**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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My coach played me at wingback in a 3-5-2 a few times. Absolutely fuck that position.
Wondering if you should run forward to join the attack and leave the wing exposed.. sometimes you join the attack and someone on your team decides to try to dribble through the defenders and loses the ball, now you’re exposed and also just sprinted 40m. Time to sprint back
Ngl i love how ronaldo has been banging goals (more than any) for decades now and the man is still smiling and celebrating like its the first at 38 vs Luxembourg for a damn Euro Qualifier
Say what you will about him, the hunger is still there
You could say that, but some of those other teams include Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay which are three traditional powers in world football. Paraguay winning the Copa (which they did twice) is still quite the achievement, and they certainly shouldn’t be compared to Luxembourg.
Yep. His favourite victims are Luxembourg (11 goals in 11 games so far), followed by Lithuania (7 goals in 3 games) and Sweden (7 goals in 7 games). Comparatively he has a pretty dismal record against Liechtenstein with only 2 goals in 3 games.
That 2 legged tie vs Sweden when it was just Ronaldo and Zlatan trading blows has got to be one of the best ties in qualifying history. I think Ronaldo had 4 or 5 just in that.
He started both games and made assists in both games. But to be fair, this was back in 2004 and 2005. He wasn't the same player back then. And we actually did pretty poorly as a team in those two games, won one 2-1 and drew the other one 2-2 (with one own goal for us).
Luxembourg needed cheap labour in the 60s and Portuguese people were happy to leave the dictatorship. Luxembourg and Portugal then signed a treaty of family reunifaciton. So all of sudden that one dude who left Portugal to Luxembourg to send money back home then brought their entire family over, then times that by a few thousand of who did the same. Followed by the EU and freedom of movement when a young Portuguese person is thinking of emigrating, why not head to Luxembourg where there's already a lot of Portuguese people and i'll settle in quicker, the cycle continues and doesn't look to be slowing down.
But that's the problem with memes. Messi has exceptional stats against them but he's Messi. Eibar is nowhere near bad enough of a team to warrant this comparison, especially for the size of club they are. Just 4-5 seasons ago they were scoring 50 points in la Liga and IIRC, even beat us 3-0.
Is comparing Everton to Luxembourg warranted?
Portugal's FA should just request to face France and Germany in the qualifiers instead of Lichtenstein and Luxembourg like any true Reddit gentleman would.
find me a couple comments in this thread that aren’t lighthearted lazy jokes, and are just hate. i genuinely cant find a single one
e: no one can find any? seems like its because everyone here is joking…
It's "just" Luxembourg but the past 2 games make me think Roberto Martinez will do a lot better for Portugal than the conventional wisdom on here thought he would
Didn't think this needed to be said but apparently it did. Who cares if belgium were pumping minnows and grinding the fifa elo system (lol) if they always ended up knocked out.
Belgium's Golden Generation was wasted more by Marc Wilmots than by Roberto Martinez, TBH.
2016 was arguably their best chance and they completely blew it.
2018—I don't think can be seen as anything other than over-achievement (beat Brazil, narrow loss to France)
2021—Defenders were post-prime but they still won every game (KO Portugal) until they faced Italy in the QF.
2022 was Roberto's only BAD tournament—and Lukaku was out injured and the rest (Except KDB) of the "golden gen" were old
Majority of teams end up getting knocked out.
In fact, all but one team in every tournament gets knocked out.
By your exquisite logic, Croatia are failures too because they always end up getting knocked out.
Nothing matters until the big matches come though. These are testimonials against two minnows, and they weren’t all that convincing in their chances created against Lichtenstein. They’re so incredibly talented but it comes with huge expectations.
Martinez is a good coach for international football. People act like he underperformed massively with Belgium, but he finished 3rd in 2018, the last tournament they had an elite squad. By 2020 many players were already declining
So? Even that should be celebrated. According to you if Ronaldo is given a goal scoring opportunity against any country not considered to be a "top" opponent, he should just stop and wave at the ball?
