___

....

[___ @_frdrg]

Grew up watching this Milan✨

[calciolog @calciolog_tr]

“1994 Şampiyon Kulüpler Kupası finali öncesi Atina’ya doğru stadyuma giden takım otobüsündeydik.

Karşımızda, herkesin ‘Rüya Takım’ dediği Barcelona vardı.

Franco Baresi ve Alessandro Costacurta cezalıydı. Marco van Basten ile Gianluigi Lentini ise sakattı.

Kimse bize şans tanımıyordu.

Tam o sırada bizimle birlikte otobüste bulunan Franco Baresi beni, Roberto Donadoni’yi, Filippo Galli’yi ve Mauro Tassotti’yi yanına çağırdı.

İlk cümlesi şuydu:

— İyi dinleyin. Herkes bizi bitmiş görüyor. Cruyff kupayı şimdiden kaldırdığını sanıyor. Ama savunmaları aşılabilir. Kanatları doğru kullanırsak onları zorlarız. Öndeki iki oyuncuları, Romário ve Stoichkov, sürekli hareket ediyor. Romario’yu mutlaka etkisiz hale getirin. Savunmayı önde kurun çünkü Stoichkov geriye dönüşlerde yavaş kalıyor. Top onlardayken Romário’ya sürekli baskı yapın, Stoichkov’un başında ise her zaman bir oyuncu olsun. Savunma organizasyonunda da Paolo’yu takip edin.

Sonra bir kâğıt çıkardı ve sahada yapmamız gereken bütün hareketleri tek tek çizmeye başladı.

O an bana büyük bir sorumluluk yükledi. Bu, adeta kaptanlık mirasının bana devredildiği andı. Üstelik bunu bir Şampiyon Kulüpler Kupası finalinden hemen önce yapıyordu.

Daha sonra Fabio Capello yanımıza geldi. Gülümsedi ve sadece şunu söyledi:

— Çocuklar, kaptan zaten söylenmesi gereken her şeyi söyledi. Hadi gidip o kupayı alalım.

Sahaya çıktık.

Barcelona’yı 4-0 mağlup ettik.

Üstelik rakibimiz maç boyunca kalemize neredeyse tek bir isabetli şut bile atamadı.

O gece kupayı sahada kazandık ama zaferin temelleri, Atina’ya giden o takım otobüsünde atılmıştı.

O, sadece sahadaki en büyük kaptanlardan biri değildi; saha dışında da gerçek bir liderdi.” — Maldini

[Ballon d'Or @ballondor]

Rest in peace, Franco Baresi 🕊️

7-time Ballon d’Or nominee. Second place in 1989. Italian football legend.

Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.

[___ @_frdrg]

@UtdMaI I don’t like him either, but he was so immensely dangerous in 2022, three players did not enough to stop him. This year, he wasn’t at his best.

[___ @_frdrg]

@TheStarkXI Math. Pure math🤩

[___ @_frdrg]

Ronaldo fan needed to stop doing this, shamelessly spreading false information and made up statement. There is no way a professional player from a club like Barca gave statement as lengthy as this, about fellow players

[Brims @UTDbrims]

🗣️Ferran Torres: My World Cup goal brought joy and fortune not only to me but also to my entire family. It is a moment I will always cherish and never forget.

I watched what happened between Lionel Messi and Marc Cucurella in the final, and I have to admit that it changed the way I see both Messi and Argentina.

Cucurella explained to Messi that Pau Cubarsí had injured his mouth, yet Messi reported to the referee that he was covering his mouth to direct a racist insult at him and pushed for a red card. Whether intentional or not, that moment made me feel my words had been misunderstood or misrepresented. In my eyes, it fell short of the sportsmanship I expected from a player of his stature.

That experience made me question the fairness of everything that unfolded that day. Winning is important, but honesty, respect, and integrity should always come first. Even so, I have chosen to move forward rather than hold on to bitterness.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been my idol since I was a child, and that has never changed. His discipline, mentality, consistency, and relentless work ethic are the qualities that inspire me the most. To me, his legacy is built on dedication, perseverance, and merit. That is why Cristiano Ronaldo will always be my greatest football inspiration.

[___ @_frdrg]

@mgarridocierva Ruined his marriage too, he didn’t deserve how treated him, his peers and teammates always said he’s a nice guy

[___ @_frdrg]

@Orense_Nacional @DAZNFutbol 4th Spain top scorer and former captain when Spain won 2024 Euro🙃

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

🇪🇸Certain victories remind us that freedom can still prevail.

Thank you Spain and to all those who continue to stand with courage and dignity on the side of justice.

#HastaLaVictoria

[Franaft God'X Plan @franaft]

@FabrizioRomano I never thought a time would come and a whole of Messi and his team will Play a world cup final and loss to a small boy, without even having a single short at full 90 minutes 😅🤣

[___ @_frdrg]

@AntnMartnLpez1 oh we don’t care about him, simply didn’t want Argentina win

[___ @_frdrg]

@AntnMartnLpez1 What? No, we just don’t like Argentina

[___ @_frdrg]

@OnlyTams_ Right

[___ @_frdrg]

@jamiewhu01 Locking Messi doesn’t mean centered the defense all around Messi. You will never lock Messi by deploying the entire team focus on him, Argentina and him already anticipated that from you. The only person who almost succeeded in doing so was only Nigel de Jong

[___ @_frdrg]

@gabut_sss Only Puyol, Iniesta, Pique and Ramos played with Messi

[___ @_frdrg]

@king_reln @neycentral Apart from Santos, Barca was his prime, what are you talking about

[___ @_frdrg]

@futbolmundialsp I am pleased this list included Morata

[‏ْ @marklfcx]

Declan Rice on England’s approach to facing Argentina and Lionel Messi in a potential World Cup semi-final.

🗣️ “Let’s stop pretending everything Argentina do goes through Lionel Messi. If you let him dictate the game, you’ve already made your first mistake. Our job is to make sure he doesn’t get a second to breathe.”

“People can talk about Argentina’s squad all they want, but when Messi isn’t controlling the match, they’re a completely different team. He’s the engine, the creator and the player everyone looks for when the pressure is at its highest.”

“We aren’t walking onto that pitch to admire him or watch another highlight reel. We’ll be in his face from the first whistle. Every touch will be contested, every pass will be pressured and every yard will have to be earned.”

“This is a World Cup semi-final, not a tribute to Lionel Messi. If he thinks he’s going to stroll around and control the game, he’s in for a shock. We’ll make it as uncomfortable as possible because that’s what winning demands.”

“Respect is one thing, fear is another. We respect Messi because he’s one of the greatest to ever play the game. But once that whistle goes, reputation means nothing. We’re there to beat Argentina, and if we stop their biggest threat, we’ve given ourselves every chance of reaching the World Cup final.”

[___ @_frdrg]

@BhriainGael @piersmorgan Wow racist

[___ @_frdrg]

@ThatLondonLady @England @FIFAWorldCup Me, I don’t want to see Argentina or Spain with another WC

[___ @_frdrg]

@monobasado2 @anonimus8ib @ImperioEstoico Right? I like Kaka, he was so fast! Killer instinct, but nobody dribbles as fancy as Neymar, not even Messi