To this day, in his mind, his side were the best team.
Logan Brown Jersey . "We knew we were much better than them, we were not afraid at all." Johan Cruyff shakes his head when thinking back to the day his Dutch side lost in the 1974 World Cup final to hosts West Germany. The shake, however, is not full of bitterness, bewilderness or even disappointment. Cruyff didnt need a trophy to tell him his team was the best. After all, for the next 40 years, all he and the rest of us have heard is how good that team was. It speaks volumes about Cruyff, and indeed the Dutch philosophy, that they were happy to be the Peoples Champions, rather than the World Champions. Greatness, instead, is used to describe the team that came from behind to beat them that day, a team featuring stars like Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller and Paul Breitner. Sixteen years later, in Rome, West Germany became World Champions once again. Great players like Lothar Matthaus, Andreas Brehme and Jurgen Klinsmann helped to dispose of an extremely average Argentina team. It was only one game of football. The same length of a match that can happen at your local park. Yet, despite it being an awful match, it accomplished something so important. It was able to separate greatness and mediocrity, ensuring the chronicles of football history were told the way they should. Since then five other teams would go on to win the World Cup in their own different ways. Some were better than others, but all of them deserved to win it and were better than their opponents. In Brazil we are now down to the final four. It has been a great World Cup, full of great moments, many of them coming from great players. However, where greatness has yet to be sprinkled is upon any of the teams. Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Netherlands is a wonderful final group to have in the semi-finals. Indeed, it is the first time ever that the two South American powerhouses have been at this stage in the same World Cup. All four are true giants in the game, without question, but so far the 2014 versions have been far from great. They all head into the final two laps of this World Cup knowing one of them will become the champions when they cross the line for the final time next Sunday inside the famous Maracana. All four have shown glimpses of individual greatness. Netherlands, who had to come from behind against Spain, Australia and Mexico, are inexperienced in defence and have significant weaknesses in midfield but they have lethal, clinical, great finishers who have helped them get this far although Robin Van Persie has gotten progressively worse as the tournament has gone on. Argentina saved their best performance for their latest victory, a 1-0 quarter-final defeat of Belgium. However, it was far from an outstanding performance. Coach Alejandro Sabella will be glad some players stepped up in key areas that badly needed to be improved but they remain a team that is very vulnerable in defence and the collective balance of the side is still nowhere near complete. Lionel Messi has been great at this World Cup, scoring or assisting on five of their eight goals so far, but Argentina have benefitted from a very kind draw and, other than at Messi, it would be wrong to place any kind of greatness on anyone else at the moment. In fact, it has been a clinic in countering the argument that Messi himself must carry Argentina to glory, showing glaring examples of how average the team really is. The same can be said for Brazil, whose two truly great players will not feature for them in the semi-finals. Thiago Silva (suspension) and Neymar (back injury) will be a huge loss for the hosts against Germany. However, what this allows us all to do is to sit back and see if greatness can be found by others. It will be up to the other eleven players for Brazil to see if they can reach the final in front of an expectant home crowd. The Brazilian public often demands to see winners, while being entertained at the same time, and so far the team has only managed to, barely, win. With two games to go to win an historic World Cup on home soil it appears, based on the quarter-final crowd, that the winning ugly method is fine as long as they keep jumping the hurdles towards greatness. However, more often than not, winning ugly and losing usually meet at the same point. Eventually. Luiz Felipe Scolaris side have not been anywhere close to great at this World Cup but have two games left to save their reputation and cast aside any labels that have been thrown at them so far. Standing in their way is a Germany team who has also showed some significant flaws getting to the last four. Their captain Philipp Lahm hasnt been at his best, in either position he has been played at, while Mesut Ozil and Mario Gotze have been dubbed the invisible duo by the German press while coach Joachin Low remains undecided on who plays up front. However, their latest victory, a narrow 1-0 win over France in the quarter-finals, did give us a glimpse into what could be a victorious German team going forward. The balance of the midfield is better with the outstanding Sami Khedira in it, Bastian Schweinsteiger is starting to look more and more fit and influential, while Mats Hummels returned from the flu and ensured the back four were excellent for the first time. Make no mistake, this is not a great team. Yet. However, of the final four, they look the closest to such a label at the moment. It is a team that relies heavily on the influence of its Bayern Munich players, winners who have succeeded at the highest level of the game. It is a team that has learned how to lose at the international level and modeled themselves on past victors, Spain. Spain are on their holidays now but they have played an enormous part of what is happening in Brazil. Four years ago, at this stage, they were preparing for a game against the aforementioned Germans, after finally getting over the hump of the World Cup quarter-finals, a hurdle that had knocked them out so many times before. Their run to the trophy in South Africa showed us all what greatness was. This time we have had to wait much longer for it to show up. With one week left to go at this World Cup we still need to be patient. Four teams in a knock-out stage tournament where only one will reign supreme. Thankfully, we know from past years that at least the World Cup will hand us a deserved winner. There is still time for a Peoples Champion to be crowned but there is no time for more than one team to become great. It has taken some time but it is coming.
