The Match Observer

@PaRaLlEx99 He is the “bullet” in a well crafted gun for PSG France has many bullets It’s why the Ballondor should always go to “trigger” players not “Bullets” Eto was the Bullet for 2005 Barcelona Ronaldinho was the trigger Make of that what you will

@KDCGlobal_ This guy was in the Leagues cup in 2023 in Mexico The first trophy Messi won that same 2023 as best player and highest goal scorer Point is Retirement leagues are Retirement leagues Saudi and MLS are irrelevant

Saudi Pro League top scorer Julián Quiñones made history by scoring the first goal of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and capping off a brilliant performance with the Man of the Match award. #FIFAWorldCup2026 #Quiñones #Mexico #ManOfTheMatch #SaudiProLeague

@Asensii20 Well he was also in the Leagues cup in 2023 Where Messi won his first trophy as highest goal scorer and best player

Saudi League player scoring the first goal in the World Cup But I was told that the league sucks?

@EdmundOris Dark horses cant be used to describe a team with Messi The scariest version of Messi is the one that has nothing to loose

I think ALOT of us are going to be surprised by the sheer hunger of the Argentina players. Messi is a serial winner and he’s not going to just hand over his trophy. Have Argentina as one of my dark horses to win.

@Ray_RMCF And that player was also in the Leagues cup in 2023 Where Messi won the cup as best player and highest goal scorer

A Saudi Pro League player is the current top scorer at this year’s World Cup. But but the Saudi League is washed😭😂

@Senyyo Julian was in the Leagues cup in 2023 in Mexico That was the first trophy Messi won with Inter Miami as best player and highest goal scorer Make of that what you will

Ronaldo has to deal with all these quality players in the Saudi League while messi plays against part time burger king workers in the MLS smh

You didn’t watch Ronaldinho live and it’s ok You had to work with clips Aesthetically Dinho is probably the cleanest footballer to have ever existed He was an Artist, Neymar was maybe more effective Barca pushed dinho debut till 12 midnite and the stadium was still packed out Again it’s fine if you didn’t watch him

Neymar is a cleaner dribbler than Ronaldinho, better in fact A hill I’m willing to die on

You didn’t watch Ronaldinho live and it’s ok You had to work with clips Aesthetically Dinho is probably the cleanest footballer to have ever existed He was an Artist, Neymar was maybe more effective Barca pushed dinho debut till 12 midnite and the stadium was still packed out Again it’s fine if you didn’t watch him

You go know who sabi play ball and who no sabi play ball from their assessment and judgment of players. It’s common sense to those who can dribble that Neymar is a easily cleaner dribbler than Ronaldinho.

@mitchollo Due to FFP and player registrations The same reason Barca buys then sells

chat, who do y’all think we’re selling?

@chukaobi Allow him believe whatever he wants Show some grace People invent statistics to grab at straws If you need to go back 18 years to reference an active footballer’s pick …….. Make of it what you will

Funny—Iniesta won the Euros in 2008, in a competition 1008 Ronaldo played in. 2008 Iniesta was in the the Team of the Tournament— While 2008 Ronaldo did not even make the Euro 2008 23 man Team of the Tournament. You heard right—2008 Ronaldo wasn’t even among the 23 best players at Euro 2008. And before you blame the Portuguese team, two of his teammates made the Team of the Tournament.

@bennybenbarnes You just highlighted Lampard and Gerrard And there is a reason both of them are a tier below Iniesta Xavi Pirlo

I actually Blame Jude Bellingham for being compared to a lot of trash midfielders because he is so good at everything “jack of all trade but perfect at it all” Dribbling Scoring Assisting Tackling Defending Heading Hold up Link up Jude is your completed player!

@Adikastakes Nah I think Neymar is also heavily disrespected For someone who has never played a WC semis His numbers are wild

No footballer is more disrespected than Kylian Mbappe

@navasjnr30 There is a reason the President of Madrid is looking to sell 5% of the club to raise funds

The thing Barcelona fans don’t seem to understand is that we don’t just sign these players for free, we’re competing with other clubs on transfer fees and massive salaries too. Barcelona simply can’t afford to consistently match those kinds of financial demands anymore.

@NealGardner_ Got a feeling this World Cup won’t be like the last one It’s a best team on the day wins tournament No flukes

South Korea win. Football wins. Just a stunning display of football and a thoroughly deserved W. Hwang, Paik, Kang in Lee — absolutely brilliant. Have a strong feeling they’re going to be the neutrals favourite, this Korean side.

@McFlybowy Your aware the “Leagues cup” Written there for 2023 Was the first trophy Messi won with Inter Miami that same 2023 With Messi as top scorer and best player Would you also say this is the guy Messi competed with ??

A lot of people will discover him today, he finished top of Saudi Pro League. These are the kind of Talent Ronaldo was competing with.

