Shoutout to Mauro Silva. He doesn't get much love because he played almost his entire career for Deportivo de La Coruña, back when they were a Spanish powerhouse (now they play in third division), but he was an outstanding defensive midfielder. The player Florentino Pérez should have signed for the Galácticos (although tbf he already was old at that time).
Also shoutout to 1982 Brazil. Their shocking QFs loss against Italy is one of the main reasons of Brazil adopting sufferball in the last 30 years, but they were the best team in the tournament.
I love this but I have to say that this sentence feels a bit off to me: "While they had remained competitive in the ‘70s, Brazil hadn’t come anywhere near lifting the trophy in ‘82, ‘86 or ‘90."
I think virtually all Brazilians would disagree about 1982 at least. While they didn't come that close to lifting the trophy the certainly were competitive in that World Cup. Even outside Brazil I've seen that team referred to as everything from the best team not to win the world cup to the best team ever in the World Cup. It was such a big deal that Socrates *stopped smoking* before the tournament.
I'm biased because Socrates, Zico, Falcao, Junior, and Cerezo were the players I grew up watching every weekend. But they really were special.
Really enjoyed those two flashbacks.
Shoutout to Mauro Silva. He doesn't get much love because he played almost his entire career for Deportivo de La Coruña, back when they were a Spanish powerhouse (now they play in third division), but he was an outstanding defensive midfielder. The player Florentino Pérez should have signed for the Galácticos (although tbf he already was old at that time).
Also shoutout to 1982 Brazil. Their shocking QFs loss against Italy is one of the main reasons of Brazil adopting sufferball in the last 30 years, but they were the best team in the tournament.
I love this but I have to say that this sentence feels a bit off to me: "While they had remained competitive in the ‘70s, Brazil hadn’t come anywhere near lifting the trophy in ‘82, ‘86 or ‘90."
I think virtually all Brazilians would disagree about 1982 at least. While they didn't come that close to lifting the trophy the certainly were competitive in that World Cup. Even outside Brazil I've seen that team referred to as everything from the best team not to win the world cup to the best team ever in the World Cup. It was such a big deal that Socrates *stopped smoking* before the tournament.
I'm biased because Socrates, Zico, Falcao, Junior, and Cerezo were the players I grew up watching every weekend. But they really were special.