[sandokhan]

Brazil's performance on the soccer field for the past 30 years has been a shadow of its former glory.


According to Zico, this slip is down to players losing their love for the sport by going to play in other countries.

“The majority of the players in the Seleção leave Brazilian soccer quickly and so lose the true identity of our game. They go to play in other countries with different cultures and they lose the happiness and passion of playing in the Brazilian way,” he said.


http://www.howlermagazine.com/brazils-finest-who-fade-away/

http://www.cantpasscantplay.com/201578the-decline-of-brazilian-street-soccer/

http://fusion.net/story/92664/brazilians-in-europe/


Let us remember that Pele received a remuneration of $500 per game early in his career; in order to understand the effects of being paid millions of dollars/euros per season for these soccer superstars and its consequences on their lives, please read The Seven Laws of Money (a classic work): http://seeingmoney.org/SevenLaws.htm


For those who think that Ronaldo, or Ronaldinho, or Rivaldo, or Messi are some of the top players of all time, they have simply never seen Tostao, Rivellino, Zico, Garrincha or Di Stefano in action.

The first soccer great to score 1000 goals was not Pele but Ferenc Puskas.

Those who are of the opinion that Roberto Carlos was the best Brazilian long distance shooter obviously have never seen Eder in action.


Why did Brazil win the World Cup in 1970? That's right, because they had Tostao on the field.



A terrible accident which occurred in 1969 prevented Tostao from playing after 1972, a huge loss for Brazil, as his presence on the field would have made the difference in the semifinal match against Holland in 1974.


Was Rivellino as good as Maradona? You be the judge.






Zico, the most talented Brazilian player of the last 40 years






Eder (the average speed of his long range kicks was 130-140 km/hr, it is recorded that once it even reached 170 km/hr)





Brasil 1982, pure ginga




Brasil never lost with Pele and Garrincha on the field at the same time. Why?






Alfredo Di Stefano




Ferenc Puskas, best tribute

http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.ro/2011/10/puskas-soccer-legend-capt-ajit.html

George Best had this to say:  I was with (Bobby) Charlton, (Denis) Law and Puskás, we were coaching in a football academy in Australia. The youngsters we were coaching did not respect him including making fun of his weight and age...We decided to let the guys challenge a coach to hit the crossbar 10 times in a row, obviously they picked the old fat one. Law asked the kids how many they thought the old fat coach would get out of ten.  Most said less than five.  George Best said ten.  The old fat coach stepped up and hit nine in a row.  For the tenth shot he scooped the ball in the air, bounced it off both shoulders and his head, then flicked it over with his heel and cannoned the ball off the crossbar on the volley.  They all stood in awed silence then one kid asked who he was, I replied, "To you, his name is Mr. Puskás".


George Best, perhaps the finest European player ever (better than Cruyff or Hagi), who did have the ginga





Pele believed that George Best was the greatest ever to have graced a football pitch.

[juner]

Sandokhan, this is your best thread ever. Are you from Brazil? I'll be rooting for them over Ecuador this evening. Even if hey aren't as good as the glory days, they are still pretty damn good.

[andruszkow]

Soccer...

There's always the old vs new generation discussions about football players. Football has changed, modern defending requires team efforts in comparison with the times of Maradona for example.

Maradona would not be what he was, if you took his skills from the 80's, and put them on a field with 2016 defenders and midfields.