The ghosts of Pelé and Maradona

Messi, Neymar, Maradona, and Pelé

With the group stage over, the real fun part of the World Cup tournament begins, the knock-out rounds. The focus will most undoubtedly be on two players: Brazil's Neymar and Argentina's Messi. Both players are the talismans for their respective nations, they have four goals each at the end of the group stage. There are other good players left in these year's tournament, but these two will have the most pressure on them to win the World Cup.

Messi has dominated world football for the past five years, winning four Balon D'Or or World Footballer of the Year honours. He has won Spanish league, King's Cup, Champions league, UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, and World Cup titles with Barcelona multiple times and he has one all six in one calendar cycle. However, for all his accolades, the World Cup has eluded him and the comparisons to Maradona will never be put to rest until he has. Statistically speaking, Lionel Messi has surpassed Diego Maradona. Maradona scored 259 senior goals in league play and 34 goals for Argentina while Messi has scored 243 goals in league play and 42 goals for Argentina. Maradona has one thing that Messi does not ... a World Cup title. Diego carried Argentina to a World Cup title at Mexico 86, defeating West Germany in the final.

Diego and Lionel

Diego's cult status is legendary, to the point that he inspired a religion, la iglesia Maradoniana (The Maradonian Church). To dethrone a pseudo-deity, Messi has to perform some of the same miracles his countryman performed back in 1986. Personally, I think a lot Maradona's status was also political. The win against England was highly politically-charged in Argentina over the dispute and subsequent war with England over the Falkland Islands (islas Malvinas) in 1982. Since he scored the two goals to defeat England, one being the infamous "Hand of God" and the other considered "The Greatest Goal of the Twentieth Century", he not only became a footballing hero, but a national hero who had avenged the Argentinian deaths during the Falklands War.

O Rei and Neymar

Neymar is also fighting the ghosts of his nation's past superstars. Brazil has had legendary footballers over the years like Ronaldo, Romario, Socrates, Zico, and Zizinho, but none are bigger than O Rei, Pelé. Pelé's seleção brasileira won three titles in 1958, 1962, and 1970. Similarly to Maradona, Pelé is a national hero. Although he hasn't founded a religion, he was a symbol of social change in Brazil. The 1950 Brazilian squad, led by Zizinho and Ademir was supposed to demonstrate to the world a new Brazil with racial and class equality. This squad was supposed to be the embodiment of the nation's social and footballing ambitions. Unfortunately, Brazil was defeated by Uruguay in the championship game, known as O Maracanaço, named because it was played in Estádio do Maracanã. This squad's players were never invited back to a seleção, and it wasn't until 1958 that the nation was able to exorcize their demons and prove to themselves that a squad comprised of all facets of Brazilian society can succeed.

Barça friends

This is Neymar's first World Cup and the comparisons to Pelé have already started. Both Neymar and Pelé played for Santos Futebol Clube, but unlike Pelé, Neymar made the move to Europe and plays alongside Messi at Barcelona.

In my opinion, it's unfair to compare Neymar and Pelé. Pelé was the greatest player in the world alongside squads that were considered among, if not, the greatest squads to ever have played football. As strong as Brazil is now, Neymar doesn't have playmakers like Gérson and Jairzinho on his squad and so far in the group stage, he has to do the bulk of the work for his nation offensively. Even if Neymar were to deliver his nation's sixth title, the comparisons to Pelé will never end.


It's very possible for Argentina and Brazil to face one another in the final this year, and it would be something special to see one of these two players finally put their respective critics to rest. For this to happen, either one will have to carry their respective teams on their shoulder and carry them to victory.

Neymar's Brazil will have to defeat Chile, either Colombia or Uruguay, and probably France or Germany to reach the finals. On the other side, Argentina will have to defeat Switzerland, either Belgium or the Unites States, and probably Netherlands to reach the final.

