SHOWMYBIZZ

Argentina have now lifted Copa America trophies 15 times and thus equalised with Uruguay for having won the most titles in history. Argentina’s win was a particular triumph for Barcelona striker Lionel Messi, who picked up his first ever title in a blue and white shirt after more than a decade of club and individual honours. A star player’s glittering career finally gets the one honor it was missing: a major title with his national team. Lionel Messi ended his wait for a first major international title as Argentina beat Brazil in the Copa America final in Rio's Maracana stadium. Going into the final Brazil were favourites to pick up the victory but fate was with their bitter rivals. Argentina overcame that difference in level with good strategy, but if you look at the coachs, Argentina has Scaloni, who seems to be someone who knows his team's strength and weakness.  Brazil saw just under 60% of possession in this match, Argentina took the lead early through Di Maria...

  B elgium have struggled in football and went low key after its brilliant performance at the 1986 world cup was cut short by Maradona’s brace in the semifinal. There is a very old saying that goes - “when the environment is right the right people will appear” This has largely been the case for Belgian football - they drastically changed their system of coaching and producing talent (changing the environment players were developed in) and a whole list of naturally talented footballers seemed to follow or simply appear at the right time. in the early 2000s they went about working with all the clubs in the country and delivering coaching manuals on how best to develop technically good players who are tactically astute. And another big change was focusing on player development rather than results in matches. Every game became a learning process - rather than to win at all costs-which can subsequently stunt development. Parents were also not allowed to scream things at the kids from th...

Germany have had a very good record in international tournaments in recent times, and a major reason behind that is they have had continuity in the manager's seat. Loew was the assistant to the then manager Jurgen Klinsmann in World Cup 2006 and inherited the responsibility after him. So he is intimately familiar with the current German players, most of whom have come through pretty recently, the exceptions being Klose, Mertesacker, Schweinsteiger and of course Philip Lahm. It is widely accepted that Germany is experiencing a boom of outrageously talented youngsters, and as always the biggest dilemma for Loew was whether to pick the best players or the best team. He played his cards brilliantly in this respect. Strategically benching Gotze, getting the best out of Toni Kroos by giving him responsibility when there were question marks over his attitude, managing a half fit Schweinsteiger and an even less fit Khedira to get maximum results, all speak volumes about his tactical pedigr...

Let me tell you , Germany now has the same number of world cups as that of Italy. But yes, When it comes to major achievements in the international arenas, no nation has won as much as the Mediterranean country. So what is the secret behind this success? Madonna once famously flaunted a slogan T-Shirt with the caption: "Italians do it better". And while the Princess of Pop was suggestively alluding to another physically popular pastime, she could just as well have been referring to soccer. Tactical Supremacy On a purely footballing level, there is little doubt that Italy’s tactical supremacy has been a key weapon.Whether it be Helenio Herrera’s Catenaccio, Sacchi’s total pressing or Luciano Spalletti’s ‘False 9’, the peninsula has long been at the forefront of strategic innovation. There is a unique obsession with tactics in Italy. Its importance is drilled into children from a young age and Jose Mourinho once amusingly remarked that “everyone in Italy thinks they...