Thought Canada was going to tie it up at the end there. Just couldn’t quite get enough on any of those redirections
Haiti 1–0 Morocco in the 28th. Go CONCACAF!
3 Likes
US-Bosnia in the Round of 32 July 1 in Santa Clara unless the qualifiers are from Groups B, E, G, H, I, J, K and L (then its Group I) or A, C, E, F, G, H, K and L (Group E).
I would be floored if Bosnia with 4 points and a -1 GD wasn’t a top 8 3rd place team though, so not Group E.
Group I will be the Senegal-Iraq winner, but the combo to get there seems very improbable too.
5 Likes
Tenorio in the Athletic making the case that Poch is likely to rotate based on past choices:
There was certainly a blowout that day. It was just the U.S. delivering it. Sebastian Berhalter scored once and Alex Freeman netted twice as the U.S. dominated Uruguay, 5-1. After the game and after Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa lamented that his “first team” could be beaten by a U.S. “second team,” Pochettino bristled at the notion that his team was filled with players not considered “regulars.”
“I hate the ‘no regular players’ (question),” Pochettino said. “What does this mean? It’s USA playing, it’s the national team. Stop with that mindset. Every time our decision to pick a starting XI, it’s the U.S. men’s national team playing.”
He continued later.
“If you know me, I hate to talk this way,” Pochettino said. “It’s so disrespectful. We need to give credit to all of the guys.”
1 Like
Need some help here from the soccer guys. I’ve been sucked into the World Cup with my daughter, who is a volleyball player. We don’t really know the players or the teams, but who cares we’re just having fun watching it together.
I have been reading all of the comments on Twitter about Messi vs Ronaldo and there are strong opinions. Is it fair to say this:
Messi is Jordan
Ronaldo is Clyde Drexler
Both Hall of Famer’s. But one is the GOAT (or close to it- shout out Pele) and one is just really really good. Is that fair? She will get the reference so I’m just confirming. I’m sure people have their biases, but it seems directionally accurate from a non-soccer fan. Same era, both awesome, but they aren’t the same?
Let me know. Or suggest a better comparison. Admittedly, I am not a soccer guy….
2 Likes
Messi is Jordan meaning Jordan is the GOAT (or close to it - shout out LeBron) ? 
Honestly Drexler is disrespectful to Ronaldo. He’s much higher on the all time list in soccer than Drexler is in basketball. I don’t think there’s a natural basketball comparison because Messi is better at soccer than anyone has ever been at basketball. I might try to argue Ronaldo is Jordan and Messi is like if Magic Johnson was that much better than he actually was and also had the longevity of modern greats. Talking a Magic style all around offensive player that was as so good it got to the point he was significantly ahead of Jordan yet Jordan was still as good as he actually was. If that makes sense. Messi can dominate a game without shooting yet still is one of the best goal scorers in soccer history
If you know hockey at all the best American sports comparison is probably Messi is Gretzky while Ronaldo is an Ovechkin that won more
And from a rivalry perspective the obvious comparison is Messi is Brady and Ronaldo is Manning. It was a legitimate debate for a long time but one guy stayed elite for a long time after the other declined and ended the debate with the accolades he collected after the challenger became a shell of his former self
4 Likes
Yeah Ronaldo is getting very underrated right now, even by soccer fans. It was a legitimate debate between him and Messi (with Messi a bit ahead admittedly) until Messi and Argentina won in 2022. Ronaldo is getting flack now because it was a Jordan/LeBron debate for years between him and Messi and now Messi has clearly won. Plus Ronaldo can come if as a bit of a dick while Messi is much more likable.
My basketball comparison would be that Messi is Jordan and LeBron combined and Ronaldo is just Jordan.
4 Likes
Messi is Steph + Magic; Ronaldo is Durant + Mamba Mentality.
Legacy wise it’s as if LeBron and Jordan playing in the same era.
1 Like
Ronaldo compared to Drexler is crazy .
More like Messi is Jordan and Ronaldo is Kobe.
Or because of his total game - Messi is prime 1984-86 Bird and Ronaldo is prime Kobe.
2 Likes
Or… CR7 is like Reggie Miller (but better)… can hit shots, but flops and lives at the ft line… and also never won the big one (world cup)?