Head-to-head, Messi and Neymar are almost identical, statistics-wise. They are their respective nation's crowning jewel and it will be up to the "supporting cast" to make the difference if they were to reach the finals. Players like Oscar, Hulk, David Luiz, and Thiago Silva will have to contribute offensively and defensively for Brazil to win. For Messi, he will need Agüero, Di María, and Mascherano to also be defensive and offensive catalysts. Will this be their World Cup to shine or will the ghosts of Pelé and Maradona continue to cast a shadow on them?

The end of Barça's tiki-taka era?

In a matter of a week, Barcelona's hopes of a treble have gone down the tubes. Barça lost to Spanish rivals Atlético de Madrid 1-0, ending their Champions League aspirations. On the weekend, they lose 1-0 to thirteenth place Granada, essentially putting them out of the hunt for the Spanish league title. Only a few days later, they lose 2-1 to the eternal rival, Real Madrid in La Copa del Rey final.

After an eight-day span, optimism in the future of Barça has gone from cautiously optimistic to talks of a fin de ciclo, an end of an era. SPORT, the Catalan pro-Barça paper came with a headline, THIS CYCLE HAS ENDED, LET A NEW ONE BEGIN! Another Catalan newspaper, EL PERIÓDICO DE CATALUNYA simply had a headline that said LOST. Talks from the Catalan pundints and the average culé are begining to wonder if the days of a Barça steered by the likes of Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, Carlos Puyol, and even Lionel Messi are over. Is it the end of tiki-taka for Barça?

SURELY, this is the end for Gerardo "Tata" Martino. He changed the philosphy of the club from their 4-3-3 to a more conventional 4-4-2 and it yielded poor results. He has been out-coached by Simeone and Ancelotti. After the signing of Neymar from Santos over the summer, there was much optimism in Barcelona that offensive muscle was being brought on to take the load off the diminutive 10. What has happened is that the trio of Cesc Fàbgregas, Neymar, and Messi have been unable to provide spark when needed. Also, players like Pedro and Alexis Sánchez have been left on the bench, playing bit parts, only to watch their club crash and burn in all three major competitions.


The 2013-2014 campaign has not been kind to Barcelona. They lose their manager, Tito Vilanova because of health concerns. The president, Sandro Rosell steps down after it was found that there were accounting irregularities in the transfer of Neymar. Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta reportedly resigned and the board did not accept his resignation. To top it all, the club has been slapped with a two year ban of transfers by FIFA due to the breaching of rules on the transfer of players aged under 18.

With the World Cup just around the corner, Barça find themselves in a position that they may lose their best players to rest or injury for most of the summer, since virtually all their starters play for Spain, Argentina, Chile, or Brazil. This means that they will not be well-rested and the club will have to rely on La Masia graduates since they will not be allowed to sign new players. All this with the prospect of losing their long-time captain, Carles Puyol.

I can only speculate that this may be the begining of the end of Pep's six-cup champions. The manager left for greener pastures in Bavaria and it looks like that core that brought cules around the world so much joy is ageing and have been unable to replicate the magic they created only a few years ago. It's possible that the footballing world has figured out how to neutralise tiki-taka or perhaps the players themselves don't have what it takes to win the big games. Whatever happens, it will be an interesting summer at Camp Nou.

German domination in the Champions League

Real Madrid - Borussia Dortmund
Estádio Santiago Bernabéu

After the 4 -1 thrashing Dortmund gave Real Madrid in Germany, Real Madrid needed to come out strong. The atmosphere at the Santiago Bernabéu was electric, and the merengue faithful supported their beloved blancos by unveiling this tifo with the caption ­¡Madrid vibra por ella! which is Spanish for "Madrid vibrates for her !"

The Bernabéu was ready for a fight

Real Madrid were looking to win 3-0 to win the two-legged tie. Real Madrid came out strong but Dortmund were up to the task. Four-goal first-leg hero and super striker, Robert Lewandowski had several chances on goal to put this tie of of Real's reach including hitting the crossbar. For me, the highlight of the match was Diego López's spectacular save that would have sealed the win for Dortmund.

