₦airaland Forum

It's been a big tournament for the No. 10.
Colombia's James Rodriguez has had the
entire world swooning over both his sexy
goalscoring ways and faintly android-like
face. Neymar's presence offered his country
hope, then his absence inspired them to wrack
and ruin. And Wayne Rooney scored his first-
ever World Cup goal, which was nice.
Then there's Lionel Messi. Almost certainly
the best player in the world. Likely one of the
best of all time. Not exactly playing his finest
football. Yet probably the most important
player of the World Cup so far.
The idea of the player that single-handedly
drags their team further in the World Cup than
they deserve to go is a potent one. Garrincha
for Brazil in 1962, Diego Maradona for
Argentina in 1986, Zinedine Zidane (nearly, so
nearly) in 2006 ... all took advantage of the
stage the World Cup offers to rise above both
their colleagues and their opponents. But
while Messi has clearly been the difference for
Argentina in an unusually quantifiable way,
with winning individual goals against Bosnia
& Herzegovina and Iran , the first two goals
against Nigeria, and the pass to set up Angel
di Maria for the winner against Switzerland,
he's managed to do all of that without looking
much like Lionel Messi at all.
That is to say: he's not tearing teams to
pieces; he's not finding the corner of the net
with every shot; he's not sliding through
thickets of defenders like a snake through long
grass. He even missed a one-on-one against
Belgium , and while Thibaut Courtois was out
quickly and spread well, it was always going
to be a goal because it was Messi, except it
didn't go in.
His relatively muted performances have, as it
goes, been echoed and reflected by those
around him. Argentina's progress has been
flawless in one sense, in that they've won
every game, but each has come by one goal
and all (except maybe that against BiH) could
have gone the other way. At times they've
looked tactically disjointed in attack; at others
defensively unsound. Of the three teams left in
the competition, they're the only side not to
have produced a performance that could be
called anything stronger than acceptable.
And yet they're winning, and they're into the
semi-finals, and Messi -- this diet, vaguely
underwhelming Messi -- has scored four,
made one other, and could well be lifting the
World Cup at the end of it all. They've not
looked great, and he's not been his best, but
he's still, on the evidence we've seen, the most
dangerous player left in the tournament. This
game needs winning, so he'll just clip the ball
inside the post from twenty yards. Or dance
past three people and poke it -- via a slight
deflection, perhaps -- beyond the goalkeeper.
Or put this freekick over that wall, or roll the
ball neatly to just the right place in front of a
colleague. There we go. Game sorted.
The ability to do any of that is rare. The ability
to do that at the end of a long game in which
nobody's played particularly well and
everything's on the line is some aspect of
genius. Maybe not the most spectacular kind,
and certainly not the most thrilling he's
capable of: he's not been Leo Messi,
footballing typhoon. What he has been is
clutch as hell, which may not be as exciting
but is just as admirable in its own way. And if
you're Dutch, just as scary.. http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/7/9/5882435/lionel-messi-argentina-world-cup-2014

Echoes of greatness: Messi 2014 v Maradona
1986


Lionel Messi’s standing among the greats of
world football, past and present, has always
carried an asterisk. Despite a plethora of
domestic and European titles and multiple
Ballon d’Or wins, a nagging doubt has always
remained: can the Barcelona star carry
Argentina to World Cup greatness and, in
doing so, finally escape the shadow of his
nation’s favourite son?
There has long been a sense in his homeland
that Messi is more Catalan than Argentine, a
player who has – not always through any fault
of his own – struggled to replicate his club
form on the international stage and never
come close to hitting the heights sets by
Diego Maradona.
Across all competitions, the 27-year-old has
354 goals in 419 competitive matches for
Barca – including a record 91 strikes in 2012
alone. That is a goals-to-games ratio of 0.84,
but, prior to the World Cup in Brazil, his
scoring rate in the blue and white of Argentina
stood at just 0.44, a much more modest
return.
In eight World Cup outings prior to this
summer’s tournament, he had mustered just
one single goal – the last of six in La
Albiceleste’s drubbing of Serbia and
Montenegro in 2006. He was an unused sub
as the side were knocked out against Germany
that year, and likewise failed to make an
impact in South Africa.
But the World Cup’s return to South America
has seen Messi finally reproduce his
Barcelona best for Argentina. His mazy dribble
and finish against Bosnia-Herzegovina, his
rasping last-minute winner against Iran and
his dizzying brace against Nigeria secured his
nation’s passage into the knockout rounds. If
Argentina are to lift the famous trophy, they
will do so clinging onto the coattails of Messi....
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3841/world-cup-2014/2014/07/09/4943528/-

