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Ruud van Nistelrooy Retires ~ Just a goalscorer?
Posted by 4Dfoot in Articles, Player Compilations on May 14, 2012
“He is a great goalscorer. But a poor footballer.”
That’s how Johan Cruyff once described Ruud van Nistelrooy. An accurate description, perhaps. But also a humiliating one. At least that’s how Ruud himself perceived it. He had always wanted to be more than ‘just’ a finisher. He repeatedly insisted that he could do more than ‘just’ score goals. Opinions were divided. The debate that ensued perfectly highlighted the remarkable role in soccer of the ‘goalscorer’.
Superficially, soccer is about scoring goals. The man who scores the winning goal is the star of the night. TV-commentators will shout his name. Fans inside the stadium will dedicate their songs to him. His image will grace next morning’s newspapers.
But behind that facade of attention and stardom, there’s something missing. And even the greatest of goalscorers know it. Like Van Nistelrooy, they crave to be seen as more than just a goal poacher. To be valued for more than just tapping a ball over the line.
Football connoisseurs often view goalscorers with a hint of disdain. “Oh, all he can do is finish. He’s not a real footballer.” These experts then proceed to praise the true masters over the ball. The masterminds. The geniuses. The artists. Those, they claim, are the real footballers. That some of the greatest of these ‘artists’ – Cruyff, Socrates – have been denied World Cup glory because of the brutal efficiency of poachers like Gerd Müller and Paolo Rossi, only heightens the loathing many feel for the ‘finisher’.
The conflict between the artist and the finisher is essentially a subset of the eternal struggle between those who love football as an art, and those who primarily look at results. If you’re in the latter category, Van Nistelrooy’s 382 goals leave no room for doubt: he was a brilliant player. For those in the former group – watch the following video and ask yourself if there’s not beauty to be found in many of these wonderful finishes.
North-Korea are the Champions of the World
Spain the reigning World Champions? Only if you believe what FIFA tells you. And who in his right mind still takes FIFA seriously? With that settled, we can confidently declare that the current, unofficial, World Champions are North-Korea. Yes. You read that correctly. The North-Koreans, in November of 2011, grabbed the title by crushing holders Japan in a scintillating encounter in Pyongyang.
If none of this makes any sense to you, you’re part of a vast majority. The Unofficial Football World Championships (UFWC) are so obscure that the North-Koreans themselves probably don’t even know they’re the world’s number one. If so, Kim Jong Un’s Minister of Information has missed out on an excellent opportunity for a propaganda campaign.
So what is this ‘UFWC’? It’s, essentially, a virtual crown invented by a couple of resourceful lovers of football history. They asked themselves: what if football had a World Championship system similar to boxing, where the reigning champion has to defend his title in every next match? They then looked at the first international match ever played and did their calculations from there.
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High-Resolution pictures of Socrates
No words. Just High Resolution images of the deceased master. Suitable for desktop backgrounds or printing/poster purposes
Socrates dies at age 57
Tragic news this morning. The legendary Brazilian midfielder Socrates has passed away at age 57.
The king of the backheel pass and the symbol of Brazil’s beautiful 1982 side had been in poor health for quite a while. He was taken up into the hospital twice over the last few months, but managed to recover each time.
Not this time. After eating stroganoff with his wife and a good friend, all three fell ill. While his wife and friend quickly recovered, Socrates’ weakened body couldn’t handle the intestinal infection. He was taken into the intensive care once again, but a septic shock claimed his life in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Socrates leaves behind a wife and six children. And millions of saddened admirers of the football he used to play.
4Dfoot posted a short biography on Socrates last month: http://www.4dfoot.com/2011/10/23/socrates-needs-a-new-liver-and-remains-a-contradiction/
Sacchi claims his AC Milan was better than Guardiola’s Barcelona. Is he right?
Even the most loyal AC Milan supporters will readily admit that Barcelona is currently a better side than AC Milan.
But how do Pep Guardiola’s men measure up against the legendary Milan that won two successive European Cups in 1989 and 1990?
The monopoly on European football that Barcelona enjoys today, mirrors the iron grip AC Milan had over Europe in the late 80′s.
The coach who built up that all conquering Milan – Ariggo Sacchi – believes his old side was superior to the current Barcelona.
His exact wordss leave little room for nuance. “I coached the best team in history”.
Is he right? A comparison of the achievements both sides have recorded gives us the definitive answer.
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Yannick Noah ties Spanish football triumphs to doping
It’s a public secret for anyone who follows the sport of cycling that Spain is the world’s capital of doping. Need a blood tranfusion? Go to Spain. How about a doctor specialized in doping techniques? Go to Spain. Or a federation with little doping controls? Go to Spain. And don’t forget authorities that will protect you? Spain.
In 2006, Spanish authorities uncovered a wide doping network around doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. Most big name cyclists from around the world were implicated. Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso – even the young Alberto Contador. But the great shock wasn’t that cyclists were using drugs to ride faster. Everyone had known about that for decades.
The real interesting part of the case, which is known as Operacion Puerta was the report that not just cyclists were on the list. As doctor Fuentes himself admitted: he had also ‘worked’ with tennis players.
And with footballers.
Legends in the News ~ Johan Cruyff the victim of his own revolution at Ajax
It was a defining moment in the French Revolution. From a distance, it looked like a regular morning in the Paris of 1794, as the bloody blade of the guillotine chopped off another head.
But on closer inspection, the seperated head that tumbled into the basket was that of Maximilien Robespierre. The leader of the revolution had just been executed by the revolutionaries. The man who had begun the Reign of Terror to crush all opposition against the revolution, had become the victim of his own creation.
A similar thing, although less bloody, has now occured at Ajax. Only a few months ago Johan Cruyff successfully led a revolution at the Dutch club that once dominated European football. Together with four newly appointed commissaries, Cruyff was given the mandate to reform Ajax. But now these commissaries, the very people chosen to carry out Cruyff’s vision, have worked behind his back to install Louis van Gaal – Cruyff’s eternal nemesis – as Ajax’s new president. Cruyff will have no choice but to leave. Devoured by his own revolution.
When George Best set out to humiliate Johan Cruyff
Even the greatest George Best fans had to admit, by 1976, that his best days were well behind him. 30 years old. Addicted to alcohol. Kicked out of Manchester United. George Best, many argued, was now a pale shadow of the genius dribbler he once was.
That’s also what Dutch journalist Bert Nederlof thought. With the Holland vs Northern Ireland World Cup qualifier approaching, Nederlof was assigned the task to write a portrait of George Best. Nederlof flew to London to watch Best with his new club Fulham against Southhampton. After 90 minutes, Nederlof had seen enough. He wrote that Best was a fallen superstar who was no longer able to do what it takes to be a good footballer. Nederlof would soon regret those words.
11-11-11 ~ The Best 11 of all time
Posted by 4Dfoot in Articles, Best of All Time on November 11, 2011
In the near future, this website will add a page dedicated to lists and formations of the greatest players of all time. And to get a taste of what’s to come, what better way to celebrate 11-11-11 than by making a line-up of the best 11 of all time?
The challenge with ‘best ever’ formations is selecting the best players without creating a ridiculous team that has 11 strikers or playmakers. The objective is to make a line-up that can actually work.
That means making hard choices. You can’t have Zidane, Cruyff, Maradona, Platini, Zico and Di Stefano all in one team. Only retired players are included, so that, at least, saves me a head ache over Messi’s position.
So who made the cut?
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