Sergio Ramos brought Real to within one goal

For the majority of the match though, it seemed that Dortmund had everything well under control, but in the 83rd minute, Benzema scored to make the tie 4-2. In the 88th minute, Sergio Ramos scored to make the tie 4-3 and put Real within one goal of the final.

Unfortunately, it was too little too late for Real Madrid, and a well-deserving Dortmund make it to their first Champions League final since 1997.

Dortmund celebrate their finals berth

Have we seen the last of José as Real's gaffer?

I thought that overall, Real Madrid put a valiant effort and did their best to make up for the horrendous showing they had in Germany. For the third time in as many years, Real Madrid have lost in the semi-finals, having lost to Barcelona, Bayern, and now Dortmund. Their dream of their tenth European championship will have to wait. In all likelihood  this was probably José Mourinho's last European match for Real Madrid. With rumours of him going to England, and rumours that the "core" players have staged a mutiny, it is safe to say that "The Special One" has his days numbered. Good luck to Dortmund in the finals.

Barcelona - Bayern München

Camp Nou

Barcelona were trying to overturn a 4-0 deficit to the German champions, Bayern München and the culé came out strong. They unveiled their own tifo of Barça, orgull Barça! which is Catalan for "Barça, pride Barça!"

Camp Nou was also ready for a fight

Messi watched his club get thrashed by the German champions

The big news was whether FIFA World player of the year, Lionel Messi would play, and as it turned out, he was relegated to the bench.

Without their talisman, Barcelona were asking the likes of Villa, Xavi, and Villa to step up and put them back in the tie. Unfortunately for Barcelona, Bayern München were also ready for the task. Barcelona came out strong in the first half, but were unable to score with poor finishing in the final third of the pitch. It seemed that Bayern were toying with their competition because in the second half, Arjen Robben was allowed space and struck a wonderful strike around Valdés in the 49th minute. This put the game out of reach for Barça. At this point the mood in the stadium went from hope to disbelief as they saw their team fall for the second time in as many years in the semi-final.

Wonderful goal by Robben

Fàbregas sums up Barça's night

Bayern weren't done there and put two more goals past Barcelona for a 7-0 aggregate win, which is Barça's biggest loss in European competition in their history.

Bayern's win puts them back in the Champions League final were they will try and avenge last year's loss at home to Chelsea. This will also be the first all-German Champions League final.

Barcelona, in my opinion, were humiliated. They were supposed to at least defend their honour after their poor performance in Germany and they followed it up with an equally poor performance at home. The summer will probably see a major shake up at the club and I would not be surprised if they make a change in the coach. We may have seen the last of David Villa, Alexis Sánchez, Cesc Fàbregas, and Victor Valdés in Europe as Barça players.

Bayern München celebrate their second straight finals berth

For the second straight year, both Spanish giants were knocked out in the semi-finals. Full marks go to Bayern München, who were definitely the better team. This now sets up a wonderful match between the German champions and the Cinderella team of Dortmund on May 25th at Wembley Stadium.

The Bite

I should be writing about the upcoming Champions League matches, but instead the football world is focused on the actions of Luis Suárez over the weekend.

If you haven't heard, Luis Suárez, star forward of Liverpool Football Club, unprovoked, decided to bite Chelsea fullback Branislav Ivanović. You read that correctly, he decided to bite him. This isn't the first time Luis has been sanctioned for biting a player. Suárez was also suspended for seven matches in 2010 while playing for Ajax over a similar incident.

For some unknown reason, Luis Suárez bit Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanović on the weekend

I have been one of the biggest Luis Suárez supporters. I defended him when he decided to play keeper against Ghana in the World Cup 2010 quarter-final match.

Suárez saves a goal against Ghana, and was ejected. Uruguay went on to win the match.

I even gave him the benefit of the doubt over the whole Patrice Evra racism situation.

Luis Suárez and Patrice Evra

However, just this past March, he has gotten himself in trouble with FIFA as they investigate his punch against Gonzalo Jara during a FIFA Qualifier match against Chile. 