Spotless180: Messi on a good day can score hatrick. And today is d day that messi will make his nation proud. Netherland will reap what they hv sown for diving in the person of Reuben. U cant just escape it.
Argentina can do it. They have nothing 2 fear. It is Netherland that should be afraid of messi. Argentina may look slow but they always get their result.

One billion likes for you...

JayKayMaybachz: Like always....My predictions are always top notch....Netherland wins......mark my words

I will remember u surely bro..

Chanchit: Amen o..

Na sure thing.....Tonight is the night..
Una go finally confirm say Messi Na Beast,born in planet Earth but raised in The Hot temperatures of The sun!!

I laugh in Latin...

Chanchit: Well, I expected more than what Belgium offered in that match, I hope Argentina would step up again against Holland too. They should jst beg Higuain cos he does not play with the team.

Yap. .

Messi brace....

Chanchit: I just hope Argentina would learn from yday's match, the humiliation pass wetin mouth fit talk. If d Argies could hold Robben, then they could have a good match, but Robben will always have his moment in a game, jst as Messi always have his. I wish I could say "may the best team win" but the best team is Holland, cos Argentina does not play as a team. #teamargentina

I guess the reverse is the case! Argentina is the only team that has grown with the tournament,and same applies to their players..
Check how their performances keep growing.Against Belgium, they had an all round team game,everyone was involved and they got the work done..
P.s-upon Belgium players were very much much taller than the Argies,yet The Argentina players did not lose a single up ball duel with them..They won all!!

[quote author=]It's good to be a patriot, but one should be realistic as well. He made those remarks like someone who hasn't watched a single Netherlands match this tournament. They haven't lost a game and are probably the most talented team remaining.[/quote]What happened to the high flying Netherlands in Euro2008 ? Russia tore them apart..
What happened to them in 2010 world cup?

I have never been so sure about Argentina before..
Netherland is gonna wish they had played Belgium..
And since Muller scored yesterday,expect a brace from Messi today..
Argentina all the way!!

Argentina all the Way..
Make I hear say Netherland see draw first half!

RayMcBlue: I remember reading a certain graphic novel where Hulk tried to move Superman but couldn't. I think that pretty much settled the argument of whom is stronger. Another advantage Superman has over Hulk is that he can fly and move with the speed of lightening. Grabbing Hulk and zapping him to Planet Mars in his supersonic speed would be so easy. Better still, leaving him to float around in space in an orbit would be much better.

Superman can always hide behind a lead metal shield in the instance that Hulk in his desperation to survive absolute humiliation, brandishes a Kryptonite in an attempt to weaken him.

Only Darkseid can be said to be stronger than the Man of steel, period.

Tell him ooo...
I like Hulk,but he is just overated and nothing more!!

Guykhena: WTF

[size=12pt][font=Georgia] Oh really? And marvel didn't give him a cape,and didn't make him an alien baby,ya right I can see the similarities smh.
By the way the Hulk idea didn't come from superman but "Frankeinstein",so pls learn to do researches..

Like I said, Hulk is Marvel Comics response to DC comics Superman,and it is an undisputable factor...
They were so desperate to have a character like Superman,they over blew it with Hulk....Check well bro..

Guykhena: *sighs* ok let me list to you his awesomeness.

