Just what gives someone the 'right' to call themselves  a "World Champion" ?

Do you have to be simply  be the best that plays the game in the world ? And just what does that mean ? What if no other Nation plays of cares about that sport. Say there were only 3 teams and they were all in one country....if you win can you say World Champion ?

My Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster said back when he competed in Korea, they competed - but you were either an Army Champ or National Champ. World Champ was never coined since they knew no one else in the world competed.

Ok so what about if you have players from many (at least over 7) countries in a domestic league - and these players were collectively some of the best - could you be World Champ ?

Well - the premiership in England is like that but they don't call themselves World Champs when a team wins the FA Cup.

So World Football (Soccer) Champs , World Tennis Champ I can see. Perhaps even Cricket (barely), and Rugby (barely) .

But how do you get to win the World Series ? How do you become an NFL or NBA World Champ (is that term used ?) .........and explain again who would be World Basketball champs between the NBA Champs and the Olympic Champs ? Wouldn't the Olympic Champs have a greater right to that title ?

Ok..Italy, France, Brazil and Germany play 6 games league style....

Lets be honest ....what do you think the standings would be at the end of the league ?

Do Italy and French fans STILL believe that they would take the two top spots ?

I wonder if the World Cup should not consider a second 'league type' competition at the end of the tournament instead of a one game elimination. Or perhaps a best of 3 like the NBA playoffs.

I mean this is to crown the World Champion for the next 4 years ! Thats a pretty long time, only the olympics competes and I dare say that less people care as much about that.

If this were so then a single bad call or lucky break could not make you the Champs. You would have to get lucky consistently or it would be pretty obvious that someone was cheating.

Does anyone (except the French) believe that they would beat Brazil 5 of 10 let alone more than 50%. In addition each of the top 4 or 6 teams should face each other. That would eliminate one team having an easier path (eg. Italy vs Australia and Ukraine).

Makes for a much longer tournament.... but I think less controversy and hey I don't mind 4 more weeks of football.

Leo Beenhakker rides into the sunset after taking tiny Trinidad & Tobago to futball's biggest stage (taking 1.3 Million hearts for the ride of a lifetime)

Actually Leo is taking up Poland's top job for the coming Euro 2008. He becomes the first foreigner to coach Poland after turning down similar coaching offers eg. Australia (and T&T for a 2nd time...but he comes back in 2 years maybe ?).

Leo's accomplishments are pretty sterling.....3 titles with Real Madrid, 2 with Ajax etc. But I think his time at T&T puts him in the record books, elevating him from Great to Legendary.

Lets put the T&T accomplishment into perspective. T&T are the smallest nation EVER to qualify for the Cup Finals with only 1.3 Million people. The qualification road - the longest with 20 games played. The Soca Warriors as they are called have a few known players like Dwight York, Shaka Hislop and Russel Latapy, but by and large the rest come from small Caribbean Teams, the MLS and League 1 and 2 in the UK. For a team comprising of mostly lower league players to qualify and  play at the World Cup is astonishing.

Its the equivalent of one small town in say the UK or the US putting together their best 23 players and setting off to qualify for the WC Finals. Its like a high school basketball team in small town USA going to play in the NBA playoffs. Incredible doesn't even begin to describe it.

But then again per capita T&T does seem to produce quite a lot of sports beaters. If you took all the people in say a suburb of some small town somewhere in say London.......would you be able to find a Brian Lara (Cricket Record Holder), Ato Bolden (3 time olympic medalist) , Dwight York (treble with Manchester United) in one generation ? I think T&T are also the smallest nation to win the 100M gold at the Olympics. Even in Olympic Tae -Kwon- do, T&T has qualified twice. To qualify you actually have to be Gold, Silver or Bronze in either the Americas, Africa, Europe or Asia. So ok there may be something there.........

But still I never thought I would know how it felt to watch a WC Finals in which my own country was playing. What a tremendous feeling.....what passion...

Thanks coach....thanks for the memories....thanks for the passion .......thanks for showing us that truly .."Impossible is Nothing".

 Is that weird ? Does anyone else share that ?

Somehow seeing a great goalie save fantastic shots entertains me more than most goals.

Unless of course the goal is scored with a tremendous amount of individual skill like a Maradona goal or maybe even a Ronaldo goal (when he runs at the keeper and defense and fakes them - not the lame ones ok).

I rather find that Goalkeeping is the most athletic aspect of the game. Superfast reflexes, strength, speed, thought AND balls of steel (to go charging at a striker to take the ball from his feet).

Some find penalty finishes to be bad. But hey I relished watching Ricardo save 3 penalties - that was amazing ! It can't all be luck ....I mean 3 times ? Nah.......

Is Zidane the best ever ? Is this French team the best to ever play in the World Cup ? Should the French have won the Cup this year ?

Is ZZ better than Maradona in his prime ?

Nah....

I really don't think so. But I thought that title might get both the French and the non- French going !

But really who could really take the title as the best ever. Pele was pretty upset about having to share Player of the Millennium with Maradona.

Well I don't know about best, but Maradona was probably the most entertaining in my opinion. Up to now I've never seen another player who could win the game on their own and captivate the imagination like he could. Once Maradona was playing, his team could be 5 -nil down (they never were) and you could feel that Argentina still wouldn't lose.

Its amazing how far you can fall. I think there is an e-true hollywood (or football) story there.

Pele was a bit before my time, but the game I think was different then - slower I think.

Somehow today's stars don't seem to be cut from the same cloth - even the superstars today don't seem that super ! ZZ, Ronaldo, Ronaldhino etc. have skill above par yes, but they aren't the game winners like ole Diego.

What's the diff ? Is it a faster game, is the field so much better that its harder to stand out ?

To me there was no more thrilling thing to see in Futball than to see D Armando M, move at full pace through an entire field of players, zigzagging his way through - the commentator having to speed up his commentary and speak in short......"..he passes , one, two, three....GoooooooooooooooooooL, GoGogogooooooooooooooool !

Hey Diego, you may have fallen, but you're still a star !

What do you guys think ?