❤️🩹🇦🇷 Leo Messi: “Dad, you kept asking me to play in one last World Cup… just days before it began was when your condition got worse”.
“It was the first time you weren’t going to be there with me at tournament… but Mom kept telling me you were going to get better and that you’d be well enough to travel”.
“I kept telling you we were going to reach the World Cup final so you could make the trip, this was my mission once again”.
“After every match, I waited for and missed your message. That’s when I realized how serious the situation really was”.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about going as far as possible, give you more time and the chance to watch one of the games”.
“We reached the final, but you couldn’t be there. I wanted to win it so I could bring the trophy to you and show you another one. I couldn’t”.
“My legs just couldn’t give me any more”.
“This time I tried to push beyond what my body could handle, but I couldn’t”.
“I never managed to feel physically right”.
“We didn’t become champions Dad, but you have no idea how much we enjoyed every match. Once again, you were right: I had to be there and play in it… as you told me, always”.
Thomas Müller: "I cannot believe and understand how England approached this game after they're leading. I cannot understand how they invited Argentina to play one cross after the other in perfect crossing positions"
This Spain–France game makes everyone understand one thing, elite midfield will always beat elite attack.
People are obsessed with front threes, goals and individual brilliance, but football has never stopped being a game controlled from the middle of the pitch. An elite attack can only be as dangerous as the platform behind it. If your midfield cannot progress the ball consistently, escape pressure, control transitions or dictate the tempo, then even the world’s best forwards will spend most of the game isolated, feeding on scraps. That’s exactly what happened today.
This is why history keeps repeating itself. The teams that dominate eras are almost always the teams with the strongest midfield, not necessarily the strongest attack.
Spain had Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets. Real Madrid’s three-peat was built on Kroos, Modric and Casemiro. Manchester City became the best team in Europe because they controlled games through Rodri, De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva. Even Barcelona’s MSN only reached their highest level because Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic gave them complete control of matches.
People often think football is won in the boxes, but before the ball reaches either box, there’s a battle for territory, possession and control. That battle is fought in midfield.
An elite midfield doesn’t just create chances. It decides the rhythm of the game. It decides whether the game is chaotic or calm. It decides where the ball is played, when attacks begin, how quickly transitions are stopped, and whether the opposition’s stars even get enough touches to influence the match.
That’s why you’ll often see world-class attackers disappear in big games. It isn’t always because they had a poor performance; it’s because the midfield behind them lost control. No striker, winger or No. 10 can consistently dominate when every touch comes under pressure, every pass arrives late, and every attack starts 60 metres from goal.
People say goals win games, but midfields create the conditions for goals to happen.
You can have Mbappe, Haaland, Vinicius, Salah or any elite attacker. If the opposition controls possession, wins second balls, dominates the centre, and dictates the tempo, those attackers become passengers for large parts of the game.
That’s why, if I were building a team from scratch, my biggest investment would always be in midfield first. Elite attacks win moments. Elite midfields win matches. Over the course of a season or an entire tournament the team that consistently controls midfield usually ends up lifting the trophy.
PROPER penalty. No woke nonsense. Deep breath, exhale, pick which side, charge and SMASH. Also called the Jamie Vardy penalty. No panenka shmanenka stutter stop stutter nonsense. I’ve always said it: penalties are a skill https://t.co/0E7QIlzV89
Introducing: Sir Idris Elba.
Actor Idris Elba was knighted by King Charles III on Tuesday for his "services to young people" in a ceremony at Windsor Castle. https://t.co/3PhzgIsmFC