2014 World Cup Draw

Daily Mail ^

[kearnyirish2]

“Soccer was sos hated where I was from, I can’t think of a single location in my state that the school played it..”

My town in NJ had 3 players on the ‘94 World Cup team (when the US hosted); it was a rite of passage in a town that was mostly Irish/Scottish and is increasingly South/Central American. I think it is a regional thing.

[Bikkuri]

I suppose so.. I shouldn’t have worded it the way I did.. but it’s pretty much the image most of the Southerners I know have of it too .. o.o

[Bikkuri]

Oh... and I backed (slowly, hehe) out of here because I didn’t want to cause a riot (or hijack the thread ;^))

[BeadCounter]

It depends on what you mean by "fat", both Paul Gascoigne and Diego Maradona could be classified as fat. It is turning in that direction I note, whereas you might have ten people outside of the goalkeeper who are trim like GQ models but at a youth soccer level, heavy individuals can still get into teams.

http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/footballs-fatties.html

So, professionally that may be so and that has basically changed over the past 20 years or so but I think there are still exceptions and it may not apply uniformly to youth soccer.

2 of the alltime greats, Ronaldo and Diego Maradona, Maradona incidentally was booted from the '94 Cup for using a diet pill with a prohibited substance, likewise, Tuore of Ivory Coast got in trouble for using diet pills. They wouldn't be using diet pills if they did not have problems with their weight.

We get it, running for 90 minutes is an endurance sport however, that same kind of thinking does not mean the team with the best endurance wins. Playermakers, creative play is what usually wins.

Paul Gascoigne fits the mode too.

Fattest Footballers: 10. Mark Bosnich 9. Mido 8. Adriano 7. Benni McCarthy 6. Neville Southall 5. Gazza 4. Neil Ruddock 3. Willie ‘Fatty’ Foulke 2. Diego Maradona 1. Ronaldo

Of course, the Brazilian Ronaldo and not Cristiano is referred to

[BeadCounter]

Also, note one last thing, in general England and Germany, maybe USA too, are going to have fairly tall players, 6 foot or taller.

But who are considered to be the footballers, the soccer players talked about as being the greatest ever still? Basically Maradona and Pele, I once looked up their heights, they are something like 5’7” and 5’6”, I think height rules the Premier League but again, it’s not something set in concrete, what a great player Paul Scholes was. Really.

[kearnyirish2]

I’ve seen Hank Hill’s take on it (”something invented by European women so they had something to do while the men cooked dinner”), and thought it was hysterical...

[kearnyirish2]

Brazil’s Ronaldo wasn’t fat when he won the “golden boot” in 2002; he was fat when they put him back on years later in a desperate (unsuccessful) attempt to save the World Cup. Maradona didn’t look unfit when he got the “goal of the century”, either. They both chunked up afterwards, but after their prime.

[BeadCounter]

http://espnfc.com/columns/story/_/id/931099/first-xi:-fat-footballers?cc=5901

http://www.footballfancast.com/football-blogs/rolling-big-boys-9-greatest-fat-footballers

Plenty of articles on fat footballers. I provided one, you haven’t on your point. All you do is call soccer an endurance sport. If Maradona didn’t have weight problems, he would not have been booted from the 1994 World Cup, one moment from 1986 doesn’t make a career. Furthermore, you haven’t proven Ronaldo was trim during his whole career. Furthermore, there’s a good chance that the only way Maradona made it through his career was using amphetamines which would keep one’s weight down.

[BeadCounter]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/962404-50-fattest-soccer-players-of-all-time

http://www.insidespanishfootball.com/21455/brazilian-ronaldo-concerned-by-weight-gain/

Brazil was playing Ronaldo for the national team, say all you want about a “golden boot”, 2002 was not the only time Ronaldo played for Brazil.

In fact, most football/soccer fans, know even Ronaldinho and indeed Cristiano Ronaldo have been flagged about gaining weight.

Please don’t bother answering if you are stating months out of a players career or opinion.

[BeadCounter]

New Jersey's own Tony Meola. Romario below shown playing at the 1994 World Cup.

[BeadCounter]

Image search Ronaldo Brazil 2002, he doesn’t look that trim there.