Benjamin Godfrey

Full stack storyteller

[Benjamin Godfrey @thegodfreyben]

Coventry St Michael’s Cathedral is symbol of hope and resilience. One of the first of many in my travel series

#Travel #History #Coventry

[. @lindaikeji]

Angélique Kidjo cries as she becomes the first Black African artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[Benjamin Godfrey @thegodfreyben]

@Lou_Matalonga Seems you have something against UToday. What is noise to you may be a valuable info to thousands of others. Quit hating and amplify your own education. It's even clear you don't understand the platform's editorial strategy. Ease up mate

[Adi el Grande @icardo8]

Piensen en estas cosas por un momento. ¿Acaso todo estuvo realmente normal?

1. La familia de Messi no acudió al estadio.

2. Se esperaba que el presidente de Argentina asistiera, pero nunca apareció.

3. Diego Simeone fue visto en las gradas durante casi todos los partidos de Argentina, sin embargo, estuvo ausente en la final.

4. Lautaro Martínez ni siquiera fue mostrado en pantalla por un solo minuto, mucho menos le dieron tiempo de juego.

5. Enzo recibió dos tarjetas amarillas y fue expulsado.

6. La lesión de Lisandro Martínez. Es el tipo de jugador que ha seguido jugando incluso mientras sangraba en partidos ordinarios, pero en una final del Mundial se lesionó sin ningún contacto aparente de un oponente.

7. La lesión de Cristian Romero.

8. Las extrañas sustituciones de Scaloni.

9. Argentina no registró ni un solo tiro a puerta en los primeros 90 minutos. Incluso después de 120 minutos, solo lograron dos tiros a puerta.

10. España completó casi 800 pases, mientras que Argentina completó menos de 300. Es difícil de creer.

11. Argentina seguía perdiendo la posesión. Incluso cuando lograban recuperar el balón, a menudo se lo devolvían directamente a España con su siguiente acción. Una y otra vez, sacaban el balón desde su propio área penal, llegaban al mediocampo y luego inmediatamente cedían la posesión.

12. Cristian Romero no estrechó la mano de Trump.

13. Hasta ahora, Julián Álvarez, De Paul, Lautaro Martínez, Enzo Fernández y Lisandro Martínez aún no han regresado a Argentina.

14. Finalmente, a Messi no se le otorgó el Balón de Oro. ¿Por qué medida estadística Rodri merecía más que Messi?

15. Messi recién volvió hoy directamente a Rosario y se fue a su casa sin saludar a nadie.

Considerando todo, tengo que decir que algo pasó aquí, justo como lo que ocurrió en la era de Maradona en 1990.

El presidente de la FIFA brasileño de entonces simplemente le arrebató la Copa del Mundo a Maradona. Maradona lloró y dijo que Havelange (el presidente de la FIFA en ese entonces) le había quitado la Copa del Mundo.

Hoy, Infantino quizá haya hecho exactamente lo mismo. Dado que narrativas falsas como "Messi, chico de la FIFA, amañado" se extendieron por todo el Mundial, tal vez hicieron esto para que la imagen de la FIFA no se viera manchada y el negocio de mil millones de dólares en Europa no se arruinara.

No sé cuál es la verdad aquí, pero tarde o temprano saldrá a la luz. Hasta entonces, esperamos...

Y fanáticos de Ronaldo, escuchen
Ustedes difundieron la agenda anti-Messi durante todo el torneo. Nunca los olvidaremos. Vergüenza para ustedes, Loser FC.

[Vfynn_🥷🏼 𐙚 @Vfynn_]

🚨Sergio Agüero on the strange way Argentina played against Spain:

Sergio Agüero 🗣️:

“I’ve watched football my whole life, and I’ve never felt as confused after a World Cup final as I do now. Something about that night didn’t make sense. Maybe one day we’ll know the full story, but right now there are too many questions that nobody wants to answer.”

“Before the match, Leo stood in front of the team and simply said, ‘Let’s forget about everything. Let’s just play. Forget about everything.’ It wasn’t a speech to fire everyone up. It felt like a man trying to hold a broken room together. You could see Enzo Fernández and Lisandro Martínez fighting back tears. Nobody clapped. Nobody shouted. Everyone just stood there with empty faces. I’ve never seen an Argentina dressing room like that before.”

