In our defence, our star player – the incomparable Zinedine Zidane – got injured in a warm-up game and could only come back, not fully fit, for the third match. But by then we had already blown it. If you have forgotten – and these are painful memories for those of us who played these games, believe me – we lost the opening game to Senegal, 1-0. It was a huge surprise, maybe one of the biggest in the tournament’s history. A bad day at the office, it happens. But what was striking was the way that defeat affected us. We were the world champions but just that one defeat made us suddenly question everything. 
I was the captain and I sensed we had a problem after that Senegal game. We had several meetings among the players to try to clear the air, get back that confidence, work out what had gone wrong. But I was amazed at how quickly we lost it. Maybe it was the pressure of being the title holders and the fear of losing everything. You have a stature to defend and suddenly you fear losing it all, you lose that assurance. You wonder if it’s the end of a cycle and before you know it, it is. To win a second World Cup is super tough – just look at Spain in 2014 and Germany in Russia, like us knocked out in the group phase. It’s a bit like a tennis player struggling to finish off a match, the hands shaking at match point. In football that fear can creep in and overtake you. With Argentina, one of the other pre-tournament favourites, I think things are different. For me it’s very painful to talk about the problems Argentina are facing because it http://www.49ersshopfootballonline.com/Tank-Carradine-Jersey.html means having to criticise Lionel Messi. He’s supposed to show the world that he can carry his national team to victory. But he missed the penalty against Iceland that could have given his Authentic Jonathan Stewart Jerseyteam a much-needed victory and, although his goal against Nigeria was magnificent, Argentina were only five minutes from being eliminated from this World Cup. We know Messi is great but we’re confused and sad for him. He is such a pure Barcelona product but with Argentina right now Messi’s in a mess. Something is missing – is it unity, faith? Messi doesn’t seem to fit into the collective. They have so many talented strikers, so many skilful attacking players and yet they don’t seem to know how to get the best out of them. They are really struggling. Is it the system? Is there a certain spirit missing? Argentina cannot keep blaming the pressure of living up to Diego Maradona’s generation – they have had plenty of time to get used to that and they have top players performing in some of the best clubs in the world. Pressure is something these guys are used to. Going into the last game in last place, behind Iceland, was just unimaginable for Argentina fans. But maybe it’s not that surprising. This team struggled to qualify for the World Cup and of course they got thrashed 6-1 by Spain not Alex Burmistrov Jersey long ago – even though Messi was not on the field that night. It is possible to make a slow start and still win it – look at Spain in 2010, beaten by Switzerland in their first match but world champions a few weeks later. But somehow that scenario looks unlikely for Argentina. I can recall Authentic Chuck Foreman Jersey Argentina’s 1978 victory at their World Cup – one of my first football memories. Some great players such as Mario Kempes, Osvaldo Ardiles and then of course Jorge Burruchaga, Jorge Valdano and Maradona for the 1986 side. Today, though, you have http://www.officialbengalsfootballproshop.com/WOMENS_YOUTH_NICK_VIGIL_JERSEY.htmlto say they are not a good team. If you’ve watched their three games you know what they’ve shown so far means you can’t include them in the top five or six.http://hundetreff.hunde4um.com/t7280f2034-Davis-is-in-the-second-season-of-a-five-year.html#msg8856http://www.baduncles.de/forum/showposts/3606.html
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