Share some knowledge about your countries futbol history! Post a little Bio, videos, pics or all you want from a player that you consider insignia of your country, that when you think of your countries name, you think of that player.
I understand that countries like Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany may have many! but choose the one that you think is the main main one, the player that everyone is proud to remember and that 100 years from now, little kids will still know who he is and be proud of it!.
I will start with my country Colombia.
Colombia did not really a competitive team, or even international recognize players until the end of the 80's, before that we fucking sucked and only 2 players were though of being good, which were Arnoldo Iguarán and Willington ortiz. In the end of the 80s and early 90s we started to have a better team and good players started to develop, includind Freddy Rincon ( only player from Colombia to ever played on Real madrid), Leonel Alvares, Tren Valencia, and many others. But no one really ever became or did what CARLOS "EL PIBE" VALDERRAMA did.
Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (born September 2, 1961 in Santa Marta, Colombia) Nicknamed El Pibe ("The kid"), Valderrama is recognizable for his enormous dyed blondish-orange bush of hair and is known for his skillful passing and shielding. One of the most formidable powers of Valderrama is his ability to dominate the match playing in walking pace.
Valderrama captained Colombia during the 1990, 1994, and 1998 World Cups, before announcing his international retirement after the 1998 competition having received 111 caps and scored 11 times. He won the Colombian championship with Atlético Junior in 1993 and 1995. One example of excellent field vision was in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. In the game against Germany, Valderrama passed the ball to Freddy Rincon who was open for a pass. Rincon then scored through the legs of German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner. This goal tied the match at 1-1 and sent Colombia to the second round of the World Cup for the first time in its history and the only team Germany could not beat on their way to the championship.
man i got a tear from watching it again ahha T.T
He Played for:
Unión Magdalena Millonarios Deportivo Cali Montpellier HSC Real Valladolid Independiente Medellín Atlético Junior Tampa Bay Mutiny Miami Fusion Tampa Bay Mutiny Colorado Rapids
Honours
* South American Footballer of the Year (1987, 1993) * French Cup winner (1990) * Colombian Championship winner with Junior Barranquilla (1993, 1995) * MLS Player of the Year (1996) * MLS All-time leader in assists * MLS All-star game MVP * Member of the FIFA Century Club
and he was also the only Colombian name by Pele in the 100 greatest living players.
Im proud to remember El pibe Valderrama as the best Colombian player ever, he gave me many happy moments in my life and I will never forget him
Wow, I'm a new fan, greatest afro ever. :D I don't think that America had any superb soccer players that come to mind...iirc. Maybe that Mia Hamm or Freddy Adu? I'm not much of a fan of Soccer(futbol) .
On September 06 2007 06:44 MadNeSs wrote: Do we need to go in that much detail?
Its up to you really, the more the better, but i guess the highlights and more important stuff is what matters, as the point is to learn and expand your knowledge
On September 06 2007 07:00 Pressure wrote: Wow, I'm a new fan, greatest afro ever. :D I don't think that America had any superb soccer players that come to mind...iirc. Maybe that Mia Hamm or Freddy Adu? I'm not much of a fan of Soccer(futbol) .
when I think of USA soccer, I think of Alexis Lalas
I think the most important Football Player in the portuguese history is probably Eusébio. Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, he played 15 years in benfica trough 1960 to 1975 (Portugal was under a Fascist Dictatorship till 1974, and Salazar was against eusébio transfer outside portugal so he never left benfica until 1975) he scored 317 goals in 301 games while in benfica. While in benfica he won 11 Portuguese championships, 5 Portuguese cup, 1 Champions League in 1962 and took benfica to other 3 finals in the decade of the 60's. he Was a key player in Portugal Team and took portugal to the 3rd place of 1966 World Cup in England.
He and Amalia Rodrigues (Fado) are probably the great symbols of Portugal.
Honorable mentions to Luis Figo (Everybody knows Luis Figo) and Vitor Baía( the professional football player with most titles won) * 10 Portuguese national league championships (89/90, 91/92, 92/93, 94/95, 95/96, 98/99, 02/03, 03/04, 05/06, 06/07) * 8 Portuguese Supercups (89/90, 90/91, 92/93, 93/94, 94/95, 02/03, 03/04, 05/06) * 5 Portuguese Cups (90/91, 93/94, 99/00, 02/03, 05/06) * 2 Spanish Cups (96/97, 97/98) * 1 Spanish national league championship (97/98) * 1 Spanish Supercup (97/98) * 1 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup (96/97) * 1 UEFA Supercup 97/98 * 1 UEFA Cup (02/03) * 1 UEFA Champions League Cup (03/04) * 1 FIFA Intercontinental Cup (04)
Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born July 11, 1958), popularly nicknamed Pentapichichi and Hugol, is a Mexican former football striker who played for four European clubs, including Real Madrid. As a member of the Mexico national team, he participated in three World Cups.
Sánchez played twelve seasons in the Spanish Primera División and is the second highest goalscorer in the history of that league. He also played for the Mexico national team for 17 years and participated in the World Cups of 1978, 1986, and 1994. He won the Pichichi Award five times, four of them consecutively, a record only second to Telmo Zarra's six trophies.