“Then the warm-up started, and Leo kept putting his shots deliberately wide. That’s not him. He lives for that routine. It looked like his mind was somewhere else.”

“There were strange absences too. The President, who was expected to be there, never arrived. Diego Simeone wasn’t in attendance. Lautaro Martínez, who had been part of every match during the tournament, suddenly vanished from view. Everything surrounding that final felt unusual.”

“On the pitch, Argentina didn’t resemble the team that reached the final. Enzo and Paredes, usually the heartbeat and aggression of the midfield, looked restrained. Lisandro Martínez and Cristian Romero both went off injured in the biggest game of their lives. After a solid first half, Scaloni unexpectedly retreated into a defensive shell. That’s not the Argentina we’ve watched throughout the tournament.”

“The hardest thing to understand was the attitude. Argentina looked disconnected. Even when Messi found space, the ball rarely reached him. When they recovered possession, they’d carry it into midfield and then hand it straight back to Spain with the very next pass. It happened over and over again. It didn’t feel like the same team.”

“Even small moments stood out. Romero didn’t shake hands with Donald Trump. People will say that’s irrelevant, but when you put every unusual detail together, you start wondering why everything felt so different that night.”

“And then came the Golden Ball. Tell me honestly, after everything Messi produced at 39 years old throughout this tournament, how was Rodri considered the better player? I genuinely cannot understand that decision.”

“This reminds me of 1990. Diego Maradona left that final in tears, convinced João Havelange had taken the World Cup away from Argentina. Today, people will call me crazy for saying it, but I can’t shake the feeling that history echoed itself. Throughout this tournament, all we heard was ‘Messi is FIFA’s boy’ and ‘everything is rigged for Argentina.’ Maybe FIFA wanted to silence those accusations at any cost. Maybe not. I don’t know. But too many things happened for me to believe it was just another football match.”

One day the full story will be told. Until then, the questions remain.”

[🇦🇷RestricePlanox❤️💙 @RPlanox]

Football has given us many unforgettable primes.

🇧🇷Ronaldo Nazário exploding past defenders.
🇧🇷Ronaldinho turning stadiums into carnivals.
🇧🇷Neymar playing with the imagination of a street footballer.
🇫🇷Henry gliding across the pitch.
🇵🇹Cristiano attacking goals with terrifying hunger.
🇦🇷Maradona carrying dreams on his left foot.
🇧🇷Pelé making greatness look inevitable.
🇧🇷Kaká surging through midfield with effortless, vertical elegance.
🇪🇸Iniesta escaping impossible spaces with the ball still tied to his feet.
🇪🇸Xavi controlling entire matches as though everyone else was playing to his rhythm.
🇳🇱Robben cutting inside onto his left foot—even when the entire stadium knew it was coming.
🇪🇬Salah turning a few metres of space into panic, acceleration and goals.
🇫🇷Zidane making the most difficult actions in football look completely casual.

Every legend had a period when football seemed to belong entirely to them.

But with Lionel Messi, nobody can agree on where the prime begins or where it ends.

Was it the fearless teenager?

The 22-year-old Ballon d’Or winner?

The 25-year-old who scored 91 goals in one calendar year?

The 27-year-old who conducted another historic treble?

The 35-year-old who conquered the World Cup and became its first two-time Golden Ball winner?

The 38-year-old winning the MLS Golden Boot, league MVP and MLS Cup MVP?

Or the 39-year-old carrying Argentina to a World Cup final with second most highest goal contributions in the WC?

Other legends gave football a beautiful prime.

Messi gave football an entire lifetime of it.

He never aged out of greatness.

He simply kept changing its form. 🐐🇦🇷

THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME 🐐

[Benjamin Godfrey @thegodfreyben]

Many people care too much about social popularity when they can easily be displaced. With algorithms defining popularity and humans' short memory span, you are dispensable. So live thoughtfully, be kind, and touch lives as best as you can today

[JJ. Omojuwa @Omojuwa]

This disgusting behaviour needs to stop. Messi and Cristiano are not twins.

Cristiano got dumped out of the World Cup early, as usual. Yet the media are busy constructing a narrative to equate his exit with Messi’s. It is nauseating, it is irresponsible, and it must be called out.

Why do you keep lining up a regular World Cup participant against an all-time great of the tournament? What is this nonsense in service of? One man has a World Cup story. Three time finalist and winner.