@PSGINT_ For any oil club The manager with Barca ties is best to transform the club to European giants Get a Barca coded manager and fund him Pep and Enrique are samples Newcastle should take notes

Rank the last 6 psg mangers

@DeltaAlpha2x Although I largely agree with some of your statements I won’t call Goncalo Ramos “proven at club level” He is a good striker But Portugal might be better off using a false 9

If you don’t deep how sad this is, let me paint the picture. This is Portugal, a football nation blessed with what might be their strongest squad in two decades. They arguably possess the world’s best right-back, left-back, central midfield options, and one of the best big-chance creators in the game right now. Yet the coach and federation have decided the best way to lead the line at the greatest tournament on earth is to start a 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo as the top striker. You’d think they lack better alternatives. Far from it. The harsh truth that no one is willing to say is simple: “Ronaldo can no longer start for this stacked side at a World Cup”. Why you trying to cheat nature? Look at Gonçalo Ramos -the PSG striker. Clinical and proven at club level. He scored a hat-trick in the last World Cup (while Ronaldo watched from the bench) and he has turned up ever since. Compare that to egbon, who has been playing against part time footballers for the past 3 years and can not convert 1 out of 5 big chances. If Portugal federation is really serious, they will maximize this golden generation they have. Imagine Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes, João Neves, Nuno Mendes, Cancelo, and the rest, all performing at the highest club levels then returning to the national team only to be held back by someone who can no longer play at the elite level. The team is world-class. The system should be built to let them shine, not to protect one man’s ego. When the coach is ready he will stop prioritising sentiment over selection and actually take Portugal’s best shot at glory in years.

The problem is if football is a pure functionality sport Many people won’t be football fans Ronaldinho Maradona etc The players that got people to fall in love with the sport treated it like an art The process was more important than the result Athletes are great But Artists have always run football and sell match tickets If only results mattered, no need for stadiums As a Nigerian it’s also the reason why Okocha is your greatest player and not Mikel or Kanu the more decorated The heart want what it wants

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That is football for you. Fans argue endlessly about who is better using metrics, flair, highlight reels. Not me. I have always judged football by results. I consider the nuances, of course. But a lot of times, I strip all of that away and look at the game in its rawest form, and a different kind of beauty appears. People find beauty in a goal where a player dribbles five men and rolls it into an empty net. That is beautiful. I will never argue otherwise. I love it too. But I find equal beauty in a goal that comes from a shot struck from 40 yards. Why beat five people with 5 dribbles when I can beat them with a shot? People find beauty in tiki taka, forty passes before a goal. Again, that's fine. I find beauty in one long pass from a centre back or goalkeeper that beats every opposition line and finds my striker. Functionality over aesthetics. I was a director at a football academy once. I saw special players. Let me tell you about two. The first one, we called Lugbe Haaland. His real name was Ibrahim. He was a complete striker. One day, I sat and watched him wheile he was training volleys and on one occasion, the ball came in slower than usual. He had already jumped. For a split second I thought he would flunk it. But Ibrahim did not just jump. He hung in the air, suspended for a second or two, waiting for the ball to arrive, and then he struck it cleanly. I leapt out of my seat and shouted. It said nothing about flair. It was pure athletic skill. And I loved it. The second we called Mendy, because he genuinely looked like Senegal's goalkeeper. Mendy was five foot nine, maybe ten. But this boy could jump so high that from a standing start under the post, his head could touch the crossbar of our goalpost back then. Only he and Ibrahim could do it. Now, I do not know if a save is supposed to be aesthetic. But I found Mendy's shotstopping beautiful to watch. Maybe it was that small gasp I took every time I thought a shot was going in. You know, right before the hand of God, sorry, the hand of Mendy, parried it away. Functionality over aesthetics. This also is why I love Arsenal. People call them boring. I cannot stop watching them. Everyone forgets that in a match, defenders have to win every single time and attackers only have to win once. You know how you celebrate a team that scored a goal for 1-0 in the 92nd minute and you forget how well the losing team defender for the first 91 minutes. Arsenal however have a kind of resilience in defense that helps them somehow win almost every time. They execute the plan to the letter. There is something about that ruthlessness that drives me crazy. It is beautiful. It is also why I love AWB. You would think he is awkward to watch cos of his biomechanics until your winger plays against him and disappears so completely that you only find him climbing out of AWB's pocket when he gets home and empties his trousers of his keys and wallet. Lastly, that brings me to the Ronaldo clip below. In ,y eyes, the ability to hit a shot like that is equal to the ability to dribble past 5 players and shoot, I like flair-a lot. I like athleticism too. I want a forward who can dribble and pass. But I dont think one who touches the ball and plays with it like a toy is less. Head, leg, shoulder, backside. He does not care how it goes in. Neither do I. Some people find beauty in skills, tricks and flicks. I find beauty in the fact that it worked. That the ball found the net. That the plan held. That the job, however it looked, got done. Again, functionality over aesthetics. My name is Ajoje. I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I write on the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Repost and Follow if you want to read more posts like this.

@TouchlineX Add Gavi, Baena for good measure Their midfield had a response for every game state

🇪🇸💫 Spain's midfield this World Cup!

@EBL2017 Messi hasn’t even stopped to admire his career yet He just keeps going Not even he know how many goals he’s scored

What makes Messi the best is obviously his ridiculous skill and athleticism, but look at how he doesn’t stop and admire what he did after the actions were completed. With the same intensity continued, he attacks space off the ball. Why he scores so many.

@Tunnykvng Hi Elvis

I’ve created a private Twitter list for the World Cup. If you’d like to be included so I can see your tweets more often and engage with your content better, drop a comment below and I’ll add you.