Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Ronaldo and total football may not be the winning formula
Total football is everywhere these days, in newspaper headlines and pub conversations. A few exciting performances from attack-minded teams at Euro 2008 and we’re back in the 1970s. Endless guitar solos, long greasy hair and flying Dutchmen.
On one side, you have the likes of Portugal, the Dutch or Spain, a bunch of daring young artists delighting football romantics with their wizardry. On the other side are the usual suspects, Italy and France, ageing cynics boring everybody with their cast-iron back fours and tireless holding midfielders.
Of course, the poets beating the bad guys at the end would be excellent news to the lovers of the beautiful game.
But wait a minute. Isn’t football about winning? That means you have to score one more goal than your opponents, so one’s enough providing you don’t concede any. A rock solid defence, then, is a good way to start.
