FIFA World Cup 2014 !

[Storm]

Rodriguez had a fantastic tournament no doubts (I loved watching him play too) but perhaps the thought process of giving to Messi is that with his contributions his team made the final. While with JR his team went out in the quarters. Plus in that defeat he wasn't as good as the rest of the games and the goal he scored was a penalty.

I am not justifying that Messi was the most outstanding player but certainly one of the best on display inspite of not having a truly sensational end to the tournament. Take out his 91' goal and the goal vs Bosnia and Argentina might not have qualified for the knock-outs, let alone win the group and avoid France.

A friend said Robben was more of a threat in the box than Messi...people seem to conveniently forget that he DID NOT play as a striker/false 9 as he does for Barcelona. He was also shackled by the tactics for Argentina as well as the intense pressure on him to top Maradona, as well as a certain lack of sharpness or fitness. Playing a game one day after Germany and having the last 3 games all go to extratime did not help either.

[steveaki13]

Rodriguez had a fantastic tournament no doubts (I loved watching him play too) but perhaps the thought process of giving to Messi is that with his contributions his team made the final. While with JR his team went out in the quarters. Plus in that defeat he wasn't as good as the rest of the games and the goal he scored was a penalty.

I am not justifying that Messi was the most outstanding player but certainly one of the best on display inspite of not having a truly sensational end to the tournament. Take out his 91' goal and the goal vs Bosnia and Argentina might not have qualified for the knock-outs, let alone win the group and avoid France.

A friend said Robben was more of a threat in the box than Messi...people seem to conveniently forget that he DID NOT play as a striker/false 9 as he does for Barcelona. He was also shackled by the tactics for Argentina as well as the intense pressure on him to top Maradona, as well as a certain lack of sharpness or fitness. Playing a game one day after Germany and having the last 3 games all go to extratime did not help either.

Its me and you Storm.

[gadjo_dilo]

Steve, nobody is in denial of Messi's qualities. But it simply wasn't his WC. I read that article and my opinion is that the author ( a woman ) haven't seen too much football in her life. All that peroration on Maradona myth.....Maradona particpated on 4 WC but he shined only in 86. In82 he was already the most expensive transfer but at WC he was a. disappointment. And all those who knew a thing about football would say he was suspended when he played in Italy and was sent home from WC 94.Maybe we haven't too many records with his modest matches but we already know that at his clubs he hadn't Messi's success ( can't remember anything else than Il scudetto with Napoli ). But Mexico86 was definitely his WC because he proved he could win a match by himself and was an engine for his team.

[pino]

Maradona:"I'd give Messi the sky if I could, but it's not right when a player wins an award simply for marketing reasons"

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I agree for the call to give it to Neuer or Rodriquez.

[pino]

New FIFA ranking list :

1 Germany

2 Argentina

3 Holland

4 Colombia

5 Belgium

6 Uruguay

7 Brazil

8 Spain

9 Switzerland

10 France

11 Portugal

12 Chile

13 Greece

14 Italy

15 USA

16 Costa Rica

17 Croatia

18 Mexico

19 Bosnia-Herzegovina

20 England

[donKey jote]

USA>England

[veeten]

and right behind Italy. Watch out, pino...

[Rollo]

USA>England

And all the world over, each nation's the same
They've simply no notion of playing the game
They argue with umpires, they cheer when they've won
And they practice beforehand which ruins the fun!

The FIFA rankings merely confirm what we all know, that England have always been rubbish at football. Even the only bit of silverware they won, was because it was at home; even then they never scored more than 2 goals in regulation time.

Why stop being rubbish now for? It's called consistency!

[steveaki13]

Can't see how Portugal are 11th really.

Generally they seem sensible.