After winning two championships as head coach of the club UNAM Pumas and briefly with Necaxa, both teams in the Mexican first division, Sánchez was named head coach of the Mexican national team, with a goal to reach the World Cup 2010.
In 1999, the IFFHS voted him the 26th best footballer of the 20th Century, and the best footballer from the North America, Central America, and the Caribbean area.
I dont think that anyone else deserve that spot, even when recently we are starting to "export" players like, Rafael Marquez, Geovanni Dos Santos, Nery Castillo, Carlos Salcido or Cuauhtemoc Blanco
In the 1966 world cup, in the quarter finals Portugal was down by 3 goals against North Korea by the 25th minute. Eusebio almost single-handedly achieved one of the greatest comebacks in football history, scoring 4 goals, leading Portugal to a 5-3 victory against the evil commies. After in the group stage we had defeated Hungary and Bulgaria, and then North Korea in the quarter finals, we would end the tournament with a win against the USSR for 3rd place, thus achieving the world record of number of communist nations beaten in a world cup (5). A record that is still remembered with great pride, at least by me.
I just lost a long post , so I'm just going to link to videos:
Juggling with a golf ball...
Juggling with a BIG ball.
Warming up before a Napoli match
Goals in the Boca Era
Fun fact: In a game between Argentinos and Boca (Maradona playing for Argentinos), before the game Boca's goalkeeper (very good one btw) Gatti was asked if he was worried about Maradona (as he had been scoring a lot lately), He answered that Maradona was just a "fatty". Later that day, Maradona scored 4 goals (the first 4 goals in the compilation video).
Napoli Era goals
Before Maradona was transfered from Barcelona to Boca, Napoli was a club overshadowed by the clubs in the northern industrial (and richer) cities. After Maradona's arrival Napoli won their only Italian Championships (1986/87 and 1989/1990), a Coppa Italia (1987), a UEFA Cup (1989) and an Italian Supercup (1990). Napoli were also runners-up in the Italian Championship twice, in 1987/88 and 1988/89.
* 1981 Argentine league (Boca Juniors) * 1983 Copa del Rey (FC Barcelona) * League Cup (1982/83) * Spanish Super Cup (1983) * 1987 Italian league (SSC Napoli) * 1987 Italian Cup (SSC Napoli) * 1988 Italian top-scorer (SSC Napoli) * 1989 UEFA Cup (SSC Napoli) * 1990 Italian league (SSC Napoli) * 1991 Italian Super Cup (SSC Napoli)
[edit] International honours
* 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship: Winner * 1986 FIFA World Cup: Winner * 1990 FIFA World Cup: Runner-up * 1993 Artemio Franchi Trophy: Winner
Individual honours
* 1979 Golden Ball for Best Player of the FIFA U-20 World Cup * 1979, 1980, 1981 Argentine league Top Scorer * 1979–1981, 1986 Argentine Football Writers' Footballer of the Year * 1979, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992 South American Footballer of the Year (El Mundo, Caracas) * 1986 Argentine Sports Writers' Sportsman of the Year * 1986 Golden Ball for Best Player of the FIFA World Cup * 1986–1987 Best Footballer in the World (Once) * 1986 World Player of the Year (World Soccer Magazine) * 1996 Golden Ball for services to football (France Football) * 1999 Argentine Sports Writers' Sportsman of the Century * 2000 "FIFA best football player of the century", people's choice. * 2002 "FIFA Goal of the Century" (1986 (2–1) v. England; second goal) * 2005 Argentine Senate "Domingo Faustino Sarmiento" recognition for lifetime achievement.
His overall average of goals scored per match in domestic club competitions is 0.53.
On September 06 2007 21:31 warding wrote: In the 1966 world cup, in the quarter finals Portugal was down by 3 goals against North Korea by the 25th minute. Eusebio almost single-handedly achieved one of the greatest comebacks in football history, scoring 4 goals, leading Portugal to a 5-3 victory against the evil commies. After in the group stage we had defeated Hungary and Bulgaria, and then North Korea in the quarter finals, we would end the tournament with a win against the USSR for 3rd place, thus achieving the world record of number of communist nations beaten in a world cup (5). A record that is still remembered with great pride, at least by me.
World Cup 2006 Smallest Country to ever qualify for the tournament Trinidad and Tobago 1 - 1 Sweden (Greatest Football accomplishment)
Some of our better players: Dwight Yorke: ex Manchester United Player currently with sunderland Russell Latapy: Player/Coach Falkirk (Scotland) Stern John: Southhampton (2nd in most goals scored for World Cup qualifying rounds) Shaka Hislop: Formerly of West Ham. Plays in the MSL now ... forgot which team Marvin Andrews: FC Rangers (Scotland)
Roy Keane has stated that he really loves our players and has 3 Trinidad and Tobago nationals on sunderland: Dwight Yorke Carlos Edwards Kenwyne Jones (made a swap with Southampton for Stern John, another Trinidad and Tobago national)