Topic: FIFA World Cup 2026 :Canada/Mexico/United States: Discussion Thread - page 103. (Read 62853 times)

I don't think if VAR really makes the games fair these days and I'm not a fan of VAR at all. Years ago as you said, Maradona scored goals by his hand none could understand while today we can easily doubt all these but even VAR makes mistakes and even VAR can't be fully trusted, also this made football robotic. I was even hoping to see the word cup without using VAR because of the fake and the robotic feeling it gives.

If you are talking about a goal scored by hand  then of course VAR will not allow this to happen now. As for the stellar surroundings, I don’t agree - for example, Pele was also full of stars around him, but over time we remember only the frontman (although it’s not a fact that without the surroundings he could have become like that). Just like everyone remembers the golden Barcelona in the form of Messi, although Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol, etc. did all the work.

Let's not talk about the old days and Maradona or Pele, we know these two players had epic performances but now everything has changed and you can't good results with the tactics they used anymore. In fact, Maradona helped the team to win the World Cup in the past but this method is not useful anymore, and that's not because of the players. For example, Messi won the last World Cup but still, they had many superstar players otherwise they couldn't have done that.

Messi been compared with haland sounds very thrivial and very much unacceptable to me because these two are in different era of football and they have different levels of experience so far in football so a comparison between them both will not have a solid basis for comparison for them both haland is doing well at his level  so is Messi doing well too at his level with his experience, haland has got a whole lot of years ahead to achieve more and become the best he can be but Messi has gotten a whole lot to his name alre and will be exiting the football profession soonest.

The fact that Maradona used cocaine hardly increased his athletic performance (rather the opposite), so this is a personal matter and I would not say that we can judge an athlete for his personal affairs.
But now many athletes use heavy doping absolutely legally (but you cannot know about this from the point of view of the law, since this is private information and a medical secret). For example, Messi, whom you mentioned, used the most severe doping (for medical reasons) growth hormone and, as leaks say, he uses steroids/nandrolone throughout his career (also for medical reasons). How true this is, you have no way of knowing. But would you agree that the picture of achievements is a little different when an athlete achieves something while being clean or when using doping (even legal)?

Ok I did the research myself when I read your post as I thought someone would look it up before claiming Maradona did or did not take any drugs for doping, but now I found this:

"Arguably the most high-profile case of doping in world football is the one of Diego Maradona at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, who was immediately suspended and later sanctioned for 18 months for intake of ephedrine.[47] Maradona was also suspended for 15 months in 1991 after a failed doping test for cocaine while playing for Napoli in Italy."

Wow, I wasn't aware of that until now, but Maradona took it to the limit with his doping. I am not sure he would still be playing today as I imagine the sanctions would have been harder than that.

Look what happened to Pogba, he got a suspension of 4 years for his positive doping test. Maradona got caught twice and got away with a little more than 2.5 years in total.

One thing is sure Maradona never take drugs for his performance enhancing because I am sure about this all even there were a good deal of news about him, he was using cocaine and few other drugs, but these all were after his retirement nothing happen during his playing career which is the best thing about him and his playing career I watch his few matches which was near his career end so he was excellent but after his retirement we have too many scandals and other things related to him which create too many negative things about his life and playing career because he was the aggressive person which have many enemies so having negative things about him is surely easy thing.

Messi was surely deserved about this reward because of his success in international games which are surely not having anything with Haaland which is without any doubt one of the best club player currently and if he had no injury issue then I am surely we are going to have many records in front of his name in coming years.

Ancelotti has extended his contract with Real Madrid for one more season, meaning that it is certain that Ancelotti can be free after one more season. Of course, Brazil will not wait for Ancelotti for a long time because if they do not have a good coach in their team, it will be difficult for Brazil to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. 
CBF is a big football organization so they must be thinking of alternatives for the needs of the team and whoever will play the required role for the team may be appointed as the manager of the team. The last two managers who have taken charge of Brazil have not been able to deliver the results expected by the fans and management which is why Brazil are now looking for a manager under whom Brazil will return to their old form and fulfill their dream of winning the Mission Hexa.

Brother you are very late in this discussion because we already have announcement from the CBF about this all as Real Madrid extended Carlos Ancelotti contract for the two years we have new coach for the Brazilian team which were announced few days back as now they have contract with Dorival Junior who is now coach of the Brazilian team and work until 2026 hopefully we will have good development into this team in coming years which is needed right now.
Carlos Ancelotti is one of the best coach in current era, and he can bring teams from nowhere which is amazing stuff, but now things are completely change, and he wants to do work with Real Madrid for long time which is good for them as they are looking for their future in better and safe hands which can help for having good squad for the long time.

Ancelotti was able to build a squad very well. I think Madrid wants to keep Ancelotti because he is capable of building a solid squad without a pure striker. They are able to perform well in the League and Champions League. Even though they are not as strong as a few seasons ago, I think they will be able to win the La Liga title and even the Champions League this season. So I think Brazil really has to look for another coach, although it's a shame because actually I want to see how Ancelotti will build the current Brazil.

Aha, I actually didn't know that Maradona was on drugs all the time? I heard about his cocaine scandals when he was older and not an active player anymore, but is there any serious evidence that he was doping or taking any substances that were performance enhancing but not allowed in football?

I agree with the things you said about Messi and the ballon d'or and so on and that Haaland would have deserved it more. But I think Haaland will always have a hard time to win the ballon d'or in years when the World Cup counts because it is highly unlikely that he will ever get close to winning a World Norway. You could almost call it bad fate when a superstar player is born in a country that will never have a chance to win big tournaments because they will often be at a disadvantage when it comes to these awards.