The madder The Hulk gets, the stronger he gets caused by an extra surge of adrenaline. This does not cause an additional gain in mass (an item which is shown only in the 2003 "HULK" movie). To date, there is no known limits to The Hulk's strength. He has been known to support a 150 billion ton mountain range during the 1st Secret Wars.


MENTAL ABILITIES
The Hulk has a very unusual mental ability that most other mortals don't have: He has the ability to see ghosts, spirits & such. Another ability is that he can, out of instinct, always find the area in New Mexico which was the site of the 1st Gamma Bomb explosion, which is what turned Banner into The Hulk in the 1st place. He also has shown the ability to resist mind control.

DURABILITY & HEALING FACTOR
The Hulk is a very durable guy. Although he isn't invunerable, he does have a high resistance to extreme heat and cold, bullets, fire, grenades, artillery shells, concussive forces & such. The Hulk does have his limits, though. He could not survive "ground zero" of a nuclear explosion. If he is injured, The Hulk has one of the greatest & fastest healing factor in the marvel universe. He can heal in a matter of minutes from wounds that would prove deadly or incapacitating to nearly everyone else

BREATHING UNDER WATER
Banner & The Hulk just recently discovered another power that The Hulk had, and that is the ability to breath under water. Over the years, The Hulk's body has developed a gland that allows him to breath fluids. This is also handy in another way, since it allows The Hulk's lungs to be filled with fluids when he is under water, thus avoiding decompression and nitrogen narcosis..
And btw there's no foe he can't match,compared to other heroes he can stand any villain. Imagine spiderman going against "The Abomination" it doesn't make sense right?
There are even cases in which other heroes call the Hulk for assistance,while all other heroes have limits The HULK have non

Considering the fact that he is a human experiment gone wrong,All this his powers are overrated and over powered..He is just human bro!!
And how about that Girl? is she not his weakness?
Hulk was just an overrated answer to Dc's Superman,..

Csami: Well since he couldn't get a suitable story why didn't he give it a rest? Like I said earlier, sony owns spiderman and that movie was a reminder to the world.

He said he didn't meet the deadline and doesn't want to disappoint Spidey fans!!

Guykhena: what the?
Nope,I doubt yours....
What is there not to like about The Hulk?
The most awesome comic character ever, is it his Rage,Strenght,unlimited stamina,he got it all.
I mean he is the strongest one there is in the Marvel Universe,he gives the bad guys a good run for their money.

What is special about hulk?

Csami: As for spiderman's remake, sony just wanted to tell the whole world that they still retain spiderman's right. Bloody awful movie.

[b]
The director tells Vulture he was a bit
exhausted with the “tremendous amount of
delegation” needed to make “gigantic” movies
like the Spider-Man films. However, it
ultimately came down to an inability to get
together a suitable story that led him to pass
on a fourth installment of the blockbuster
franchise.
“It really was the most amicable and
undramatic of breakups: It was simply that we
had a deadline and I couldn’t get the story to
work on a level that I wanted it to work,” he
said of his split with Sony Pictures. “I was
very unhappy with Spider-Man 3 , and I wanted
to make Spider-Man 4 to end on a very high
note, the best Spider-Man of them all. But I
couldn’t get the script together in time, due to
my own failings, and I said to Sony, ‘I don’t
want to make a movie that is less than great,
so I think we shouldn’t make this picture. Go
ahead with your reboot, which you’ve been
planning anyway.’”
He continued, “[Sony co-chairman] Amy
Pascal said, “Thank you. Thank you for not
wasting the studio’s money, and I appreciate
your candor.” So we left on the best of terms,
both of us trying to do the best thing for fans,
the good name of Spider-Man , and Sony
Studios.”
Raimi still hasn’t seen Marc Webb’s The
Amazing Spider-Man or Christopher Nolan’s
The Dark Knight Rises, but he did say he has
nothing but love for both projects. In fact, he
had originally looked at Anne Hathaway to
play Felicia Hardy, character Webb is rumored
to be incorporating into The Amazing Spider-
Man 2 and an actress that Nolan used in The
Dark Knight Rises.
“I’m not surprised [Hathaway did great in
TDKR], because I loved what she was doing
with the auditions for Spider-Man 4 ,” Raimi
said.
One movie he has seen is Joss Whedon’s The
Avengers, and he “loved it.” It turns out that
he has a bit of a history with Joss Whedon,
who Raimi finds an “extraordinarily talented
filmmaker.”
“In 1994, I was making a western called The
Quick and the Dead and having a script
problem, and I came to the studio and said,
‘Can you find me a writer? I’ve shot this
movie, and the end isn’t quite working,’”
Raimi recalled. “Ultimately, the movie didn’t
quite work. But they suggested Joss Whedon,
who was doing Buffy , so I met Joss and he
saw the movie, and he helped me solve this
ending in one afternoon. I thought, ‘Damn,
you’re a good writer! I wish I could have had
you rewrite the whole movie and save this
picture!’”
He continued, “I’ll never forget how good he
was, and how precise, so when I saw The
Avengers, I was not surprised that his name
was on it. It’s a very hard job to take all
those heroes and all those stories and know
exactly what bits the audience needs and what
they don’t need.”
[/b]
Get ur facts right before speaking bro....

