I agree.

For some reason the media seem to be intent on telling us that we are constantly witnessing the greatest of things. The hype around sportsmen beggars belief at times.

The Spain team was a great team, but the greatest? There's no way of knowing and how do you measure this greatness anyway?

The same can be said of the Barcelona side. They were undoubtedly a very good team, but how can anyone say they are the greatest? What is the criteria?

Every generation or era has it's own great team, but trying to compare them to past teams when there is no means by which to do so is futile really. They are all great in their own way and should simply stand side by side in the history books as great teams of their time.

Every right to be proud, really enjoyed the USA team this year, interesting points too.

This is what Alan Shearer said after the euro 2012 final in the post match analysis:

Working as a pundit on the BBC's Match of the Day broadcast, Shearer said: "This team is the best ever.

"We mention the Brazil sides with Pele but this is absolutely unbelievable what they have achieved."

http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football...ver_32835.html

Spain are amongst the greatest teams for sure, however Alan Shearer also just declared this WC as the greatest ever. Do these pundits have the tendancy to go completely over the top sometimes in the heat of the moment? You bet. However if I was getting an expenses paid holiday staying in 5 star hotels outside the copacabana just so I could talk about football I probably would be too.

That Spain side was a great side though. To the extent that it seems odd not to see them in the later stages of a tournament and having to pick out another team as a likely winner.

Perhaps the 2012 punditry comments during the Euros were made in the heat of the moment. However Spain had completely destroyed the second best team at the competition, and with flair.....something they received much criticism for lacking earlier in the same tournament.

'Greatest' may be subjective, but the 2011 Champions League final performance of Barcelona against Manchester United was one of the most accomplished and one sided I have seen in my lifetime.

Not disputing that, they have to be they won three tournaments in a row which no one else did before. They have to be in contention. But as I say they won the WC in 2010 scoring only 7 goals in 7 games winning all their knockout games by the odd goal, the lowest for winning side ever and their style of tiki taka was really like marmite, I personally had no problem with it but many others hated it. The manner in the way in which they defended their title was a bit shambolic also.

I have no problem if Alan Shearer saying what he said, its his opinion, but would he say that now about them? Will he say in 10 years time this is definitively the best ever world cup? Maybe, maybe not.

ITV/Sky were telling us practically every weeknight of Champions league football that Guardiolas Barca side were the greatest side the grace the earth back then, I don't find people saying that so much now and their not commonly refered to as the "greatest ever" as they once were. Perhaps one of the greatest rather than the greatest. Failing to retain the CL was a huge blow IMO.

Confirmation from the official FIFA stats today that Chris Wondolowski was NOT flagged offside for his miss night - the assistant referee was merely flagging for a goal kick, but with Wondolowski shooting from just outside the 6 yard box it appeared as though offside had been the decision - especially if you are a BBC pundit where knowledge of the laws of the game is optional it would seem.

This is how I watch it as well..........Red button with R5 commentary

It's a real bummer when the games are on ITV.........then I tend to have the sound down on the telly with my radio on R5 but of course you then get the out of sync commentary.........

What a fantastic game last night..........huge credit to both teams

Missed around 20 mins of the middle of the second half, but did enjoy what I saw. The better team did win in the end, if it wasnt for Howard, it could have been an American football score. He did play really well, as did Yedlin.

Belgium havent really played well all tournament, and have made it to the quarters. They have some quality players, that havent yet fired. I dont think they will get past Argentina though.

Never been so disappointed as a neutral to see a USA team lose. Don't agree that Bradley was abysmal. Yedlin was a revelation and Beasley tireless.
America just not clinical enough in front of goal.
The kind of game that it's all about. No cheating and end to end stuff. No bus parking bore.
Well played USA.

At least Man United fans can take heart knowing that Marouane Fellaini is just as bad for Belgium as he is for them. Be interesting to see if Wilmots sticks by him as he looked a certainty to be one of the first players subbed yet somehow managed to play 120 minutes.

The only way he could be useful is if you were a goal down with 20 minutes to play and wanted a target man to hit but Belgium already have one or two of those type players. What a spectacular fall from grace this guy has had in the last 12 months.

Well said.

USA may have their weak areas, but for all that, it was an entertaining game.

Well done JK, and USA.

Barcelona were the greatest club side ever and Spain would probably be the best international side ever seen.

I remember that game. It was the best game of the tournament. From vague memory, it seemed that nearly every goal was a contender for goal of the tournament. It was a high quality game.

I think last night, for the first time, Belgium showed up in this tournament. They look good enough to match the 1986 side and make the semis.

Yep, it was a great game and well done to both sides for giving us so much entertainment and excitement.

The USA are getting a lot of credit, but let's not forget the part Belgium played in that. Even when they were ahead with only a couple of minutes left they didn't waste time. They had the opportunity to just run the ball to the corner flag and eat up a few seconds on several occasions, but they chose to keep attacking instead. It was a fantastic game played with a good spirit.

If Yedlin doesn't attract interest from some very big clubs after that performance I will be amazed. He looked superb.

Thats your opinion but from my experiances reading the media thats nowhere near universally accepted. Barcelona didn't retain the CL, I supported them btw but messing up that semi against Chelsea 2012 who were 6th in the prem at the time was a killer. Losing 7-0 on aggregate to Bayern the following year closed the door on them.

I argued that if Spain won this tournament, retaining the WC, they would certainly be, but the manner in which they crashed out, and their style of play will suggest, that they were one of the best international sides, not the definitive best, that they certainly could/would have been.

Look at this way, Fellaini is probably the freshest man in the Belgian squad. The rest of the team ran their hearts out, those who weren't picked have been training hard to get noticed, all the while Fellaini has been strolling around the pitch, watching the game, expending less energy and showing less emotion than paying spectators and those watching on TV. Fellaini is the Belgian secret weapon; he has been resting ever since Moyes dumped him on Man U. He is bursting with energy, just waiting for his moment. Argentina won't know what has hit them.

Barcelona 2008-2011 were probably the greatest club side of all time. It's difficult to even argue against them. Like Spain they won it all and their style dominated opponents. Messi going 60 games and 73 goals is ridiculous. Not retaining the champions league doesn't mean anything, it's a cup competition where anything can happen.

Its very easy to argue against them. I would suggest a lot of Barcelona's plaudits were due to their style of play rather than their effectiveness. Mourinho's Real Madrid even matched their points record total in la liga in 2012, a lot teams matched many of their statistics.

I could see many people make the case for Real Madrid in 1998-2002, and I don't see how Barcelona were much better than them. They could be argued as better, but its not so clear cut?

Retaining the competition or at least winning it more than anyone else in a number of years is hugely important to their legacy, and for me therefore they don't stand out historically any more than a lot of other sides in the past 10 or 20 years.

The acid test for Barcelona is how many people are saying they're the greatest ever in 5-10+ years time. If people still call them the greatest in years to come, then fair enough, but I don't think many people will.

Real Madrid 1998-2002 were nowhere near that Barcelona team. A lot of Barcelona players were part of the Spanish teams world cup success too. That Barcelona team will be remembered for a long, long time given they have probably the best player to ever play the game in Lionel Messi still playing and scoring for them.

Again the acid test is whether people are still saying that in years to come (not just yourself), remember its to be considered greatest team in history, not of one of the greatest, that's what I'm talking about. I'll just have to respectfully disagree with you on this.