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The denouement

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
I know Simon Jordan is not someone to respect in any aspect at all, but I did chuckle a bit at his assessment of England’s improvement under Southgate. He said in the past we used to get scruffy wins over teams we expect to beat and then get knocked out by teams we could beat but never do. Now we give lesser nations a mauling and put in better performances against the major nations, but still lose anyway.
 

HeathDavisSpeed

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I got in an argument on the weekend about whether the English would prefer Argentina or France to lose. I went along the lines of there being 40 years of bad blood with Argentina but nearly 1,000 with France being the clincher.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
I got in an argument on the weekend about whether the English would prefer Argentina or France to lose. I went along the lines of there being 40 years of bad blood with Argentina but nearly 1,000 with France being the clincher.
That’s overthinking the mentality of the average football fan. England fans rooting for the Argies were more likely just pleased for Messi. :santa:
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
is messi the most popular footballer ever? like a football version of federer...?
 

Uppercut

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ATGs always become very popular late in their careers for some reason. People get sentimental about them.

Even so it surprised me that wanting Messi to win a WC seemed to be the major rooting interest for so many people (including me). Until recently I’d have said Ronaldo was more popular. He’s showed us just how much of a **** a veteran ATG needs to be to alienate neutrals. Being ****e at football now probably doesn’t help either.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
ATGs always become very popular late in their careers for some reason. People get sentimental about them.

Even so it surprised me that wanting Messi to win a WC seemed to be the major rooting interest for so many people (including me). Until recently I’d have said Ronaldo was more popular. He’s showed us just how much of a **** a veteran ATG needs to be to alienate neutrals. Being ****e at football now probably doesn’t help either.
Ronaldo appears more popular because his fans like to shout louder about him. They also seem to feel that they need to denigrate Messi in order to make their case for Ronaldo.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
Most people want to root for one of the teams in a final. If it’s France v Argentina there’s not a lot in it for England except perhaps a few club loyalties. I’m no dedicated fan of Messi, but he’s so good and wanted it so much I almost subconsciously rooted for the Argies for that reason because there’s nothing else.
Ronaldo is a bit like Boris Johnson. Liked and loathed by millions but the likers just make a lot of noise.
EDIT
Mr F said something similar while I was typing. :santa:
 

Socerer 01

International Vice-Captain
Ronaldo resonates a lot more with insecure teens and younger demographics due to his persona and attitude and these are the ones more prevalent on online discussions and sites hence why it appears like he is popular

Messi is definitely the most famous footballer at this point ahead of older legends and as time goes by this will only rise and widen the gap. he has the most complete record of any footballer too
 

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