A big hug to all of Pelé’s family, who will be loved forever.
In soccer, many of the coaches’ decisions, even the best prepared ones, are not always technical, scientific, planned. They sometimes occur for inexplicable, emotional, obscure, surprising reasons. Many right and sudden attitudes can go wrong, and other wrong ones can go right, since there are dozens of factors involved.
I agree with the majority that the best penalty taker should be the first to take the penalty kick. Would Neymar be the last one against Croatia, due to Tite’s technical preference or was he the one who asked to hit at the end, like in the Olympics? Furthermore, as there is no longer an order to hit, Neymar could have been second, third or even fourth, after Rodrygo missed the first penalty.
The doubts continue. Why did Tite replace Vinicius Junior during the match against Croatia? He didn’t shine, because he was very marked, he didn’t have support from the side, and Brazil didn’t have control of the ball. Sometimes I saw Vinicius Junior, at Real Madrid, have a discreet performance and, suddenly, make a decisive move. Was there another reason for Tite to replace him?
In recent days, Benzema shone, with two goals, in Real Madrid’s victory over Valladolid, by 2 to 0. Days before the Cup final, he played in a friendly for the Spanish team. The player’s manager stated that Benzema was already in good condition to play in the World Cup since the quarterfinals.
Why did coach Deschamps, from France, release him to return to Real Madrid, before the start of the World Cup, because of an injury, without trying to recover him with the national team? An athlete’s recovery time is variable. In the 1994 World Cup, the great defender Baresi was injured in the first game, traveled to Italy, underwent surgery and played very well in the final against Brazil.
Was there another reason for not insisting on Benzema, some remnant of the problems he had before the 2018 World Cup, when he was not called up? Did the coach trust Giroud, France’s top scorer, more than Benzema, even though the technical distance between the two is huge?
A curiosity and a digression. If Ancelotti is the coach of the Brazilian national team, an opportunity reported by the press, how would you choose the team? He would follow the layout of Real Madrid and other teams he managed, with Casemiro centralized, with a midfielder on each side, in addition to Rodrygo on the right, Vinícius on the left and Neymar in the middle, more advanced, in a similar way to how Benzema plays in Real? I don’t know if it would be the best formation, but why did Tite abandon the option of playing with Neymar more advanced, without a center forward, which had already worked?
Coach Vítor Pereira claimed family problems to leave Corinthians. Soon after, he signed with Flamengo. Are the family problems over, which is unlikely, or did he want to live in Rio and train Flamengo, which has a better squad and is more likely to win titles?
The narrated stories of football, the world, the country and people are not always exactly as they happened. I heard some accounts of Pelé’s career that are debatable. Does not matter. This does not alter the enormity of his talent. Pelé was so phenomenal that he surpassed possible limits, human limits.
102 years
Congratulations to Cruzeiro for its 102 years. I am proud and happy to have participated in the history of the club.
As a seasoned news journalist, I bring a wealth of experience to the field. I’ve worked with world-renowned news organizations, honing my skills as a writer and reporter. Currently, I write for the sports section at News Bulletin 247, where I bring a unique perspective to every story.
