Messi's World Cup ends on a bitter note

Messi's World Cup ends on a bitter note -- Lionel Messi's final act in the 2014 World Cup was lifting a free kick high over the bar, wasting Argentina's last chance to equalize in the final against Germany.

It was far from a fitting finish for the four-time world player of the year.

This was supposed to be Messi's World Cup, just like the 1986 tournament belonged to another Argentine great, Diego Maradona.

But after carrying his team through the group stage in Brazil with four goals, Messi seemed to run out of steam.

He created chances in the final Sunday but, like the rest of the team, lacked the finishing touch to turn the game for Argentina.

''I'm hurt for losing the way we did. We were close to penalties,'' Messi said. ''I think we deserved a little better, we had chances.''

He was a picture of disappointment as he collected the trophy for the tournament's best player, and then stood in silence at the entrance to the player's tunnel, watching the Germans receive the trophy.

''At this moment, I don't care at all about that prize, only lifting the trophy matters,'' Messi said.

Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella said he thought Messi deserved the best player award, ''because he played an extraordinary role. He was the fundamental factor in the team.''

Messi has won everything there is to win with club team Barcelona, but many critics say he needs a World Cup title to be considered among football's all-time greats.

''He's been there for quite a while already, in the pantheon of the greats,'' Sabella said, when asked to compare Messi with players like Maradona and Brazil's Pele.

Germany's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, recipient of the Golden Glove trophy, stands next to Argentina's Lionel Messi after he receive the Golden Ball trophy following Germany's 1-0 victory over Argentina after the World Cup final soccer match between Germany and Argentina at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, July 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Messi stood out in an otherwise mediocre Argentine team in the group stage, scoring against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran and twice against Nigeria.

The free kick he curled inside Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama's left post was a masterpiece. Then, game by game, Messi's influence started waning.

Against Switzerland he had little impact until extra time, when he drilled a hole in the Swiss defense and set up Angel Di Maria's winning goal. In the next game, against Belgium, he started the movement that resulted in Gonzalo Higuain's first-half winner and helped Argentina keep possession as the Belgians tried to level the score.

Man-marked by Nigel de Jong, Messi struggled to find space in the semifinal win over the Netherlands, and besides a few runs and deft passes into the area against Germany, he didn't rise to the occasion.

His last chance came in the final seconds of extra time as he was given a free kick about 10 meters (yards) from the area. Messi wiped the sweat off his face, took aim and sent his final shot of the World Cup well over the target. ( sports.yahoo.com  )

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Messi another player when he's with Argentina : Pele

Messi another player when he's with Argentina : Pele - Pele says Lionel Messi is not as good for Argentina as he is for Barcelona as a result of a lack of understanding with his international teammates.

Messi has been criticized throughout his career by those in his homeland, who believe he tries harder in Blaugrana colours than the blue and white of his nation, though Pele is certain there is another reason behind his differing form.

Pele: Messi another player when he's with Argentina             

"When you see him playing with Barcelona, he is Messi, but when you see him playing for Argentina, he is another Messi," the 73-year-old told Marca. "With Barcelona he is surrounded by two or three excellent players like Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta to help him. With Argentina it is different because it is more difficult to connect with his teammates. It's a completely different Messi."

The Brazil legend then turned his attention to Neymar and praised his decision to join Barcelona last summer as the perfect move to prepare himself for the World Cup this summer.

He added: "It's his first World Cup and no one knows exactly what's going to happen. It's a big responsibility for him. 

"He was very good at Santos, but his best decision was to go and play in Spain, in Europe. For Brazil, it's like he's gone off to university for six months. He'll gain experience and that'll be fantastic for him."

The three-time World Cup winner added that he feels confident Brazil can win the World Cup on home soil thanks to the leadership of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and technical director Carlos Alberto Parreira.

“In Brazil we had one of the worst experiences in the 1950s when the World Cup was held in Brazil and we lost to Uruguay," he continued. "People fear the same thing happen, but I think this time it will be different.

"We have to be careful and respect other teams, because there are two or three good teams: Germany is a very good team and we have to respect Spain because they have been playing together for eight years."

"I think one of the good things we have now is that both Scolari and Parreira have experience and that's great for Brazil, because they have already gone through these situations and they can tell the players what they have to do," Pele continued. "I'm very confident, especially as Parreira was there in 1970 [as a member of the coaching staff] with the best team that Brazil has ever had." ( goal.com )

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Vince McMahon, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Vice

Vince McMahon, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Vice - There are always a lot of dumb rumors going around that media outlets are all too eager to spread and that people are all too willing to believe. So as a public service, we here at DT bring you the reality check that will keep you from looking like a gullible Guti. 

WWE chairman Vince McMahon interested in buying Newcastle! (A website no one's ever heard of) — What's not to believe about a report on a random website citing an anonymous source? For starters, it makes no mention of this rumor being around since 2011 and the fact that the Guardian debunked it last month. 

