is afforded to guys like Cruyff, Platini, Zico, Van Basten, etc. Zidane has done far more.

If France wins Sunday, he vaults himself into greatest European player of all-time territory. Or at least the most important cog in one of the most accomplished teams of all-time.

I hope he does it. He's great to watch when's he's in top form.

 

This reminds of when I was talking about this with my father. He said the same you said. Another thing also came up when we were talking was that were does Ronaldo fall in this? Yes, he's had his weight problems, but he's got the all time goal record and he has 2 world cups under his belt.

 

Ronaldo's definitely in the mix. He had nine goals in the 2002 World Cup and was pivotal in two others. He can be infuriating, but his record speaks for itself. He's definitely one of the greatest of all-time.

 

I'm not so sure of that last statement, pho.

I think Zidane is staking his claim to the "best player of his generation" label, especially with France's run to the finals this time. Ronaldinho's got a World Cup crown and a Champions League crown under his belt already, as Zidane has, so that's a start. Ronaldinho's still young, so he's got time. But he came up very poorly in this World Cup, and he still hasn't achieved the club-team heights that Zidane did for a decade at Juventus and Real Madrid. Plus, Zidane might get a second Cup on Sunday, and he's been the leader on both the '98 and '06 squads. Ronaldinho played second fiddle to Ronaldo in '02, he'll be 31 in 2010, and who really knows what the landscape will be like in soccer/football in four years.

So for my money, Zidane is the "best player of his generation," hands down.

 

Yeah, he'll be 30 in 2010 but he'll still be with Adriano and Robinho(I think that's how you spell it?). If Ronaldinho adds a few more Champions League crowns and another World Cup title, you would have to put him up there. I can see why you would say that Zidane is the best player of our generation, but I agree with that for now. I believe that Ronaldinho will be up there with the Peles and the Platinis when it's all said and done.

 

Interesting that the writer choses to recall the '94 WC as one with "relative success." Most attended WC ever. The rumblings that South Africa will not be ready are growing louder and louder and with the infrastructure already in place, and the desire not to have back-to-back tournaments in Europe make the US a perfect spot for WC 2010.

His lead paragraph sucked. Nobody in there right mind said we were going to bring the trophy home. The majority of us thought it would be great if we just got out of the group stage. Did we play well, no, but this wasn't a setback of '98 proportions.

 

Apologies if this is a D_B...
Did anyone read the Wall Street Journal today and its rip job on ABC/ESPN's coverage?
I guess it is subscriber only, and I'm too lazy to look for a link, but they just let it fly.
I didn't know that they told every announcer with a foreign accent not to bother and that they wouldn't be welcome. They also went after all the mistakes, errors, everything that had gotten screwed up.
They didn't bash Wynalda, I just wish they had, but they went after O'Brien's lack of soccer experience. Had never called a match before, one soccer guy called it the high school PA getting the call for the Super Bowl.
ESPN/ABC trotted out the lameass, as usual, defense of how not everyone knows soccer and they had to appeal to both sets of people.
It was a good read.

 

Yeah, that was me, tongue firmly planted in cheek.

That was one of a multitude of MLS attempts to American-ize soccer for the masses. It, like many of its relatives, died a relatively swift death. It's not a bad idea, really, but as it's not on Sepp Blatter's to-do list, it won't happen.

 

Fabi was channeling Karch Kiraly, no doubt.

 

Exactly. It's hard enough to get fans to come out to a game if it's 55 and drizzly. Not sure the Fire alone would be enough to keep folks warm while watching in the dead of a Chicago winter. Besides, I don't hear people complaining about Japan, Korea, China and Ireland having summer schedules.


Plan B for MLS/SUM: Keep MLS teams in their soccer-specific stadia, while the World Cup gets played at the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Soldier Field, Arrowhead, etc. That way those people without World Cup tickets can still go see live games and/or have a good seat to watch the Cup on the plasma Jumbotron.