Messi like Jordan was the best so teams got physical with him like the bad boy pistons… which he mostly played through until the refs started giving him the benefit of the doubt and protect him… and other teams constantly complain about it.
2 Likes
I think the easiest way to think about it is that Messi is the [mostly consensus] greatest of his generation and gets compared to historical greats as a result. Ronaldo can be compared to those guys dimensionally, trait by trait or accomplishment by accomplishment, but lacks the full package to make historical comps the most appropriate way to assess his career.
Were Messi never born, Ronaldo’s likely getting that treatment. He’s just not going to compare as favorably.
All the above is hand wavy fluff. I have no idea how to compare across sports with soccer. The field is just too big honestly. Kobe and Jordan each had nine All-DefensiveTeam 1st awards and Kobe earned another three 2nds. That’s a core part of both of their legacies. I don’t know that either Messi or Ronaldo could (perhaps even should) have that dimension for soccer greatness.
The NHL has a defensive offenseman award, but I don’t think anyone would be satisfied saying Soccer God X is soul brothers with Patrice Bergeron.
In the end, I think it’s really all vibes and clarity around skill vs impact vs cultural resonance that all mix in the stew that’s enjoyable but so complex that you can’t single out any one true flavor.
That said, Messi’s who I’d start a team with between the two. That’s the real question at the end of the day, right?
2 Likes
Ronaldo has won 5 champions league titles, he has certainly won the big one. Honestly comparing Ronaldo to Reggie Miller is pretty disrespectful even with the “but better” qualifier.
2 Likes
Anyone just getting into soccer and just starting to look at Messi and Ronaldo right now missed how great a goal scorer Ronaldo was in his prime 10-15 years ago. There was a legit debate on who was the better player when both were in their primes. Then Ronaldo aged and his skills diminished in his mid-late 30s as they do for almost every pro athlete and he disappeared to the Saudi league.
Messi somehow declined around ages 33-34 then had a career resurgence, leading his team to a World Cup at age 35, dominating MLS in his late 30s and still scoring WC goals at a record pace at age 38-39. That’s not normal. Also, he has more exposure to Americans now because he plays here. To most soccer fans around the world, he’s disappeared as much as Ronaldo has.
It’s hard to compare them to basketball players because neither plays any defense. Messi spends half the game literally walking around the field. But you don’t want them wasting their limited energy capacity on defense 80 yards from the goal line when a scoring single goal means so much more.
2 Likes
My son has been having this debate the last few weeks at camp. They’re all age 6-8 so they don’t have the historical context, but it’s a fun debate.
I can’t remember any sport in my life where you could have the GOAT debate for contemporaries.
Maybe you could make an argument for Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. (But TB12 the true GOAT).
4 Likes
Fun mental exercise.
Ronaldo is Iverson - warts and all. Transcendental talent who knows it. Arrogant, a bit of an asshole, not much of a team player, stat padder, uncoachable.
Messi is Lebron. Longevity, team player, able to do a little more than one thing, career resurgence (sort of), spent time carrying the banner (Argentina:Cleveland-I know Lebron left, but he did come back, for a while. Not perfect, but an analogy).
Bird would also be a good comp for Messi.
Alternatives for Ronaldo could be Jordan, in the warts and all bit, where he came back as a shell of his former self, though I don’t think Ronaldo was ever quite as great as Jordan, but the parallels with the former great hanging on past his time are strong.
1 Like
Yep - 5-3-2 is really common with the wing backs playing more offensively than classic outside backs. Some do call that 3-5-2 to be fair, but most that I know call that 5-3-2.
This is the thing for me, Ronaldo has an apparent lack of self-awareness/refusal to adapt to his aging curve that makes him a tactical and team chemistry problem in the current day, while everyone loves playing with Messi. Probably helps that Messi is both a goal-scorer and connective player even at his age, and Ronaldo’s style can look incredibly selfish at times.
Also there’s Ronaldo’s off-field stuff.
3 Likes
Drexler: I’d recognize if he were standing next to me.
Ronaldo: wouldn’t have the first clue.
1 Like
Yet I actually bet you would. Even if you’re not a soccer guy, he is ubiquitous enough that you’d probably be thinking “why does this short handsome man look so familiar?”
1 Like