Einerseits: einziger Ort, an dem mich Leute offensichtlich versucht haben, zu bestehlen.
Andererseits: ziemlich gute Reis Bowl für unter 9 Euro, nach 21 Uhr für unter 5
Japanischer alte Leute und Kinder am Abend Tee, gibt es bei uns sehr oft: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C5%8D...
France - Brazil 2-5, a classic, two great and technically superb teams, Pelé with a hattrick and at times on another level, Jonquet's injury a shame because the match wasn't that one-sided before
Best players: Pele (!), N. Santos (!), Kopa, Garrincha, Zito, Piantoni
footballia.net/matches/fran...
Mehr zu meinem Buch:
Spoken like a true philosopher ;-)
Kind of looks like the cute little sibling of the Mercedes 300 SLR Uhlenhaut (which I would rank the most beautiful car ever).
Was "Littler vs. The Nine" meant to provoke the mental image of Luke Littler battling all of the Nazgul at the oche? Or just a happy coincidence?
impossible for an international match to compete with the best club matches in that regard but as far as that feeling of witnessing sporting history at its greatest goes, nothing came close to me.
In purely sporting quality terms, I think some Klopp's Liverpool vs Pep's City game was the best.
I had forgotten to name a Best Match. I don't want it to be the 2022 WC final but I think it was by far the most monumental match to happen in the last ten years. It meant a lot and it more than delivered.
It wasn't the match with the highest overall sporting quality. It is nowadays basically
Wat shallst moaken
Second plug for the new blogpost.
As I said in the piece: ideally these things are discussion starters. :-) (...and simply expressions of one's love for the game and the people who play it)
New blogpost:
Team of the Decade 2015-2025
Featuring the amazing @zonal-marking.bsky.social , @justin-kraft.de and @robfielder.bsky.social
footballarguments.wordpress.com/2025/12/23/t...
💘
There finally will be a new Team of the Decade blogpost out in a few hours time. 🙂
The Germans routinely describe the majority of their reasonably hoppy lagers as Pilseners. It is understood that this does not imply that they are brewed in the Czech Republic, let alone Pilsen itself. Merely that they (kinda) follow that style.
Ich glaube, einige kundige Leute hatten das kommentiert mit: und so hat er dann auch gespielt.
Ideally after a player who specialized in assists rather than one of the great goal/assist double threats. So no Pele, Messi, Maradona or Cruyff, for example.
Michael Laudrup came to mind.
Sweden - Soviet Union 2-0, best match so far, Sweden deservedly progress but chances at either end, both goalkeepers shine, the Soviets lack a spark in attack, the Swedish attack looks like a well-honed unit
Best players: Gustavsson, Svensson, Hamrin, Yashin, Gren
footballia.net/matches/swed...
Who would it be named after?
These were all the available group stage matches. We now enter the knockout phase.
Kudos to the Soviet broadcaster by the way. 90 mins of footage in a very decent quality is something you cannot take for granted during those days. In fact, sometimes you wonder just how poor the picture quality is.
Soviet Union - England 1-0, could have easily been the other way around, England have the better chances, Yashin starts wobbly but ultimately saves the day for the Soviets, Wright for once not imperious
Best players: Yashin, Brabrook, Howe, Ilyin
footballia.net/matches/sovi...
Sweden - Wales 0-0, Sweden are very unlucky not to score, they have more chances than Wales (who do have some), Skoglund likes some showboating - but he is also the most dangerous man on the pitch, Charles plays as a left-sided midfielder (???)
Best players: Skoglund
footballia.net/matches/swed...
West Germany - Northern Ireland 2-2, 2nd NI goal is missing, NI a man down because of injury for most of the match, yet only the marginally worse team, pretty eventful match with chances at both ends
Best players: Gregg, Rahn, Seeler, McIlroy, Juskowiak, Walter
footballia.net/matches/germ...
Sweden - Hungary 2-1, frantic 2nd half but Sweden better in the 1st, Tichy with the finest long-range strike I've seen in the 1950s, Liedholm with a rather bad penalty miss, Grosics and Bozsik the only remaing HUN legends
Best players: Hamrin, Tichy, Bozsik, Skoglund
footballia.net/matches/swed...
I have started to re-watch the available matches from the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Footballia lists a total of nine of them, which is a quantum leap compared to the last one. Not all of them feature 90 minutes of footage, though.
It almost feels like a con. "The BIG MATCH.... *whisper* which doesn't matter all that much".
On a country-level the downfall of Hungarian football after the suppressed revolution of 1956 continues to be felt. The Hungarian lead is quickly shrinking and the '58 WC alone might be sufficient for Brazil to catch up.
However, the Hungarian exiles are said to prepare a comeback...
