Yeah, I knew this reminded me of something...

The World Champions begin the defence of their title with no form at all, and are humiliated and completely written off early on. After scrambling through the group stages, they then - in defiance of all sporting logic - somehow get past two far more fancied sides in knock-out play, the former who also happen to be their greatest sporting rivals, and the latter in a frantically tense, spellbindingly electric semi-final against the hosts.

What keeps them going is an extraordinary team spirit, ferocious will to win, and the immense pride they feel in defending their crown for all they are worth; oh, and an inspirational number 10 who, while being nowhere near the force who dominated the event four years previously, is still massively influential, dragging the team onwards by sheer force of will.

In a strange, dramatic World Cup dominated by defence, this side finally meet their match against a very good, though not great, team in the final: a cold, ruthlessly efficient side who deserve the title by dint of being the most consistent team in the tournament. But the beaten holders return home to a heroes' welcome, and a special place in their nation's heart, not least because of the way they defied their mass panning in the global media, and shoved their critics' words right where the sun don't shine.

Argentina's run at Italia 90 took some believing, didn't it? ;-)

Posted By: thebigfeller, Oct 14, 23:11:34