Football Daily | Lionel Messi, harder men and an historic night of woe for Brazil

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There is a common mistake that is often committed when it comes to Argentina in that they are regularly referred to as Lionel Messi’s Argentina, a moniker that does disservice to the players who are really leading the team to new heights. On a night of aggression, fouls and police batons being swung with wild abandon at visiting supporters at the Maracanã, it was one of the true heroes, Nicolás Otamendi, who stepped up to inflict the very first home World Cup qualifying defeat on Brazil in their history.

So, Manchester United players think their utter shambles this season is due to anything and anyone apart from themselves overworking in pre-season. It strikes me that an interesting thought experiment in the style of Schrödinger’s cat would be if you put a finite number of Manchester United players in a locked dressing room, how long it would take before just one of them achieved some degree of self-awareness and suggest that perhaps they are the problem? But then self-awareness isn’t their thing, although irony clearly is” – Noble Francis.

Re: running up the score (Football Daily letters passim). Youth soccer here in the USA USA USA can be extremely one-sided. A common tactic I’ve observed coaches employing when they begin to run away with the result is to implement a pass restriction before shooting. I will hear the coach shouting something like ‘three passes before you can shoot’ or ‘we must have five passes before scoring’. As a parent on the sidelines, I wonder what is more insulting to the other team: running the score up or hearing the other coach shout those instructions? Losing heavily is one thing, but knowing that you are part of a game turned training session is another level of humiliation” – Stephen Jackson.

I used to referee in the Catholic Youth League in Maryland, where the Mercy Rule applied. If a team took a seven-goal lead, they had to withdraw one player from the field. If their opponents reduced the lead, that player could come back on. I (and I alone) referred to it as the Sisters of Mercy Rule. Or, Law 18 – decreed by Mother Mary. Clear evidence the Football Gods exist” – Ian Plenderleith.

In the cubs’ league as a boy, we played a team which included Murdo MacLeod (future Scotland, Celtic and Dortmund star), plus two other future professionals (one being his brother). I was our keeper and, after being 21-0 down at half-time, managed to keep the full-time score to a mere 28-0. Not due to any sporting let-up from them. The trick? In the first half there was a fence two yards behind the goal. In the second there was 50 yards of red blaes (no nets of course). My slow walk to retrieve the ball was a masterclass in game management. Oh, and did I mention the match was only 30 minutes each half?” – Gavin Stewart.

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