lol! Bro u really have serious issues with Spidey....
I have tried googling the best comic movie adaptation, although spidey is not number one,but it is always in first five...Can't see ur revered Hulk anywhere near 20 best even...
And yeah,I know about Iron Man....
Try visiting the links I pasted earlier...

He isn't the strongest, the fastest, the wisest,
best looking, most heavily muscled or all
powerful character, but I think Stan Lee's
genius was in any many ways best shown
when he created Spiderman. You see I haven't
yet found anyone who dislikes Spidey. He may
not be in every one's top ten but I sense an
enormous amount of good-will for the web-
slinger. Why is that? Here are some reasons
why..
1. As Pete Parker, he is the young hard up
struggling man so many of us identify with.
2. He has cool powers but he isn't invincible.
Punch him and he bleeds, shoot him and he
goes down, his victories are hard fought
through guile and effort. However, he is
stronger than any normal person, faster and
has those amazing webs! Every skinny
teenager would love to be Spidey, kicking ten
bells out of big guys!
3. He is New York's own and he isn't afraid of
accepting a little help.. I love Spiderman 1 &
2, where the normal people group together to
try and protect and help Spidey. Similar thing
happened in the last film with the crane
drivers. Other heroes, such as Superman don't
have that connection because they are too
powerful to need the assistance of normal
everyday folk.
4. Unlike Batman he isn't permanently
miserable, doesn't have a chip on his shoulder
and more often than not has an upbeat
outlook.
5. He is weak enough to be put in a good
story with a non super powered character, but
has sufficient powers and skills to give a
super-powered character a run for their
money.
6. Some will argue, but none of his films have
yet been duffers. They were all massively
successful. Sure, Spiderman 3 went a bit
heavy and serious at times, but it was the first
Super hero film to really delve deep into the
psyche and insecurity of what it means to be
a powerful hero and how this impacts those
you care about.
7. His parents weren't gunned down and he
did have the benefit of a loving aunt and
uncle bringing him up. He is generally a well
balanced individual, but he has seen tragedy
with the death of his Uncle Ben.
8. You could put him with any other super
hero group such as X Men, Avengers etc and
he would fit in nicely and wouldn't over
shadow them. The same cant always be said
of the all powerful characters such as Hulk or
Superman.
9. He was Marvel's first big hero, created to
be a more human and down to earth
equivalent of the all powerful DC heroes. Its
worked!
10. Unlike some super-heroes, the actor isn't
massively important in a spiderman film. Sure
you need a good actor, but I don't remember
many protests when Tobey Maguire and
Andrew Garfield were cast as Spidey!
I'm not saying Spiderman is the most popular
hero, just that in many ways he is the most
loved. Both Batman and Superman have those
who really don't like them, but I have yet to
find anyone who says "I really don't like
Spiderman".
So that's it bro...Relativity!!

