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Remember when Italy had world class trequartistas & English managers weren’t rubbish? 10 things that have changed about International football
World class Italian attacking midfielders, dodgy Brazilian goalkeepers, and good players wearing coloured boots - all part of the past as Carlo Garganese explains...
Mar 29, 2011 12:30:00 PM
By Carlo Garganese
10) Remember when: Italy had world class trequartistas
Perhaps only Brazil have produced as many world class attacking midfield playmakers over the years. During the 1960s and 70s, the Azzurri were blessed with the likes of Sandro Mazzola and Gianni Rivera, in the 80s there were Giancarlo Antognoni and Giuseppe Giannini, the 90s Roberto Baggio and Gianfranco Zola, with Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero carrying the baton into the new millennium. However, since the 2006 World Cup success the conveyor belt of genius trequartistas on the peninsula has slowed down. So much so that Lazio’s Stefano Mauri has been occupying the legendary role in recent games. Italy are crying out for a world class attacking midfield fantasista.
9) Remember when: Brazil had dodgy goalkeepers
Brazil may be the greatest attacking nation in history, but defence has never been their strong point…until recently. In Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Lucio, David Luiz and Alex, the Selecao contain an abundance of splendid stoppers, and their goalkeeping options have been impressive for the best part of a decade now too. In Marcos, Dida (when he was good), and now Julio Cesar, Brazil are no longer a laughing stock between the sticks. A far cry from the days when Barbosa was disowned by his nation for losing the 1950 World Cup, Felix was lacking cat-like reflexes in 1970, and Valdir Peres was compared to Padre Pio in 1982 due to the holes in his hands.
8) Remember when: Spain were bottlers
The idea that Spain – based on individual talent alone - should have won numerous tournaments over the last 50 years is one of football’s biggest myths. Until the new millennium, Spanish teams were wildly over-rated. In fact, between their Euro success in 1964 and Euro 2000 Spain were almost always far inferior to at least Germany, Italy and Brazil. But, this is not to say that in a team framework La Furia Roja weren’t bottlers – they undoubtedly were. When the going got tough, when matches were on a knifedge – such as the Italia ‘90 knockout with Yugoslavia, the 1994 World Cup quarter final against Italy when Julio Salinas missed a sitter at 1-1, and the Euro 2000 last eight clash with France when Raul squandered a late penalty – you could guarantee Spain would crumble mentally. Not anymore – as proven by their back-to-back Euro and World Cup triumphs.
7) Remember when: Hungary, Austria and Scotland had fine teams
Some people argue that Hungary’s team from the 1950s was the greatest never to win the World Cup. Gusztav Sebes’ Magical Magyars – boasting legends such as Kocsis, Bozsik, Hidegkuti and Puskas - seemed unbeatable as they travelled to Berne to play West Germany in the ill-fated 1954 final on the back of an incredible 31-match unbeaten run, which included a 6-3 win over England at Wembley. The following decade, Hungary reached successive quarter-finals – led by 1967 Ballon d’Or winner Florian Albert.
In the early 1930s Austria were the strongest team in the world. 'The Wunderteam' embarked on an unbeaten streak that lasted 20 months in 1931 and 1932, possessing among their ranks the legendary Matthias Sindelar, 'The Mozart of football'. Austria finished fourth in the 1934 World Cup after a controversial semi-final defeat to hosts and eventual winners Italy. Even up until the 1980s Das Team could count on the exceptional talents of Hans Krankl, and Serie A stars Walter Schachner, Herbert Prohaska and Anton Polster.
Scotland have not qualified for a major tournament for what will be 14 years by Euro 2012, and their current line-up is littered with average Championship players. While in the past the Tartan Army never progressed past the first round of an international tournament, this was not due to a lack of quality individuals. Celtic won the 1967 European Cup, Rangers the 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup, and Scotland took the cream from the Glasgow giants – the likes of Jimmy Johnstone and John Greig – as well England-based stars such as Denis Law and Billy Bremner. In the 70s, further world class footballers Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness also arrived onto the scene.
