Why we will win:
- Key Partnerships
At this stage, every team has a group of high-quality players. However, what moves those players to the next level are the partnerships that made them great in the first place. Unlike our opponent, we have natural partnerships which have thrived at World Cups, in key areas of the game.
Fontaine-Kopa: The Top Scorer of the 1958 World Cup and the to Ballon'dor winner of 1958 World Cup together. Starring for France, they combined to score 16 goals and assist 12 goals. An amazing partnership with a near telepathic understanding of each other on the pitch. "'Justo' was the striker who best suited my style of play," added Raymond Kopa, voted Best Player at Sweden 1958 [...] "He knew exactly what I was doing and I could be sure of finding him at the end of one of my dribbles."
Dunga-Silva: Two colossal midfielders who were paired together for the victorious 1994 Brasil side. Recognised as the "anti-thesis of joga bonito", Dunga and Mauro Silva justified their selections by becoming one of the strongest holding midfield pairs the World Cup has ever seen. Keeping almost everything out, Dunga and Silva were masterful in shielding the defence to give enough stability to win the World Cup.
- Explosive attackers
Arguably the best attacking group in the draft with Fontaine, Kopa, Garrincha, Rivelino. They combine for 23 goals and 17 assists, a number not matched by any team in the draft.
Mané Garrincha will use his explosive ability to repeatedly get to the by-line to cross for Fontaine. Fontaine's aerial ability was great, as he was quoted saying "I jump so high to head the ball that when I come down again I have snow in my hair." Garrincha, who had a stunning World Cup in 1962, will be a huge threat for the opposition and will need to be double or even triple-marked to negate his influence on the match.
Kopa and Rivelino are both natural playmakers who can go for goal very easily. They are both known as two of the greatest dribblers of their era, and can both weave in and out of defences. Give Rivelino too much space and he can score an "Atomic Goal" - the nickname given for his screamer against the Czechs in 1970. Give Kopa too much space and he can create a chance for Fontaine like he did consistently in 1958.
Maradona on Rivelino: "When I was a kid I used to watch Brazil play. I wasn’t bothered about what Pele was doing, though. I used to watch out for Rivelino, on the other side of the pitch. He was everything I wanted to be as a player. His dribbling was flawless, his passes perfect and his shots unstoppable."
There are simply too many danger-men to mark. Fontaine is the type of centre forward who could take up two central defenders - in the same goal-scoring vein as Müller, Romário and Ronaldo. Garrincha is just too good - like Maradona - to be marked by one man. Kopa and Rivelino are too gifted to be given opportunities to create, and put away chances. With our opponent playing an attacking set-up, we will no doubt score goals.
-Reducing Maradona's Influence
There is no getting around it. Diego is the ultimate player to have in a WC draft or probably any football draft. But if you are going to assume that he alone is enough to win any match then there is no point to these drafts. Now, obviously our opponent will look to bring out the best in Maradona. However, we have the best defensive line up possible to counter him.
Maradona on Passarella: "He’s the best defender I’ve ever seen, and the best header of a ball too – in attack as well as defence."
Karl-Heinz Förster - 4 time German defender of the year, successfully man-marked the likes of Platini, Rummenigge, Hugo Sánchez
Berti Vogts - 5 time German defender of the Year, successfully man-marked Johan Cruyff in the 1974 World Cup final
Krol was voted into two all-star teams in 1974 and 1978, and is most definitely one of the best LBs ever in WC history.
Silva and Dunga - one of the strongest midfield pairings in World Cup history, arguably the two finest holding midfielders in Brazilian football history. Contesting the middle of the park, with two men in the same zone as Maradona.
It will be difficult for Maradona to work his magic. Especially when there will be little width due to the lack of natural wingers - Zizinho was an inside right in 1950, Rivaldo was basically an inside left in 2002, Boniek wasn't a touchline winger in 1982. He would have to rely on his fullbacks for width - and does he really want that with Garrincha and Rivelino as the wingers on the opposition?
The plan is to congest the middle of the park so there is less space for Maradona to work. Not to mention that likes of Dunga, Silva, Forster, Vogts are not going to allow Maradona to dribble all the way to the goal. Maradona, like Garrincha, is too good for only one man to mark. However, unlike Maradona, Garrincha will regularly be finding himself on the wing in 1v1 opportunities.
Our last line of defence is Gianluigi Buffon, one of the stars of the 2006 World Cup. Not one who made his reputation from one match, but one who has the ability and leadership to keep out just about everything. Buffon did not concede a goal from open play by the opposition in his World Cup.
- Defense to Attack
The beauty of having Dunga-Silva in the middle is that they allow attack minded defenders like Krol and Passarella to venture forward when needed. Infact Krol-Passarella on left side of the defense compliment each other perfectly, Krol is comfortable playing anywhere across the back line and can easily cover for Passarella if he goes on his surging forward runs to score a goal. Having several all round footballers will allow to attack in numbers and defend with little open space.
- WC Pedigree
Finally a reminder that this being the WC draft, our players have a great WC pedigree behind them and possibly there is not even a need to upgrade any of them.
- Someone like Yashin may be an upgrade but Buffon is right up there with the best of all time.
- Passarella led Argentina to their first WC win.
- Forster was a rock for Germany when they reached 2 WC finals in a row.
- Krol/Vogts are contenders for best full backs in WC history featuring in 2 all star teams.
- Garrincha-Rivelino is hands down the best winger combo possible.
- Both Kopa-Fontaine and Silva-Dunga pairs may be un-glamorous ones but statistically Kopa-Fontaine are one the best attacking pair ever and Dunga/Silva were the spine of a WC winning team.
. Needs no introduction.