Suárez is being investigated for punching a player

The unfortunate things is that Luis Suárez is a very talented player, and in my opinion  is the only reason Liverpool are relevant in the Premiership right now (Liverpool are seventh in the tables with only four matches to go). There is a good chance he will be suspended and it may cost Liverpool their position.

There is a also a good chance that we may have seen the last of Luis Suárez in a Liverpool shirt. Kenny Dalglish stood by his star forward during the Evra situation, and it probably contributed to his sacking. Brendan Rodgers, current Liverpool gaffer, will not be as forgiving and he may push for Suárez's sale in the summer.

I can't imagine Rodgers is very pleased with his forward

The real question is how much has Luis' stock fallen because of all the "incidents"? I always thought that he was worth north of £40 million, but I don't see many clubs around Europe willing to pay that much for a player who seems to attract so much negative attention.

Keep those choppers in check Luis

Even Adidas, his sponsor, are re-evaluating their position with Luis Suárez. This talented lad needs to control himself or he risks alienating himself and his supporters. "El Caníbal" needs to remember why he's being paid so much money; it's to kick a ball into the net, not act a fool.

O derbi galego

This past Friday was o derbi galego, the Galician derby between Celta de Vigo and Deportivo La Coruña. If you have no idea where Galicia is, you’re not alone. Galicia is one of the autonomous regions of Spain, which is directly north of Portugal. Vigo is about a two hour drive north of Porto and La Coruña is another three hours north of that. Celta and Deportivo have have had a long rivalry, and like most football derbies, come about from political tension. Without getting into too much detail, Vigo is the economic capital of the region whilst La Coruña is one of the administrative hubs of the region (neither are the government capital).

Football-wise, Deportivo La Coruña has had more success in it's lifetime. They had a great run from the mid 1990s to the mid 2000s in which they became the smallest city in Spain (approximately 200,000) to win a Spanish league title in 2000 and were runners-up in 2001 and 2002. They also experienced some success in the Champions League reaching the semi-finals in 2004. This team was affectionately known as Superdepor.

Celta de Vigo have not had the same success as their northern Galician rivals. Their highest ever finish in Spain’s Primera división came in 2003, when they finished fourth. However, during Superdepor’s era, Celta had it’s own golden era, in which they qualified for the UEFA Cup (the precursor to the Europa League) and the Champions League. The Spanish press dubbed them Eurocelta because they became “giant killers” in Europe. During this period, the squad’s talisman was Aleksandr Mostovoi, who was known as El Zar de Balaídos (The Tsar of Balaídos).

Aleksander Mostovoi

Unfortunately for both clubs, they have declined since their European highs in the mid-2000s. Celta’s struggles started first and were relegated to La segunda división in 2007 and only returned to La primera división in 2012. Deportivo were relegated in 2011 but quickly came back up for the 2012 season as well. 

As it turns out, this particular instance of the derby has serious ramifications to both clubs since both Celta and Deportivo are in a relegation battle. This match could conceivably be the difference between relegation and staying in Spain’s top flight. From Celta’s point-of-view, this was a little payback for all the teasing they received from Deportivo when they were in La segunda divisón. Now it was Celta’s turn to ensure the final nail was hammered on Deportivo’s coffin and relegate them to La segunda divisón.

The La Coruña police took no chances for this match, sending out the riot squad to escort the Celta bus to the Riazor, Deportivo's stadium.

And there was no love-loss by the Deportivo supporters:

Deportivo fans "greeting" the Celta bus and supporters

Riki celebrates

On to the match itself, both clubs has new managers since both had recently sacked their coaches, and in Deportivo's case  this was their third mister of the campaign. Deportivo came out strong and within seven minutes, Iván Sánchez (Riki) found the back of the net with a spectacular volley.

Overall, Celta had a terrible match. They looked unorganized, confused, and rarely looked like they were going to trouble La Coruña. They were starting to look to Iago Aspas to provide them a spark. Iago did create some fireworks. However, it wasn't what Celta wanted, as he foolishly head-butted Marchena and received an automatic red card.