Guykhena: Its obvious your head is filled with dust.
Are we talking about The Hulk character or The Hulk Movies? can you see how confused you are.
You don't even know were you stand.

Am talking of the movie bro..And please stop adding insults.. I believe we can purely talk here without cursing each other...
Prove ur point instead!!

Guykhena: I just decapitated you into two,with the above hit points(including the X-Men),and this is just what you can come up with,no tackle? ,biitch you're a waste of time,when you're done watching(to understand) Comic book movies,then hit me up for a valuable argument.
Cus if I start stumping on your already weak movie knowledge,you will be easily disgraced.
So when your head's full,inform me.

Bro,Hulk is pure crap...it is not even in top 20...
Try visit this links and enlighten ur supposed Overrated Empty head!!
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls005194337/
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=comicbookadaptation.htm
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2012/08/22/the-new-top-20-best-comic-book-superhero-films-of-all-time-revised-edition/3/
http://filmschoolrejects.com/opinions/top-10-best-comic-adaptations-of-all-time.php

RayMcBlue: Like someone already said, there have been many Hulk movies probably before you were born. Go back to the archives and dig up classics like the ones of Lou Ferrigno's, watch it, then come back and give me the feedback, then we can continue this discussion from there.

Bro,try Google or better still,Buy the two movie collections again and watch...The difference will be clear.... Especially,Spiderman2.

Guykhena: Why showing your ignorance.
With the above bolded,its obvious you think the Hulk has only be on screen once.
Spiderman character have been brought to the big screen 5 times.
The Hulk,7 times(including hulk movies of the 80s),and its own hit Tv Series(in the 90s) starring Lou Ferrigno.

And you talking about spiderman continuity ,when it has been rebooted?
And you say the X-Men movies which keeps on going make too many continuity errors?

Hold on do you watch(to understand) movies at all?

lol!! Na frustration make you dey insult yourself thinking it is me right? Won't go down that line with u!!
So how has Hulks Movie adaptation being Spectacular?

RayMcBlue: Spider-Man's movie adaptations are atrocious to say the least. X-Men series, Incredible Hulk, Blade Series, and TDK are all better adaptations by a stretch.

Hulk doesn't even have a great storyline...
Only The Dark Night can challenge Spiderman from ur list!

Guykhena: And the hulk doesn't have a movie adaptation?
Have you seen the movie The Hulk
And The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Not forgetting his appearance in The Avengers.

Hulk is a great movie,but it is not the best...
Do u even understand what adaptation means?

modextus: Not even close! The reasons you highlighted as reasons you chose spiddy doesn't really make any sense to me!

For me..... It has to be HULK.. For some weird reasons I love his smashy character he was the only guy loky couldn't handle

Am not talking of the comics itself.. Am talking of its movie adaptation..The relativity and ease,not some forced out performance...Am not talking of strong heads here bro!!

I believe so anyway.....I mean,look at the ease with which every scene is relayed and its lack of continuity error...With jaw breaking scenes!!
Would have been X-Men movies,but you all know the problem with the X-men crew===>Continuity errors!!!!
Any bad mouth?

logica: Central American.

Tnx..

Chanchit: You won't know they are watching the WC now, they are waiting for Argentina to crash out, then they will all rush, the slow few among them will crawl out of their cave of shame.

You are there bro...Seems Crynaldo and company ltd has faded out of existence at the moment!!
I see Germany vs Argentina as the finalists for this tournament...
A repeat of the 1986 world cup which Argentina won in SouthAmerican soil!!..

Chanchit: You won't know they are watching the WC now, they are waiting for Argentina to crash out, then they will all rush, the slow few among them will crawl out of their cave of shame.

You are there bro...Seems Crynaldo and company ltd has faded out of existence at the moment!!
I see Germany vs Argentina as the finalists for this tournament...
A repeat of the 1986 world cup which Argentina won in SouthAmerican soil!!

I wonder what's in the mind of Crynaldo and his weepyfans right now lol!!
Go Messi....