Well, as far as I'm Concerned , things with Maradona I never liked his style , the fact that a person takes drugs to do great things in life, for me they have no type of merit, yes, he was great, he did things incredible but what example remains for History ? than a player who achieved everything based on drugs? The most fans said that the dog hurt him, a Soccer player for me must be very complete and in every sense, because he is an example to follow , how can a Child Consider this being Serious? as? As for Messi, things are different, the player is very good , he has a Special gift , but that Doesn't mean that I think he is the best in the world, I also think that Messi had a lot of help from the games, from FIFA , from the Awards , How can they choose him to be the best in the world over Haaland? It's something that doesn't make sense, I hope for the next World Cup if he goes , then don't give him much help, because I don't think he needs it.

I'm not talking about how Messi Helped him Win a World Cup , but it's obvious that They gave him great help when they chose him to be the best in the world , and the first ones they give him, and he's in a league that doesn't have any level for me , no , It is but below the Mexican League and that already means a lot , so many believe that Because it is there then they Should give it the Prize for the Ballon d'Or and Everything they have given it , for me things are not right Jan fl But now, they are doing things very Inefficiently and that is Something that really bothers me because I Know that there are players who strive to have a status of being the best , and for that reason it is because we cannot thinking that things can be like this just as they Show them in FIFA , I am very sure that just like me there are a large number of people who think the same as me , and that is the Worst Thing , that sometimes things are seen with a lot of Shamelessness and Annoying.

No way. I think if the average modern footballer is sent back to the past, he will be like Maradona and Pele combined, progress has gone too far ahead, the ability to find himself in the right areas for a pass is now a calculated thing and not a scoring instinct as it was before, like many other tactical skills. As for the technique of working with the ball, dribbling, etc. then modern football players who have done nothing but work with the ball since childhood will be better than any master from the old days. The only thing I agree with is that comparisons in power wrestling may not be in favor of modern football players, since now the rules prohibit even potentially dangerous techniques (like tackles from behind), but previously wrestling was such that football players regularly received fractures and serious injuries. It is far from a fact that a modern footballer, after a couple of such injuries, would not end his career or would simply be able to play in such conditions.

This is right and frankly, it would be awesome to have all these players be able to play for a few seasons during a different generation. Of course I think that a player like Maradona would have been a crazy player in the 2010 Barcelona team with Iniesta, Messi and all the other guys. At the same time I think that a gifted player like Messi would have had great times decades ago as well. I think it is no coincidence that the goal Messi scored against Getafe was so similar to the solo goal that Maradona once scored.

As for the football rules not being as strict, maybe you should watch a video that is called the hardest tackles on Messi. I don't think it can get much harder than that.

I think we can't compare GOAT in each generation because each era has different rules and ways of playing which makes the reference very subjective. Maradona played in an era where there were no modern tactics that made team play very collective. In the past, it was very rare to find replays of matches or players, so it was difficult to find weaknesses in players like Maradona. This is different from today where coaches can provide advice and tactics to stop a player who is considered dangerous.

But in the past, football rules were not as strict as they are today, so physical fights were a common occurrence, so great players of the past like Maradona had to have stamina and a strong physique to be able to dribble the ball well. I can't give any other examples but I would like to say that comparing players across each decade is something that cannot be done fairly.

Watching players like Pele and Maradona a few years ago was just like watching players Messi and Ronaldo and people from all over the world were interested in watching the playing style of these two players and these two players helped their teams much more than the new players we see these days to win the world cup. For example, we know if Maradona hadn't helped Argentina they couldn't have won win that World Cup but Ronlado could never make Portugal to this achievement.

I don't think have problem right now with Brazil head coach after appointing Dorival Junior as Brazil's new coach with speculation Carlo Ancelotti will be manager after his contract over with Real Madrid in the end of this season. Right now not any debate yet regarding many people not know well with Dorival Junior although Carlo Ancelotti have good reputation won many trophies from several clubs.

Brazil team have focus for upcoming event Copa America before playing in World Cup qualifier of CONMEBOL zone, Dorival Junior come from with Brazil club manager and actually he know well with culture and game plan adopt later for Brazil national team. Give him space and time become Brazil national team and waiting will have good result on Copa America or he need more time get adapt well to make Brazil success in World Cup 2026.

Carlo Ancelotti has extended his contract with Real Madrid and that automatically ends every potential move to any team at least for the next 12 - 15 months unless the club management decides to part ways with him. So the earlier the Brazilian football federation goes for another manager who'll take up the coaching job of the Brazil national team, the better for them.

The Copa America is coming up in less than six months from now and that's why they need to sign a manager that'll study and blend with the team before the commensement of the tournament on other not to experience a poor outing at the tournament

I mean there is a need for a really big incident to happen which can really bring the point to sacking Ancelotti. But what can happen in the end? At least for this season Real Madrid are going on really smoothly. When it comes to next years in Ancelotti's contract I don't expect Real Madrid to struggle too much either. They are always keeping their squad solid and we already know how Ancelotti manages the team also. 

Ancelotti to Brazil was such a speculation that I guess most of us believed it was real - truthfully I did.    But I even saw the news on some reliable sources. It is really a shame to see fake news on such reliable places. 

I think so too, especially now that Carlo Ancelotti has officially extended his contract at Real Madrid. So it would be very difficult if Brazil had to spend a lot of money to recruit Carlo Ancelotti. I am sure that after Carlo Ancelotti extended his contract with Real Madrid, Brazil will no longer expect him, especially since Brazil must immediately look for another coach because of preparations for the Copa America which will be held in the next few months.