6) Remember when: France used to be loved and Germany hated
From the late 1960s until the mid-1990s, (West) Germany won more major tournaments than any other country. Their success, machine-like style of play, as well as a coldness they struggled to shake off due to earlier politics, naturally made them the enemies of most neutrals. France, on the other hand, gradually evolved into everyone’s favourite second team along with Brazil. This was confirmed during the 1982 World Cup semi final when French flair was tragically overcome by the never-say-die Germans who recovered from 3-1 down in extra time to win on penalties, helped by Harald Schumacher’s brutal attack on Patrick Battiston. Today, the tables have turned. Germany’s promising young, multi-cultural team has won over many earlier enemies, while France – since their World Cup ’98 and Euro 2000 successes have been regarded as an egotistical group of debauched PR-disasters, culminating in the infamous mutiny in South Africa last summer.
5) Remember when: FIFA made amazing World Cup official films
The most exciting thing to look forward to when a World Cup ended used to be FIFA’s official World Cup movie. Filmed in a documentary-style, with unique camera angles, brilliant music, and legendary narrators such as Sean Connery and Michael Caine, the official films were a thrilling way to relive the World Cup experience. G'olé! and Hero – the titles for 1982 and 1986 respectively – were masterpieces, as was pretty much every video dating back to 1958. But from Italia ’90 onwards, the official films suffered a more sudden dip in quality than a post-Munich Wayne Rooney. And they haven’t improved at all since.
4) Remember when: English managers weren’t totally rubbish
As transporters of the modern beautiful game, England were far ahead of the rest of the world at the beginning of the twentieth century. As a result, the nation’s training and tactical methods were in high demand. English managers were looked up to in the first two-thirds of the century. George Raynor achieved great success taking Sweden to the final of the 1958 World Cup, while Bob Glendenning (Netherlands), Sid Kimpton (France) and Jack Butler (Belgium) all coached countries now regarded as powerful names. Today, English management is an unequivocal joke. An Englishman hasn’t trained at a Euro or World Cup for over a decade, hasn’t won the English title for almost 20 years and can’t even dream of getting/keeping a job at a big team like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool…or England! When Alan Pardew – who prefers Hayden Mullins to Javier Mascherano – is one of your most highly rated managers, you know things are really bad.
3) Remember when: Footballs weren’t plastic
“While the shocking behaviour of the Adidas Jabulani in South Africa 2010 highlighted to a universal audience just how the planet’s biggest event can be ruined, the truth is that the poor performance of the footballs at the World Cup wasn’t a one-off episode, balls have gradually been getting worse for the best part of 30 years now.
“So what is wrong with modern footballs, I hear you cry? In a nutshell, balls today are too plastic. They travel too fast, they ‘behave’ too light, and they are too bouncy. It is as clear as daylight that there has been a deliberate effort by the footballing bodies to make the footballs more and more synthetic and unpredictable with each passing year in order to make the game faster, and to provide “more excitement”. The naïve, and dare I label them brainwashed, call this evolution, the traditionalists and ‘truthists’ see this as an unnatural attack on everything football stands for.”
For a full explanation on what a negative effect plastic footballs have had on modern international football, and football in general, please click on this link: Goal.com Comment: For The Good Of The Game, Stop Using These Disgraceful Plastic Footballs
2) Remember when: only good players wore coloured boots
The Euros or World Cup used to be the perfect time for a top star to unveil his newly-made boots. From the 1990s onwards, white, red and coloured football shoes began to become fashionable on the international scene. But, Daniele Massaro aside, generally only the really top players dared to wear them. In the last 10 years or so, there has been an annoying tendency for truly terrible footballers to wear painted sneakers. I won’t mention any names, but even in the backwaters of my local Bedford Park on Sunday morning a Sunday League fourth division team had five players with coloured boots and got hammered 7-1. When you’re rubbish, don’t make yourself even more noticeable! In fact, FIFA please ban everyone except Lionel Messi from wearing them!
1) Remember when: International football was better than club football
Financial greed has been a key cause. Today, three or four leagues – and from those less than a dozen clubs in total – have monopolised all the money and talent. This has also had the effect of ensuring more loyalty towards clubs – who pay the players their astronomical wages. Friendlies have become a complete waste of time. Even when stars aren’t pulled out due to broken toe-nails or blocked noses by doctors such as Sir Alex Ferguson, those who do turn up just spend their 45 minutes on the pitch ensuring they don’t get injured. The break-up of the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia has naturally led to weaker successor states, meaning more national teams, less meaningful games and easy qualification campaigns for the superpowers. When the World Cup and continental tournaments finally do arrive, players are so exhausted from their 50-plus game club season that it is almost impossible for them to perform at their best.
Offer your suggestions in the comments box below on how International football has changed...
