Sports Then and Now

Over the decades, clubs have reached deep into their pockets to ensure that they have the world’s best players on their team. Some of these soccer stars have flourished under the pressure of their transfer fee while others have been crushed with the burden of expectations placed on them.

To keep things on a positive note, we’d like to bring 6 key transfers in the history of world football to your attention, that had a tremendous impact on the players career, the fate of a team or even of leagues. With plenty of offers for betting free on who goes where in todays transfer markets,  here we found our picks in no particular order for the best transfer:

1. David Beckham to the L.A. Galaxy

The year: 2007

The transfer fee: $30 Million

The impact: While this move didn’t brand Beckham as the next Pelé like L.A. Galaxy hoped it would, it did bring in a fortune for Galaxy in terms of advertising deals and brought international attention to the MLS. It also sparked the arrival of more international additions. So, while David Beckham didn’t perform as well on the field as fans had hoped, he did make a significant change to the team in other ways.

Is Diego Maradona capable of leading Argentina to success at the 2010 World Cup?

Usually World Cup previews focus on the players who are likely to be involved but Argentina, as with most things involving Diego Maradona, are a special case. The sputtering qualification campaign which saw the Albicelestes secure their place in the tournament with a late goal against Uruguay was well documented. Equally well reported was Maradona’s foul-mouthed rant which followed that win. His outburst earned him two month ban from his official duties, meaning he missed the 2010 Football (Soccer) World Cup Draw.

However, it’s highly unlikely that Maradona’s absence is the reason behind a lacklustre run of friendly games for Argentina. A defeat to Spain in November suggests the side will struggle to cope when it comes up against the leading contenders at the World Cup. More worrying though were the unconvincing wins over Costa Rica and Jamaica. The former was described by Argentine newspaper La Nacion as “a victory which didn’t provide the necessary answers”.

Despite this, Maradona said that he has decided on 60 per cent of his squad already. And this could be part of the problem. Although players such as Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano would no doubt walk into any other team in the world some of the manager’s other favourites are more puzzling. Jonas Guiterrez is a fine example of this. He currently plays in the English Championship and although his pace and ability to go past players are not in question, he struggles with crossing and shooting and it’s hard to envisage him ever making a massive impact on the world stage. Read the rest of this entry →