Soccer Life

All your best soccer news and soccer history posts

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Best In The World

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have shared the world stage since 2003. During this time only two other players have won the FIFA Ballon D’OR which is awarded to the best player in the world. Every single other year has been awarded to Messi and Ronaldo. We have set standards and expectations to new players based off of these two which likely will never be reached. Their legacy will last from every generation going forward. The same way my father told me about Pele and Diego Maradona, I will tell my kids about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Everyone tries to pin them against each other but as they get older we should really just appreciate them. When it is all set and done they will be the greatest to ever do it.

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Santiago Bernabeu

The Santiago Bernabu is the home stadium of Real Madrid. It is considered a cathedral of world soccer. Every player dreams of winning or playing inside the Bernabeu at least once in their career. The stadium was completed in 1947 with a seating capacity of 81,044. It is currently the second largest stadium in the country of Spain behind Camp Nou stadium, the home of FC Barcelona. It has hosted such important matches like the UEFA Champions League Finals in the years 1957, 1969, 1980, and 2010. Because of fan violence in South America, the Copa Libertadores Final was hosted at the Bernabeu in 2018. In 1982, The FIFA World Cup was hosted by Spain with the final of the tournament being in the capital of the country, Madrid. The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was that Final location which was played between Italy and West Germany. People will always consider this a historic location.

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Real Madrid is obsessed with winning the UEFA Champions League competition. Till this day they hold the record for most titles won in the competition with 13. There was a drought from 2002 all the way to 2014 where Madrid were bounced out in the semi-finals of the competition every season and it pained loyal Madrid fans. Things came together in 2014 under head coach Carlo Ancelotti alongside the most dangerous front trio in soccer history that included Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, and Cristiano Ronaldo. They destroyed all of their competition. For the first time in history there was a final that hosted two teams from the same city. Atletico De Madrid would be playing Real Madrid in the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final at the stadium of light in Lisbon, Portugal. Atletico drew first blood on a lobbing header from Diego Godin that was misjudged by goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Casillas came out of his goal and was sent retreating back but it was too late as the ball entered the goal. Atletico led most of the match but as time went by Real Madrid inched closer and closer. Three minutes were added to the match and in the last minute, Real Madrid earned a corner kick. Nobody in the stadium and in the world could watch this. Corner taken by Luka Modric finds the head of Sergio Ramos to equalize 1-1 to send the match into overtime. Pandemonium struck all over Real Madrid fans from all over the world. Atletico was gassed from tough defending all match and what ensued was an avalanche of Real Madrid offense. Goals by Gareth Bale, Marcelo, and Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the deal. La Decima the 10th European title was in the hands of Real Madrid and in dramatic fashion. This will always be considered one of the most historic teams and finals.

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The Golden Generation

Soccer or Futbol is in the hearts and minds of every single Spaniard. We had never experienced any success with the national team until everything finally lined up. We were always that team that made it to the end with a squad filled with talent but could never get over the hump to become champions. It all started with coach Luis Arragones who put together all the right pieces to start this golden generation not only for Spain but for the game of soccer. Vicente Del Bosque would take over the national team leading into the 2008 European Championships. Spain would make it out of Group D with a date in the knockout stages with Italy on the 22nd of June. La Roja would go on to defeat the defending world champions on penalties by a score of 4-2. The semi-finals were up next as Spain took on Russia where they defeated them by a score of 3-0. The final in Vienna would prove the ultimate test as they would face a good German team. Fernando Torres would score the lone goal for Spain making them European Champions for the first time since 1964. The best team in Europe were now focused on the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Led by Vicente Del Bosque, the Spanish were shocked in their first match with a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland. This made the country feel like their awful luck in World Cups was about to continue. After the defeat, the Spanish never looked back defeating Honduras 2-0 and Chile 2-1 to exit Group H on top. The knockout stage would begin with a meeting against their Iberian peninsula neighbors in Portugal. They would go on to win 1-0 with that result holding the same against Paraguay and Germany sending them to the World Cup Final for the first time in history. The final against the Netherlands was one of the most physical finals ever played as after 90 minutes it was still level 0-0. In the 116th minute of overtime, a ball from Cesc Fabregas finds Andres Iniesta who would bury it in the back of the net. The captain Iker Casillas would lift the trophy and pronounce Spain as world champions for the very first time. The next major tournament was the European Championships of 2012 were Spain would enter as defending champions. Coming out of Group C, once again the Spaniards had another daunting road ahead starting with France in the quarter-finals getting by them by a final score of 2-0. This once again would setup a match between Iberian foes Spain and Portugal that would go to penalties with La Roja coming out on top 4-2. The final would prove to be a blowout and a show of dominance on the world as Spain defeated Italy 4-0 to become back to back European Champions. This marked the end of the golden age for Spain but till this day no other team has transcended the way soccer was played like this team and won three major tournaments consecutively. No other team remained at the top in the #1 position in the FIFA World Rankings like Spain did from 2008-2012. This team will go down as one of the best in history.

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The Birth of a Golden Generation