Why not pair Messi with Shakira instead. At least she has three final appearances too. Otherwise add Ochoa. Nonsense!

[JJ. Omojuwa @Omojuwa]

FIFA robbed Messi of the Golden Ball. Anyone who watched this World Cup knows that. And they didn’t have to do that.

Twelve of Argentina’s nineteen goals ran through him, eight scored, four created. That’s before you look at the goals where he didn’t get the assist but fashioned the goal.

He won more MOTM awards. Had better rating on average. If they wanted the Golden Ball to go to a player in the winning team, they should make it a clear rule.

He dragged Argentina back from the dead against Egypt, then England, and carried them to a final at 39. Rodri had an excellent tournament in the best team in the world. Messi was Argentina’s entire run. He got cheated out of this one. Won’t matter much amidst his glittering legacy, but I hope it doesn’t happen to another deserving player in the future.

[Benjamin Godfrey @thegodfreyben]

The lamest take from the Ronaldo fanboys is that CR7 got to where he is in football because of hardwork. I believe people who run with this narrative have not actually played on a pitch, no matter how small. If they have, they will know there's no footballer who isn't hardworking

[OurFaveOnlineDoc 🇬🇧 🇳🇬 @OurFavOnlineDoc]

This little boy did a taxi interview with Pep Guardiola 10 years ago when he became coach of Manchester City.

Few days ago, Pep resigned as coach of Manchester City after a phenomenal time in charge of the club.

He went to see the same little boy and surprised him. This video will put a smile on your face.

What a really beautiful clip.

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

China took one look at VR goggles and said, nah, we can do much better than that

[Ancient History Hub @AncientHistorry]

Everyone knows about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae.

Almost nothing they know is the full story.

Start with the number. There weren't 300 Greeks at that pass. There were around 7,000. Spartans, Thespians, Thebans, Phocians, Locrians, Arcadians, Corinthians. Citizen-soldiers from across Greece who marched north knowing they'd be facing the largest army the ancient world had ever assembled.

The 300 is just the headline. The ones who stayed to the end.

Now the men themselves. King Leonidas wasn't some chiseled 30-year-old. He was roughly 60 years old when he led that march. And the 300 he picked weren't his strongest warriors. They were specifically men who already had living sons. Spartan law demanded it. Leonidas wasn't choosing an army. He was choosing men whose bloodlines could survive their deaths. Every one of them knew what that meant before they ever saw a Persian.

They marched anyway.

And they didn't march alone in the way movies suggest. Each Spartan citizen-soldier was accompanied by helots, the enslaved underclass that propped up the entire Spartan economy, outnumbering their masters roughly seven to one. Hundreds of helots fought and died at Thermopylae too. They get no statues. No films. No name on the monument.

The pass itself was barely 15 meters wide in 480 BC (it's silted up now and looks nothing like it did then). That bottleneck is the only reason a few thousand men could hold off a Persian force modern historians estimate at 70,000 to 300,000. Herodotus said 1.7 million. He was lying, or possibly counting cooks, slaves, and camp followers, but even the conservative number is staggering.

For two days, they held. Wave after wave broken against bronze and discipline. Xerxes reportedly leapt from his throne three times in fury watching his men die. He sent in the Immortals, his elite personal guard, supposedly invincible. They weren't. Not in that pass.

Then the Greeks were betrayed.

A local man named Ephialtes, whose name still means "nightmare" in modern Greek, sold the Persians a goat path through the mountains that flanked the pass. The Phocians assigned to guard it scattered when the Immortals appeared in the dawn fog. Leonidas knew by morning he was surrounded.

He dismissed most of the allied Greek forces. Saved their lives. But here's what almost nobody talks about: roughly 700 Thespians, led by a man named Demophilus, refused to leave. They were citizen-farmers from a small town that knew Persia was coming for them next no matter what. They chose to die beside the Spartans rather than run. About 400 Thebans stayed too, though their motives were murkier and many surrendered when the end came.

So the "last stand of the 300" was actually closer to 1,500 men. The Thespians died to the last. Their town was burned to the ground by the Persians weeks later anyway. They're a footnote in a story that should bear their name.

