Group D - Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria

[MW1304]

Musa's first touch for the opener was just unworldly.

Bergkampesque and there's no higher praise. Doubt we'll see better technique this tournament.

Great second half, but a good result for yer Argies, sadly.

Jesus had a similarly great one yesterday, was offside though.

 

[andruid]

Musa, Jesus. Gosh this is panning out to be a righteous World Cup

 

[Uppercut]

 

[vcs]

I feel like he lacks (or he's lost it lately) Ronaldo's knack of pacing himself and saving his best for the crucial part of the season. Ronaldo's mastered it in recent seasons. Could also be due to Ronaldo just being fitter in general and not having to carry his team so much. In the first half of the season, Barcelona looked largely ordinary but Messi and their defence were getting them results every week.

Which did net him a league title, but Barcelona have so many that it barely registers. And no one even notices them winning the Copa Del Rey every year. As long as Ronaldo dominates the CL knockout rounds and performs in international tournaments, he's going to keep winning Ballon D'Ors.

 

[OverratedSanity]

 

[Uppercut]

I feel like he lacks (or he's lost it lately) Ronaldo's knack of pacing himself and saving his best for the crucial part of the season. Ronaldo's mastered it in recent seasons. Could also be due to Ronaldo just being fitter in general and not having to carry his team so much. In the first half of the season, Barcelona looked largely ordinary but Messi and their defence were getting them results every week.

Which did net him a league title, but Barcelona have so many that it barely registers. And no one even notices them winning the Copa Del Rey every year. As long as Ronaldo dominates the CL knockout rounds and performs in international tournaments, he's going to keep winning Ballon D'Ors.

Could be over-extrapolating based on a couple of performances here. Messi scored a ridiculously good hat-trick for Argentina to get them to the World Cup two competitive games ago.

 

[vcs]

That was in the first half of the season, so it fits neatly into my hypothesis.

 

[sledger]

Messi is simply being crushed by an enormous heap of pressure and expectation. He is close to looking like an absolutely broken man, and it is sad to see. Ronaldo. despite clearly being Portugal's talisman does not have to live with the same burden. He's already won a majo comp with Portugal and the differences in cultural attitudes and expectations in relation to the national teams between Portugal and Argentina are massive. Bloke has already been pressured out of international retiremrent once and he's expected to essentially carry the entire team (and by proxy the entire nation) on his back and make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. It's not often I feel genuine empathy for a pro sportsperson, but I certainly do in his case.

 

[andruid]

Messi is simply being crushed by an enormous heap of pressure and expectation. He is close to looking like an absolutely broken man, and it is sad to see. Ronaldo. despite clearly being Portugal's talisman does not have to live with the same burden. He's already won a majo comp with Portugal and the differences in cultural attitudes and expectations in relation to the national teams between Portugal and Argentina are massive. Bloke has already been pressured out of international retiremrent once and he's expected to essentially carry the entire team (and by proxy the entire nation) on his back and make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. It's not often I feel genuine empathy for a pro sportsperson, but I certainly do in his case.

I blame Maradona and Kempes.

 

[vcs]

Messi is simply being crushed by an enormous heap of pressure and expectation. He is close to looking like an absolutely broken man, and it is sad to see. Ronaldo. despite clearly being Portugal's talisman does not have to live with the same burden. He's already won a majo comp with Portugal and the differences in cultural attitudes and expectations in relation to the national teams between Portugal and Argentina are massive. Bloke has already been pressured out of international retiremrent once and he's expected to essentially carry the entire team (and by proxy the entire nation) on his back and make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. It's not often I feel genuine empathy for a pro sportsperson, but I certainly do in his case.

So this was basically Sachin's entire professional career.

Clearly, Sachin >>> any professional sportsman who's ever existed

 

[OverratedSanity]

If Messi can't handle the expectations of a mere 43 million people, imagine how badly he might've crumbled if he was Indian and had to face the pressure of carrying the hopes of 1.3 billion.

Not everyone can be as great as Sachin. Good on sledger for bringing up this excellent point.

 

[sledger]

Yes but Messi is actually good and from a country that people care about

 

[harsh.ag]

Sachin didn't have to be cajoled out of retirement after the 2007 WC either.

 

[Daemon]

Messi didn't even have people praying to him, no contest.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yes but Messi is actually good and from a country that people care about

The only thing that's not good and people don't care about is your posts

 

[Burner]

I rooted for Argentina last WC but when Messi rage quit, he/they lost my support. Would still prefer if they didn't go out in the group stages though

 

[Burgey]

So this was basically Sachin's entire professional career.

Clearly, Sachin >>> any professional sportsman who's ever existed

No one expected India to win anything when Tendulkar played.

 

[sledger]

No one expected India to win anything when Tendulkar played.

That's not entirely true tbf, plenty of match-fixers did.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

The only thing that's not good and people don't care about is your posts

Hard to argue with this.

 

[Pratters]

So this was basically Sachin's entire professional career.

Clearly, Sachin >>> any professional sportsman who's ever existed

No no no. You can't compare the two. Apples v oranges.