A banned Suarez will make la Celeste even more lethal

Leave a reply

Wanted signEverything has been said and discussed about Suarez’s ban from the World Cup. I’m not going to discuss that topic since FIFA has decided to put a “wanted” sign on the Uruguayan team. The reason? They are scared to death that a Maracanazo version 2 will occur if Brazil and Uruguay make it to the quarter finals…In 1950, the financial consequences where very limited but this time around it’s another story if Brazil doesn’t make it to the final. The problem for the FIFA is that the more the Celeste gets attacked the more dangerous they will be. To start with tomorrow against Colombia. Unless the referees openly decide that Uruguay will not make it to the next round, I predict a win against los Cafeteros and hell for the Auriverdes after that :-).

Maracanazos are ashamed that the FIFA is the governing body of their favorite sport!

Image Credit: simoncurry74

Goodbye Black Pearl

Leave a reply

Statue of EusebioEusebio died today. He was one of the legends of the sport. His biggest moment of glory for me? When he almost single-handedly eliminated North Korea in the 1966 World Cup quarter final although Portugal was loosing 3-0 before Eusebio scored 4 goals to lead his team in a memorable 5-3 win! Respect Mr. Eusebio!

Maracanazos are sad today.

Top 3 Maracanazos of all time

Leave a reply

Upset tag on brick wallHere is my personal list of 3 biggest upsets in football history:

  1. Of course, in the lead is the Maracanazo of 1950 when Uruguay beat Brazil at home in the final of the World Cup in front of a record crowd of 205,000 fans!
  2. Euro 1992 when Denmark – who replaced Yugoslavia who was at war – beat Germany!
  3. Greece who beat home organizer Portugal during the 2004 Euro!

What are your choices?

Maracanazos like to make lists!

Image Credit: VBC17

Iceland: Underdog of the underdogs?

Leave a reply

Iceland
True to this blog, it would be a fantastic feat if Iceland could qualify for their first World Cup. If it achieves that, Iceland would be the smallest country – in terms of population – to ever qualify for the final round of a World Cup. Iceland needs to beat Croatia though, not an easy task despite recent weaker performances by the team who finished 3rd in the 1998 World Cup.

Maracanazos will be rooting for Iceland!

Are ticket prices for the 2014 World Cup final overpriced?

Leave a reply

If you compare to the minimum monthly wage of 678 reais (about US $300), then the lowest non-discounted fare of 330 reais (about US $150) to attend the final is IMO vastly too expensive. That’s almost 50% of the monthly minimum wage to attend the final. With the low rate of savings of Brazilian households, the cost is a burden for many of the poorer Brazilians that would like to attend the game of a lifetime. I wonder what the ratio was back in 1950 for the Maracanazo?

Maracanazos keep an eye on budget.

 

No Maracanazo yesterday

Leave a reply

The game was more important to Brazil than for la Celeste. Also being in Belo Horizonte didn’t help…A Maracanazo can only happen well in the Maracana..

Main points I took from yesterday’s game:

  • Now Tabarez should really start thinking about finding an alternative to Forlàn who is clearly no longer in shape for 90 minutes.
  • What a waste of Cavani’s energy to have him run around the whole field when such a talented player would benefit from being positioned in the attacking half of the field only.
  • Cavani + Suarez probably make up for the best forward duo today.
  • Neymar is talented but he should stop falling all the time.
  • Brazil has problems with teams pressing high like la Celeste did (well many teams do…).

Maracanazos don’t like waste of energies!

A new Maracanazo 63 years after?

Leave a reply

No Maracanazo can equal the first one, certainly not this Confederations Cup. Still a shame though that Brazil – Uruguay today is not staged at Maracana…do the Brazilians still have ghostly memories?  The only Maracanazo that could come close to the first one would be a remake on July 13 2014 but we’re still far from that!

Maracanazos know their classics.