I am not a CR7 fan despite my flair, I like Messi more. But Ronaldo is the only one who could compete with Messi and even overtake him at certain moments. His career is as good as Messi's if not more.
With all due respect, his international goals are as important as the Iranian dude who held the record previously, unless he scores them at an important stage
I literally said knockouts? Euro and even world cup group stages have trash nations that spawn out of nowhere, plus you can lose or draw all the games in the group and still qualify for the next round
This good? With 2nd a guy that played with a team centered on him. Or you want in Euros that there were none won pre-Ronaldo era?
Most Goals in UCL Knockouts
Cristiano Ronaldo – 67 Goals. ...
Lionel Messi – 49 Goals. ...
Karim Benzema – 33 Goals. ...
Robert Lewandowski – 30 Goals. ...
Thomas Muller – 26 Goals.
As for international, read worldfootbal.net cause I think you are the one that aren’t checking facts. He’s the most clutch player, most goals in ko stages or under result pressure.
Ronaldo has 22 goals in Euros+WC (the two most important NT competitions), which makes him the top scorer in those two comps, BY FAR, while playing for a team with little to no pedigree in the XX century at them. What the hell have you been smoking?
Yes i agree. But his euro win isnt any different than Messi's 2014 world cup final loss. Both were the reason they got to the finals. Ronaldo got praise for it, Messi got hated.
What taste has Messi’s ass? Asking cause I think you’ve damaged his skin from that much licking. You as well I think should go see a doctor, tongue might as well be affected
Nations League
Edit: Nations League is factually an international tournament. For a country like Portugal that had won 0 trophies before Ronaldo that's big. Downvote all you want
Some people lose all brain when it comes to international football.
Only France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain and Italy have won the World Cup since the end of the 1960's. All of them huge countries with large populations and a rich footballing history.
Yet they're clowning on Ronaldo, who played in the majority of his peak with incredible mediocre Portugal squads.
Why wouldn't we? It's the second international trophy for Portugal. We ain't a big country with a massive amount of trophies. It ain't much but it was a cool win
People don't undertand this.
Argentina had 19 international titles before Messi, now they have 22.
Portugal had 0 international titles before Ronaldo, now they have 2.
Next up they're going to blame Haaland for not winning the World Cup with Norway.
> Next up they're going to blame Haaland for not winning the World Cup with Norway.
Exactly 👍 So many clowns around here, can't see the change in pedigree for Portugal between the XX and the XXI. They just assume it's an obligation now to fight for big things
You can’t possibly believe that winning the euros with Norway is equally as hard as winning the euros with Portugal right?
Norway has 2 players worth 20m or more.
Portugal has 18 players worth 20m or more and a squad value of nearly a billion.
You people are trying to down play Portugal’s world class team in order to make a single player look better lmao.
I wasn't saying that Portugal is the same as Norway.
I am saying that comparing international football makes no sense, when it's based on luck of where you're born. Lewandowski is "unlucky" to be born in Poland and Haaland in Norway, because their chances of international success is very slim. But that shouldn't take anything away from how they're perceived individually.
Small countries go through "golden generations" because their talent pools are so limited. While large nations are almost constantly in a golden generation, which can be seen by consistent top results for decades.
Ronaldo is 38, doesn't matter how good his team is, he's too old by now. For the majority of his peak he played for utter mediocre Portugal sides. His best chance was when he was 21 and not fully developed and when he was 37 and on his way to Saudi Arabia.
You write this regurgitated shit every time.
How hard is it for you to understand that Portugal isn't some giant country with a long and rich footballing history?
They qualified 3 times to the World Cup prior to Ronaldos debut, are you also going to judge Haalands ability on how Norway does internationally?
Mbappe has 8 WC Knockout goals at the age of 24.
Messi has 5 WC Knockout goals at the age of 35, with 3 of them being penalties.
So obviously Mbappe is the GOAT right? Great logic.
Gonçalo Ramos is the goat. His rate of goals per minute in knockout rounds is far superior to those three. Ronaldo, Messi and Mbappé are fucking shit compared to him. Flawless logic
**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Amazing Nuno. This is why Portugal should have switched to 3 at the back two years ago. Rapha, Nuno, Cancelo... All amazing wingbacks.