Iago, what are you doing?!

From this point on, Deportivo took full control of the match and cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win in front of their supporters. To add to the shenanigans of the match, Hugo Mallo, a Celta player who was injured but decided to join the supporter caravan to Riazor was photographed with a "FOR SALE" sign with Deportivo's club emblem over a Portuguese flag. He was also making obscene gestures at the Riazor to the point that the police had to intervene before a full-out riot took place. The club has decided to sanction both players for their poor conduct.

With this win, the relegation battle has become intense since the difference between twentieth and seventeenth, is only six points. However, for Celta, they face Barça next week and are without their star player for the next few weeks. In my opinion, things don't look good for Celta, but such is life in football.

Barça 4 - 0 AC Milan

What a match! If you're a fan of "the beautiful game", this was one of those matches that makes you proud of being a "footie supporter". For those of you who aren't, let me try and  explain some of the background to this match.

FC Barcelona (Barça) lost to AC Milan 2-0 in Milan. It was universally regarded as an upset since Barça are regarded as the best football club on the planet, and are deserved of this title. From 2006 to 2012, Barça have won four (4) Spanish titles, four (4) Supercopa de España, two (2) Copa del Rey titles, three (3) UEFA Champions League, two (2) UEFA Super Cups and two (2) FIFA Club World Cup titles. It's also important to note that some of the senior members of this squad are part of the core that has helped Spain win two (2) UEFA European Championships and a FIFA World Cup. It would not be far-fetched to say that this is arguably the greatest club in the history of football, or at the very least, one of the top five of all-time.

Back to the match, a relatively young AC Milan squad stepped out in the San Siro and delivered one of the greatest examples of catenaccio, that is to say, the Italian strategy of defend first and counter-attack. Barça looked sluggish, slow, and lost. After this match, they faced el eterno rival, the eternal rival, which is to say Real Madrid. They lost to Real Madrid in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final 3-1 in front of their home crowd. That weekend, they went to the Santiago Bernabéu and proceeded to lose 2-1 once again to Real Madrid. By now, the press had completely turned on Barça, especially in Spain. Calls for Jordi Roura's (their interim coach) head were coming from all sides. Even in Calalunya, the club's home region, questions were being asked about whether or not this was the end of Barça's superiority. Even questions about Lionel Messi, their star player were being asked, and this is a footballer who only three months earlier, won his fourth consecutive Balon D'Or.

The media portrayed Barça as a rudderless, over-the-hill squad that lacked pace and creativity. After only three poor matches, they were being discarded as yesterday's news. Queue the second leg of the Champions League match at the Camp Nou. The atmosphere couldn't have been any more electric, the almost 90,000 blaugrana faithful packed one of Europe's greatest football cathedrals and the players came out to this:

"SOM UN EQUIP!", "WE ARE A TEAM!" was the message from the cules to their squad. Their squad did not dissapoint. The world's greatest footballer, Messi, came out storming and within five minutes scored one of the best goals I have seen in a while, surrounded by five AC Milan players, he not only only managed to get a shot out, but he curled it around and over the keeper.

What proceeded was one of the most dominant displays of football in a few years. Barcelona needed to score at least twice to draw this two-legged tie and three if they wanted to outright win. The third, and deciding goal came from David Villa, the former Valencia player who had just come back from injury. It was one of those goals that only true "poachers" of the game can score.

A fourth came from their speedy left-winger, Jordi Alba, another Valencia alumni. The world press were shocked to see the dominant display of Barça and even the Italian press could not deny the superiority of this club. It seemed that for one night, Barça had once again reclaimed their title of "the world's greatest club". The next test will be against one of Europe's elite squad. Will we have another Clásico? I'm certain Barça would love nothing more than to face their rivals once again to prove that they are not only Spain's, but Europe's superpower.

As the Barça supporters say, VISCA BARÇA!