Portugal v Spain | Vital Football

Portugal v Spain

OMG,am I being hard on England,but how the hell can we live with these 2 teams,the way they played tonight.
 
If George Best played under modern rules where there is barely any contact allowed, he would have been untouchable. It was amazing how he would be able to carry on after hatchet jobs on him from the likes of the aptly nicknamed Chopper Harris. Ronaldo would spend 20 minutes crying and then get off the pitch. Not denying that Ronaldo is great but I wonder what Best could have done with the protection the modern creative player gets.
 
Was it just me or did Ronaldo scream "Not the face, not the face" every time Ramos went near him?
 
If George Best played under modern rules where there is barely any contact allowed, he would have been untouchable. It was amazing how he would be able to carry on after hatchet jobs on him from the likes of the aptly nicknamed Chopper Harris. Ronaldo would spend 20 minutes crying and then get off the pitch. Not denying that Ronaldo is great but I wonder what Best could have done with the protection the modern creative player gets.

I think you’re half right. Ronaldo’s occasional theatrics are more due to cheating than him being soft. He’s much bigger than Best and I think if you put him in that era he is still the best player in the world.

I too would love to see Best in the modern game.
 
The term "beautiful game" is over used to describe football, not tonight. That had everything that truly makes it the most popular sport on the planet.

Over to you England ;-)
 
If Ronaldo was around in Best's time then would he throw himself down and act the primadonna that he does now? Probably not. He acts that way as the modern game allows it despite the tutting when other teams' players do it. In the old days, falling over faking injury would encourage the Chopper Harris players to go in even harder and Ronaldo would have learnt it was in his best interests to stay on his feet and act tough.
 
Ronaldo played as a teenager in our league with tough players out to get him. He adapted, made himself better and stronger and is constantly trying to improve. I loved Best but he played all round the clock and at Ronaldo,s age was a spent force. Over to Messi and Neymar to step up to the plate.
 
Sadly and as suspected, Messi didn't quite step up to the plate for me. Quite interesting that his match could have mirrored Ronaldo's in that they both had a penalty and a last minute free kick. Ronaldo dispatched both with a cold steely precision, Messi fluffed both with a nervy, almost scared body language.
I've always thought that to be considered "the best", you need to produce at international level. Pele did it, Maradonna did it and Ronaldo has done it. As much as Messi is a brilliant talent, he can't drag his country to higher status the was Ronaldo has. For me, a defining moment for Ronaldo was when he went off injured in the euro final in 2016. Instead of sitting on the bench sulking and feeling he had done his bit, he was on the touchline helping to organise and encourage his team so even from the side lines, managed to pull his team over the line.
Love him or hate him, and I've done both in the past, I think he's at least in the top three best players EVER along with Pele and Maradonna.
 
Sadly and as suspected, Messi didn't quite step up to the plate for me. Quite interesting that his match could have mirrored Ronaldo's in that they both had a penalty and a last minute free kick. Ronaldo dispatched both with a cold steely precision, Messi fluffed both with a nervy, almost scared body language.
I've always thought that to be considered "the best", you need to produce at international level. Pele did it, Maradonna did it and Ronaldo has done it. As much as Messi is a brilliant talent, he can't drag his country to higher status the was Ronaldo has. For me, a defining moment for Ronaldo was when he went off injured in the euro final in 2016. Instead of sitting on the bench sulking and feeling he had done his bit, he was on the touchline helping to organise and encourage his team so even from the side lines, managed to pull his team over the line.
Love him or hate him, and I've done both in the past, I think he's at least in the top three best players EVER along with Pele and Maradonna.

Fully agree. I’m a big fan.
 
Also agree with Nobs. People dislike winners and he is one. Yes, you can complain about the wink or even the smile at Nacho after winning the penalty but it's the same as Hess's reaction after getting Viduka sent off.

There are several teams in this World Cup overly reliant on one player. Portugal are one. Watching Argentina misfire because Messi did was interesting in view of the other class players they have. Denmark also struggled as Eriksen misfired although he did then produce one class pass for the goal. Reminds me of England against Greece when Beckham basically dragged us through that game to qualify.