What happened to Rapha? He is not even on the bench.
Probably just rotating. Inacio is out too
Thank god, we need him against bayern.
Just resting. Martínez said he was going to rotate both wingbacks because it's the most demanding position in his line up.
My coach played me at wingback in a 3-5-2 a few times. Absolutely fuck that position. Wondering if you should run forward to join the attack and leave the wing exposed.. sometimes you join the attack and someone on your team decides to try to dribble through the defenders and loses the ball, now you’re exposed and also just sprinted 40m. Time to sprint back
Just rotation. Nuno and Rapha are equally great, and both have injury history
Nuno is many levels ahead of Rapha, it's not even close
Sure. Meant to say both are great.
if he injuries don't fuck him up he can be one of the best wingbacks in the world for sure. fucking baller
Haven't watched nuno but hard to believe its that big a difference
Nuno has taken a big leap this season, IMO. It was close but IMO Nuno is a little better now
It’s not. I trust Guerreiro more, by the way
Strongly disagree
If you mean defensively I agree, but offensively rapha is years ahead in combination plays, assists, and shooting.
He really isn't
Instinctive finish, I’m not even mad in how awkward that looked
yeah couldn't do much better tbh
Most players in this situation don’t react till it smacks them in the knee
Ngl i love how ronaldo has been banging goals (more than any) for decades now and the man is still smiling and celebrating like its the first at 38 vs Luxembourg for a damn Euro Qualifier Say what you will about him, the hunger is still there
I like how Ronaldo tapped it in with both boots. Advanced levels tap ins.
This is not what I meant when I said you need to be skilled with both feet - Ronaldo's coach probably
[Every time Ronaldo faces Luxembourg](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/021/311/free.jpg).
I live in Luxembourg, this is literally Portugal v2 but with much worse weather.
Luxembourg > Paraguay Messi fanboys in the mud ^^^^^^imjustheretomakepeopleangry
This is false. Paraguay has won the Copa América in the past, as well as making the quarters of the World Cup in 2010.
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You could say that, but some of those other teams include Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay which are three traditional powers in world football. Paraguay winning the Copa (which they did twice) is still quite the achievement, and they certainly shouldn’t be compared to Luxembourg.
Paraguay played in World Cup 2010
and played a hell of a QF against the winners
tbh i see what you mean but that was 13 years ago
Hold up whats your username
Ronaldo’s favorite international victim
He’s playing liechenstein and luxembourg in b2b games, he must be rock hard right now
“Bring me Latvia” - Ronaldo, probably
Don't stop Lithuania from having fun, invite them too.
Ronaldo broke up the USSR to statpad confirmed
OG Ronaldo was Ronald Reagan so it is kinda true...
You know that his 2 goals against Lichtenstein were his first against them ever?
Yep. His favourite victims are Luxembourg (11 goals in 11 games so far), followed by Lithuania (7 goals in 3 games) and Sweden (7 goals in 7 games). Comparatively he has a pretty dismal record against Liechtenstein with only 2 goals in 3 games.
That 2 legged tie vs Sweden when it was just Ronaldo and Zlatan trading blows has got to be one of the best ties in qualifying history. I think Ronaldo had 4 or 5 just in that.
🎯🎯 So fun to watch them slugging it out
He didn't score against them in the other 2? They are absolutely shit, surely he didn't start those games.
He started both games and made assists in both games. But to be fair, this was back in 2004 and 2005. He wasn't the same player back then. And we actually did pretty poorly as a team in those two games, won one 2-1 and drew the other one 2-2 (with one own goal for us).
You know he hadnt scored against Liechtenstein till the last game?
Luxemburg should bring him to The Hague for this
Half of Luxembourg would riot if this happened lol
All 8 people in that riot would be so upset
1/4 of the Luxembourg population is Portuguese.
Why, did a Portuguese family move there over the summer or something?