The final fight happened on a small hill called Kolonos. Spears shattered. Swords broken. Herodotus says they fought with hands and teeth at the end. Leonidas fell early, and the Spartans fought four times over his body to keep the Persians from taking it.

They lost.

Xerxes had Leonidas decapitated and his body crucified, a violation of Persian custom so extreme it tells you exactly how badly that old man had humiliated the king of kings. Forty years later, Sparta sent a delegation to recover his bones and bring him home.

Two Spartans survived the battle. One, Aristodemus, had been sent away with an eye infection. He returned to Sparta and was treated as a coward, shunned, refused fire, refused conversation, until he threw himself into the front line at Plataea a year later and died seeking redemption. The other survivor, Pantites, was sent on a diplomatic errand and missed the fight. He hanged himself from the shame.

That's the world they lived in.

The epitaph carved at the site doesn't brag. It doesn't even mention victory, because there wasn't one. Roughly translated, it just asks the traveler to tell Sparta that her sons died here, obedient to her laws.

A small group of farmers, an old king, an enslaved underclass written out of history, and a town that vanished from the map. Together, for three days in August of 480 BC, they did the math on freedom and decided the price was worth it.

We remember 300 of them.

There were always more.

[Ayushi @ayushi32974]

Nobody told you airlines have two prices for every flight. The price they show you. And the price they hope you never find. $1,190 flight. Paid $141. $1,049 difference. Same seat. Same day. Here are the 7 prompts that found it: (Save this before disappearing).

[Jet Daniel 🛩️ @LaceVine]

Whenever Nigerian car dealers or mechanics advice you to pick a Toyota or Lexus over a Chinese car kindly show them this video.

[Nonfa KING @ajeezayGH]

Wow CREATIVITY at it BEST

[Idan of foods @tinugrills]

I have no caption, I am unmotivated, discouraged, sad, scared, slipping into depression. I cannot continue to suffer in silence because I am ashamed of what people will say or where this video might reach. At this stage, I NEED HELP because I am HOPELESS

Please help me , you shall not lack.
I don’t have a kobo in my account, and before I start entering DMs to beg for money and food, I have a business that just seem to be stagnant, I have literally tried everything, if I had money maybe I will do more , but at this stage I am left with nothing.

Even if it’s just a product, support me by buying, if you don’t need it, you can buy and we give someone in need, if you cannot buy at all, tell someone about my business who can buy, help me to share this video, who knows I can hit my luck via you.

Please I am begging, it’s that bad, please for Gods sake

[Curiosity @MAstronomers]

The invisible Glass experiment

Scientists once placed a transparent glass barrier inside an aquarium.

On one side was a fierce pike, and on the other side were several smaller fish swimming freely.

When the hungry pike saw the smaller fish, it immediately rushed forward to attack.

Bang. It slammed straight into the glass and bounced back.

Confused, the pike kept trying again and again, but every attempt ended the same way.

The repeated collisions injured its head and knocked off some of its scales. Eventually, the pike became frightened and retreated to a corner of the tank.

After some time, the scientists quietly removed the glass barrier. The smaller fish now swam freely throughout the aquarium, even brushing against the pike’s mouth.

But the pike never tried to eat them again.

Even though it was hungry, it refused to attack. In its mind, the invisible wall was still there.

A few days later, the pike reportedly died of starvation, surrounded by food. This phenomenon is often referred to as the Pike Effect or Pike Syndrome.

It’s often used as a metaphor for how repeated failure can create invisible limits in the mind.

[CW @CW8900]

Binance top traders are quietly buying $XRP long positions.

[Nedu_🔥 @Hhonor_]

Paul Onuachu becomes the first Trabzonspor player to score in 10 consecutive league games since 1992.

You won't see this on major Nigerian new outlets and blogs because it's not Victor Osimhen

[Opeyemi @OpeyemiDrift]

Pastor Bolaji said “Opeyemi, we want 150,000 people at the Next Level Prayer Conference. Can we make it happen?”

I said “Absolutely, of course”.

But I lied.

To my ordinary mind, 150,000 was a crazy number.

Last night, I climbed to the top of the bleachers and took videos of the people that came out to attend the Next Level Prayer Conference and I shed a tear.

I saw miracles, I received a word I knew was specifically for me. I had no idea people could turn up to Jesus like that o.

Shout out to the NLP marketing team mehn.

Marketing for Jesus>>>

#NLPC