The honeymoon period is now over and reality has dawned. Pep Guardiola started out with a 10-match winning streak. Manchester City are winless in the last four. On Sunday, if they don’t snap the streak against Southampton, it will equal Pep’s worst. The last time this happened was over seven years ago. City have their defensive frailties, but things are not as bad as it looks for the Blues. Make no mistake, leaking four goals at the back is lousy. Eyebrows were raised by Sergio Agüero’s omission. But Manchester City sans the Argentine is still a strong team. I actually liked Guardiola’s approach in starting without his star striker. It wasn’t defensive. Purely tactical — he wanted an extra man in the middle
Tag: Blogs
Netherlands vs Portugal – A game with 4 red cards and 16 yellow cards
In World Cup matches, physicality often escalates when top teams face off. During the 2006 World Cup Round of 16, it reached unprecedented levels. Surprisingly, it was Portugal and the Netherlands clashing—teams not usually known for aggression. From the start, Russian referee Valentin Ivanov struggled to control the game. He handed out a record of four red cards and 16 yellow cards, both FIFA records. The Netherlands entered the match as favorites after winning all their group-stage games. Portugal, on the other hand, secured second place after a draw with Mexico and a loss to Iran. Chaos erupted when Marco Van Basten got booked in the 2nd minute. Luis Figo headbutted an opponent but only received a yellow card, despite FIFA rules
Netherlands: The Unfortunate Team That Lost Three World Cup Finals
The Netherlands is the only team in the World Cup to qualify for 3 finals and lost all 3. Details about all 3 final defeats are here. 1974 World Cup finals vs Germany West Germany was led by Franz Beckenbauer, while the Dutch had their star Johan Cruyff, and their Total Football system which had dazzled the competition. The start of the match was delayed as the ground staff at the stadium had removed the corner flags for the tournament's closing ceremony (which preceded the final) but then forgot to put them back. With just a minute gone on the clock, following a solo run, Cruijff was brought down by Uli Hoeneß in the German penalty area, and the Dutch took the lead from the ensuing penalty by Johan Neeskens before any German
Sheikh ‘Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah’ disallows a goal in World Cup 1982
One of the most memorable controversies surrounding the FIFA World Cup was the match between Kuwait and France in the 1982 World Cup hosted by Spain. In their only ever World Cup appearance, Kuwait were put into a group with England, France and Czechoslovakia, and were not expected to win anything. But, after managing a 1-1 draw in their match against Czechoslovakia, Kuwait faced France. Sheikh Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the then president of the Kuwait Football Association, left his seat from the stands and stormed onto the field, removing his players from the field in protest of a French goal that he believed had been scored only after his players had heard a whistle blown from the stands and stopped playing. The
Legends who won the World Cup as Player and Manager- Beckenbauer and Zagallo
Mario Zagallo Mario Zagallo has a unique place in World Cup history - the only man to have been associated with four World Cup winning teams. In Brazil, he is a legend. During his time as a player he was part of the Brazilian team who lifted the World Cup in 1958 and 1962. Zagallo then coached the 1970 side to another glorious victory. He completed his unique achievement as assistant coach in 1994. The great Brazilian’s fingerprints are indelibly stamped across his country’s World Cup history, and therefore stamped across the finest World Cup history there is. His first winner’s medal came as part of the famous Brazil side of 1958. Pelé scored twice in the 5-2 victory over Sweden and Zagallo marked