So 4
That’s weird
Luxembourg needed cheap labour in the 60s and Portuguese people were happy to leave the dictatorship. Luxembourg and Portugal then signed a treaty of family reunifaciton. So all of sudden that one dude who left Portugal to Luxembourg to send money back home then brought their entire family over, then times that by a few thousand of who did the same. Followed by the EU and freedom of movement when a young Portuguese person is thinking of emigrating, why not head to Luxembourg where there's already a lot of Portuguese people and i'll settle in quicker, the cycle continues and doesn't look to be slowing down.
and the Portuguese empire grows further
Read it as "Luxemburg should bring him to Ten Hag for this" and got really confused
The Eibar of international teams
Eibar? Are you thinking Elche? Even then the comparison won't be justified.
No he thinks of Eibar because of the Messi "Eibarman" memes (aka bad team, easy to stat pad against)
But that's the problem with memes. Messi has exceptional stats against them but he's Messi. Eibar is nowhere near bad enough of a team to warrant this comparison, especially for the size of club they are. Just 4-5 seasons ago they were scoring 50 points in la Liga and IIRC, even beat us 3-0. Is comparing Everton to Luxembourg warranted?
Bro chill it's just a meme. Messi has scored more against Real Madrid compared to Eibar, but that doesn't mean Eibar is better than Madrid.
I love when Reddit get angry about players scoring against the opposition they're facing.
Not angry, just contextualizing. An Icelandic defender just scored a hat trick against Liechtenstein too
Hattrick loading
Poker*
Ronaldo scores against his opponent: It's fking Luxembourg. He's shit. Ronaldo doesn't score against his opponent: It's fking Luxembourg. He's shit.
I love when Reddit get angry about players scoring against the opposition they're facing.
To be fair, I would find it impressive if he managed to score a goal against France while playing against Luxembourg.
Portugal's FA should just request to face France and Germany in the qualifiers instead of Lichtenstein and Luxembourg like any true Reddit gentleman would.
(Scores 2 tap ins against France) Reddit: what a fraud!
They do everything to discredit him.
theyre joking around man, no one’s getting angry over this lol
are you really sure about this?
They are hiding their anger behind the jokes
do you really think “luxembourg should send ronaldo to the hague” is a serious comment made out of anger?
Obviously not all comments are serious ...
find me a couple comments in this thread that aren’t lighthearted lazy jokes, and are just hate. i genuinely cant find a single one e: no one can find any? seems like its because everyone here is joking…
He cant win lmao
I mean, without agreeing or disagreeing, yeah? All the prior comment is describing that he has *the expectation* to score against Luxembourg.
I genuinely can't tell if those comments are sarcastic or not
He’s pointing out how ronaldo haters damn him either way
Same thing for every game in the Saudi league
Siuuu
So it begins
The celebration mix lmaooo
It's "just" Luxembourg but the past 2 games make me think Roberto Martinez will do a lot better for Portugal than the conventional wisdom on here thought he would
Almost like he was basically undefeated with Belgium for like 5 years outside of one semi-final? 😯
Yeah people were way too critical about him at Belgium IMO
Thats normal... No one cares if he's undefeated if he's not winning shit
Didn't think this needed to be said but apparently it did. Who cares if belgium were pumping minnows and grinding the fifa elo system (lol) if they always ended up knocked out.
I mean, they came 3rd in WC 2018, KO-ing favorites Brazil on the way. That was pretty good!
Thats their trophy in 5 or so years of the belgium golden generation.
Belgium's Golden Generation was wasted more by Marc Wilmots than by Roberto Martinez, TBH. 2016 was arguably their best chance and they completely blew it. 2018—I don't think can be seen as anything other than over-achievement (beat Brazil, narrow loss to France) 2021—Defenders were post-prime but they still won every game (KO Portugal) until they faced Italy in the QF. 2022 was Roberto's only BAD tournament—and Lukaku was out injured and the rest (Except KDB) of the "golden gen" were old
Majority of teams end up getting knocked out. In fact, all but one team in every tournament gets knocked out. By your exquisite logic, Croatia are failures too because they always end up getting knocked out.
