Many members in this debate overemphasize team spirit as the main reason for Croatia's success in recent years at world cups.
However, many other national teams have a strong team spirit, but they do not achieve nearly as good results as Croatia.
Was Croatia second and third in the last 2 world cups solely due to luck or team spirit? I think that's really an exaggeration.
In order to continuously achieve good results in the biggest world competitions, you must have quality players, and be on the same level as other top national teams in the world, such as Brazil, France, Argentina, England etc.
Ignoring this fact and trying to find other reasons for Croatia's continued success at major competitions in recent years simply does not make sense and leads to wrong conclusions.
Simply accept what is an obvious fact, that Croatia is one of the best national teams in the world, with some of the best players in the world.
@Daniel91 you are repeatedly bringing up that someone is saying Croatia is winning due to luck. May I ask you again to quote that line where someone said that Croatia is only winning due to luck? I never said it and I can't find any post stating that Croatia is just lucky. Please, quote that line for me so we can have discussion based on equal information. Right now it seems you are including some weird interpretations or misunderstandings of yours
Your deep dive into team analysis has my soccer brain doing the wave! It really does shine a spotlight on that age-old wisdom, "the collective juggles the ball better than the lone striker." Or something to that effect. However, I've got a penalty to shoot your way. Are we getting a bit too caught up in the highlight reels and top ten plays? Like when you dribble down memory lane with France's superstars. Undeniably gifted, but do their individual shiny medals automatically make a winning team? What about those sleeping giants Belgium and Portugal, their golden boys still yearning for their trophy-laden dreams?
You've pointed out Brazil’s recent string of misses. But, could it be they're just taking a breather, a tactical pause or perhaps just reassembling their squad? History tells us, even the most robust defensive lines need patching up sometimes. When we flip the soccer coin to Qatar, we open up another can of worms – or should I say, a new set of goalposts? Sure, they've drafted in some high-ranking players. But does that magically blend into a unified team pulsating with a shared sense of purpose for the nation they represent? It's not just about rating teams based on their current form or individual flair. It's about the whole stadium - the chants, the scarves, the locker room camaraderie, the strength to rise from the ashes of defeat.
No, I haven't pointed it out. Someone else did and I continued the conversation.
@slapper you also include words I have never said. Neither did I say that Croatia is a lucky team as @Daniel91 repeatedly says while ignoring the facts of the conversation, nor did I say that " individual shiny medals automatically make a winning team". In fact, this is what I said:
There are games where the individual strength of a single player can be the foundation for the team's success, but usually it is the other way around. The team's strength is the foundation for the individual success.
You guys seem to like it to give specific twists to other peoples' sentences.