Cristiano Ronaldo with Detective Sonny Crockett. (Getty)

David Beckham might name his MLS team "Miami Vice"! Like the TV show! And the less popular Colin Farrell movie! (Palm Beach Post) — This is one even I want to believe because it would be wonderful, but NBC Universal, which owns the rights to the show and film, would probably sue the David Beckham brand underpants off of MLS if they tried this. Plus Beckham's publicist, Simon Oliveira, already denied it and basically said you're stupid if you ever believed it. 

David Beckham wants to sign Cristiano Ronaldo for the Miami Vice in 2017! (The Sun) — I'm sure he also wants to sign Lionel Messi, all of Bayern Munich and 1958 Pele. You know, like every other football club owner on the planet. But the man doesn't even know the name of his club, when they will start playing or where they will do it, so signing Ronaldo or a reanimated George Best in three years is pretty far down the list of priorities. 

Mario Balotelli to Arsenal! With the help of Puma! (Daily Express/Metro) — Rumors of sportswear companies engineering megadeals to bring their sponsored athletes and their sponsored clubs together pop up from time to time. This one was inevitable since Arsenal and Balotelli both signed with Puma very recently, but if these things happened, Nike's biggest footballer (Cristiano Ronaldo) wouldn't be playing for Adidas' Real Madrid and Adidas' biggest footballer (Lionel Messi) wouldn't be playing for Nike's Barcelona. 

So that's the Puma angle out. But what about Mario to Arsenal anyway? Well, he can't stop saying how happy he is to play for Milan "especially in difficult moments" and he also says the only thing he misses about England is Man City fans. He's probably not going to Arsenal (or any other English club) then. 

David Moyes resigns himself to just winning the Champions League this season! (Dirty Tackle) — False. Moyes actually still believes Man United can win the FA Cup even though they were knocked out way back in the third round. Being optimistic helps limit the Sir Alex Ferguson night terrors to just the hours he's asleep. ( yahoo.com )

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Soccer-Botafogo look to revive neglected junior ranks

Soccer-Botafogo look to revive neglected junior ranks - Unlike teams such as Santos, Sao Paulo and Internacional, years have passed since a young player came out of Botafogo's youth scheme to reach the Brazil side or fame abroad.

Yet, every week about 100 Brazilian boys knock on the doors of the club from Rio, the majority from the poorest neighbourhoods, looking for a place in the academy of the club that boast former Netherlands midfielder Clarence Seedorf as their top player.

"Our players are already born with that technique and that dream of becoming footballers. We have hundreds of players coming in all the time for trials, between 100 and 150 players turn up for trials every week," academy coordinator Ney Junior told Reuters.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Botafogo were a top Brazilian team with Pele's Santos. Two outstanding players who emerged at the club went on to win the World Cup twice with Brazil in 1958 and 1962 - Garrincha and Nilton Santos.

But since the 1970s generation of world champions Jairzinho and Paulo Cesar Lima, who also came through Botafogo's junior ranks, the team stopped producing their own talent and this was reflected in a drop in the club's standing on the national scene.

In contrast, Flamengo, Internacional, Sao Paulo and more recently Santos invested in their academies and became purveyors of the biggest names in Brazilian football right up to the emergence of Neymar at Santos.

SOUTH AMERICAN TREND

Given the poor financial state of most of Brazil's clubs, who have accumulated years of debts, academies have become a key source of income for the teams who sell off young talent as soon as there is an offer from abroad, not just from rich western European clubs but also eastern Europe and Asia.

This trend, which has grown over the last decade as club costs have soared throughout South America, has also taken root in Argentina where teams have tended to sell teenage players well before most have developed their talent enough to succeed abroad.

"We lose our players very early on. When talking about Brazil's national team, the player leaves the country at 16, 17, 18, so we lose a player, an athlete, who doesn't develop a relationship with his own country and the national team, and then he rarely comes back to play any games because his club becomes a priority," Junior said.

Obliged by market conditions and poor results to search again for young talent, Botafogo's plan has begun to bear fruit.

The Botafogo team who this month won the regional Guanabara Cup, led by Seedorf, included three players from the club's juniors in the final against Vasco da Gama.

Central defender Doria, 18, stood out and media reports say he is a target for Italy's Juventus.

Doria, who entered the Botafogo academy at 14, is though a rare success story among the hundreds of boys who try their luck at the club every week.

Among the few who make it, even getting to the professional first team is a struggle that demands staying power amid poor quality training facilities, lodgings and family money problems.

"The thing (that hurts us) is the infrastructure and the family support which is not adequate. Also when it comes to nutrition and to general knowledge, (our) kids are much less well rounded than (young Europeans). In those things we also lag behind," said Junior. 

(Reporting by Brazil TV, writing by Pedro Fonseca/Rex Gowar, editing by Mark Meadows) //Reuters

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