Ryan Dzingel Jersey . "I only want to go through this one more time," Crosby said Friday. The 24-year-old captain hasnt played since the symptoms resurfaced following a loss to Boston on Dec. 5. Doctors allowed him to return to full practice on Tuesday and while Crosby is pleased with the way his body is responding he refuses to put on his return.
Erik Karlsson Jersey . -- Novak Djokovic benefited from an erroneous call and claimed he didnt realize he had broken the rules.GLASGOW -- In the first doping scandal of the Commonwealth Games, a 16-year-old female Nigerian weightlifter was provisionally suspended Tuesday after testing positive for banned substances. Chika Amalaha tested positive for the diuretic amiloride and masking agent hydrochlorothiazide -- both banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency -- after winning the 53-kilogram weight class last Friday, games officials said. Shes the first athlete to test positive during the games, which opened last Wednesday night. Amalaha asked for the backup "B" sample to be tested, which will happen in London on Wednesday. If that sample also comes back positive, she will be stripped of her medal. "It sends a strong message to anybody in any sport that if you go down the path of doping, any substance to enhance performance, they will be caught," Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Mike Hooper said. Its the second Commonwealth Games in a row that Nigeria has been in the doping spotlight. Four years ago in New Delhi, three of the four doping cases involved Nigerian runners, including womens 100-meter gold medallist Osayomi Oludamola. Meanwhile, the king of the track met with British royalty in the athletes village. Prince William and his brother, Prince Harry, met Jamaicas Usain Bolt, the multiple Olympic sprint champion and world record-hollder over 100 and 200 metres.
Bobby Ryan Jersey. . Harry posed for a photo with Bolt, who is running in the 4x100 relay this week. William was reported to have jokingly said to Bolt as he approached him: "Whats all the fuss about?" Elsewhere at the games on Tuesday: CANADIANS, KIWIS 1-2: Catharine Pendrel of Canada, the 2011 mountain bike cross-country world champion who finished ninth at the 2012 London Olympics, won gold in the womens cross-country race at the Cathkin Braes Country Park course in Glasgow. Her Canadian teammate Emily Batty took the silver, with Rebecca Anderson of Australia earning the bronze. "We trained well as a team," Pendrel said. "I knew from training and the nationals that Emily was on fire, so Im proud she got silver." In the mens race, New Zealanders were 1-2, with Anton Cooper beating Samuel Gaze by just three seconds for gold. Australian Daniel McDonnell took the bronze. SHOOTING FOR GOLD: Australian shooters won both golds on offer in early events, with English and Indian competitors taking the minor medals. Adam Vella defeated Aaron Heading of England in the mens trap final, and Manavjit Sandhu of India took the bronze. David Chapman of Australia took gold in the 25-meter rapid-fire pistol, Indias Harpreet Singh took silver and Kristian Callaghan of England earned the bronze.
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