Loss for Messi and Argentina among biggest World Cup upsets
On the surface, it seems like World Cup 2010 is going to be a pretty disappointing tournament. Sure, we’ve got one of the greatest players in the world, Lionel Messi, but we’ve also got a bunch of other top players. What’s more, it’s going to be the first World Cup of this generation that features four-time World Cup winners, including Mexico’s Guillermo Amoangue (a World Cup winner in 1986 and a winner of the 1990 Gold Cup), and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus, which hasn’t been to a World Cup since 1994.
Also, on the surface, this is the tournament that should be the most exciting. At this tournament, Brazil and Uruguay will be the only teams that could realistically win the tournament. Russia and Australia will be the only teams that could realistically lose the tournament. All of Argentina and Sweden are playing in this tournament. And then there’s France, who is playing in their last World Cup, and who hasn’t been to a World Cup since 1986 (a World Cup not won).
As we all learned last summer, Messi is a great player. He’s the most exciting player on the planet for most of the world. He’s the best player for years. He’s also not afraid of what the public thinks. On Saturday night, as we all saw, he was pretty good at being quiet. He didn’t try to draw many attention to himself. He could have easily played like he hadn’t been in his entire life, and he would have gotten away with it too. He could have been just another player on this World Cup field like every other. Instead, Messi chose to be himself. This World Cup will be his last, and it should be a memorable one for him.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the most significant upsets in World Cup history.
Losing Messi hurts Italy
In Italy’s last World Cup, they had a man named Roberto Baggio. He was their captain and a very talented footballer. Baggio went through a rough period in his life, and