World Cup: It’s Europe vs South America

MOSCOW. The World Cup has only been won by teams from two continents; South America and Europe.
And when the first two knockout matches are played on Saturday between Argentina and France, and Uruguay and Portugal, the two dominant continents of world football will be squaring for supremacy.
Europe lead the way with 11 wins to 9 but South America boast of record five-time champions Brazil and the two greatest footballers of all time Diego Maradona and Pele.
When Argentina take on France at the Kazan Arena, the star attraction will unquestionably be Lionel Messi who has earned the right to be considered among arguably the five greatest footballers of all time.
And in the evening showdown between Uruguay and Portugal, the Iberian country will be lead by Cristiano Ronaldo who too deserves to be classified among the very best to have played the beautiful game.
He is perhaps the greatest goal scorer of his generation if not of all time.
Before South America’s best stars started moving to Europe at a tender age in their careers for better earnings, their style was often silky as opposed to the textbook approach employed in the Uefa zone.
However, the identity of styles has increasingly thinned with teams from both continent’s embracing a win-no-matter-what mentality.
Still, exceptional talents like Luis Suarez, Messi, Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann can conjure moments of magic that evoke memories of when the game was once pure.
Knockout tactics often differ from how teams play in the group stages and it is not illogical to expect cagey affairs, measured build-ups and extra-time plus penalties.
If the group games were draughts, the knockout stages will be chess of Grand Masters.