Perhaps only Brazil have produced as many world class attacking midfield playmakers over the years. During the 1960s and 70s, the Azzurri were blessed with the likes of Sandro Mazzola and Gianni Rivera, in the 80s there were Giancarlo Antognoni and Giuseppe Giannini, the 90s Roberto Baggio and Gianfranco Zola, with Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero carrying the baton into the new millennium. However, since the 2006 World Cup success the conveyor belt of genius trequartistas on the peninsula has slowed down. So much so that Lazio’s Stefano Mauri has been occupying the legendary role in recent games. Italy are crying out for a world class attacking midfield fantasista.| Bet: | Returns: | Denmark £40.00 | Draw £34.00 | Brazil £18.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Denmark £40.00 | Draw £34.00 | Brazil £17.30 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Denmark £45.00 | Draw £36.00 | Brazil £17.27 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Denmark £45.00 | Draw £37.50 | Brazil £17.50 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Denmark £42.00 | Draw £33.50 | Brazil £17.70 |
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9) Remember when: Brazil had dodgy goalkeepers
Brazil may be the greatest attacking nation in history, but defence has never been their strong point…until recently. In Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Lucio, David Luiz and Alex, the Selecao contain an abundance of splendid stoppers, and their goalkeeping options have been impressive for the best part of a decade now too. In Marcos, Dida (when he was good), and now Julio Cesar, Brazil are no longer a laughing stock between the sticks. A far cry from the days when Barbosa was disowned by his nation for losing the 1950 World Cup, Felix was lacking cat-like reflexes in 1970, and Valdir Peres was compared to Padre Pio in 1982 due to the holes in his hands.
8) Remember when: Spain were bottlers
The idea that Spain – based on individual talent alone - should have won numerous tournaments over the last 50 years is one of football’s biggest myths. Until the new millennium, Spanish teams were wildly over-rated. In fact, between their Euro success in 1964 and Euro 2000 Spain were almost always far inferior to at least Germany, Italy and Brazil. But, this is not to say that in a team framework La Furia Roja weren’t bottlers – they undoubtedly were. When the going got tough, when matches were on a knifedge – such as the Italia ‘90 knockout with Yugoslavia, the 1994 World Cup quarter final against Italy when Julio Salinas missed a sitter at 1-1, and the Euro 2000 last eight clash with France when Raul squandered a late penalty – you could guarantee Spain would crumble mentally. Not anymore – as proven by their back-to-back Euro and World Cup triumphs.7) Remember when: Hungary, Austria and Scotland had fine teams
Some people argue that Hungary’s team from the 1950s was the greatest never to win the World Cup. Gusztav Sebes’ Magical Magyars – boasting legends such as Kocsis, Bozsik, Hidegkuti and Puskas - seemed unbeatable as they travelled to Berne to play West Germany in the ill-fated 1954 final on the back of an incredible 31-match unbeaten run, which included a 6-3 win over England at Wembley. The following decade, Hungary reached successive quarter-finals – led by 1967 Ballon d’Or winner Florian Albert.
In the early 1930s Austria were the strongest team in the world. 'The Wunderteam' embarked on an unbeaten streak that lasted 20 months in 1931 and 1932, possessing among their ranks the legendary Matthias Sindelar, 'The Mozart of football'. Austria finished fourth in the 1934 World Cup after a controversial semi-final defeat to hosts and eventual winners Italy. Even up until the 1980s Das Team could count on the exceptional talents of Hans Krankl, and Serie A stars Walter Schachner, Herbert Prohaska and Anton Polster.
Scotland have not qualified for a major tournament for what will be 14 years by Euro 2012, and their current line-up is littered with average Championship players. While in the past the Tartan Army never progressed past the first round of an international tournament, this was not due to a lack of quality individuals. Celtic won the 1967 European Cup, Rangers the 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup, and Scotland took the cream from the Glasgow giants – the likes of Jimmy Johnstone and John Greig – as well England-based stars such as Denis Law and Billy Bremner. In the 70s, further world class footballers Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness also arrived onto the scene.