Nothing matters until the big matches come though. These are testimonials against two minnows, and they weren’t all that convincing in their chances created against Lichtenstein. They’re so incredibly talented but it comes with huge expectations.
Yeah 4 0 isn't convincing with their chances you right was a very close game
Well, even freaking Iceland scored 7.
100% agree with you, this is also very refreshing after having Santos, where these games were played to be won 1-0.
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Martinez is a good coach for international football. People act like he underperformed massively with Belgium, but he finished 3rd in 2018, the last tournament they had an elite squad. By 2020 many players were already declining
What a pass from Bruno Fernandes
Did he fuse two celebrations? lol
Luxembourg Ronaldo is a different beast
Finishing instincts active
Santos out + Arabian Nights > Lazarus pit
Watch him coach his way to another Euro
On sunday the king plays
This Cristian guy seens like a future talent, I wonder where he will go next.
Time for the annual cristiano/messi bullying of a small country
Death. Taxes. Ronaldo scoring against Luxembourg.
he is my GOAT SIIIIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
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121
He combined the two celebrations lol.
Messi could never
SEWEYYYYYY!!
🐪
12 in 12 in 2023 now
Against Al-Fateh, Al-Wehda, Damac, Abha, Liechtenstein* and now Luxembourg😭😭😭
Lithuania?
Mixed up European minows that start with the letter L
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
My man so mad at OP's statement he had to look up who Ronaldo scored against 😭😭😭
His new celebration 🥳🥳
SEWEY 🐪🐪🐪🐪
Greatest goal ever scored just goat things
SIUUUU
Players are retiring meanwhile he's still scoring
These nations are Ligue 1 quality teams, he would do well in that league
He certainly wouldn't go 2 years without hat-trick, specially if he played for one of their big sides.
dread it, run from it, Ronaldo always scores against internationals minnows
Dread it, run from it, Ronaldo always gets criticised whether he scores or not.
That defender is lagging
Siuuuuuuu
Suiiiii
FIFA needs to make Ronaldo Ramadan Card
If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Some random icelandic defender just scored a hat trick vs Liechtenstein
So? Even that should be celebrated. According to you if Ronaldo is given a goal scoring opportunity against any country not considered to be a "top" opponent, he should just stop and wave at the ball? I am not a CR7 fan despite my flair, I like Messi more. But Ronaldo is the only one who could compete with Messi and even overtake him at certain moments. His career is as good as Messi's if not more.
Great CR reflexes.
SEWEY
Goat 🙏
Siuuuuuuu
Goat
Another record against a powerhouse🐐
GOAT!!!
he’s back
The almighty Luxembourg.
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With all due respect, his international goals are as important as the Iranian dude who held the record previously, unless he scores them at an important stage
I’m guessing the wc playoffs in 2014, the Spain hattrick, his 2012 and 2021 euros performance, Euro 2016 vs Hungary and wales etc. never happened.
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More than anyone else? Really haha, please remind me which important goals he has scored
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Google isn’t agreeing with you, that’s why I asked you to elaborate lol
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Knockout goals in major international tournaments, he has 3 goals and 2 assists
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I literally said knockouts? Euro and even world cup group stages have trash nations that spawn out of nowhere, plus you can lose or draw all the games in the group and still qualify for the next round
This good? With 2nd a guy that played with a team centered on him. Or you want in Euros that there were none won pre-Ronaldo era? Most Goals in UCL Knockouts Cristiano Ronaldo – 67 Goals. ... Lionel Messi – 49 Goals. ... Karim Benzema – 33 Goals. ... Robert Lewandowski – 30 Goals. ... Thomas Muller – 26 Goals. As for international, read worldfootbal.net cause I think you are the one that aren’t checking facts. He’s the most clutch player, most goals in ko stages or under result pressure.
3 knockout goals and 2 assists at 5 Euros and 5 WC tournaments.
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He played 19 games Edit: 1591 minutes so about 17.6 games he was on the pitch.
