The Fußball Chatter

Great players come and go, they define an era of their teams and the sport itself. They produce moments that we tell to younger generations decades after, the innovate the game that many follow what they did and their success adds to their immortality. Pele defined the Brazil side of 1958 to 1970, Johan Cruyff defined the Netherlands team in 1974, Franz Beckenbauer defined West Germany and Bayern Munich during the 1970s, Diego Maradona defined Napoli and Argentina during the 1980s, Ronaldo Nazario defined the 1990s, etc. There's without a doubt that Lionel Messi has defined Barcelona over the past 15 years producing incredible moments, taking Barcelona to the top of world football and has rarely let his performances drop despite being in his 30s and seeing Barcelona's decline as a force in the European game. Now, he's finally leaving Barcelona after an emotional press conference on Sunday confirming he is leaving the club where he came in as a 13-year-old from Rosario, Arge

The Seleçao of Brazil achieved history. They became the first team since Argentina to get back-to-back gold medals after defeating a well-matched Spanish side 2-1 after extra-time thanks to former Barcelona player Malcolm, who scored the winner in the 108th minute. They managed to keep gold in football but it was quite difficult for the five-time World Cup winners to clinch Olympic gold. Let's take a look at the past seven Olympic gold winners in football from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.  Rio 2016: Brazil  Brazil may have two gold medals in a row now but they sure searched hard to finally get it. They finally achieved gold on home soil in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Following their failed attempt to win the World Cup on home soil in 2014, there was tremendous pressure to win gold. A fate no Brazilian team had ever done. Led by star player Neymar plus having the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Marquinho, Gabriel Barbosa, and Rafinha, they topped their group whilst b

The long relationship between Lionel Messi and Barcelona has now come to an end. Or has it? On Thursday evening, Barcelona announced that they could not sign Lionel Messi to a new deal. This was a shock as the Argentine and the club agreed on a new deal where the player will take a 50% wage cut with an announcement imminent. However, strange turns of events saw Barcelona unable to sign Messi to a new deal, leaving the Argentine a free agent, which he has been since July 1st when his former Barcelona contract expired. It is a very bitter pill to swallow for Barcelona fans as the greatest player the football club has ever seen is gone. A relationship between the player and the club spans over twenty years when Messi was in La Masia before making his first-team debut in November 2003 and has gone on to make 778 appearances, scoring 672 goals and winning 35 trophies with the Catalan club. Although this scenario was there, it is still a shock as some thought Messi would see out his career a