6) Remember when: France used to be loved and Germany hated
From the late 1960s until the mid-1990s, (West) Germany won more major tournaments than any other country. Their success, machine-like style of play, as well as a coldness they struggled to shake off due to earlier politics, naturally made them the enemies of most neutrals. France, on the other hand, gradually evolved into everyone’s favourite second team along with Brazil. This was confirmed during the 1982 World Cup semi final when French flair was tragically overcome by the never-say-die Germans who recovered from 3-1 down in extra time to win on penalties, helped by Harald Schumacher’s brutal attack on Patrick Battiston. Today, the tables have turned. Germany’s promising young, multi-cultural team has won over many earlier enemies, while France – since their World Cup ’98 and Euro 2000 successes have been regarded as an egotistical group of debauched PR-disasters, culminating in the infamous mutiny in South Africa last summer.5) Remember when: FIFA made amazing World Cup official films
The most exciting thing to look forward to when a World Cup ended used to be FIFA’s official World Cup movie. Filmed in a documentary-style, with unique camera angles, brilliant music, and legendary narrators such as Sean Connery and Michael Caine, the official films were a thrilling way to relive the World Cup experience. G'olé! and Hero – the titles for 1982 and 1986 respectively – were masterpieces, as was pretty much every video dating back to 1958. But from Italia ’90 onwards, the official films suffered a more sudden dip in quality than a post-Munich Wayne Rooney. And they haven’t improved at all since.
4) Remember when: English managers weren’t totally rubbish
As transporters of the modern beautiful game, England were far ahead of the rest of the world at the beginning of the twentieth century. As a result, the nation’s training and tactical methods were in high demand. English managers were looked up to in the first two-thirds of the century. George Raynor achieved great success taking Sweden to the final of the 1958 World Cup, while Bob Glendenning (Netherlands), Sid Kimpton (France) and Jack Butler (Belgium) all coached countries now regarded as powerful names. Today, English management is an unequivocal joke. An Englishman hasn’t trained at a Euro or World Cup for over a decade, hasn’t won the English title for almost 20 years and can’t even dream of getting/keeping a job at a big team like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool…or England! When Alan Pardew – who prefers Hayden Mullins to Javier Mascherano – is one of your most highly rated managers, you know things are really bad.3) Remember when: Footballs weren’t plastic
“While the shocking behaviour of the Adidas Jabulani in South Africa 2010 highlighted to a universal audience just how the planet’s biggest event can be ruined, the truth is that the poor performance of the footballs at the World Cup wasn’t a one-off episode, balls have gradually been getting worse for the best part of 30 years now. “So what is wrong with modern footballs, I hear you cry? In a nutshell, balls today are too plastic. They travel too fast, they ‘behave’ too light, and they are too bouncy. It is as clear as daylight that there has been a deliberate effort by the footballing bodies to make the footballs more and more synthetic and unpredictable with each passing year in order to make the game faster, and to provide “more excitement”. The naïve, and dare I label them brainwashed, call this evolution, the traditionalists and ‘truthists’ see this as an unnatural attack on everything football stands for.”
For a full explanation on what a negative effect plastic footballs have had on modern international football, and football in general, please click on this link: Goal.com Comment: For The Good Of The Game, Stop Using These Disgraceful Plastic Footballs
2) Remember when: only good players wore coloured boots
The Euros or World Cup used to be the perfect time for a top star to unveil his newly-made boots. From the 1990s onwards, white, red and coloured football shoes began to become fashionable on the international scene. But, Daniele Massaro aside, generally only the really top players dared to wear them. In the last 10 years or so, there has been an annoying tendency for truly terrible footballers to wear painted sneakers. I won’t mention any names, but even in the backwaters of my local Bedford Park on Sunday morning a Sunday League fourth division team had five players with coloured boots and got hammered 7-1. When you’re rubbish, don’t make yourself even more noticeable! In fact, FIFA please ban everyone except Lionel Messi from wearing them!
1) Remember when: International football was better than club football
Financial greed has been a key cause. Today, three or four leagues – and from those less than a dozen clubs in total – have monopolised all the money and talent. This has also had the effect of ensuring more loyalty towards clubs – who pay the players their astronomical wages. Friendlies have become a complete waste of time. Even when stars aren’t pulled out due to broken toe-nails or blocked noses by doctors such as Sir Alex Ferguson, those who do turn up just spend their 45 minutes on the pitch ensuring they don’t get injured. The break-up of the USSR, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia has naturally led to weaker successor states, meaning more national teams, less meaningful games and easy qualification campaigns for the superpowers. When the World Cup and continental tournaments finally do arrive, players are so exhausted from their 50-plus game club season that it is almost impossible for them to perform at their best. Offer your suggestions in the comments box below on how International football has changed...
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Make Your Prediction Choose match
Denmark - Brazil
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Denmark
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Denmark 0-3 Brazil
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