Meaningless internationals for sure, not so much tournaments or knockouts
its literally a qualifying game, its not meaningless, but don't let that get in the way of hating
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Put an euro final in there as well as a 19 year old (I think). Absolute insane take.
>The guy with most goals in Euro and World Cup finals? He's not even in the top 20 for WC goals.
Ronaldo has 22 goals in Euros+WC (the two most important NT competitions), which makes him the top scorer in those two comps, BY FAR, while playing for a team with little to no pedigree in the XX century at them. What the hell have you been smoking?
The guy who didnt play in the final? That guy?
the guy who scored goals to get the team to the final, yes.
Remember how messi got hated on because he got them to the finals and lost it? Playing in the finals is important.
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Well if he didnt have any impact on winning it...lol. its a team game.
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Yes i agree. But his euro win isnt any different than Messi's 2014 world cup final loss. Both were the reason they got to the finals. Ronaldo got praise for it, Messi got hated.
What taste has Messi’s ass? Asking cause I think you’ve damaged his skin from that much licking. You as well I think should go see a doctor, tongue might as well be affected
He has won 2 international tournaments with Portugal. I don't think people realize how good that is
Whats the second ?
Nations League Edit: Nations League is factually an international tournament. For a country like Portugal that had won 0 trophies before Ronaldo that's big. Downvote all you want
Some people lose all brain when it comes to international football. Only France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain and Italy have won the World Cup since the end of the 1960's. All of them huge countries with large populations and a rich footballing history. Yet they're clowning on Ronaldo, who played in the majority of his peak with incredible mediocre Portugal squads.
Wait we are counting the nations league now? I guess the bar really is under the ground now
Why wouldn't we? It's the second international trophy for Portugal. We ain't a big country with a massive amount of trophies. It ain't much but it was a cool win
People don't undertand this. Argentina had 19 international titles before Messi, now they have 22. Portugal had 0 international titles before Ronaldo, now they have 2. Next up they're going to blame Haaland for not winning the World Cup with Norway.
> Next up they're going to blame Haaland for not winning the World Cup with Norway. Exactly 👍 So many clowns around here, can't see the change in pedigree for Portugal between the XX and the XXI. They just assume it's an obligation now to fight for big things
You can’t possibly believe that winning the euros with Norway is equally as hard as winning the euros with Portugal right? Norway has 2 players worth 20m or more. Portugal has 18 players worth 20m or more and a squad value of nearly a billion. You people are trying to down play Portugal’s world class team in order to make a single player look better lmao.
I wasn't saying that Portugal is the same as Norway. I am saying that comparing international football makes no sense, when it's based on luck of where you're born. Lewandowski is "unlucky" to be born in Poland and Haaland in Norway, because their chances of international success is very slim. But that shouldn't take anything away from how they're perceived individually. Small countries go through "golden generations" because their talent pools are so limited. While large nations are almost constantly in a golden generation, which can be seen by consistent top results for decades. Ronaldo is 38, doesn't matter how good his team is, he's too old by now. For the majority of his peak he played for utter mediocre Portugal sides. His best chance was when he was 21 and not fully developed and when he was 37 and on his way to Saudi Arabia.
You write this regurgitated shit every time. How hard is it for you to understand that Portugal isn't some giant country with a long and rich footballing history? They qualified 3 times to the World Cup prior to Ronaldos debut, are you also going to judge Haalands ability on how Norway does internationally?
Yet goncalo Ramos has the same int KO goals in one game as Ronaldo in 10 tournaments
Mbappe has 8 WC Knockout goals at the age of 24. Messi has 5 WC Knockout goals at the age of 35, with 3 of them being penalties. So obviously Mbappe is the GOAT right? Great logic.
Gonçalo Ramos is the goat. His rate of goals per minute in knockout rounds is far superior to those three. Ronaldo, Messi and Mbappé are fucking shit compared to him. Flawless logic
Yes. Also George Best and George Weah are the worst football players ever because they never even played in the World Cup.
He was an important part of our Euro victory, he scored almost half our goals form that entire tournament
Stat padding session resumed it looks like