I also remember the great Brazilian generation from the 1982 World Cup led by Zico, Socrates, Falcao... they were really football artists and not football players.
We were all convinced that they would be world champions in 1982, but then they unexpectedly lost to Italy.
It was shown that ''dying in beauty'' is not enough for success, but that you need to play solid and organized football and especially be strong in defense.
The generation of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo... was at its peak in 1998-2002 and I don't understand how they lost the final in 1998.
Such players appear once in a generation and it is obvious that today Brazil does not have such players and team anymore.
Yes, exactly, you are correct!
Some players think they are gods and that they are indestructible!
And that's the worst thought a player can have is, "thinking he's indestructible"!
They are still human and make mistakes, he's not perfect
I believe that every football "ERA" had a player like that, for example Brazil, they had great chances of being champions in 1982, and that didn't happen, the same happened in 1998, but they lost to France, Brazil was champion in 2002 and I had no doubt that they would be champions again in 2006, but that didn't happen.
By the way, I had no doubts that the 2006 Brazil team was excellent, I even dare to say that it could be better than the 1998 or 2002 team.
Some players from Brazil have already made these mistakes, when they were younger, over time they gained experience and realized that things don't work as they imagined... an example I can cite was Neymar, he is an excellent player, but he could have been even better if he had a different "mindset" when he was younger
Well, those were golden times, for that year it had not been born yet, but the way they describe it sounds like it was a very good football demonstration, now football is going in another direction, I don't know, but I think that before football had In another sense, it was more focused on team plays, now there are many stars, each country develops many players who are almost geniuses and the countries that have been powers since the start of the World Cup have always had the same relevance, we cannot Denying that some teams have also become powerful, football in general has improved, and that is remarkable.
Soccer in the USA has grown a lot, I do not deny it, the MLS is one of the leagues that are famous, but when we refer to Mexico things can change, I have never been to that beautiful country, but some friends tell me that since children, there is a lot of activity with a soccer ball, children play in the streets, in the parks, I cannot deny that Mexicans also have baseball as a powerful sport, but when it comes to soccer, it identifies them even more, so it can be That is one of the reasons why they have allowed them to have those matches, because they are very fanatical, and if we compare it with US soccer, I think the Mexicans are superior in technique.
Latin America as a whole is crazy about football, and it is not just Mexico. In case of Mexico, they are located close to the United States and therefore they were included in the combined bid to host FIFA 2026. The situation is entirely different in the United States and Canada. In the US, baseball (MLB), American football (NFL), basketball (NBA) and ice-hockey (NHL) are far more popular when compared to soccer. The same can be said in Canada as well, where NHL is the most popular league. But during the recent years, MLS has gained popularity (especially among the new immigrants).
We know the Latin countries are crazy about football in their country but this time the world cup will be hosted in America and all the teams hosting the tournament will be from America. In my opinion, Mexico is more popular with football fans than the United States and Canada. As you have mentioned, football is not the first favorite sport in north America, so I hope the Mexican people and Mexican fans are more interested in football than their northern counterparts.
Of course it is like that, they have had very good players who have stood out, I don't know if you remember that goalkeeper who was short but very good and popular, he excelled in the USA94 World Cup, his name is Jorge Campos or as they called him "Campitos", also other legendary players like "Rafa Marquez" or like the popular "chicharito" who played for Real Madrid, due to this Mexico has a very good history in terms of soccer, what happens is that they are from Concacaf and that tie is much easier than CONMEBOL, which is where Argentina and Brazil are, which is something else.
