(ESP-ENG) El futbol no se acaba, vamos a ponernos al día // Soccer is not over, let's catch up!
Hello friends, good vibes to all.
Although it is true that soccer at a competitive level has come to an end in Europe, that is, all the important leagues and tournaments, this does not mean that we will not see more of this sport from now on, on the contrary, now it is going to get good because we are in the preliminary stage of what will be the World Cup in Qatar in November. And proof of what I say is what happened yesterday, where we knew the number thirty qualified for the World Cup and we saw how the two best players, the real GOATS made disasters with their respective teams.
The national team in question is Wales who defeated Ukraine by the minimum in a very emotional match and the two players could not be other than Messi and Cristiano who with Argentina and Portugal respectively gave a great performance, as we would say popularly. The Argentinean gave a feast with 5 goals and the Portuguese with a double. I tell you that soccer will be very sad when these two players are no longer on the field, because yes, there may come a new generation with great players but none of them will be Messi or Cristiano, those molds are broken.
But there is another player that although he did not shine much in the recently finished season with his club has been a driving force and a fundamental piece for his national team to achieve great things in recent years and yes, it is Gareth Bale. With him something happens and it is that for him to give the maximum in his game he simply has to be motivated and comfortable with the environment that surrounds him, that is the simplest explanation I can find for his "failure" in recent seasons with Real Madrid and his time with the Welsh national team. I say failure and he won the 14th Champions League a few days ago but you get what I mean, he was not determinant at all.
So, with the help of Bale and after 64 years of waiting, the Welsh national team returns to a World Cup after Sweden 58 where Brazil was crowned champion led by a certain Pelé. If we think about it, Gareth did something that not even the mythical Ryan Giggs could do and we are not talking about just any player; the Welshman, at least for me, was an elite in Europe and in Manchester United. What did Bale do then? - Well, he took Wales to their first European Championship and not only that they reached the semifinals but he is also the top scorer of the national team. So there is no denying what this player represents for his country.
Briefly, what can be said about the match is that it was fully dominated by Ukraine, from the first five minutes we could already see the pressure of the Ukrainians who never gave up in their search for the goal. The great detail is that in the goal there was a goalkeeper who gave 90% of the World Cup ticket to Wales and he is none other than Wayne Hennessey, who plays for Burnley in England. What Hennessey did has no name, stopping balls of all kinds from all possible directions. Once again a maxim of soccer is fulfilled and that is that the one who simply scores the goals wins and not the one who deserves the match for his perseverance and search for victory. With a possession of almost 70%, with twice as many shots on goal and passes, Ukraine lost and I still do not mention that the Welsh goal was an own goal by one of their players. Everything went wrong for the Ukrainians but beware, without detracting from Wales who got to where they are by sheer willpower.
Now in the World Cup they will have to dance with England, USA and Iran in Group B. A fight that one expects England to be the top of the group and where we will see the United States and Wales battle for second place. Although surprises are always the order of the day and we should be careful to see the team of the stars and stripes pull off a surprise, leaving Wales relegated to third place. For the moment we will have to wait a few months to know all this.
Yesterday we also saw a brilliant performance by Lionel Messi, who had not had the best season with PSG but is making up for it with his soccer with the Albiceleste. A few days ago they won the Champions Cup against Italy and qualified undefeated for the World Cup, all under the tutelage of the star from Rosario. Yesterday's match against Estonia was undoubtedly special because it was the first with the senior team in which he scored FIVE goals, the famous manita, and with them he climbed to fourth place in the all-time goal scorers with 86 goals, only 3 behind Mokhtar Dahari who has 89 and leaving behind Puskás with 84.
On the other side of the pond we have the other beast playing for Portugal in a Nations League match against Switzerland. CR7 in this game left with a brace to reach the brutal and incredible sum of 117 goals and continue to extend that lead as the all-time leading scorer at the national team level in history. I have no words to say what these two players mean to this sport, as with Messi, Ronaldo's Portugal has also achieved successes such as winning the Euro 2016, one where I remember they did not start as favorites and still pulled out all the stops and took the trophy.
What these two players have meant to contemporary world soccer is something that I think we will be able to measure a few years from now when they are no longer active and we can compare the players of that generation with these two. I'm telling you that it would be a bit silly to compare because there is no point to do it but well. We can discuss whether Messi, Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo, etc.. They are different players who logically won different things and I have always said that comparing them is a waste of time.
In fact, in a little more than a week we will know the 32 teams that will go to the World Cup and we will talk in more detail about all the groups that will face each other in Qatar at the end of the year.
¡Un abrazo a todos, nos leemos en la próxima!
Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡Hugs to all, see you next time!
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Efectivamente el futbol cambiará muchísimo cuando Ronaldo y Messi se retiren, tuvimos la suerte de disfrutar a los dos al mismo tiempo y lo de Gareth Bale, entiendo que realmente como jugador lo ha ganado absolutamente todo y capaz él tiene tanta personalidad como para identificar que las aspiraciones que tienen sobre él, no son las de él...es lógico que después de ser campeón de todo, siendo figura, la única tarea realista era ir a un Mundial.
Saludos.
Si, yo creo que Bale no está para complacer a nadie, no le importa diría yo. Él va a su ritmo y si hablan mal o bien creería que no le afecta. Pero bueno en el mundial demostrará que ten enfocado está a pesar de que su equipo no sea de los mejores de Europa, veremos...
Saludos, amigo!
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